Entrusted to a King: David’s Parents, Yahushua’s Mother, and the Kingdom That Redeems All
Bible Study
Fear, Fresh Anointing
1 Samuel, John, Matthew, Numbers
Introduction: What We Do When We Don’t Know What God Will Do
When life becomes uncertain, even faithful people make decisions rooted in fear. We try to protect what we love. We make plans. We choose what seems wise to protect what we care about.
But sometimes, like David, our decisions reflect, not rebellion—but a lack of revelation and a complete misunderstanding of what Yahweh is doing in our lives.
In 1 Samuel 22:3, David finds himself fleeing for his life and makes a desperate request to the King of Moab:
“Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
David is anointed, but not yet enthroned. He is called, but still waiting. He believes, but does not yet see the fruit of what Yahweh has promised him.
David’s Decision: Love Laced with Fear
This is not the bold confidence of a king—it’s the hesitant plea of a son caught in a storm of uncertainty. David loved his parents deeply, and in his fear for their safety, he made a human choice: he entrusted them to Moab, a nation outside the covenant of Yahweh.
Why Moab? Possibly because of Ruth—David’s great-grandmother—who was a Moabitess. Perhaps he hoped those ancestral ties would buy favor or protection. But this was not a faith-fueled act. It was survival. Moab represented “outside the covenant”.
And yet, in this moment of desperation, David turned to the wrong things—“until he knew what Elohim would do for him.”
He didn’t know— not yet.
He was still learning Yahweh’s faithfulness.
Samuel Anoints David
So, David does what many of us do, or have done, when the waiting stretches too long beyond our personal comfort or human understanding: he starts making plans.
Uncertain of what Yahweh will do, or when He will do it, David takes the next step based on logic, not revelation. David makes a temporary decision to secure his family’s safety—not out of rebellion, but out of anxiety.
Even so, many often read over “King of Moab,” like it’s neutral, but to the Hebrew reader steeped in Torah history, this was no small phrase. This would have landed like betrayal. It’s not just political—it’s spiritual adultery… spiritual compromise… mixture. Behavior unbecoming a follower of Yahweh.
But Yahweh doesn’t see it like, He sees David crying out from the cave, and He understands His faith is new.
This is not the only time in Scripture that we see David take matters into his own hands, but it is one of the few times he will not be made to suffer consequences for it.
Even so, David is a man of both flesh and faith, and his flesh has nowhere to hide—and that tension shows up repeatedly in his journey.
It’s easy to honor David’s victories and overlook his missteps, but both are part of the story. And they matter, because they point us forward to a King who would come and never waver—never, not even once.
And in that space of uncertainty, he entrusts his aging parents not to a priest, a prophet, or an Israelite elder—but to a Moabite king.
This moment, tucked quietly in the narrative of David’s wilderness years, sets up a powerful prophetic contrast with Yahushua the Messiah—who, in His final moments, entrusts His mother to a faithful disciple, not a foreign ruler.
What David did in weakness, Yahushua fulfilled in power.
What David did in waiting, Yahushua did in fulfillment.
This is not just a story about family. It’s about kingship, authority, and the difference between surviving and redeeming.
Understanding the Weight of David’s Request: The Moabite King Was No Neutral Figure
When David asked the king of Moab to shelter his parents, this wasn’t a harmless political favor—it was a deeply compromising move.
To understand the gravity, you have to know who the Moabites were.
The Moabites were descendants of Lot through incest (Genesis 19:37), and they were bitter enemies of Israel throughout the wilderness journey. Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22), seduced them into idolatry (Numbers 25), and were forbidden from entering Yahweh’s assembly to the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3).
By all covenant standards, this was not a safe or godly alliance—it was dangerous and unclean.
So when David, the anointed future king of Israel, entrusts his parents to the Moabite king, it is not just a survival tactic. It’s the equivalent of asking a pagan idol-worshiper—an enemy of Yahweh—to protect what is most precious.
To put it in modern terms:
It’s like calling a known occultist and saying, "Can you keep my family safe until God figures things out?"
Even if David had Moabite lineage through Ruth, (his great-grandmother), this does not justify the decision spiritually. His desperation overrode his discernment. It was not trust—it was a treaty with danger.
David is on the run. Hunted by Saul, isolated, and unsure of his future.
So why would David, the anointed king of Israel, send his parents to be in the care of a man who no friend of Israel, and was often in conflict with Yahweh’s people?
