Scripture: 1 Samuel 21:1-15
Sermon Series: 1 Samuel: God of Reversals – Sermon 22
At 3:30 p.m. on June 6, 2007, Ben Carpenter (picture) a 21-year-old man with muscular dystrophy, was driving his electric-powered wheelchair down the sidewalk in Paw Paw, Michigan. As he approached the crosswalk at the corner of Red Arrow Highway and Hazen Street, a semi-truck came to a halt at the traffic light. Ben, in his wheelchair began to cross the street just a few feet in front of the towering truck. But when the light turned green, somehow the driver of the truck didn’t see Ben.
When the truck struck Ben’s wheelchair, the wheelchair turned, now facing forward, and the handles in the back of the wheelchair. The handles wedged in the truck’s grille and the wheelchair kept rolling. Ben, wearing a seatbelt, was strapped securely in his chair. The truck driver was oblivious to the fact that he’d struck the wheelchair, so the semi picked up speed, soon reaching 50+ mph. Still the wheelchair and Ben were pinned dangerously on the front, a trail of rubber from the wheelchair tires stretching out behind them.
Frantic observers called 911. People waved their arms and tried to get the driver’s attention, all to no avail. Two off- duty policemen saw what was happening and began to pursue the truck. Yet on he drove oblivious to the fact that he had Ben stuck to the front of his tractor trailer. Finally, after two terrifying miles, the driver pulled into a trucking company parking lot, still clueless to the presence of Ben Carpenter pinned to the front of his truck. Thankfully, Ben was unharmed.
What a ride! What a terrifying ride! Ben was absolutely helpless, driven by forces outside of his control. Life can feel like that sometimes. Do you ever feel like life is out control and you’re on the front end of a tractor trailer that is driving you with terrifying speed and you don’t know what’s going to happen? Maybe you’re here today and you feel that way.
In 1 Samuel 21 (p. 244) I think that David felt like that. His life is spinning out of control. Ajahn Brahm (picture) wasn’t far from the truth when he said, “The secret of life is…everything is out of control.” What do we do When life is out of control? Well, we must not do what David did, though we certainly understand why he did what he did.
David is on the run for his life. Often we say rather glibly, “just pray” or “trust God.” But sometimes we trust God and things don’t improve. Often they get worse. David’s trust in God didn’t get King Saul to take the contract off David’s life. David’s become a fugitive. For the next decade, he’ll be constantly on the run for his life.
So far, David has narrowly escaped attempts to kill him. It’s over a dozen times in the last few chapters. After Saul’s most recent attempt to pin David’s guts to the wall with a spear, David fled. First, he ran to Samuel the prophet at Ramah to find safety. In 1 Samuel 20 David runs to Jonathan, his best friend in Gibeah. In desperation, he asked Jonathan to lie to his father. David hoped that lie would reveal Saul’s plot to murder David. It did, but it also nearly cost Jonathan his life as, in a rage, Saul threw a spear at his son. Then, David and Jonathan part ways. It seemed that it was no longer safe for David anywhere. No longer was Saul just committed to killing David, he’s now committed to killing anyone he thought was helping David.
It’s a dark period for David. He’s alone and desperate. David may be the anointed and coming king of God, but right now, it doesn’t look that way. The future looked hopeless. David felt like everyone was against him. His life is spinning out of control.
David is depressed, lonely, broken and terrified. And he did what we often do when we feel that life is out of control – he gave into fear. Fear of Saul temporarily replaced faith in the Lord. “Fear is always the enemy of faith.” Yet wonderfully, Dale Ralph Davis notes (picture), “Even in their most desperate moments, the Lord does not let go of His servants.”
When Jonathan leaves David, he has a place to go. He returns home to Gibeah and the palace. But where can David go? Our home gives us a sense of security but David doesn’t have one. He has no safe place. He’s on the run, crisscrossing the country. Not having a safe place adds to our fear. So what do you do When life is out of control? How should we respond? Too often we’re like David and give into fear when God wants us to trust Him.
Our text mentions geography, Nob and Gath (map) Nob is about 21⁄2 miles from Gibeah where David is. This chapter centers around these two places. If you’re taking notes…
1.Fear can drive us to be deceitful with our words. Therapist, Arlin Cuncic (picture) says that fear causes us to lie for five main reasons: To avoid feelings of shame, to avoid punishment, to fit in, to get out of doing things or to hide your anxiety.
David lies out of fear. His life is on the line. He’s desperate so he flees to Nob. Nob has become the new city for priests after Shiloh was overrun by the Philistines under Eli.
