Commentaria in I Regum (I Samuelis)
LET MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER, I BESEECH THEE, ABIDE WITH YOU.—Hence gather that Saul persecuted not only David but also his parents and kinsmen, or at least that they, fearing Saul’s persecution, fled out of Judea into the land of Moab.
4. ALL THE DAYS THAT DAVID WAS IN THE STRONGHOLD,—that is, in the citadel or fortified place of the land of Moab. For this is what the Hebrew metsudah signifies.
5. AND GAD THE PROPHET SAID, ETC.: GO INTO THE LAND OF JUDA,—because David’s dwelling in Juda was useful to many, and brought David very much authority, so that he was at once advanced to the kingdom by the tribe of Juda, as we shall hear actually happened in the next chapter. So Cajetan.
AND CAME INTO THE FOREST OF HARET,—a place that was desert, pathless and uncultivated, bristling only with thorns and brambles. “Nevertheless,” says Rabbi Solomon, “by divine power this same place became abundant in fruits and animals, and watered with springs, so that it not only sustained David and his men but even wonderfully refreshed them.” Alluding to which David says: “The Lord ruleth me,” or as it is in the Hebrew, feedeth me; “he hath set me in a place of pasture: he hath brought me up on the water of refreshment,” Psalm 22, verse 1, where you see arid and thorny ways changed for those who love God into flowery and pleasant ones.
7. HEAR ME NOW, YE SONS OF JEMINI,—that is, sons of Benjamin, my tribesmen and kinsmen, act, strive for me as for yourselves, lest the kingdom be transferred from me and your tribe to the tribe of Juda and David.
10. AND HE CONSULTED THE LORD FOR HIM,—by the Ephod in which were the Urim and Thummim, of which I spoke on Exodus 28, verse 30. Hence it is plain that Achimelech asked for David and received from God an oracle as to which way he should go and what he should do, and what would be the issue of his affairs, prosperous or adverse; although Hugo thinks Doeg began to feign this and lie, in order to stir up greater anger in Saul against David and Achimelech: for he had not consulted God for David.
Morally: note here the various, continual and bitter persecutions, wanderings, flights and dangers with which David was hounded without rest by Saul for ten years; and that on account of his virtue, by which he had slain Goliath and freed Israel. For first, Saul twice tried to pierce David with a hurled spear as he played the harp and so freed him from the evil spirit, chapter 18, verse 11; chapter 19, verse 10; second, he sent the same against the Philistines to be killed by them, ibid. verses 17 and 25; third, he sent guards to seize David at home for death; but Michol let him down through a window, chapter 19, verse 11; fourth, David fled to Samuel in Ramatha, ibid. verse 18; fifth, chapter 20, he went to Jonathan, who tried to reconcile him with Saul, but in vain; sixth, he fled to Nobe to Achimelech the Pontiff, chapter 21, verse 2; seventh, from Nobe he fled to Geth to King Achis, ibid. verse 10; eighth, he lay hid in the cave of Odollam, chapter 22, verse 1; ninth, thence he withdrew to Maspha, a city of Moab, ibid. verse 3; tenth, thence he passed into the forest of Haret, ibid. verse 5; eleventh, he went to Ceila and freed it from the Philistines, chapter 23, verse 1; twelfth, he hid himself on mount Ziph, the hill of Hachila, and the desert of Maon, chapter 23, verses 19 and 24; thirteenth, he lay hid in the desert of Engaddi, chapter 24, verse 4, where he cut off the edge of Saul’s cloak, leaving him unharmed; fourteenth, he hid himself in the desert of Ziph, where he took away the cup and spear from Saul sleeping, leaving him untouched, chapter 26, verse 2; fifteenth, he fled to Achis king of Geth, chapter 27, verse 2. These are all the wanderings and flights of David, which I have arranged in their order.
But all these David bore and overcame by his unconquered patience and magnanimity; and therefore from each he came out stronger and more glorious; and so through all these, as through so many steps, he ascended to the summit of glory and to the kingdom.
Allegorically, therefore, David represented Christ, who, preaching and freeing men from the diseases of soul and body, endured with unconquered constancy and kindness the unceasing persecutions, contradictions, reproaches and blasphemies of the Scribes, Pharisees and Pontiffs, even to the death of the Cross; and therefore won and acquired glory and an eternal kingdom in heaven, not only for himself but for all the faithful and his saints.
Tropologically, let the Christian imitate Christ and David, that he may persuade himself that he must walk by the same way, namely of persecution and the cross, if he wishes to attain the summit of holiness, glory and eternal happiness. For it is ordained by the eternal law of God: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” 2 Timothy 3:12. So St. Athanasius, for forty-six years suffering continual persecutions from the Arians, a wanderer and exile, went almost all over the world in flight; but by his heroic virtue he triumphed over all as victor. If then you suffer for faith, piety, virtue, think that you are a David, and with him do not lower but lift up your spirits, knowing that your Saul, your persecutor, Hear St. John, Apocalypse chapter 7, verse 14, describing the struggles and crowns of the Martyrs under Antichrist: “These are they who are come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb: therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell over them,” etc.
Finally see here how great an evil is envy, which continually tormented Saul and drove him to so many slaughters and crimes, that at last he himself took his own life.
Hear St. Cyprian recounting the harms and damages of Saul and of any envious man in his sermon On Jealousy and Envy: “Jealousy stirs up ambition, when one sees another more increased in honours, jealousy blinding our senses and bringing the secrets of the mind into its power. The fear of God is despised, the teaching of Christ is neglected, the day of judgment is not foreseen. Pride is puffed up, cruelty exasperated, treachery transgresses, impatience is shaken, discord rages, anger boils, and he who has become subject to another’s power can no longer restrain or rule himself. Hence the bond of the Lord’s peace is broken, hence brotherly charity is violated, hence truth is adulterated, unity is rent, men leap to heresies and schisms.” And a few lines later, depicting envy graphically: “What a moth of the soul it is,” he says, “what a wasting of the thoughts, what a rust of the breast, to be jealous of another’s virtue or happiness, that is, to hate in him either his own merits or the divine benefits; to turn the goods of others into one’s own evil, to be tormented by the prosperity of the illustrious, to make the glory of others one’s own punishment, as if to apply executioners to one’s own breast, to set torturers upon one’s own thoughts and senses, to lacerate oneself with inward torments, and to beat the secrets of the heart with the claws of ill will; to such men no food is cheerful, no drink pleasant; they are always sighing and groaning and grieving.”