1 Samuel (1 Kings) 23

Shall I go and strike these Philistines? etc. Because David almost always in the Scriptures, when taken mystically, signifies the Lord Christ, but sometimes in his members, sometimes in himself; rightly at this place, where he consulted the Lord whether he should attack and conquer the enemies, it is understood to be referred to the person of his members, that is, his faithful ones, who sometimes, sorrowful over the known destruction of the faithless by those close to them, consulting the oracles of divine Scripture, inquire what should be done about these things. For also above, where it is announced to the same David that Keilah is being attacked by the Philistines, it can not unreasonably signify that any of the faithful often show the dangers of temptations in the world to equally more perfect faithful ones of Christ, perceiving that they themselves are not sufficient to overcome them. Indeed, those more perfect and strong-handed teachers of the Churches, immediately scrutinizing the testimonies of the Scriptures, find that they must have compassion and succor the oppressed, and by breaking the effort of the malign spirits, discover that the crowd suffering from long temptation is to be saved; but to the often fearful weaker ones due to imminent persecution, the reading of divine words, once consulted, promptly reveals that they should not fear those who kill the body (Matt. X), but rise from their sloth by doing the right, going to the oppressed by preaching useful things, and conquering the oppressors by exorcizing. For there are those who, under the threat of persecutions, scarcely dare to openly profess the faith with which they have been imbued; how much less do they presume to undertake the war against the legions of malign spirits by calling others to the faith or by solidifying them in the faith? And what does it signify, typically, when the men of David say to him: Behold, here in Judea we are afraid, how much more if we go to Keilah against the legions of the Philistines? unless it is the fearful response of the weak listeners to the spiritual teachers preparing themselves for the work of the word: Behold, within the domestic walls of the Church we fear to freely defend the confession of the paternal faith, which Judea signifies; how much more, if we go to those who have either never known the way of truth, or have deserted it having known it, instructing them with the word of salvation, shall we not unquestionably expose ourselves to greater dangers by beginning to challenge the powers of the air in battle? But the Lord does not omit to raise their weakness and fear by the frequent words of His Gospel, and to strengthen them with the confidence in prayer. And this is what follows: For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John XVI).

Commentary on Samuel

David and his men went to Keilah, etc. The Lord went in His preachers to heal the brokenhearted, and fought against the spirits of falsehood and perfidy, revealing the light of truth and faith, and drove them away from the souls of the redeemed by just separation, in whom they had previously tightly reined in with the bridle of error, as if riding over them, and subjecting them to their own power and domain, used to more effectively and powerfully ravage and subjugate others, and cause them to be anathematized with a great curse. Thus indeed He saved them, who recently avoiding their tentations, earnestly sought His protection. These things were often done from the beginning of the nascent Church, and there is almost no one who doubts that they are done daily through places.

Commentary on Samuel

Moreover, at the time when Abiathar fled, etc. The ephod, as we mentioned above, is a priestly garment, with four most distinguished colors interwoven with gold, and two precious stones on each shoulder, and the sacred names of the twelve patriarchs, which most fittingly corresponds to signify the senses of sublime men. For those fleeing to more and more proclaim the glory of Christ, who escaped the hands of many torturers and persecutors for Him, bear within themselves senses and hearts elevated with the four excellent virtues shining with charity, tempered with precious discretion in adversities and prosperities, and taught and armed by the word and example of the preceding Fathers. And it is well said that the priest, fleeing to David with the ephod, is remembered not to have ascended but descended, according to that which is written: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things" (Ecclesiasticus 3). But truly, because with the growing devotion of faith, the hatred of the perfidious increases, evidently by the judgment of heaven, so that both the trial examining the whole in faith makes them clearer, and the same also accuses the dissemblers of their levity, it is rightly added:

Commentary on Samuel

And Saul commanded all the people, etc. For as the state of the Church increased, there were not lacking at various times adversaries, who, with the Lord permitting, would test its patience and wisdom by attacking it with the gravest trials, seeking to capture both the Lord Himself in it and His men, that is, all the strong defenders of His Gospel, with impious siege, and to remove them from the midst, yet never reaching the treacherous desires of their wickedness.

