1 Samuel 23:4

4 So David questioned the LORD again, and the LORD reaffirmed, "Yes, go down to Keilah, because I will hand the Philistines over to you.

1 Samuel 23:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:4

Then David inquired of the Lord yet again
Not for his own sake, who firmly believed it was the will of God he should go and succeed, but for the sake of his men, and to remove the doubts and fears that hung on their minds:

and the Lord answered him, and said, arise, go down to Keilah;
immediately, make no stay, nor hesitate about it, but go with all haste to the relief of the place:

for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hands;
which is still more explicit, and is a promise not only of delivering Keilah out of the hands of the Philistines, but of delivering them into David's hands, and so of an entire: victory; and therefore none of David's men had anything to fear after such a declaration of the will of God.

1 Samuel 23:4 In-Context

2 David questioned the LORD, "Should I go and fight these Philistines?" "Go!" the LORD answered. "Fight the Philistines and save Keilah!"

3 But David's men said to him, "Look how frightened we are here in Judah. It'll be worse if we go to Keilah against Philistine forces!"

4 So David questioned the LORD again, and the LORD reaffirmed, "Yes, go down to Keilah, because I will hand the Philistines over to you.

5 Then David and his soldiers went to Keilah and fought the Philistines, driving off their cattle and defeating them decisively. And that's how David saved the residents of Keilah.

6 Now after Abiathar, Ahimelech's son, fled to David, he had accompanied David to Keilah, bringing a priestly vest with him.