David first runs to the potential security of Ahimelech the priest. While David is the one terrified, verse 1 says, “And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, ‘Why are you alone, and no one with you?’” None of us
would have been surprised if we’d found “trembling” as a description of David. He’s the one fearful for his life. But there’s something about this strange encounter that causes Ahimelech to tremble.
David isn’t sure he can trust Ahimelech, after all, he’s the brother of Ahijah, the priest who serves as Saul’s chaplain. Will Ahimelech rat David out to Saul? Can he trust him? And Ahimelech isn’t sure he can trust David. He probably knows that David’s ties to the royal family are tentative. Add to that, David is traveling alone. It makes Ahimelech suspicious.
Ahimelech is the great-grandson of Eli. Some of you on the AP track of 1 Samuel remember that when we last saw Eli, before he tipped backwards and died, that it was a trembling Eli, trembling before the presence of the Lord. Now here’s his great-grandson, trembling in this encounter with David.
We have to assume there was something about David’s appearance that frightened Ahimelech. His question is an obvious one: “Why are you alone?” It wasn’t normal. Ahimelech knew that David, given his status, should be traveling with an entourage. It’d be like a 5-star general traveling alone. He’d have a team accompanying him, so Ahimelech feels very wary.
But David has a cover story and lies about his purpose. We’ve considered this problem of lying several times in the David and Saul narrative. While the Bible doesn’t explicitly condemn those who felt compelled to lie in extreme situations, it never approves of it. A lie is still a lie, even when told with good intentions to protect someone.
The Bible doesn’t record these lies to teach us that it’s okay to be dishonest. Scripture never covers up sin. It’s evidence too that this is God’s Word because the Bible is truthful about its heroes, even when they sin. Eugene Peterson (picture) reminds us, “David’s isn’t an ideal life but an actual life.” Real people make mistakes. They sin. Real people tell lies but wonderfully, God loves us anyway. It’s why we desperately need the cross.
Whether David’s answer was premeditated or spontaneous, he tells the priest that he’s on his majesty’s secret service. He creates the notion in the mind of the priest that there are actually people in his group and a rendezvous is planned later on. It’s all a fabrication.
Yet, it’s an indication of what’s becoming a disturbing pattern. We’ve already seen that when his wife, Michal, did her cover story, David was part of it. It was David who came up with the lie Jonathan told his father to explain David’s absence from the feast. Now in facing Ahimelech, he lies again. David’s new default position is to lie. Lying easily becomes a habit.
David didn’t have to lie. He could have trusted God and told the truth, but he trusted himself and lied. Dishonesty doesn’t change what is bad into something good because of the situation. A lie is still a lie. And though I may lie, for example, if someone comes to the front door of my house and says, “I’ve come to kill your wife. Is she in the house?” While I may lie under that pressure, it is still a lie and remains a lie. The people of God must be committed to tell the truth.
Unlike the situational ethicist, who says, “Don’t worry about it, it’s the only thing you could do” the Bible-believer says, “I caved to the pressure. It was the only thing I was prepared to do, but when I knelt by my bed that night, I asked God for forgiveness for breaking His law and telling lies.”
David lies under pressure. This is important. In light of his great future collapse in 2 Samuel of his adultery and murder, David lies about everything and it hits the fan. That pattern was birthed here. “Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.” It’s never right to lie and it’s never good. In chapter 22, we’ll discover the ramifications of David’s lies on others’ lives.
David could have trusted God, but he trusted himself and lied. God is a God of truth. It’s why He hates lies. Proverbs 12:22, “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.”
Scripture seems to indicate that fear is the biggest motivator to lie. It’s a big temptation when you’re afraid. Lying may seem like your only option. But lying demonstrates a lack of faith in God and always has consequences.
Mercy comes before ceremonial law or legalism. In his book, The Grace Awakening, Chuck Swindoll (picture) tells the story of a Christian college where they had very strict Sabbath or Sunday rules. Nobody on that campus was supposed to do any sort of work at all on Sunday. Well, one guy on the campus spied his wife out on Sunday hanging a few articles of clothes up to dry. So guess what he did? He turned in his wife to college authorities for punishment! I’ll bet they had a good marriage after that.
You’ll find legalism for everything in a Christian’s personal life to church practices. Years ago I had someone tell me we were a liberal church because we didn’t have a Wednesday night service. It’s legalism.
Some of you grew up in legalism. “Legalism is when Christians put non-biblical rules before a relationship with God but think that they’re somehow pleasing God. It adds human rules to divine laws and treats them as divine.”
When David asks Ahimelech for food, it’s a very practical request. After hiding in the field waiting for Jonathan, David had probably been without food for days. Then, he’d just hiked two miles to Nob. He’s probably starving so he asks for
whatever bread Ahimelech had on hand. There was no time to bake fresh bread. David only had time for what was already prepared.
