Today on Renewing Your Mind. On the run, chased by an evil king, Saul hated David and sought to kill him. Day after day, week after week, month after month, David hid and fought and strategized. But as we'll see today, while David was a hero, he was also a sinner. His life as a fugitive led to compromise, and he began to break under the pressure. Here's Dr. R.C.
Sproul. We continue now with our study of the life of David. We've seen the tender and beautiful love and loyalty that was established between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. And we see that Jonathan discovered that Saul really was planning to kill David, and so he warned David so that David might flee for his safety. That brings us now to chapter 21 of the book of 1 Samuel, where we read at the beginning of the text that David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid when he met David and said to him, Now remember that David has now become famous, and famous as a mighty soldier, and that he's working in the guard of Saul.
And now David suddenly shows up without his troops all by himself and appears to the head priest at Nob, Ahimelech. And Ahimelech is wary. He's frightened.
He smells a rat. What's David doing here? Why is he here? Why aren't the soldiers with him? Why isn't Saul with him?
What's going on? And so he says to David, Why are you alone and no one is with you? And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has ordered me on some business. And he 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. Now therefore, what do you have on hand?
Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found. Do you see what's happening here? David is lying. He's trying to disguise his intentions of fleeing because now David has become a fugitive.
And fugitives have to protect themselves when they're on the run. So he makes up this story, and he says to Ahimelech, I'm here on the king's business. And I have some of his men back there someplace, and we're on our way on a mission, but it's a secret mission. I'm not allowed to tell you why I'm here, but let me just say we need some food. We need some bread. We need provisions, and so I have come for you and you at the king's behest to ask for the provision of bread. And so here's the priest who sees the servant of the king, comes to him, and said, I need food.
The priest has been consecrated and ordained to be a minister of God, and among the responsibilities of the priest is to be a minister of mercy. And David is talking about a need here of hunger. And the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread here, but there is holy bread if the young men have at least kept themselves from women. And then David answered the priest and said to him, truly women have been kept 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.
And so what David does is lie some more about this because the priest is saying to him, David, the only bread we have here is the bread that is on the altar, on the table of showbread. And you know the laws about that that God gave to our fathers, that that is only to be consumed by the priests as part of the ceremony and the ritual that attends the worship of the tabernacle. However, there is always this provision that in times of real and dire circumstances of need, it is permissible to use this consecrated bread that has now become uncommon for a common purpose if the need is present. That's why even the laws in the church today, for example, on the celebration of the sacrament, most churches prohibit wildcat celebrations of the Lord's Supper that the clergy have to administrate it, that the clergy have to administrate it in most churches, and there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed. But even then, there are provisions in most churches, canon law, for rare and extenuating circumstances.
For example, if a group of men are in a prison camp during war and there's no ordained clergymen among them, they're allowed to appoint one in their midst to celebrate the sacrament and so on. We have those kinds of special provisions in the case of an emergency, and this very incident becomes a bone of contention in the New Testament when Jesus and His disciples are hungry on the Sabbath day, and they go up into a grain field, and they harvest the grain which involved labor on the Sabbath day. And when the Pharisees rebuked Jesus and told Him to command His disciples to cease and desist from eating that on the Sabbath day, Jesus said, hey, did not David eat the bread from the table of showbread when it was necessary?
And so it is lawful to meet the basic needs of people even if it means using the consecrated material. The only problem with this story is that David lies, is that David rests out of the priest the provisions from the holy table by virtue of deceit. But in any case, we read in verse 6 of chapter 21, 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. Now while this is all going on, there's another visitor in Nob, and he is mentioned in verse 7, but keep him in mind.
Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord, and his name was Doig, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. Now this Doig is hearing the conversation that is going on between David and the priest. He's eavesdropping. He's observing.
He's trying to pick up snatches of the conversation, trying to figure out. He recognizes David and wonders what in the world David is doing here. And so while he's listening, David says to Himalek, Is there not on hand here a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither. I have not brought my sword nor my weapons, because the king's business required haste. Here I am without a sword, without a weapon, and the only reason I didn't bring mine, Himalek, another lie, is because I had to rush on this urgent mission for the king. And so the priest said, Well, the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. And if you want to take that, take it, for there is no other except that one. And David said, There is none like it.
Give it to me. And so David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish, the king of Gath. This is the first time he does that. He'll return there later as we will see. But now he comes to the king of Gath, and remember where Gath is. Gath is one of the five kingdoms or major city-states of the Philistine nation. Gath was the hometown of Goliath.