Commentary on Samuel

When David learned that Saul was secretly planning evil against him, etc. After bringing the ephod with Abiathar, David consulted the Lord, asking whether Saul would come to destroy Keilah, and whether the citizens would hand him over. Hence it can be inferred by what order he consulted the Lord before, that is, by putting on the priestly vestment and thus seeking the Lord's response through the mouth of the priest, and that this was the custom of those consulting God at that time, especially those who could not approach the Ark of the Lord. For it is written about this: "There I will speak to you, from above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim" (Exodus 25). But when David discovered both the impending enemy and the unfaithful refuge of the host city, he went out with his about six hundred men and wandered uncertainly here and there. For the holy ones, namely the members of the supreme King, seek through men of great virtue and knowledge of the holy scriptures how the state of the Church will be in the last times; and through the Scriptures, they learn that to its overthrow will come the empire of the Jewish people; and the men of Keilah, that is, of a restless mind and willing to live for themselves, not for the Creator, will quickly betray the faith they have initiated. Christ will depart from such, nor will He make His abode among them. The teachers, too, perfect in hope and work, depart. For six signify works, a hundred hope of eternal things, marking the perfection of men. For they abandon the lukewarm so that by speaking to those who do not preserve it, they do not harm further, in the example of the history which, describing the deeds of David, adds:

Commentary on Samuel

David therefore arose, etc. Woe, however, to that soul, woe to the city, which the word of God, leaving behind, wanders here and there, uncertain where, in whose heart to settle and find rest. "Foxes," he says, "have dens, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Matthew VIII); and this is what he says elsewhere: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke XVIII). It is certainly to be noted that these things, generally, refer to all times of the Church, to which false brethren are never lacking, but especially to the last times, during which they will abound more, and can be typically referred, whose levity and perfidy even the name of Ceila fits. For it is said of a sling, cast forth, or stirring up, or lifting itself. And indeed why the soul of a false Christian, unstable and certainly wandering, is called cast to a sling, the wise woman explains, who in the type of the Church speaks with a strong and desirable hand saying, "But the soul of your enemies shall be whirled about in the impetus and circle of a sling" (1 Samuel XXV). But why a believer with infidelity, stirring it up, doubtlessly rightly calls it persecution, is proved by that traitor, who, from the number of Christ's disciples, added to the number of persecutors, thus far in the Church does not cease to have heirs of his depravity. Moreover, why it is called lifting itself, those manifest who usurp the knowledge of the faith for themselves specially, and do not fear to separate from the Catholic unity.

Commentary on Samuel

It was announced to Saul that David had fled from Ceila, etc. The enemies of the faith pretend to burden those with persecutions whom they see willingly abandoning the faith. But the adversary himself of old tires out with the more severe lashes of temptations those whom he sees strong in faith and action, or whom he sees either inert in faith, or utterly faithless or apostates, he possesses as his own quite contentedly and subject in all things, often with no, or certainly very few, temptations of wrath, pride, fornication, and envy, and other such passions.

Commentary on Samuel

David, however, stayed in the desert, etc. Christ, having dismissed those who receive faith only in word, rather takes up residence in the hearts of those who, in the aridity of the present age, thirst for God, the living fountain, awaiting the moment they may come and appear before the face of the Lord. He gladly remains in those whose high hearts are removed from worldly temptations and blissfully secluded in solitude, finding joy in the deficient germ and flower of virtues. For Ziph means flower or germ.

Commentary on Samuel

Yet Saul sought him every day, etc. From the beginning of time until the end, the wicked strive to remove Christ from the hearts of the pious, but He himself defends the pious so that they might never be overcome by the wicked, as He promised to remain with them all days even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28). And elsewhere it says: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you (Isaiah 43).

Commentary on Samuel

Moreover, David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the forest. The Lord saw, whose eyes see all things naked and open (Hebrews IV), that he had gone forth from the inner guard of the assembly of traitors, to seek and persecute the church of his faithful, whose heart and soul are one (Acts IV). He remained in the wilderness, in the Church taken from the Gentiles, which often generates fruitful trees, as hearts pregnant with the seed of varied virtues; about which the Psalmist, singing about building a house of remission and life after captivity, says: Then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice before the Lord, for he comes (Psalm XCVI). Now, these trees of the widely fruitful Church, spiritually fecundated with the flower or seed of good works (for Ziph is said to interpret both), are prominent to the extent that they diligently abandon all the enjoyments of this world.

Commentary on Samuel

And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose and went to David, etc. And the dove-like and simple spirit of the elect, progressing amid the adversities of persecutions, often called to the grace of faith from the very number of the persecutors, approached Christ with steps of growing virtues, and strengthened the workers, that is, the teachers of his word, always in the divine assistance which comes opportunely (Psalm IX).

