I Samuel 23
A young man and woman are dating until each is called “by God” to a different end — the young woman to marriage and the young man to breaking up with that same woman. Who hears the call of God correctly?
In I Samuel 23, David wonders if he should go to Keilah to fight the Philistines and, even though his men “are afraid,” he believes that the Lord tells him to “Go.”
Saul hears that David is in Keilah and is sure that “God has delivered him into my hands.”
David asks God, “Will Saul come to get me?”
“He will.”
“Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to him?”
“They will.”
Which one hears God correctly? On whose side is God?
Saul is king. According to Saul’s son, Jonathan, David is to be the next king. Is God moving from supporting one to another? Are both men correct? Neither?
From there it is a game of cat and mouse. Saul is determined to catch David, to “track him down among all the clans of Judah.” This is no small passion. Instead, it is the driving force of Saul’s life. He will find David and he will capture him. David is running, hiding. It is the nightmare of the worst sort, except there is no waking. David is the mouse, and the cat will not give up.
Strange that both men are trying to follow the will of God, or at least talk the talk. The larger picture is the same for both — the leadership of God’s people — but that seems to get lost in the chase.
David hides in the Desert of Maon (the Rock), and while he runs along one side of the mountain, Saul runs along the other side. How silly they look from above, but the consequences will not be silly if they meet. Nor will the future.
Just as the tension mounts, Saul is called away to a more consequential battle, leaving David, his men and the mountain that separated them from Saul. At this point, the narrator of the text says, “That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth.” It means “rock of parting” or “rock of divisions.” It kept two people (two groups of people) from seeing and destroying each other.
Thank goodness for this “rock of parting.” Each will have to go home and think through this horrible game they are playing. Perhaps one is more right than the other. No matter. They have one more day to think about it. And that is always good.
Back to the scenario of the young man and woman: is it possible that they don’t really see each other? Might they, given the sight they each have, feel called by God toward a different end?
This does not mean that God is confused. There is something larger at stake, yes, larger even than their potential marriage to each other. Sometimes we simply need to “part” and focus on that for a while.
—Carla Gober-Park, PhD, is assistant vice president for Spiritual Life and Mission at Loma Linda University Health, as well as director of the Center for Spiritual Life and Wholeness.