So here comes David now as he flees from Nob, and he goes to the Philistines, the arch enemies of the Israelites. And he comes walking into the town and to the king of Gath. Now he doesn't come without a sword. He's carrying a sword, and whose sword is it? He's Goliath's sword.
Everybody in Gath knows whose sword that is. And here comes David, and the king is terrified. And the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands? Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.
See, he thought, oh, these people are all rising up. They recognize me. They're afraid of me. The king's afraid of me. He hates me.
He wants revenge. What's going to happen now? The whole army of the Philistines are going to come down on my head, and I'm not going to get out of here alive.
I've gone from the frying pan into the fire. I got rid of Saul. Now I have to deal with another king, the king of the Philistines. So what does David do?
He's very enterprising, very clever. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended madness in their hands. He scratched on the door of the gate and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Rather than appearing as a noble knight prepared for battle, he makes himself like the disguised Ulysses on his return to Ithaca. He comes looking like a beggar. He comes scratching at the door.
He allows saliva to flow out of the side of his mouth and slurp down and stick in his beard, making himself look like a helpless, impotent madman. And that's the effect he desired, and that's the effect he communicated, because Achish then said to his servants, look, you see the man's insane. Why have you brought him to me?
Do I have need of madmen that you've brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? And Achish then said to his man in my presence, shall this fellow come into my house? So David escaped from Gath and goes now to a cave of a dual lamb.
And when his brothers and all his father's house heard about it, they went down there to him. Now if we see what's going on, this is rapid movement. This is the life of a fugitive. Remember, how can you ever forget the television series with David Jansen, the fugitive, and every week was a new episode, every week a new situation, every week a new city. He'd have to leave. As soon as he'd be anywhere for any length of time and somebody would have a clue to his identity, he'd have to keep moving. That's the life of a fugitive, and that's what we're seeing here with David.
There's nowhere that he has yet been able to be safe. And so he goes to the cave of a dual lamb, and the word gets back to his father's house, and they all come down to him. Now verse 2 of chapter 22 I find interesting. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. And he became captain over them, and there were about 400 men with him.
Surely there's a story in our own history that comes to mind immediately. Robin Hood and his merry men who were exiles, the dregs of society, they were indeed a motley crew who were seeking refuge from the fury of wicked Prince John and the sheriff of Nottingham. And so they took to the woods, and there they sought sanctuary. So David now becomes a general, a general of a group of rag-tag mercenaries, all there for their own agenda, people who themselves are fugitives.
They are wanted to go to debtor's prison. They owe money, so they flee, perhaps wanted by the law for other reasons, broken, corrupt men, and they come, and this is David's kingdom. This is David's army. So, continuing in chapter 22, we hear of David's fleeing from Adullam to Moab and all these different places, and he is warned wherever he goes that he is in danger, and so he continues to flee. But in the middle of the chapter, in verse 8, Saul says to his servants, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, make you all captains of thousands and captains and hunters? All of you have conspired against me, and there's no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse. And there's not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie and wait as it is this day. Saul finds out of David's escape.
He finds out of the collaboration of Jonathan, and now he brings in all his guards, all his servants, all his staff, and he said, you're all in this together. Not one of you has had the guts to come to me and tell me about this betrayal of my son and of David's whereabouts. I want David. Where is he? Where is he? Well, guess who's there?
Our friend Doak, the Edomite. And he said to the king, I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitib. And he inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. And so the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitib. And all his father's house the priests were in Nob, and they all came to the king. And Saul said, Here now. And he answered, Here am I, my Lord. And Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait as it is this day? Why did you do it, Ahimelech?
You have aided and abetted a criminal. There's a price on David's head. The king has decreed that he is to be sought out and destroyed.
And what happens? He comes to you, you feed him, you pray for him, and you give him the sword of Goliath. Now what's Ahimelech's reaction to all of this?
Ahimelech answered the king, verse 14, and said, Who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king's own son-in-law, who goes at your bidding and is honorable in your house, that I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me. Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to any in the house of my father, for your father, for your servant knew nothing of this. I didn't know little. I didn't know much. I didn't know anything. Why would I assume that David was in trouble with you?
Nobody told me that. I thought I was honoring you by helping one of your servants. And so the king says, Oh, I see. Well, that's all right.
