Hunted day and night by Saul, David found himself constantly seeking a place to hide. Always in fear of being killed, he and his 600 men finally found themselves holed up in a cave.
1 Sam 23:13-14(a) Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day… ESV
The wilderness… what a place to be stuck with your whole world hunting you down. Has that happened to you, or maybe I should ask, have you been to Ziph lately?
Ziph (zeef) is an interesting word in Hebrew, and as it relates to David it tells us something about how God operates. You know, those times when it seems like life is just one major challenge after another, one crisis piled on the other. Those times when it feels like you’ve been driven into a dry wilderness and God is nowhere in sight. Well, it’s during those times that we have a choice. We can choose to suffer in our cave or we can spend the time finding out why we’re there. In David’s case, the Lord sent him to the Wilderness of Ziph for one purpose… Ziph means “refining place.”
Refining is an interesting process. As the heat is steadily increased, more and more of the ore’s impurities float to the top to be skimmed off by the refiner. It’s a process that continues until he can look down into the liquid and see his reflection. It’s then that all of the impurities have been removed. That’s the process that God used in Ziph to bring about the very best in David. And instead of wringing his hands, David used that time to develop a deep intimacy with the Lord and a passion for Him that resulted in an understanding that allowed him to write his many psalms. When he was down and out was the time that he allowed God to deal with him.
In my book, Wake Up And Rest, the Ziphs in our life represent a necessary part of our spiritual growth. As we walk through our betrothal to the King of Kings here on earth, we’ll go through our wilderness times as our bridegroom slowly and steadily turns our inward righteousness into outward righteousness. He gave us His righteousness the moment we became His bride, but it’s during our time waiting for His return that He takes us through the refining process to reveal it to the world around us. As our refiner His goal is to look at us and see fulfilled what He planned for us before we were born:
Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ESV
Jesus is the One who is refining (preparing) us. He is the One who is cleansing our wedding dress of every spot and blemish with His refining fire. When we walk down the aisle on that day, He wants to be looking at a bride that reflects His perfect image; His perfect character. And for us to be that bride we need to spend time with Him every now and again in the Wilderness of Ziph.
How long does the process of affliction, the process of refining take? I’m afraid it’s longer than we think because it takes a while for the impurities to be burned off and for His righteousness, His character, to been seen in us, bringing Him glory! So, when it seems like our Saul (Satan) is relentlessly pursuing us and we’ve been driven into a cave in the wilderness, that’s when we need to remember:
1 Sam 23:14(b)… but God did not give him into his hand. ESV
But God… what an awesome phrase, we see it all through the Bible. Satan may hunt and hound us but God will be there for us just like He was for David. When you find yourself in the wilderness you need to remember that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).
Yes, Satan continually hunts us down like a roaring lion and drives us into Ziph. But that’s when we need to be like David and let our refiner do His work to bring out the “very best” in us… His Righteousness.
The next time you find yourself in Ziph just remember… But God!