Because he simply didn’t know what else to do.
He says plainly, “till I know what God will do for me.”
David was not yet walking in full authority. He was still in the cave. Still in exile. Still unsure of the outcome of his calling.
So he chose protection over covenant.
He chose strategy over sanctity.
So, if you’re like me, you’re asking “So, why was David not punished?” And “So then how are his actions not seen as punishable rebellion like the census was?”
Great questions! I dig into those questions here…
John 19:26–27 – Yahushua Entrusts His Mother from the Cross
“When Yahushua saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
(John 19:26–27)
Now consider the contrast. Yahushua is not in a cave. He is not running from death. He is walking through it—by choice. He is on the cross, finishing the work the Father gave Him to do.
He is not waiting to see what God will do. He is doing it.
And from the cross, Yahushua ensures His mother is cared for—not by a Roman soldier, not by a political ruler, not by an outsider—but by a beloved disciple within the family of faith.
This moment redeems what David left incomplete.
Yahushua:
Does not escape suffering.
Does not entrust family to foreigners.
Does not wait in uncertainty.
Does not act out of fear.
He acts as a true and perfect King, fulfilling His duty even as He is dying.
A Tale of Two Kings: A Prophetic Comparison
Theme:
David (1 Samuel 22:3): Entrusting his family during uncertainty
Yahushua (John 19:26–27): Entrusting His family during fulfillment
Condition:
David: Fleeing, afraid, waiting to know God’s plan
Yahushua: Obedient unto death, fulfilling God’s plan
Entrusts Family To:
David: A Moabite king (outside the covenant)
Yahushua: Entrusted His mother to a beloved friend—no longer a servant, but a co-heir in the Kingdom He was establishing through the cross.
Spiritual Posture:
David: Survival, uncertainty
Yahushua: Redemption, authority
Location:
David: Mizpeh of Moab (place of exile)
Yahushua: Golgotha (place of sacrifice and victory)
Result:
David: Temporary safety through foreign alliance
Yahushua: Eternal family established through the cross
Biblical Expansion: Who Are Moab and John?
Moab – A Foreign Shelter
Moab is a land of compromise. In Numbers 22–25, Moabites seduced Israel into idolatry. In Ruth 1, however, we see Ruth the Moabitess grafted into the Messianic line through Boaz. So Moab represents both the danger of foreign influence and the surprising possibility of redemption.
Yet in 1 Samuel 22, David turns to Moab not because of faith, but because of lack of clarity. It is a pause, not a promise. A delay in David’s reign, not its establishment.
John – A Covenant Brother
Yahushua’s choice of John reflects something greater. John represents the new family of faith. Yahushua redefines what family is—not just by blood, but by belief.
“Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
(Matthew 12:50)
In entrusting Mary to John, Yahushua seals this new family structure with His own blood.
Devotional Application
We all face moments where we don’t know what God is doing.
In those moments, we’re tempted to protect, retreat, or delay.
Like David, we may do what seems safe.
But Yahushua invites us to live with full authority—not from fear, but from faith.
You may be in a cave season. You may feel exiled, uncertain, or overwhelmed.
But know this: Yahushua did not wait to see what the Father would do. He became the fulfillment of the Father’s will.
And because of that, your fear can be met with courage. Your hesitation can be covered by His obedience.
Reflection Questions
As stated above, “It’s easy to honor David’s victories and overlook his missteps, but both are part of the story.” Do you favor one part of your testimony over another? What would happen if you released it all to Yahweh?
Are you entrusting the people you love to Yahweh—or to temporary solutions?
What do you do when you don’t know what God will do for you?
Are you building a family of faith around you—or relying on foreign systems to carry you through?
Prayer
ABBA,
Forgive me for the times I’ve chosen safety over surrender.
Like David, I’ve tried to protect what I love by placing it in the hands of others, instead of trusting You fully.
But Yahushua didn’t escape or delay.
He fulfilled everything perfectly—even from the cross.
Teach me to walk in His courage.
Let me entrust what I love to You—and to Your covenant people.
In the Name of Yahushua,
Amen.
Share Your Faith
Have you ever found yourself in a place of survival like David?
Did Yahweh eventually lead you to a moment of clarity like Yahushua’s?
Share your story. Encourage others to entrust their “Adullam seasons” to the only King who never fails.
