1 Samuel 21: 1 – 15
Something is not right
21 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?” 2 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. 3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” 4 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.” 5 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.” 6 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. 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 chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. 8 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.” 9 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.” 10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 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’?” 12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 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. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 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?”
We often use the expression "something feels off" to explain that nagging feeling in the gut we get when anxiety over life creeps in. Have you ever had this feeling? You can’t shake the feeling that something is not right but you cannot put your finger on the answer.
No matter what situation you face it seems that the pattern of discomfort is the same.
Before you come to that conclusion which is after the fact of your uneasiness, is there anything you could have done to deal with this unique discernment?
Now that I’ve lived out my confusion many times I have five questions that made dealing with this weird feeling a bit easier:
1. What is the real cause of my uneasiness?
Identify the players in your current uncomfortable situation. What things are strange? You can make a mental note but if you have time go aside and list what conditions seem out of place.
2. How does [person, place, or thing] make me feel?
In the expression “Something feels off,” we tend to focus on the "something," i.e. how can that person, place, or thing act differently? But this is about how you feel. Things will always occur externally, but ultimately you create how you feel internally.
Usually something external causes your discernment which is internal to feel out of whack. What different things or conditions do you notice that are different or out of place?
3. What are my choices?
You are NEVER stuck. You ALWAYS have a choice. This involves thinking of your alternative methods that you can make to avoid being involved in something you are not comfortable with.
In the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 the apostle Paul teaches us that we have a way out of difficult situations, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God Is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
By recognizing your alternatives, whether that’s leaving, voicing your concerns, or altering circumstances, generates perspective on what’s possible in or out of your current situation.
4. Do the pros outweigh the cons?
Sometimes you are forced to agree or decline an uneasy request. However, in the real world it is very difficult to come up with a refusal to do something from a person superior to you such as in the military or in our jobs. You have to throw up a quick prayer to our Holy Father and seek His help like the apostle did when he stepped out of the boat. Peter cried out a quick and short prayer to our Holy Lord Jesus, ‘Lord save me!’
5. Am I seeking a resolution or alternative when pressured?
I like some current TV commercials which have a friend or neighbor ask if he or she knows anyone experienced in home service work. The other person responds that they might know someone. The other person says that is great and asks them to get two or three companies, check out their references and schedule the work to begin a few days later.
Instead of being swept up in having to do something you are fighting in your gut to avoid agreeing to, you need to come up with other suggestions or alternative that the other person might want to check out.
When we feel that nagging, we want to move to the right or left and resolve the questions immediately. Often the lesson is to get comfortable with the ambiguity and uncertainty. This situation is here to awaken the bravery that exists in everyone, without exception, to sit and feel what we feel.
When we can sit and rest with the discomfort, not striving for the illusion of security, we can turn the uneasy feeling to our advantage.
Today, we are going to come across a perfect example of someone who gets a feeling that something is wrong, and he fails to see the danger in the situation. Ultimately, in making the wrong decision in dealing with the advance warnings the man’s life will be forfeited along with all his co-workers.
Recognizing that he dares not return home to obtain food or weapons, the refugee David seeks help from Ahimelech the Priest (High Priest). He tells him a false story about being on a secret mission for Saul, and obtains his assistance, with the result that Ahimelech provides him with provisions and a weapon. But unfortunately, an Edomite servant of Saul is present at the Sanctuary and misinterprets what has happened, something which will later have unfortunate results.
21 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?”
Now that he was a man on the run, without provisions or weapons, and dared not go back to his hometown Bethlehem, David came to Nob, a town just north of Jerusalem (and within sight of it) where the Tabernacle had been set up and where Ahimelech was High Priest. David’s hope was that news had not yet reached there of Saul’s antagonism towards him. When Ahimelech saw Saul’s great general he met him with great deference, expressing surprise that he was alone. Can you just feel how the priest was feeling something was not right? It was not usual for such an important man to be on his own. The question the priest had was due rather to puzzlement, than suspicion.
2 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.
David’s reply was that he was on a secret mission about which he had been commanded not to talk, and that his young men were waiting for him elsewhere. There was no reason why Ahimelech should have doubted the truth of his words. But in fact, David was lying to the High Priest. I think you can agree with me that was not a good thing to do.
3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”
The fact that David was looking for bread so urgently is significant. It suggests that he had not in fact been in Bethlehem, where he could have found some and provisioned himself before he left but had been in hiding in the countryside unable to let anyone know that he was there. That being so he would be hungry and would know that he had to find some provisions from somewhere. And Saul he knew that Saul would be merciless with anyone who tried to help him, except he may have thought to Yahweh’s High Priest. That he was desperate comes out in the fact that he had been prepared to take this risk of ‘exposing’ himself so close to Gibeah to try to find bread.
4 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.”