That's not what he said. He said, You shall surely die, you and all your father's house. And then the king said to the guards who stood about him, This shows the depth of the depravity to which Saul has sunk. He gives the royal command to his soldiers, Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.
But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg, You turn and kill the priests. So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priest and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. The slaughter of the clergy by the command of Saul.
Ahimelech and his priests were cut down that day. To whom do we attribute the guilt of this treachery? Certainly the immediate guilt belongs to Saul and to Doeg who did this diabolical act, but who is it that put them in this position? It was David who, trusting not in the providence of God and in the promise of God to be his refuge and his strength, a very present help in times of trouble, David dreamed up his own scenario, his own machinations. He lied to Ahimelech, and through the treachery of David's lie, Ahimelech is now exposed to this kind of slaughter, and death comes to his house. At the end of the chapter, verse 20, we read this, Now one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitib named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord's priests. And David said to Abiathar, I knew it. I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul, I have caused the death of all of the persons of your father's house.
Stay with me and don't be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you will be safe. David swears an oath to Abiathar who is from the family of Ahimelech because he is stricken with remorse that his relationship to his father had caused his father's death, and now David pledges to protect the surviving son. But we see in this brief capitulation of rapid turn of events, of David fleeing from one place to the next, how David is losing his confidence. He's losing control. He's come undone. He's resorting to lies.
He's resorting to deceit. He's resorting to violence and treachery in order to save himself from the wrath of Saul. Where is the shepherd boy that had been anointed by Samuel? Where is this boy who was so innocent, who was a man after God's own heart, who trusted in the living God? Now, like a vagabond, like a fugitive, like a criminal on the loose, David's character is falling apart. It's tragic to see David begin to stagger under the weight of his circumstances, isn't it? But at the same time, we can be encouraged. God works with faulty people just like you and me. Thanks for listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Saturday. I'm Lee Webb.
R.C. will return in just a moment with a final thought for us. I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that the faults and brokenness of our heroes in the Bible are not hidden. It reminds us of what Luther said, that we are at the same time saint and sinner. Studying God's Word as we have today in this message by Dr. Sproul provides us with perspective for how we are to live life, Coram Deo, before the face of God. With that in mind, I'd like to recommend our resource offer. It's the special edition of Dr. Sproul's series, Dust to Glory. It's a 57-part study tour that explores the themes and events of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. And this special edition set provides an extra disc containing the study guide for the series. So with your financial gift of any amount to Ligonier Ministries, request Dust to Glory.
You can do that online at renewingyourmind.org, or you can call us at 1-800-435-4343. Another great place to find biblical teaching is on RefNet, our 24-hour internet radio station. Tune in for free at any time, and you'll be encouraged by the teaching ministries of Alistair Begg, John MacArthur, and of course, Dr. R.C.
Sproul. Plus, you'll hear audiobooks, Bible reading, and music. You can listen right now at refnet.fm, or you can download the free RefNet app for your Apple or Android device. Now, here's R.C. again. In our Coram Deo thought for today, and let me remind you what we mean by Coram Deo, what we mean by Coram Deo. It is the Latin expression that means before the face of God, or in the presence of God. And the point is for us to remember that all of our lives are lived every day before His eyes, before His face. That was true of David as he fled to these various points in the wilderness. But David, while he was being pursued by Saul, at the same time was assuming that he was outside the scope of the face of God, that God was no longer looking at him.
If you go and read the Psalms that David writes at various points in his life, you will see that there are those periods of depression that he goes through where he senses the horrible absence of God. And when that happens, his behavior begins to disintegrate. Just last week I said to my wife, I was under enormous pressure, had all kinds of deadlines, and I was behind. And you know how sometimes you get a frenetic pace when you're behind, and your patience wears thin. And I said to my wife, I said, honey, let me apologize in advance if I get short with you in the next couple of days.
Don't take it personally if I do. What was I doing? I was asking for a plenary indulgence for my sin before I committed it. And sure enough, I did the very things I predicted that I would, and then I had to go to her and apologize for it. But that's what happens to us when we're uptight, when we're under pressure, when the stress comes in major doses.
We begin to forget everything that we believe and everything that we know is true. And so I want to remind you and to remind myself that we live all of our lives, even in times of stress, quorum Deo, before the face of God. And we will see a wonderful example of that in David's life next week as Dr. Sproul continues this series. When David has an opportunity to exact revenge on Saul, it's a moment that will prove David's character. So join us next Saturday for Renewing Your Mind.
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