1 Samuel 21:11-12 Turned Back to the Lord

 ”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’?” Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.“

‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Is this not David the king of the land? The Philistines of Gath recognized David as the king of the land of Israel. These ungodly men understood David’s destiny better than King Saul.

b. Did they not sing of him to one another in dances: The singing and dancing about David that swept the nation of Israel (1 Samuel 18:6-7) were also popular among the Philistines. If he didn’t know it before, now David found that there was a real price for fame.

c. David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid: David knew he was discovered and understood that King Achish would not let the man who killed Goliath go.

i. David’s words in Psalm 56 help us understand what happened here. The title of that Psalm identifies it as the song he wrote when the Philistines captured him in Gath. Apparently, although 1 Samuel 21 doesn’t detail it, the Philistines captured David when he came to Gath. David thought he could find anonymity or sympathy among the ungodly Philistines in Gath, but he was wrong. Psalm 56 describes David’s journey from fear to praise as a prisoner in Gath.

ii. Psalm 56 shows that the slide that started on the road from Jonathan and continued on into Gath has now stopped. David was on higher ground again. This was the difference between David and Saul. Both of them slipped but Saul kept sliding, while David turned back to the LORD.

Read Psalm 56: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2056&version=NIV

Turned Back to the Lord

David realized his mistake, asked for mercy and turned back to the Lord.

The Old Testament shows us what happened to ungodly nations and the people when turned away from the Lord. All the evil things that are happening in our land is a result of precisely that. We need a revival, to turn back to the Lord.

Will you join me in prayer for a revival for our government institutions, leaders, family and friends to turn back to the Lord?

Father God I lift up our divided country, our institutions, our leaders, our friends, our families and ask that the Holy Spirit draws them to your Son Jesus. Please start a revival so our Nation can once again be called a nation under God that does your will. Please heal our land. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Blessings 

1 Samuel 21:10 It Didn’t Make Sense!

 ”Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.“ ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. David arose and fled that day: David’s attempt to protect himself with clever lies instead of trusting God to protect him didn’t bring lasting results. He had to flee.

b. Went to Achish the king of Gath: David was now among the Philistines. He must have been discouraged or deceived to think he could find peaceful refuge among these enemies of Israel – especially as he carried Goliath’s sword into Goliath’s hometown.

i. It didn’t make sense for the man who carried Goliath’s sword to go to Goliath’s hometown (1 Samuel 17:4). It didn’t make sense for the man who was sustained by the sacred bread of God to find refuge among the pagans. It didn’t make sense for the man after God’s own heart to change his address to Gath. (Guzik)

It Didn’t Make Sense!

Like David we follow the same path when we sin. Afterwords we say to ourselves, it didn’t make sense!

“Let not your sense of sin make you think little of my Master. You are a great sinner, but he is a greater Saviour. Do not say that you have matched Christ, or overmatched him. Come, Goliath sinner, the Son of David can conquer thee or save thee yet: ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’” Spurgeon 

Unfortunately we will sin until the day we die because of our sin nature!

“Answer me this question, and I will tell you — Has God the Spirit taught you that you are accursed? Has he made you feel the bitterness of sin? Has he made you cry, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner?’ Then, my dear friend, Christ was cursed for you; and you are not cursed. You are not cursed now. Christ was cursed for you. Be of good cheer; if Christ was cursed for you, you cannot be cursed again.” Spurgeon 

Do you feel the bitterness of sin and say to yourself it didn’t make sense?

Then “Be of good cheer; if Christ was cursed for you, you cannot be cursed again.”

Blessings 

1 Samuel 21:7-9 Give It To Me!

 ”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. 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.” 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.”“ ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Doeg, an Edomite: We meet a character we will meet again. Doeg was chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul, and he was not an Israelite but an Edomite.

i. Chief of the herdsmen: The word translated chief means mighty but can also be used to mean violent or obstinate. Doeg will show himself to be a violent and obstinate man.

ii. Detained before the LORD: By what we see of Doeg and his character, it is hard to think that he did real spiritual business before the LORD at the tabernacle. He was probably fulfilling some ceremonial requirement related to his employment for the king of Israel.

b. Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? We can understand why David wanted a weapon and why he asked. But it is also sad that David continued his lie about being on the king’s business. David is desperately trying to avoid the king’s business because right now, the king’s business is to kill David.

i. Considering what the king’s business was, David told the truth when he said, “The king’s business required haste.” That was true, but not in the way David meant it.

ii. “It is painful to the last degree to see one whose faith towered to such a lofty height in the encounter with Goliath, coming down from that noble elevation, to find him resorting for self-protection to the lies and artifices of an impostor.” (Blaikie)

c. The sword of Goliath: David was happy to have a good weapon (There is none like it). As David held this sword, he should have remembered how he came to win it. He didn’t do it with lies and half-truths. He did it with a bold trust in God, a trust that believed God and trusted Him to sort out the consequences.

i. David can have the sword of Goliath in his arsenal, but he would be better equipped if he had the faith that killed Goliath. Was David now trusting in Philistine swords more than the shepherd’s tools? There was nothing wrong with Goliath’s sword – the LORD had used it before (1 Samuel 17:51), but only in the context of radical faith.

ii. “David lost confidence in God and in the fulfillment of God’s purpose for his life which had been revealed to him. He went to God’s house for comfort and help and guidance, but he was detected as being wrong in his soul. Instead of acknowledging the truth to the only one who could help him and confessing that he had been telling a lie, he ran for his life again.” (Redpath)

d. There is none like it; give it to me: Knowing that something is precious and wonderful makes us want it. Being in a time of trial or stress makes us want the wonderful thing all the more. If this was true of Goliath’s sword, it is even truer of the sword of the Spirit, God’s word. We should always say of God’s word, “give it to me.”