Commentary on Samuel

And he said to him: Fear not, etc. Although Jonathan, unaware of the fate and future destiny, as a man, made a false statement about himself under David's reign, yet according to the mystical meanings, he reveals the joys of Christ and the Church. Truly, he bore witness to that inviolable kingdom, to which he himself belongs, by asserting that the enemies are not to be feared, for they can never reach to extinguish the dominion of faith and truth; indeed, that he whose dominion was to be multiplied, and whose peace would have no end, would reign perpetually over the chosen angels and men; and that those who loved him faithfully and with their whole heart would be closest to him in all the heights of this same kingdom. With their enemies prostrate and defeated, and subjected entirely to the feet and dominion of Christ, as Paul says: "He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet; the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he has put all things in subjection under his feet" (I Cor. XV; Psalm CIX); and when he says: "All things are put in subjection under him," undoubtedly except him who subjected all things to him (Psalm VIII), hence it is clear that the powers that have deserted him, empty and void, Christ will render, setting victory trophies against the rivals of our salvation, whom he had long since defeated by his own death, as it is written: "Because the children have shared in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death" (Hebrews II), that is, the devil. Text: Thus he struck, and the rest.

Commentary on Samuel

Therefore, each struck a covenant before the Lord, etc. The Lord and the faithful strike a covenant with each other, that they should follow Him, and He should give them eternal life; and this before His divine presence, in whose faith He commands us to live, and to which He encourages us to aspire, assisting us. And the Lord remains in the Church, a dense forest of peoples, all the days until the consummation of the world (Matthew 8). However, each of the faithful, after completing the service of prayer or exhortation, or any other devotion offered to the Lord, returns to their conscience, so that, vacating external action, they may more freely for a time reflect on all that has been or is to be done by them, more freely purge themselves from what has been done badly, and more perfectly ready themselves for what is to be done well; such as these indeed can say with the prophet: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest (Psalm 54)? And deservedly too, with Jonathan, they can be called a gift of doves, indeed and with the apostle Peter they can be called sons of doves.

Commentary on Samuel

But the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, etc. Often false brothers, abandoning the bud and flower of their virtues, ascend to the arrogant enemies of faith to help them against the Church and, detesting the simplicity of the faithful, in a way say to the persecutors: "Does not Christ dwell among us through faith in the most secure hearts of the Gentiles?" Nor is it in vain that it is said in the hill of Hachilah, that is, receiving it. For where should we think the spirit of Christ more gracefully stays than in the height of a mind firmly receiving its faith? Which is to the right of the desert, because for the sake of the right side, that is, the joys of eternal life, it abandons the pomp of the world. For he who declines worldly enticements with a view to temporal and earthly reward, is said not to have turned to the right of the desert, but rather to the left, where our desirable king does not dwell, but the detestable enemy is accustomed to inhabit. And all these things the Ziphites say to Saul, when some falsely faithful men betray the mysteries of faith or its worshippers to open persecutors, and with a perverse mind, though they differ in the recognition of faith, they concord in hatred of the same faith; and to the extent they internally know the secrets of Christ, as David's hiding places, they more wickedly help those who attempt to attack the Church from without.

