1 Samuel 23:27

1Sa 23:27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

Ver. 27. But there came a messenger, &c.] Here was Deus ex machina, God appearing as out of an engine: where human help failed, divine came in. God sent from heaven and saved his poor servant "from the reproach of him that would have swallowed him up, Selah." {Psa 57:3} So he took off Sennacherib; {2Ki 19:8-9} and Julian, by the Parthian war; and Charles V from persecuting the Protestants, by the Turks breaking into Hungary; those dogs licked Lazarus’s sores. So one Justice Gilford, in Queen Mary’s days, going up the stairs to Mrs Roberts’s chamber, to compel her, willed she, nilled she, to go to Mass, was suddenly taken with his old disease the gout, and so tormented that he swore he would never trouble her anymore. {a}

{a} Act, and Mon., 1880.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 23:27-28. There came a messenger unto Saul — See the providence of God! His wisdom is never at a loss for ways and means to preserve his people. Nothing could be more distressful, nothing more hopeless than the situation of David at this time. He was surrounded on all sides, and there seemed no way left for escape; but as we learn from the fifty-fourth Psalm, composed by him on this occasion, he addressed himself in prayer to his almighty Saviour, who soon showed him that he can deliver at all times, and in all circumstances, however dangerous and distressing. They called that place [סלע המהלקות] Sela-hammah-lekoth — That is, the rock of divisions. Because God, by this interposition of the Philistines invading the land just at this time, separated Saul from David, and in a manner pulled him away, when the latter was now almost within his reach.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thus the Lord can pull back the bridle of the tyrants and deliver his out of the lion’s mouth.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 27. There came a messenger] See the providence of God exerted for the salvation of David's life! David and his men are almost surrounded by Saul and his army, and on the point of being taken, when a messenger arrives and informs Saul that the Philistines had invaded the land! But behold the workings of Providence! God had already prepared the invasion of the land by the Philistines, and kept Saul ignorant how much David was in his power; but as his advanced guards and scouts must have discovered him in a very short time, the messenger arrives just at the point of time to prevent it. Here David was delivered by God, and in such a manner too as rendered the Divine interposition visible.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) The Philistines have invaded the land.—This, as Lange well observes, was “God’s plan to save David.” The Philistines had probably availed themselves of the opportunity which Saul’s withdrawal of his forces southward to surround the armed band of David had given them, and were invading in force the more northern provinces.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. there came a messenger, &c.] Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. Cp. 2Ki_19:7; 2Ki_19:9.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But there came a messenger unto Saul,.... From his court, by order of his council there; though the Jews (t) say it was an angel from heaven; but be it which it will, it was certainly the providence of God that directed this affair, that a messenger should come to Saul just at that very time that David was like to fall into his hands:

saying, haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land; were come into it, and spread themselves in it, as the word signifies, which expresses their numbers they had poured in, the force they came with, and the possessions they had already got; perhaps they had taken the advantage of Saul's departure in quest of David, to penetrate into the tribe of Benjamin, where his patrimony, residence, and court were, and which were liable to fall into their hands; and therefore his presence was immediately required, and haste was necessary.

(t) Midrash apud Yalkut in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

God stirring them up by his all-disposing providence to do it at this time for David’s rescue. Compare 2Ki 19:9.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. There came a messenger — This was a signal working of Providence to deliver the son of Jesse from most imminent peril.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A messenger, &c. - The wisdom of God is never at a loss for ways, and means to preserve his people.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A messenger came. A real angel [in the guise of a messenger], in order to save Dovid.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.