1 Samuel 21:1-22:5

21 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? ² And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. ³ Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. ⁴ And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. ⁵ And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. ⁶ So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. ⁷ 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 chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. ⁸ And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. ⁹ And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. ¹⁰ And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? ¹² And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. ¹⁴ Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? 22 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. ² And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.³ And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.⁴ And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.⁵ And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

After being warned by and embracing his friend Jonathan, David would enter into a new phase that would last for the next ten years of his life on his way to the throne of Israel; he would be on the run from King Saul. This period of his life is perhaps best understood metaphorically as a rollercoaster ride spiritually and circumstantially. He would experience ups and downs, failures, and victories, all under the sovereign care, guidance, and providence of God. During that time, God would shape David into the king that He wanted him to be. He would iron out David’s rough places and teach David what it was to trust in Him completely. Alan Redpath’s words are so helpful and true to describe what David would be enduring when he said, “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.” All believers embark on a similar journey. We are saved in a moment where we are born again and pass from death into life. We are brought into God’s kingdom and His family instantly. However, there is a process that we call sanctification that all believers undergo whereby God teaches, corrects, molds, and disciplines us as we walk with Him so that He might accomplish His grand purpose in our lives of conforming us “into the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). That difficult period of David’s life on the run from Saul would begin with him going down to Nob, where the sanctuary of the Lord and the priests were. It is there that God, through David’s imperfect methods, would guide and supply David as He would teach David to trust in Him. 1 Samuel 21:1-22:5 takes David to Nob, Gath, and to the cave Adullam. In each of these three places, we will learn about the importance of trusting in God daily for His provision, protection, and instruction.

First, we learn that we must look for God’s daily provision. On the run from Saul, David went down to Nob where he knew that the priests of God were tending the sanctuary. He knew that the priests would have food and supplies that he could use to sustain him while on the run. David lied to Ahimelech about being on a mission from the king when he asked for Ahimelech to give him the loaves of shewbread that were reserved for the priests. These loaves were not lawful for others to eat, but because of David’s convincing story, Ahimelech gave David the bread. This would put Ahimelech and all of the other priests and Levites in danger because Doeg, the Edomite, was present. He was a loyal servant of Saul and would tell Saul what Ahimelech did for David. This would lead to Ahimelech and the priests being put to death and the entire town of Nob being destroyed, despite the fact that Ahimelech had no idea that David was actually being hunted by Saul. The point of this section is not the rules of the priesthood or even that David lied, but it is that God provided for David. David would actually look back on this time in reflection in Psalm 34:13 when he wrote, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” David learned through this scenario that instead of taking matters into his own hands, manipulating, or lying, he should trust in the Lord (Psalm 34:15-20). The shewbread was a perpetual reminder of God’s sufficiency and provision for the twelve tribes of Israel. He showed that to be the case by providing for His anointed king. David’s life teaches us that you and I do not have to take matters into our own hands. Instead, we must look to the Lord and seek to honor Him as we trust in Him. Ultimately, this imperfect scenario in David’s life points us forward to God’s perfect provision for us, the Lord Jesus Christ, who comes as God’s true Messiah (Anointed One) and is Himself “the Bread of Life” (John 6:35).

Next, we learn that we must lean on God’s daily protection. David also requested the sword of Goliath that had made its way into the possession of the priests at Nob. Since David had escaped in a hurry in 1 Samuel 20, he had no weapons with which to protect himself. Here, Ahimelech supplied him with such a weapon for protection. Despite God meeting his need, David acted once again in fear and fled to Achish (a king of the Philistines) in Gath. He went down into enemy territory. That tells us that he felt safer in enemy territory than in Israel, but it also shows a lack of trust that the Lord would protect him. Acting in fear and panic very rarely results in wise decision-making and that is what we see on display here. Running to Achish in Gath (Goliath’s hometown) put David in immediate (and worse) danger because the Philistines knew him to be a great thorn in their side in war. He had killed “ten thousands” of their men and slain their champion, Goliath. Now, he was alone and Achish received word that David had arrived. When he was brought before Achish, David had to take matters further into his hands to escape and so he acted like a madman. Before we get caught in the trap of thinking that David’s cunning or human wisdom there was the means of his survival, we must look at the big picture. This is not about David’s survival instincts here. In fact, David had to deceive and lie once again to escape. Instead, it is about how God preserved David despite his fearful decision-making because God had a purpose for David and a promise to fulfill in his life. This is about God’s protection and preservation, not David’s cunning. David would reflect on this time and realize this when he wrote in Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” In Psalm 34:15, he wrote of the understanding that instead of panicking and operating in fear, he should have recognized that “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”  The best of our schemes will fail. We can manipulate, maneuver, and meddle, but it is ultimately the Lord that must uphold us. His desire for us is to learn to trust in His daily protection, not in our cunning or craftiness, and certainly not our sinful impulses from fear.

Lastly, we learn that we must listen to God’s daily instruction. Fleeing from Achish, God providentially brought David to the cave Adullam. Here, David would be reunited with his family (who it seems had deserted Saul’s army and joined him) and he would also be joined by 400 men who were among the downcast of Saul’s kingdom. This cave, while a place marked by trial and being on the run from Saul despite having done no wrong toward the one he was on the run from, would serve as a place where God would teach David as he reflected on where the Lord had brought him from and where He was taking him to. We get Psalm 34 and 57 during David’s time in this cave and, in each Psalm, David reflected on the importance of trusting in the Lord through trial instead of taking matters into his own hands. Further, in the 400 men that were dejected with Saul’s kingdom, God would foreshadow the ministry of Jesus Christ who would come and call those who were “weary” and “heavy laden” with the kingdom of this world (Matthew 11:28-30) to come to Him and find “rest” for their souls. David would be a mentor and godly influence on those men and they would serve as his most trusted officials when he would become king. Also, God sent Gad, the seer (prophet), to David who would provide instruction for him from the Lord. Samuel had departed Saul because Saul refused to listen to the Lord. Now, God would provide His instruction to His true chosen king, David. After sending his family to the land of Moab (relatives of his via Ruth), Gad instructed David to go into Judah and David did so because Saul was about to be hot on his trail again. This minor detail in the text speaks volumes. We must never shun, nor count lightly the blessing of God’s instruction from His Word. We must never shun the inner witness of the Holy Spirit as He convicts, comforts, and guides us in obedience to God’s Word. That is a precious gift and blessing. Here, God met David’s greatest need in the cave, a Word from the Lord. We must learn to rely upon the provision of God’s Word.

How do you live your life? Is it governed by fear and paranoia? Do you rely on your own cunning, wisdom, and skill? Do you continually resort to deception, manipulation, or self-advancement to get what you want or where you want to be? Or, do you simply trust in the Lord? This hits home in even the seemingly “good” areas of life like working hard. Do we work hard to glorify God as faithful ambassadors of Christ or do we work hard because we feel it all depends on us and we have to get it done? God daily provides for His own, protects His own, and instructs His own. Let us look to what He gives to us, not what we can accomplish on our own apart from Him. God has ultimately given us all that we need for life, death, and eternity in His Son. We, therefore, need not fear or live our lives driven by fear because in Him we have everything. He provides for our salvation and needs. He protects us from the “flaming darts” of the enemy and delivers us from every trial and affliction victorious (Romans 8:31-39; Ephesians 6:10-18). He has given us His Word and Spirit that we might know Him and His will for us. Let’s look to His provision, lean on His protection, and listen to His instruction. Our job is simply to trust and obey. It is in Him that we find true rest (Matthew 11:28-30).