As a fugitive, David was trying to get in and out of Nob as fast as he can. This posed a problem. The only bread readily available was consecrated bread, the holy bread or Shew Bread (picture) which sat on the table in the Holy place. Under the Mosaic Law it was only for priests. Leviticus 24 talks about this bread. There were 12 loaves, one for each tribe in Israel. It was replaced every week on the Sabbath with fresh bread. But only priests were allowed to eat the leftover bread. Yet, Ahimelech was willing to give David and his imaginary group of men this bread, but they at least needed to have kept themselves from sexual relationships with women to be consecrated.
Lest we misunderstand what’s going on, sex in marriage is a good thing. God created it. It’s one of God’s greatest blessings going back to the Garden. In the Leviticus holiness code, any loss of blood or other bodily fluids, such as those associated with sexual activity, rendered someone ceremonially unclean for a day. If Ahimelech gave David and his men this bread, they at least needed to be ritually clean. David told Ahimelech that was the case.
David keeps spinning lie after lie about his mission. He said that his men were ceremonially clean on every mission, which was especially true for this top-secret mission. But there is no mission, there are no men. Ahimelech buys the lie giving him the holy bread because it’s the only thing there.
So why did Ahimelech violate the Law and give David this bread? Jesus talked about this event in Gospels. At the time, Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath. They were picking heads of grain and eating them as they walked. This was allowed under God’s Law. But the Pharisees were critical of Jesus and his disciples. They claimed this was work and harvesting on the Sabbath, thus it violated God’s law.
Jesus directs them to this account. “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests…If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (Matthew 12:3-4, 7). Jesus’ point is that David was starving. Giving David holy bread, if that was the only bread available, was the right thing to do. Mercy for people in need is more important than ceremonial law. God’s law was intended to be a blessing to us, not a club to beat us.
Ahimelech properly understood it was more important to feed a starving David than the ritual observance of the law. It’s a reminder to us. God’s Word and His laws are intended to be a blessing and a gift to us. They’re not to be misused as a club. God always desires us to show mercy. And when David is on the run, even when he lies, God still takes care of him.
This is important! God gave us rules for our good and protection. When we follow His rules, good results. When we seek the good of others, we follow God’s rules. It’s the reason for rules – to love God and do good to others.
When we don’t trust God’s protection, we trust in human weapons. Verse 8 would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. “Then David said to Ahimelech, ‘Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.’ And the priest said, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.’ And David said, ‘There is none like that; give it to me’” (vss. 8-9).
As R.E. Shay said, “Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit.” If Goliath’s sword couldn’t protect the giant from a kid with a rock, would it really protect David? Where’s the David who said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty” (1 Samuel 17:45).
His faith in God had vanished like dew in the morning sun. In seeking the help of his enemies and enemy weapons, David is acknowledging his lack of trust in the living God. He may have Goliath’s sword but he’d be better equipped if he had the faith that had taken out Goliath. His lies gets worse and worse. Think about it, what soldier on a mission for a king leaves his weapons behind? It’s like a plumber forgetting his wrenches.
2. Fear can drive us to be oblivious to enemies who are watching. Growing up I had a neighbor who never shared his middle name. It was Adolph. Some names should never be used, like Doeg. Verse 7, “Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.” Doeg’s name could be translated “violent.” You may remember that the Edomites were descendants of Esau and archenemies of Israel.
We’ll meet Doeg again and we won’t be pleased to see him. We’re not sure why Doeg is in Nob though it may have been some sort of punishment. But he’s loyal to Saul and knows there is a price on David’s head. Only a momentary glance should send a shudder in our heart. He’s an evil man, a spy, and will bring death and destruction.
He’s the last guy you want to be listening in while this is taking place. The text says he was “detained before the Lord.” We’re unsure of what that means. Was he detained because he was ceremonially waiting for something? It’s all
conjecture. We do know that the Lord had him there and he’s listening in. But David was so consumed with fear, he’s not paying attention. He lied, he wasn’t trusting God and others paid the price.
3. Fear can drive us to be deceitful in our actions. Ask anyone David’s most famous story and they’ll tell you that he was the one who killed Goliath with a sling. So where David runs to escape Saul is crazy. Goliath was from Gath and that’s exactly where David flees. Not only that David walks into Gath carrying Goliath’s sword. “And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath” (1 Samuel 21:10). It’d be like showing up at a Packer game in a Bears’ sweatshirt.