(Guzik)

i. “There are some who are bent on taking away the Word of God. Well, if they discard it, ‘Give it to me.’ There are some who want to put it up on the shelf, as a thing that has seen its best days. They suppose the old sword is rusty, and worn out, but we can say, ‘There is none like that; give it to me!’” (Spurgeon)

Give It To Me!

“Being in a time of trial or stress makes us want the wonderful thing all the more.”

How true! One thing I’ve learned in leading a twelve step program is that EVERYONE has or had an addiction of one type or another.

It’s in that time of stress our human nature seeks comfort, we crave it.

Ask yourself this question: 

What wonderful thing do I find comfort in during a time of trial or stress and say to myself self, give it to me?

Replace it with the Word of God ‘There is none like that; give it to me!’

Blessings 

1 Samuel 21:3-6 Traditions

 ”Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” 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.” 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.” 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.“ I Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Give me five loaves of bread: When David came to the tabernacle in Nob he was hungry and knew he needed food both now and later.

b. There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread: The tabernacle of the LORD had a table that held twelve loaves of bread, symbolizing God’s continual fellowship with Israel.

i. The importance and meaning of the bread are found in its name. Literally, showbread means “bread of faces.” It is bread associated with, and to be eaten before, the face of God. F.B. Meyer calls the showbread “presence-bread.” 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. In that culture eating together formed a bond of friendship that was permanent and sacred.

ii. The showbread was always to be fresh. Ahimelech would give David the old showbread, which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place. God wants our fellowship with Him, our time before His face, to be fresh.

c. If the young men have at least kept themselves from women: The showbread was not to be treated casually. In fact, it was to be eaten by the priests: And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place (Leviticus 24:9). While this passage in Leviticus does not specifically say that only priests can eat the showbread, it establishes the principle that it must be regarded as holy and can’t be distributed casually. So Ahimelech asked David for a basic level of ceremonial cleanness before he gave him the showbread.

d. Truly, women have been kept from us: David acted as if he had traveled with a group. What he said was true of himself, but there were no others traveling with him.

e. So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread: In giving David the bread, Ahimelech broke with priestly custom but not with God’s word. He rightly understood that human need was more important than Levitical observance.

i. When Jesus’ disciples were criticized for breaking religious custom by eating against traditions, Jesus used what Ahimelech did to explain the matter (Matthew 12:1-8). Jesus approved of what Ahimelech did, and Jesus honored him by standing on Ahimelech’s same ground.

ii. The point with Ahimelech and Jesus is powerful: human traditions are never more important than God’s word itself. If God had said, “Only the priests can eat this bread,” it would have been different. But God never said that. To put the only in there seemed logical, but it was adding to God’s word. We must never elevate our extension or application of God’s word to the same level as God’s word itself. (Guzik)

Traditions

Some Christian faiths use traditions in the form of a ritual mass for service and others use the Bible ”for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,“ Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We have always preferred a good Bible teaching church where you learn the word of God. But some churches wrongly believe that “works” is what brings salvation. 

Does your church adhere to a tradition of one type or another?

Blessings 

1 Samuel 21:1-2 Lying

”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?” 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.“ ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. To Ahimelech the priest: In his uncertain circumstances David went to the right place – the house of the LORD.

b. Ahimelech was afraid when he met David: It seemed unusual to Ahimelech that a prominent man like David wandered around the villages of Judea by himself. It made Ahimelech think something was wrong, so he asked David, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

i. It seems that Ahimelech knew nothing of the conflict between David and Saul. It seemed strange and dangerous to him that David traveled alone. Plus, we can imagine that David looked tired, weary, disheveled, and probably looked like he had been crying a lot.

c. The king has ordered me on some business: This was a plain lie. David came to the house of the LORD, but he lied to protect himself. David elaborated on his lie when he put false words in the mouth of Saul to establish an environment of secrecy (Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you), and when he referred to “my young men” (David was all alone).

i. In many ways, we can understand why David lied and even sympathize with him. Many of us would have done the same or worse in a similar situation. Later, David would come to bitterly regret this lie (as he says in 1 Samuel 22:22).

ii. “Some go about to excuse David’s lying here: but that cannot be. The consequences of it were very sad…and afterward made his soul melt for very heaviness.” (Trapp) (Guzik)

Lying

Lying is a two edged sword, people lie to prevent from being cut only to be cut because of the lie. 

I wonder what Ahimelech would have done if David told him the truth?

The men in our Life Recovery Bible Group discussed honesty last night. When a husband was open and honest with his wife about a sin, she got upset with him because of previously loosing trust. So there’s the dilemma! But with godly counseling, prayer and work he’s praying that they can heal their marriage.

It’s far better to be honest and not to lie because the Lord will honor you for the truth even though you may suffer repercussions for speaking the truth.

Have you ever been caught in a lie?

Blessings