“Then they told David, saying, ‘Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.’ Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.’ But David’s men said to him, ‘Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?’ Then David inquired of the Lord once again. And the Lord answered him and said, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.’
And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.”
The story related in this brief passage of Scripture is an interesting one in that it is very applicable to our lives today. In it, we see yet another instance of conflict between the Children of Israel and the Philistines. At the outset, David is brought news of another Philistine attack, and it is interesting to note the details relayed to David. It was said that the Philistines were not only attacking the inhabitants of this city of Keilah, but that they were also robbing their threshing floors. In other words, the very source of food for this city was what the Philistines were interfering with. Many today are going hungry, in a spiritual sense, and as David we are hearing word of this.
Upon hearing this distressing news, David immediately sought the face of the Lord. His question was simple: Should he go and help these people that were going without food. The Lord did not leave him without an answer, but rather responded and told him to “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.” The mandate then is the same as it is one now. “Go!” This Christian walk is not one of getting comfortable and resting where it seems most convenient for us to do so, for if David did not go, the inhabitants of Keilah would have faced starvation and, almost certainly, death. These residents of Keilah are no different from those that we are around daily or the occasional stranger that we have the opportunity of meeting. The fact of the matter is that many people are being attacked by Satan, and their source of nutrition has been cut off. Some of them have never known Christ, while others have known Him but allowed the Enemy to cut off their food supply. Whatever the case may be, the command is clear: “Go.”
This is not to say that we will always act without hesitation, for despite the many victories that David and his men had seen at the hands of their God, they still hesitated when given this heavenly decree. They balked at the thought of having to move from where they were at to go to where the trouble was at. They had allowed themselves to grow so comfortable in their place of safety that the thought of moving only to head towards danger seemed backwards to them, even if it was the Word of God.
So in light of this, it is interesting to note the tone and arrangement of God’s second response to David’s inquiries as to whether or not they were really supposed to go.
God began by telling David to arise, and right now the same goes for me and the same goes for you. The Lord has seen where we have been, and He knows where we are now at. But He is telling us that even if He has led us to a place of seeming blessing and rest, there is yet much work to be done, and it will not be done unless we are first willing to “Arise and Go.”
People are dying, and people are starving! What more incentive do we need to listen to the Word of Almighty God when He says to “Go”?
I want to highlight the contrast, however, in the rest of God’s second answer to David. Whereas in the first response, He only told David to attack the Philistines, in His second reply He told them “I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” Oh, Glory to God! He is not sending us on a futile mission. This very assignment that He has given to us, He has already provided the way and the victory through it! There is not an enemy that He will tell us to attack that He has not already defeated in His death. Life sprung up from death 2000 years ago, and it is a life that will empower us to not only “Arise” and “Go” but to “Save”.
Do not be confused, for I am not claiming that we, in and of ourselves, can save a single person. But if we are faithful to heed the call of the Lord to “Arise, Go, and Attack” then the end result will be that people that were once without food and quickly deteriorating in a state of malnutrition will once again be presented with the opportunity to Eat and Live.
Keilah is waiting, and unless we Arise from where we are and Go with the power of the Holy Spirit and anointing of God to Attack the Enemy that has kept these people in bondage for so long, then we will never see the Salvation of the Lord at work. David did go. He and his men gathered together under the Word of God, and arose to go to Keilah. And it says that they struck the Philistines with a “Mighty Blow”. The Powers of Darkness know all too well the power of our God and King. Satan knows that wherever Jesus is proclaimed, Salvation will spring forward. But we must first go.
Lastly, it says that David and his men seized the livestock of the Philistines, presenting to us that if we are faithful to go where the Lord has called us and do what the Lord has called us to do, then He will give us the very things that were used by the Enemy to nourish themselves. God will take what is wrong and make it right, even if we don’t see how it could be at all possible.
I can’t stress it enough, and most possibly because I feel that this is what I must do also. This is God’s call to each and every Believer that claims His Name. He has not called us to sit in a corner and vegetate. At this point in his life, David was running from Saul, the king of Israel, who was seeking him to kill him and destroy his forces. It is very possible that if David and his men would not have heeded the Word of the Lord to go to the aid of the inhabitants of Keilah, that he and his men would have been overtaken by the forces of Saul during their time of seeming rest. In other words, we may not understand why the Lord is getting us out of our place and zone of comfort, but rest assured that it is for a reason, even if we do not see what that reason may be. If we are faithful to obey the Lord, we can know with all certainty that not only will we be spared from capture and defeat but that every one of those inhabitants of Keilah will be saved.
Do not be discouraged by the opposition, for it will often seem as if we face insurmountable odds. But if we have heard the Call and are willing to answer it, then stand and see the Salvation of the Lord, for He will work in us to deliver a “Mighty Blow” to the enemy, saving those who were condemned to die lost.
Thus saith the Word of the Lord, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
Arise and Go.
Samuel A. Gasc
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