Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 23:7

"And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars." — 1 Samuel 23:7 (ASV)

God hath delivered him into mine hand. —Saul knew there was little chance of being able to capture or kill his enemy while he was roaming freely through the desert and forests south of Palestine, which stretched far southward beyond the reach of any armed force Saul could gather; but there was a hope of bringing about his enemy’s destruction, either through treachery or a hand-to-hand encounter, in a confined space like Keilah, a city with bars and gates.

Saul and his counselors knew too well with whom they had to deal regarding the citizens of that faithless, thankless city. It is strange, after all that had passed, that Saul could delude himself that his cause was the cause of God, and that David was the reprobate and rejected. The Hebrew word here is remarkable: God has “repudiated or rejected him.” The Septuagint renders it “sold him” (into my hands).