Verses 1-6, “Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, 'Why are you alone, and no one is with you?' So David said to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, “Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.” And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.' And the priest answered David and said, 'There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.' Then David answered the priest, and said to him, 'Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.' So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.”
David showing up alone to Ahimelech, gave him reason to ask if everything was okay. Out of fear, he begins to lie. Even to the point of making up additional details, providing Saul's exact wording, in order to keep the lie going. Then he lied about having men with him, and how long they had been away from home. You see, one lie often leads to another and another. Some might justify his behavior here, based on the difficult situation he was in, but even David would later regret his behavior. I Samuel 22:22, “So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house.” You may ask yourself, "What other option did David have?" Rather than fearing man, he could have trusted God. Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”
The showbread represented the fellowship Israel had with God. It needed to be continually refreshed, rather than accepting stale old bread. Many Christians are content to let their walks become stale because they do not seek the Lord daily, and they have nothing fresh from the Lord, often with sin separating them from Him. Notice that Ahimelech may have broken the religious custom in giving David the bread, but he did not go against God. When speaking against the Pharisees, Jesus would point to this situation when he was accused of breaking their religious custom. Matthew 12:3-4, “But He said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?' ”
Verses 7-9, “Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. And David said to Ahimelech, 'Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.' So the priest said, 'The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.' And David said, 'There is none like it; give it to me.' ”
Doeg the Edomite, who worked for Saul, was lingering in the temple observing David taking the showbread and sword of Goliath. He would report these things to Saul and cause much trouble for David. There may be those in our midst, who come to church, but not for spiritual reasons. They like to gather information to be used against people and stir up trouble. We are told to mark these people and avoid them. Romans 16:17-18, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”
Verses 10-15, “Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, 'Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?” ' Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, 'Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?' ”
Because David chose to submit to his fears, he would now be forced to flee to the Philistines for safety. This was a crazy thought to find safety amongst Israel's enemies, especially since David killed Goliath, a resident of Gath. The reality is that God is our refuge; the One to whom we should run. Proverbs 18:10,
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.” Instead of being able to hide in Gath, David's fame would allow him to be noticed, captured, and made a prisoner of King Achish. During this time, David would have a change of heart, going from fear to trust. His thoughts were recorded for us in Psalms 56.
Psalms 56:1-13, “Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the Lord (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?”
In order to escape the King of Gath, David would humiliate himself by pretending to be insane. The king would chase him away, not wanting a madman in his presence. Psalms 34 records David's thoughts during this time after the Lord delivers him, even though he didn't deserve it. He appears to have even learned from his sins...notice how he warns against lying, and encourages other to trust in God!
Psalms 34:1-22, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”
When David fled from Saul, he first went to Nob, and saw Ahimelech the priest. He went to the house of the Lord, which was the right thing to do. When Ahimelech questioned him however, he made up a lie instead of just telling the truth. He then continued in his lie as he asked for bread and for a weapon. This was wrong. He stopped trusting in God and starting trusting in himself more. Ahimelech also gave him the sword which he used to cut off Goliath's head, a weapon used by God because of David's great faith. This weapon was nothing special. God chose to use it, but it was David's great faith that God was pleased with.
ReplyDeleteIn psalms 73, Asaph is talking about how the wicked didn't make sense until he went to the house of the Lord. Psalms 73:16-17- "When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me— Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end." Going to God when we are in trouble is exactly what we should do, and David did this, but he quickly starting trusting in his own abilities more. God has a plan, and He knows all things, so when something looks impossible on a human perspective because of man, that is when we need to trust in God! David knew God had anointed him to be king, but it didn't make any sense that Saul was seeking David's life, and had run him out of the kingdom, but God was going to use this time to teach David and prepare his heart.
David was afraid, and was in a tough situation, but there was no excuse for him to lie. He was going on a downward slope, and it continued as he went to the city of Gath, a city of the Philistines. He went to Israel's enemies to find refuge instead of looking to God for his refuge. He was the man who killed Goliath, and he even have the sword with him that he used, and the Philistines ended up capturing him. In Psalms 56, David had a heart change while he was captured by the Philistines. He had trusted in himself and other men instead of God, and he repented of that sin. Psalms 56:1-4- "Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?" David put his trust back in the Lord, and the Lord got him out of the mess he had created in his flesh.
We need to fully rely on the Lord and trust in him. If we start to rely on our flesh or other men, we get ourselves into huge messes. Psalms 118:6, 8-9- "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes." We need to seek the Lord, as He is our refuge. He is the only one able to protect us, and we need to wholly trust in Him. Psalms 46:1- "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble." God will often allow us to go through tough situations so that we learn to trust in him and not in our own abilities. It is our fleshly nature to rely on what we can do, but God has a perfect will, and we need to seek that! Everything may not make sense, but God has a reason. We need to get rid of our pride, relying on the Lord, so that He can use us for something great.
Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” 1sa.21.1-3.
ReplyDeleteDavid had been on the run for a few days and came to the house of God. The priest saw that he did not look right because David was afraid he lied to him. He did not trust that God would protect, and from that lie it got bigger.
Nomatter what situation we are lying is not the answer. Lying is a sin a will not accomplish anything. It will even get you into a bigger mess than you were in before. In that situation David should have
had faith that the Lord would protest him. We to need to have faith, not lying because we think that it will make the situation better.