The answer was probably hesitant. He had no ordinary (unholy) bread available. But what he did have was the showbread which had just been taken from the golden table in the Holy Place and had been replaced by new hot showbread. This was, however, holy and strictly only for priests. However it would appear that by this time the Levitical restrictions had been relaxed somewhat, so that it was now seen as possible for it to be eaten by anyone who was in a ‘holy’ state in the service of Yahweh.
5 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.”
David’s reply was that his men had abstained from sex for the past three days. How much more then must that be so after three days on their mission when they were being careful to avoid all that was ‘unclean’. Thus, the holy bread could be given to them without qualms.
6 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.
So, the priest gave him some of the holy bread (you did not say ‘no’ to the general of the ‘anointed of Yahweh’ unless you had to), because that was all the bread that was available. It had been taken off the Table that day and replaced by hot bread.
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 chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.
Can you see something unique going on here? In panic to the High Priest’s uneasiness David lied. Then he continues to tell more lies to cover up the first lie. However, lying in wait is another trial that will cause serious trouble. Please notice that Saul’s servant was ‘detained before Yahweh’ which means that somehow by coincidence he was led to this spot and just so happened to be conveniently around to take in all of David’s deceits.
8 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.”
I guess if we want to take away something positive from what is going on here is the encouragement that even individuals who are close to our Holy God falter just like we do. One time in my life I was going through the same type of bombardment like David was and this guy who in many years I never saw smile. Broke out in a big wide grin when I complained that I was having a really bad day. When I asked him why he was grinning from ear to ear, he told me that he never thought us Pastor’s ever had bad days. I replied, ‘if you only knew the trouble I’ve been in and seen on daily basis.’
We cannot avoid the implication here of David’s deceitfulness, and even of his unscrupulousness, in deceiving Ahimelech. The hero turns out for a short while to have feet of clay. Not only does he enter the house of Yahweh and obtain holy bread from him by deceit, but he also accepts the sword of Goliath, undoubtedly under deceitful stories. Both were, of course, actions that were outwardly understandable at a human level. He was hungry, and he had no weapons, and he knew that a vengeful king was on his tail, but in the event his deceit would result in a heavy price being paid by the priests, and we cannot honestly excuse it. All we can do is learn the lesson lest we do the same. We can hear a voice behind us that says, ‘Go, and do not do likewise’.
9 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.”
The honest and rather naive Ahimelech did not want to let down Saul’s most popular commander, and he explained to him that they did indeed have a sword on the premises. It was the sword of Goliath of Gath, ‘the Philistine’, whom David slew.
The situation was made even worse by where the sword was to be found. It was hung up, wrapped in a cloth, behind the ephod, the priestly garment by means of which truth could be obtained from Yahweh. If only Ahimelech had consulted the ephod what misery his house would have been spared. But he moved it aside in order to reach the sword for David.
10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
Having received the holy bread and the sword of Goliath by deceitful lies David fled from the area because of his fear of Saul, and went to Achish, king of Gath, no doubt wearing the sword of Goliath. His aim was probably to offer himself as a Hebrew mercenary leader to Achish. Thus he was prepared to become ‘almost a Philistine’. He was getting himself into deeper problems for by going this route he would have fight against his own people. Deceit was sadly leading to treachery, even if to him he appeared to have little alternative.
11 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’?”
However, even in his sin Yahweh was watching over him, with the result that the servants of Achish said to Achish, “Is this not David, the king of the land?” Please notice that it does not say ‘the king of Israel.’ And indeed what they did mean is brought out in the quotation that follows. Saul might be the titular king of Israel, but the one to whom the people of the land looked was David. He was king of their hearts. For compared with Saul’s thousands, he was seen as having slain ten thousands. And many of them Philistines at that! We do not know whether this was said in admiration or hatred. But either way it produced the right effect in David’s heart. He suddenly realized what he was doing.
12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
When David realised what the Philistines were saying, fear gripped his heart. He recognized that what they were saying put him in great danger. And he became fearful of what the king of Gath might do. The mighty conqueror of Goliath was thus reduced to abject terror. And all because he was there by deceit, wearing a sword that marked him out as an enemy.
13 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.
The contrast between the conqueror of Goliath and the crazy man of Gath that we now see here is hard to bear. For here this mighty hero changed his behavior and had to feign madness. This was what his deceit had brought him to. The fact that he was ‘in their hands’ probably suggests that he had been arrested. Thus in order to persuade them to let him go he scrabbled on the doors of the palace, and let spittle run down his beard, behaving like a madman. Madmen were treated with awe by the ancients for they saw them as possessed by the evil spirits. They would therefore be only too glad to let him go.
14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 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?”
When Achish saw the behavior of this sad spectacle whom his men had brought in he berated them. Could they not see that the man was mad? Why then had they brought the man to him, when he already had madmen enough in his court. Did they really think that he was going to take a man like this into his house as a servant of his household? Where were their brains?
The Psalm (Psalm 34) that David wrote after this episode, no doubt in the cave of Adullam, does in fact bring out David’s recognition of how Yahweh had delivered him. Even when burdened down with the consequences of deceit he recognized that his God had not forsaken him