Commentary on Samuel

And Saul said: Blessed be you of the Lord, etc. They promise the blessing of the Lord to themselves and their Jewish supporters when, having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, they either pursue the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with hatred, or with arms. And as the Lord says elsewhere about them and their accomplices: "The time is coming that anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God" (John 16). But woe to their blessings, who, plotting against the Church, or at least against any of the Church's members, to scandalize anyone of the little ones of Christ, are proven to harm in the place of persecutors. Woe to those who, reaching to that flower rising from the root of Jesse only in name, seek with all their mind the withering and quickly perishing comforts of the present life; forgetting the blessing of Him, which is to be seen and hoped for by all, of which it is written: "The Lord hath been mindful of us and will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron" (Psalm 113). But blessing both, he blessed all who fear the Lord. You ask: Whom both? It is answered, the small with the great, that is, the house of Israel with the house of Aaron; those indeed who from that very nation have believed in the Savior Jesus, because not all those pleased God; but if indeed not all of them believed, has their unbelief made the faith of God without effect? By no means. For not all who are of Israel are Israelites; nor are all children of Abraham's seed; as it is written, "The remnant shall be saved" (Isaiah 10). By that oracle of Isaiah, some of the Jews are foretold to attain this heavenly blessing, so that the greater part of them is blinded; whose type and figure Saul, rejected by God, bore, and in whose place the gentiles were appointed; for other sheep joined which were not of this fold, so that there might be one flock and one shepherd (John 10); the faith of all nations joined, and the number increased not only of wise shepherds but also of obedient peoples; to whom many blessings of God have been promised, as it is said: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1); but God has blessed us, not with one blessing, but with all. Not that we all attain everything, but while each of us possesses one or several from all, we all possess through each one. And not in earthly blessings, imitating the Jews, of whom Isaiah said: "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1), but in spiritual ones. For there are indeed earthly blessings, to have children; to overflow with wealth, to rejoice in honor and health; which earthly blessing extends even to irrational animals, it is said of them: "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth" (Genesis 1). But the spiritual blessings are in heavenly places, for the earth does not hold a spiritual blessing. For even those blessings which in Leviticus are promised to those observing God's precepts, for instance, to lend to foreign nations, to have barns full of grain, to be blessed in cities, to be blessed in fields, and the like, we do not see fulfilled in the prophets, who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. Therefore, all things are to be understood spiritually; and spiritual things are to be awaited not in earthly places, but heavenly.

Commentary on Samuel

But if he also hides himself in the ground, etc. The ground is the fruitful mind of the chosen ones through works of faith; which, when visited and drenched by God and multiplied, the most proud investigator boasts of searching it, because not only in the openness of work or confession but also in the very secret of faith and intimate love, he may be able to take Christ from His worshippers. But if, he says, he shall even hide himself in the ground, I will search him out among the thousands of Judah. As if he openly says: But if the people of Christians shall, by our reducing them to such a few or to such poverty, come to the point where, having taken away the confidence of preaching, the solemnities of celebrating, publicly gathering meetings, and at least professing they are Christians, they scarcely dare worship Christ as if hidden in the very recesses of their hearts, there and from thence little by little, with the abundant company of persecutors as well as explorers, I will strive to exterminate Him. For I have innumerable Judahites, that is, bands of divine praise or confession, by which I may easily quench the rash undertakings of all those who think otherwise. This can also be taken simply, because sometimes Christians have been dragged out from crypts and hiding places to be led to death for Christ.

Commentary on Samuel

But they rising up went to Ziph before Saul. Rightly the Ziphites who lay in wait for David are said to have gone to Ziph before Saul, because indeed the schismatics or heretics, the closer they are to Jews or pagans, having been admitted inside, the more wickedly and as if earlier they deprive the Church of its fruit. Which too in the times of the Antichrist, with the Jews raising greater persecutions than others, it will mainly happen in the Church, and daily it continues happening, would that we did not know. Finally, Judas, where he was received more inwardly, where he became the leader and known to the Lord, together with Him was taking sweet food, there he more mightily raised his heel against Him.

Commentary on Samuel

But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, etc. Maon is interpreted as dwelling. Jeshimon means bringing death. Generally, however, the faithful, having obtained Christ as their leader, rejoice to thirst for the eternal homeland, which the waterless places of the desert signify; they long with burning desire for the dwelling of heavenly blessedness, which the name Maon, that is Hab, suggests; they know to hope for eternal life from death endured for God, which the name Jeshimon figuratively expresses. But they cannot yet perfectly transcend the vast fields of earthly thoughts. Yet when the storm of persecution arises, the mind at once, humbling itself by casting aside all things of this world, gathers itself to the most fortified rock of faith, and with its feet secured upon this rock, and its steps directed, it now joyfully moves more sweetly in the heavenlies and burns to sing the song of new hope and joy more fervently, which is, after having taken to the refuge of the rock, David and his companions dwelling in the wilderness of Maon. For the same desert of Maon, the same dwelling, not only signifies the desire for the perpetual mansion because of the height burned by heat; but also because the desert takes its name from desertion, it indicates the very dwelling of heavenly rest, which man once deserted. Finally, in the parable of the Gospel, the Good Shepherd, having left the ninety-nine sheep in the desert, goes to seek the one that had wandered (Luke 15). In this very desert David moves as a leader, and those endowed with the grace of Christ can say: "But our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3).

