Day 122: 1 Samuel 21- Deceit and Development

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

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.
8 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.” 9 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.”

David Flees to Gath
10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

Meditation
David often lacks discernment. David’s deceitful display should disqualify him as a leader. In God’s sovereignty and steadfast love David’s mistakes are used to bring him to a higher level of usefulness in the Lord’s service. Psalm 34 and Psalm 56 are attributed to this chapter and evidence David’s development.

Ahimelech’s reception of David reveals the tension Israel feels from the friction between David and Saul. Regardless, he gave into David’s deception. David deceived twice in Nob before fleeing to enemy territory and pretending to be insane. The Hebrew literally translates, “made himself look foolish,” (13) a common destination when deceit is practiced.

David’s difficulties intensify but God hears his cry (Psalm 34:6) and accomplishes His purposes.  Divine grace does not disqualify leaders because of their failures when we turn from our deceit to the Divine, “trusting in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” (Psalm 52:8)

Jesus reflects on this episode when condemning the self-righteous Pharisees. 
 (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28) Jesus does not condemn David but demonstrates how Divine mercy condemns self-justification of Pharisees. Religious rituals must yield their place to works of necessity and mercy involved in meeting human needs as David experienced with the Bread of presence (see particularly Leviticus 24:5-9).

Deceit will destroy and divide unless we humbly take our sin to the Divine. When we repent we find, “the Lord redeems the life of His servants” (Psalm 34:22) and we discover the riches of His sovereign grace developing us for His saving purposes.

Richly Dwelling
-Do you see division and destruction from deceit in your life? Do you feel disqualified from serving Jesus?

-God develops David rather than disqualifying him as a leader. David repents and turns to the Lord. (Psalm 34, 52) Turn from your deceitful ways and turn to the Truth in repentance. Psalm 34 is a helpful guide in prayer.

-Divine mercy is offensive to Pharisees. Do you celebrate God’s sovereign grace shown to David or question Divine discernment? How can you celebrate the grace of the covenant love of our God?

Key Verse
13 So (David) changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.