1 Samuel 21
1 Samuel 21
Shawn Bumpers / General
Introduction:
In our chapter, David flees after his best friend, Jonathan, admitted to him that Saul wants to kill him.
David’s flight to Nob marked the beginning of an exile that lasted about ten to 15 years.
• And in our chapter, while on the run, he stops at Nob where the tabernacle at that time stood, and asks the priest Ahimelech for food and a weapon.
David’s plan seems to work flawlessly, until we discover that Doeg, a man faithful to Saul, witnesses David and the priest giving David what he asks for.
• David then goes to the Philistine city of Gath … right into the midst of the enemy.
Once again, we find David depending on lies.
• David then fled to the cave of Adullam and organized his “outlaw band.”
• As more followers trickle in to join David, he moves his family to Moab.
Only one priest, Abiathar, survives.
Not all of David’s wilderness experiences are recorded.
But enough history has been given to show us that he was a man of faith and courage.
Psalm 18:1–3 NKJV
I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
It’s wonderful that David wrote so many encouraging psalms during his time of suffering.
Psalm 22:1 NKJV
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
Psalm 31:5 NKJV
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
It is amazing how men and women of faith can gradually become men and women of fear, unbelief, and self reliance.
If we get in a hurry, trust people, and trust our own plans, before long everything falls to pieces and we find ourselves out of the place of God’s blessing and protection.
V1-3
In his emergency David had quickly to decide the people he could count on as allies.
Food and shelter were his immediate needs, but he was also unarmed.
Nob is generally believed to lie just north of the city of Jerusalem, but it’s exact location is unknown today.
In David’s time it served as the site of the sanctuary (where the Tabernacle was) and was served by Aaron’s descendants.
Psalm 27:4–6 NKJV
One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Ahimelech was the brother of Ahiyah, who had joined Saul as his spiritual adviser when Samuel withdrew his services.
Knowing that Ahimelech was Ahiyah’s brother made David unsure whether to trust Ahimelech.
David was scheming instead of trusting.
Why couldn’t David just tell the truth?
V4-6
David was on the run from Saul, and didn’t have time to properly prepare.
When he came to the tabernacle in Nob, he was hungry, and knew he needed food both now and later.
David needed food and he needed a weapon.
What the priest did have was The holy bread, or bread of the Presence.
As you entered the tabernacle, the table of showbread stood on the right hand side, opposite the golden lampstand.
The table of showbread was made of acacia wood, overlaid with gold; it was 3 feet long, 1 foot 6 inches wide, and 2 feet 3 inches high.
Now, why did God have baked goods set in the Tabernacle on a gold table?
To eat the showbread was to eat God’s bread in God’s house as a friend and a guest of the LORD, enjoying His hospitality.
The reason that Ahimelech was able to give David from this bread is that the showbread was always to be fresh.
Now, look at David’s response in verse 5 … he is still holding onto the lie and making it sound like he’s got a group of men with him.
At the same time, he’s been running from Saul and away from his wife, so he meets the standard for ceremonial purity in this case.
To put the only in there might have seemed like the right and logical thing to do, but it was adding to God’s word.
Doeg’s presence at the tabernacle is a mystery.
He was an Edomite and therefore not an Israelite, but he was “detained before the Lord” at the sanctuary (1 Sam. 21:7).
However, he is probably not a shepherd, but a mercenary in the employ of Saul.
David knew that Doeg would report to Saul what he had seen at Nob and that this would mean trouble.
Back to the text, not only did David need food, but he needed a weapon.
And certainly, we can understand why David wants a weapon, and why he asks.
I have to wonder what David thought as he took the sword in his hands.
Did he think to how he came to win that sword for Israel?
At that time his was a trust that believed God and trusted Him to sort out the consequences.
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
However, David was very aware of the power of God’s Word.
Psalm 33:6 NKJV
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
Psalm 19:7–8 NKJV
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Psalm 119:11 NKJV
Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
V10-15
When David said goodbye to Jonathan, he did the right thing.
First, he went to the house of the LORD.
In fact, as he walks into the city, he has with him the sword of Goliath.
Perhaps David’s thinking was something like this:
Of course, it’s no excuse for not depending on the Lord as he had once done … but I’m just trying to think through what perhaps David was thinking.
David knew that he had been discovered, and that King Achish was not likely to let the man who killed Goliath go.
Remember that the song the Philistines were referencing was a celebration of David’s victory over Goliath, and remember that David has Goliath’s sword with him.
This might be David at his lowest.
David, in his fear, pretended to be mad, and this made it easy for him to escape unharmed.
Psalms 34 and Psalm 56 both came out of this experience.
The emphasis in Psalm 56 is on the slander and verbal attacks of the Philistine leaders as they tried to get their king to deal with David.
Psalm 56:10–11 NKJV
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?
Psalm 56:12 NKJV
Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
Apparently, although 1 Samuel 21 doesn’t give the details, the Philistines actually captured David when he came to Gath.
Psalm 56:3 NKJV
Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
When David trusted in himself or in the ungodly, he had forgotten that God was really for him. Now he remembers it!
Psalm 34:9 NKJV
Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
Psalm 34:4 NKJV
I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
David isn’t afraid anymore, but he is still in quite a mess.
He is still a captive of the Philistines, and therefore in a bad place.
• When David tried to protect himself with lies, and when he tried to find refuge among the ungodly, he was truly acting crazy.
• But when he was willing to be humbled, then he was acting with some sense.
James 4:10 NKJV
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
1 Samuel 22
v1-2
Escaping from enemy territory, David made for the area he knew: Adullam (the name means ‘refuge’) in Judah, halfway between Gath and Bethlehem.
All of David’s family joined him at the cave, which meant that his brothers deserted Saul’s army and became fugitives like David.
They had come to understand that David was God’s anointed king, so they linked up with the future of the nation.
Psalm 57:1 NKJV
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.
Psalm 142:5 NKJV
I cried out to You, O LORD:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
What looked like a cave to others was to David a divine sanctuary, for the Lord was his refuge (142:5).
He knew that God would keep his promises and give him the throne and the kingdom.
David sought to make sure that his mother and father were protected, so he asked the king of Moab to shelter them until his days of exile were over.
The Moabites were the descendants of Lot.
According to the second part of verse 4, David then returned to Adullam.
Some scholars believe he then moved his company to “the stronghold” or “fortress,” which some scholars take to be Masada.
The stronghold or fortress there had been around for a long time before King Herod built a fortified palace at Masada.
• After sending his parents to Moab (1 Samuel 22:1-5).
• After he spared Saul’s life at Engedi (En Gedi) (1 Samuel 24:22).
• When the Philistines were searching for him (2 Samuel 5:17).
Psalm 18:2 NKJV
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Metsudah was by the Dead Sea, about thirty-five miles southwest of Adullam.
But the term isn’t limited to this one place, either.
Conclusion
A refuge is a safe place and when the Bible describes God as our refuge, it is saying that God is our safe place when we need protection from something.
Knowing God as our refuge enables us to trust Him more freely.
Proverbs 18:10 NKJV
The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it and are safe.
The question we might have, though, is how do we make God our refuge?
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