The only place David thinks he’ll be safe is out of Saul’s domain. What he does is nuts. He travels 25 miles, possibly, right across the valley of Elah, where he’d killed Goliath, down to the five cities of the Philistines. And he goes to Goliath’s hometown. What would the widows of Gath think? It’d be like a steer walking into a meat grinder. It shows how terrified he is. When Gath is your best hope, you’re in real trouble. Afterall, what’s David been doing since he took out Goliath – killing Philistines. But now he fears Saul more than he feared the Philistines.
It’s sad that the same one who said that God had delivered the lion and bear into his hand, never mentions God once. It’s only later in the Psalms that were written during this period when he again turns his heart to God.
David probably went undercover but eventually he’s recognized and captured. He’s “in their hands” (vs. 13). For the first time the text tells us that David “was much afraid” (vs. 12). Apparently, the Philistines listened to Israel’s Top 40 station and knew the number one hit, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
With Ahimelech, David told lies. With Achish, he lived out lies. It’s all crazy and David acts like he’s crazy. Pagans had a custom of ignoring those who were insane, lest their gods be offended. David scrawls graffiti on the walls and drools. He realized that his life was as much at risk in the royal court of Gath as it was in Gibeah. A beard was an important symbol of manhood. Desecrating one’s own beard is an obvious sign of derangement.
God can use even our enemies to remind us of His plans. Saul is determined David will never sit on the throne yet the Philistines refer to David as “king of the land” (vs. 11). They recall his fame as a warrior. Heathens understood David’s destiny better than King Saul.
David’s worst enemy wasn’t Saul or the Philistines, it was his own fear. Fear drove him to consort with the enemy. He went to Gath to enlist the help of Israel’s enemy. Fear can drive us as Christians to consort with the enemy.
Normally we do it in the realm of how we think, and particularly how we think about our culture—which for most of us, constitutes the worst enemy of our Christian walk. We consort with the enemy by buying into the values, prejudices and pleasures of this world’s system. Going over to the Dark Side has reduced Christian influence in our culture to the lowest point that it’s possibly ever been. The culture, instead of being changed by us has changed us so that we’re virtually just Philistines in our worldview and lifestyle.
What causes you to fear? What are you willing to do, how far are you willing to go, because of fear?
Yet, Gath is where David finally came to his senses. When David was at the bottom, when he’s terrified for his life, he finally stops trusting in his lies. He stops being driven by fear and turns back to God. After this time David writes a
number of Psalms that give us a window into his heart.
Conclusion: Frederich Buechner (picture) writes, “The worst isn’t the last thing about the world. It’s the next to the last thing. The last thing is the best.” Wonderfully, this isn’t David’s last act. He has a wake-up call, much of what he wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit in the Psalms, specifically Psalm 34 and 56. They show that David moves from fear to faith.
How about us? All of us struggle with fear of something or at some level. Will we continue to live in fear or will we turn to God in faith? Are you running to a Nob or Gath today? No matter how we feel or how frightened we are, the safest place in the world for us is in the will of God. What are the applications we can take from this into our lives this week?
Application #1. When life falls apart, we must not try to save ourselves by lies or deceit. We must turn to the God who loves us and hasn’t forgotten us. He promises to fulfill His purposes for us. David tried to save himself by lying to a priest, trusting in the failed security of the sword of Goliath, and running for safety to the enemy city of Gath. All of them failed him and led to disaster. It’s only when David repented and called out to the God who loved him that he found rescue and hope. The same is true for us.
Application #2. We may turn our back on God, but He will never turn His back on us. God loved David and didn’t leave David in the brokenness of his messy choices. As David wrote in Psalm 34, “This poor man cried, the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his trouble.”
Application #3. Sin always complicates and increases a problem; it does not diminish it. David told lies and then had to tell more lies, and then had to put on a fake act. God didn’t need David’s deception. He could have protected David in Saul’s palace.
Sin is like a noxious weed. It will keep reproducing until it’s out of control. How much better to trust God to handle the consequences of our obedience.
Application #4. After God saves us and restores us, He calls us to trust Him and obey His Word…even if it is hard.
After God answered David’s prayers for rescue, God will have him return to Israel to face his future even though his life is in danger. God will continually protect him no matter what.
Application #5. God has provided for our greatest needs. As David received the provision of the sacred bread, Jesus is the true bread that meets our greatest need. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:51).
David could praise God for his protection in continually sparing his life, but God’s greater protection is in Jesus Christ, protecting us even in death and eternity. David’s rejoicing in Psalm 34 applies very directly to Christ’s sin-redeeming death on the cross. “TheLordredeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned” (Psalm 34:22).
Only in Christ’s cross do we find protection for this life and the next. Even when life is out of control, it’s only in the cross that we’re eternally safe. My friend, have you trusted Christ’s cross for your eternal safety?