21. David Hunted In The Wilderness Of Ziph (1 Samuel 23) Series

David Hunted in the Wilderness of Ziph

August 20, 2025

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

1 Samuel 23:15-29

Introduction: When the Walls Close In

Life has a way of pressing us into corners where the walls seem to close in and the options run out. Maybe you’ve felt it financially, staring at bills that outweighed the numbers in your account. Maybe it’s been relational, when a marriage was hanging by a thread or a child seemed unreachable. For some, it’s physical—the doctor’s report that changes everything in a single phone call. In those moments, you can almost hear your heart whisper, “This is it. I’m finished.” That’s exactly where we find David in 1 Samuel 23. He’s betrayed by his own people, hunted down by Saul, and nearly trapped with nowhere to go. Yet it’s in that desperate, suffocating moment that God steps in—not with fireworks and thunderbolts, but with providence so precise it rewrites the ending. Tonight we’re going to see how God delivers David at the Rock of Escape, and how the same God is still writing rescues into our stories when all hope seems lost.

But God… Oh, don’t you love those two words? They change everything, especially in Scripture. All throughout Scripture, when the story seemed finished, those two words rewrote the ending.

• Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

• Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

• Ephesians 2:4 reminds us, “We were dead in our trespasses, but God, being rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ.”

• And at the center of history, when Jesus hung on the Cross and darkness seemed to win, the enemy must have whispered, “This is it. It’s over.” But Acts 13:30 thunders back: “But God raised Him from the dead.” And friends, it doesn’t stop there.

That same God writes “But God” over the pages of our lives. When you were trapped in sin—but God saved you. When you were drowning in sorrow—but God comforted you. When you thought the story was over—but God stepped in with providence so precise it rewrote your ending.

Even when betrayal surrounds us, when trouble seems to have the upper hand, when enemies close in, when all circumstances seem hopeless, that is exactly the time God will do His work. God’s providence is never late. He shields His people, reroutes the enemy, and leads us to rocks of escape.

The Last Meeting of David and Jonathan (vv. 14–18)

And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. 15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18 And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home. (1 Samuel 23:14–18)

The truth is, God was revealing to David who He really was and who David really was in Him. The truth also is that God is still writes “But God” into your life as well. Not to give you heartburn and anxiety, but to teach you that you truth can cast all your cares upon Him. When you think the marriage was over—but God restores it. When you thought grief will crush you—but God carries you. When you think sin has the last word—but God saves you.

That’s where we pick up David’s story tonight. Verse 14 has already told us Saul sought him every day, “but God did not give him into his hand.” And it’s right there, in the wilderness, that Jonathan comes to David one last time to strengthen his hand in God. Before we get into the betrayal of the Ziphites, remember where we left off. David is in the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul is seeking him daily. Verse 14 says, “But God did not give him into his hand.”

Jonathan, Saul’s son, sneaks out to meet David. And what does he do? Verse 16 says, “Jonathan strengthened his hand in God.” He reminds David of God’s promises, reaffirms his loyalty, and renews their covenant friendship.

And then they part ways—never to see each other again. Jonathan returns to his father’s house, David remains in the wilderness, and their paths only cross again in memory after Jonathan’s death on the battlefield.