And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where [was] a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
Ver. 3. And Saul went in to cover his feet.] To ease nature. See Judges 3:24, See Trapp on " Jdg 3:24 " Alexander Medices, duke of Florence, and son-in-law to Charles V, Emperor, was slain by his near kinsman Laurentius, as he was doing his easement. a
And David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.] Here and at this time it was that David said, "I will cry unto God most High, unto God that performeth all things for me," Psa 57:2 where the Chaldee hath, Unto God who sent the spider to make a web in the mouth of the cave for me. It may very well be that Saul, seeing the entrance of the cave overgrown with cobwebs, might think that no David lurked there. The like providence is reported for the preservation of Felix, a martyr, one time from his persecutors, whereupon Paulinus singeth -
“ Sic ubi Christus adest, nobis et aranea muro est:
At cui Christus abest, et murus aranea fiet ”
a Gal, Hist. Epit.