Commentary on Samuel

25–28

This is what happened to Paul. For the potency of the light suddenly surprised his feeble eyes and injured them. But the greatness of the voice brought low his strength and entered his ears and opened them.… For the voice did not plough up the ears, as the light injured the eyeballs. Why? But because it was necessary that he should hear but not see. Therefore the doors of hearing were opened by the voice as by a key: but the doors of sight were shut by the light that should open them. Why then was it necessary that he should hear? Clearly because by that voice our Lord was able to reveal himself as being persecuted by Saul. For he was not able to show himself by sight as being persecuted; for there was no way whereby this should be, that the son of David should be seen fleeing and Saul pursuing after him. For this happened in very deed with that first Saul and with the first David. The one was pursuing; the other was being persecuted; they both of them saw and were seen, each by the other. But here the ear alone could hear of the persecution of the Son of David; the eye could not see that he was being persecuted.

Homily on Our Lord 32

When Saul heard this, he pursued David, etc. These things specifically regard the Jewish persecutor, who, upon hearing of the faith and devotion of believers, persecutes them on earth, while they with the whole intention of their minds look towards the heavens, himself believing that Christ will come in the flesh, which they have already learned has come. For this is Saul proceeding on one side of the mountain, and David and his men staying on the other side; these ones empty of Christ, hastening with perverted hope towards Christ yet to be incarnate; those ones having already received, by the grace of Christ the author, the sacraments of the Christian faith in which they would be saved. For he is the mountain of the house of the Lord prepared on the summit of the mountains, upon which a city set cannot be hidden (Isa. II). Nor is it surprising if they despair of being able to escape carnally from their enemies, to whom it was not said, “Do not fear, for you will not be killed by your enemies” (Matt. X); but, he says, “Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. X). Yet sometimes those in despair are delivered from enemies even at present, like the three boys from the furnace, Daniel from the lions' den, like Paul and Silas, and the very prince of the apostles himself (Acts V): but also elsewhere, all the apostles from prison together; as indeed many later martyrs of great praise and glory in Christ and the Church. Hence it is rightly added:

Commentary on Samuel

And so Saul and his men surrounded David like a crown, etc. For, with the Lord Savior protecting His faithful, very often those who, out of fear of God, did not want to act, were compelled by the consideration of human peace or some other advantage to cease from tearing them apart. Therefore, the faith of Christ, upon which His Church is built, rightly prevails against the gates of hell (Matthew XVI); it is called the dividing rock because it wonderfully defends His often despairing followers in the present and separates those who hope for future reward from the perpetual turmoil of men. Whether these things happened in modern times or are believed to happen in the future under the Antichrist, let the reader see and consider, not without tears, something worthy of tears, how much the state of the Church deteriorates daily to worse things, or to say it more mildly, to weaker deeds. The city of Nobe, due to receiving David with all his men, suffered martyrdom, which is to render good fruit through patience. Ceila, saved by David along with its citizens from the enemy, lost its savior because it did not fear to betray him at the imminent moment of persecution; and this is to receive the seed of the word with joy but immediately stumble when tribulation arises because of the word (Matthew XIII; Luke VIII). The Ziphites, upon discovering that David was staying nearby, not only did not invite him to themselves, but also volunteered to betray him, not to avoid danger, but to gain the friendship of Saul, plotting to track his ways and overthrow his steps; and these are those who, according to the recalled parable of the Lord, hear the word, but the worry of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. I do not follow this reasoning as if I did not believe that even today there exist and will always exist many perfected in faith and truth; but because I see that, for the most part, the times are now approaching that were predicted long ago, in which, with iniquity abounding, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew XXIV). The title of the fifty-third Psalm, remembering the reading and betrayal by the Ziphites, is as follows: For the end, in songs, understanding of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: "Is not David hidden among us?" Which, to explain briefly, denotes that the psalm is spoken in the end, in the person of Christ. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans X). In songs, in great distress, yet the Psalmist declares the same song with rejoicing according to the one who said: "But we also glory in tribulation" (Romans V). For it seems to me that the psalms inscribed in songs always declare the joy of the singer amidst adversities. The understanding of David shows that David, obsessed with anguish, but also unexpectedly delivered, understood that the body of the true David, of which he himself was a member, would suffer from the wicked, how great the grace of his Redeemer was, to be often delivered at present, and always crowned in the future. But what is said at the beginning of the same psalm: "O God, save me by your name, and in your strength, deliver me," is what David seeks in this reading, refuge in the rock. And for this reason, it is called the dividing rock because of the beginning of deliverance. For the fathers drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. And the rock was Christ.

Commentary on Samuel