Read 1 Samuel 21
David at Nob
1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”
5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.
8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”
David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
David at Gath
10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”
Go Deeper
This chapter is the beginning of Saul’s pursuit of David: a high-speed, action-packed chase full of many twists and turns. Leading up to this point, a lot has happened: the ark of the covenant was lost and recovered; Samuel became a priest and anointed both Saul and David; Jonathan helped David escape from the murderous wrath of his own father—the list could go on for a while.
At this point in the story, David has just left his home and his best friend. He is alone, tired, and hungry. He runs to a nearby town and finds the priest, asking for help. Here, David lies to the priest to get food, which may seem harmless at first glance, but has disastrous implications that will be explored in the next chapter.
In response to David’s plea for food, the priest gives David the only food available—the Bread of Presence. In this time, it was practice for a priest to enter the Holy Place in the Tabernacle with twelve freshly baked pieces of bread. This bread symbolized God’s presence and His care for our physical needs, and the bread that was replaced was to be eaten only by the priests. So, how does this apply to our story today? David ate the bread, even though he wasn’t a priest. Did God punish him for violating the law? Did lightning rain down from the heavens to strike him dead? No. David simply got the bread and the sword he had used to chop off Goliath’s head, and he left.
God is just, but He is also loving and understanding. He put the law in place to help His people remember that they would never measure up to His standards. In this reading, the priest put David’s needs and life ahead of religious ceremony because of the higher law of love. The laws were put in place to show the people how to live, but God also commands us to do good and to value life. Sin has consequences, but God is forgiving and understanding. Let’s remember that as we continue in our daily lives.
Questions
- What qualities do we see God display in this chapter?
- How did David fall short of God’s standards in this chapter? How have you fallen short recently?
- Read Matthew 12:1-8, in which the author references these events. What is one takeaway from this passage?
By The Way
Many of David’s psalms were written during this period of pursuit. In Psalms 18, 52, 53, and 57, we can see David’s many emotions during this time, but also his faith in God’s deliverance and His promises.
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6 responses to “1 Samuel 21”
What a difference a day or a few days make. We are believing God for this or that and the very next morning we wake up and start conniving our own plans without God in the mix. First David lies to the priest and gets bread and a weapon. Then David went right into the enemys camp but did not seek God before going. During the time he was in there, he was afraid and Psalm 34 came out of that time. He prayed, the Lord heard him, God was merciful to him and he escaped back to his own land.
We daily come across the dilema of being in “constant” sin. We say how nice someone looks, not because they look nice but because we have the “unction” of the Lord to lift this persons spirit. Is it true,(?) perhaps but ususally it is not in our own eyes. Not a lie but not a truth either. This is where David was with the bread. The positives for us is that Jesus came, died and God raised Him from the dead, and if you are a believer in Him then the sins that we did, do, and will commit (even in love and mercy) are paid for by Him. NOT a license to sin at all. This is like the story of the good smaritian or even like Corrie Ten Boon. Is sin still a sin no matter, yes, BUT GOD rich in mercy.
Search God, wait, listen then obey. Our stories will go much easier and better if we seek God. Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
God help me seek You first. Let my yes be yes. God search my heart and know my thoughts for me to get rid of my wicked ways. God let me slow down and not do tasks or anything hastily. Let my request be made known to You so that in all my ways I can acknowledge You as You direct my pathes. God I give You these minutes of this day. Thank You for directing me, thank You for me listening to hear and to obey as You guide me in these minutes today in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you’re like me, you’ve heard people confront you with questions like. “The Bible is full of terrible things, like David lying to the Priest…”
Even today, when I read these things, I first in my heart go down a road of, “wait a minute, is this right… is it OK to lie?”
These issues as JP says, creates a tension in my heart that I do not necessarily completely understand. I am OK to live in that tension of not fully understanding.
He then goes on to state, “I don’t want a God that man could completely comprehend and understand…I want a God bigger than that” (paraphrased as best I can recall)
In any case, I find myself telling people two things about scripture that is hard to comprehend from God’s Holy Word.
One, scripture is reporting for us “WHAT HAPPENED.” It’s historical. It’s accurate. It is not necessarily saying that God supports or condones what happened…but…it happened.
Two, from John Piper, we have this commentary on instances in scripture where lying or deception takes place.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/is-it-ever-right-to-lie#:~:text=The%20Bible%20sometimes%20commends%20misleading%20speech.&text=The%20Hebrew%20midwives%20deceive%20Pharaoh,8%3A3%E2%80%938).
My summary? I still struggle with this…not completely understanding when and if ever it is OK for me to lie, which at face value, would indicate to me that I am not trusting God…(?)
I am a work in process. Holy God, may I hear loudly from Holy Spirit to direct me in these ways…should you put me in a scenario to mislead evil to protect your people…
I just read a comment from William Booth founder of Salvation Army who saw this day coming,
“I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”
Yet in all of David’s mistakes/missteps, scripture records he was a man after God’s own heart. It’s proof that God can use anyone in spite of our failures and flaws. May God make us keenly aware of his righteous path, and may we be quick to follow.
6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread
Wonderful to read about this pragmatism!
I am so grateful for God’s grace and provisions, that even in my imperfection, He loves me unconditionally.