Even Elijah went into a cave. God said: what are you doing here? He starts to come up with all these things, but then God spoke to him in a quiet voice: Elijah, Elijah, and gave him fresh mandate and direction. The cave is an important time in our life. What we do means either we stay in there, and rot in there; or we actually grow, and come out of it.
The cave of Adullam is a time to deepen your dependency on the Lord. Notice that David did something else. The tendency is in rejection and misunderstanding and injustice, to become totally involved in yourself: it's all about me! And then you let it all hang out! Everyone knows you're in a bad place. Listen, that's not how you handle it! There's a part you must bring before the Lord, but the thing that will get you out of it, is if you do the things that David did.
1) He went into the presence of the Lord.
2) He maintained concern for others.
Notice that he went and got his parents and family and brought them too, because he was concerned that they would be killed. Even in his own pain, he stopped to think about what could happen to his family and was concerned about his family's welfare.
In chapter 23, there was another city called Keilah, and the people were being maraudered by the Philistines. He said: Lord, I want to help them. There was something in his heart, kingship was in his heart. God, just give me a yes, and I will go and help them! He didn't act impulsively. He enquired of God and got direction; and God said: go up. His men said: don't do that, listen, we've got enough problems of our own. Why go making more problems, stirring up the Philistines, trying to help some people? What are they to us anyway?
David had a different heart! He carried in him the heart of a king; and a king, no matter what pain they're going through, is still thinking about how they can do what God called them to do. I've discovered this over the years. Most people who quit, do so when the pain came - instead of just bringing it to God, and then staying where they ought to stay, and doing what God said for them to do. They quit!
Youth leaders quit; pastors quit; people quit marriages, all kinds of things. They quit when they're in pain, rather than using that pain as an opportunity to fire them into the presence of God, learn some new things, and still keep looking out. You've got to keep looking out, or you will be consumed with your problems. He helped his family, and he helped these people - but did he get thanked for his help?
Saul heard where he was. He delivered the city, and afterwards everyone said: oh, you're great! Come on in Dave, we love you! You're a great guy, come on in! Bring your soldiers, we've got a feast for you! Saul heard about it and brought his armies towards them... David did this; Lord, Lord, you know what people are like - what are they going to do? Are they going to look after me; or are they going to betray me? Will they stand with me against Saul, now that I've helped them out; or will they turn on me like dogs?
God said: they're going to turn on you like dogs! He said: you'd better get out! You understand - he never needed the favor of people to make his decisions. People are fickle! Today they love you; tomorrow they've got an issue. Today you're wonderful; tomorrow they've said something behind your back - that's people! Get over it, it's life! What you need to do is: God, what should I do?
In this situation, he asked God whether these people would be his friends or not. It’s quite good for you to talk to God about your friends! Some people look like they're your friends - they say nice things to you today, but tomorrow they could deliver you up, just as easily. You need to listen to what God is saying about people. He says some things, and He can tell you what's in people's hearts, because He knows what's in their hearts.