Old Places

And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him. Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night. 1 Samuel 19

David never returned to the palace until he was king of Israel - some 20 years later! From now until the day Saul dies and David is crowned, David lives his life as a fugitive. - Guzik

After I moved away from my family in Orange County I would return every so often, and less and less as the years went by. I grew up in my grandparents' house, which was different than the house my family lived at. It had been several years since I had seen it so I took a drive over. The large house had been abandoned for nearly 10 years. In the back yard stood the remains of the wooden patio we would often play in as kids. The north fence still had a kind of dirt berm that used to be the junk pile area.
I remember the sin that happened there - my abuse as a child. "Oh Father, the sin that is on this land: forgive it and restore it to what you want it to be." And He has.

David's return to the palace after 20 years must have evoked some serious memories. "Oh God, the sin contained in these walls: forgive and restore." And so the Lord had.