I Samuel 22:6-23, Psalm
52
Welcome! Today we
continue our series in I Samuel. I almost feel as though I should give a movie
rating before getting into today’s passage, something along the lines that this
passage is not suitable for young children, because I Samuel 22 is one of the
darkest episodes in the book, and maybe one of the darkest accounts of the
entire Old Testament.
In order to understand
and appreciate this account, we need to review some of the events prior to this
passage. First of all, the big picture: The Israelites were living under the
leadership of their first king, King Saul, who was turning out to be a worse
and worse king. Way back in Chapter 8, the Israelites had demanded to the
prophet Samuel that they be given a king like the nations around them. At that
time, Samuel told them that God already was their king, but they rejected this
explanation and persisted in their demands. God told Samuel to give them what
they want. Before long, God told Samuel that a fellow named Saul was to be
their king.
As king, Saul
repeatedly did things his own way, even disobeying God’s direct commands.
Ultimately, God rejected Saul, and Samuel informed Saul of this, explaining
that the kingdom would be given to someone else.
This someone else was
David, a humble boy shepherd, who, by God’s help, defeated the giant Goliath.
David’s great success led to him serving the king, first as a musician to
soothe him when he was tormented by a demon, and then as a leader of a portion
of Saul’s army. David and Saul’s son Jonathan became great friends.
Saul knew he was
serving as king on borrowed time, and he became intensely jealous of David and
his successes. This led to him trying on more than one occasion and in more
than one way to either get David killed or kill him directly. Ultimately, what
was attempted clandestinely came out in the open, and David fled. David returned
to tell Jonathan the hard news, and Jonathan initially disbelieved it, because
for it to be true meant that Saul had broken a vow made to Jonathan to never
harm David. But the truth was shown to Jonathan, and, after weeping together
about it, David left again, perhaps for good.
David went to several
places and tried several things to hide from Saul and his soldiers. One of the
first places David went to was to a place that priests served. Because the
details of this account are important for understanding today’s passage, let’s
look at the relevant verses, from I Sam. 21.
David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when
he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” – I Sam.
21:1
Ahimelek knew nothing of
what had happened. He expected David, a war hero and military commander, to be
with an entourage. David was not only alone, but he was not equipped with
provisions, weapons, anything. We don’t know why Ahimelek trembled, but one
real possibility is that David and his men had been in a terrible battle, and
David was the only one who had escaped.
David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission
and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you
on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five
loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.” – I Sam. 21:2-3
This is a lie. Why did David
not tell the truth? If David had told the truth, it would have put Ahimelek in
the awkward position in which he had to choose between helping David, whom he
greatly respected, and his king. If Ahimelek chose to stay true to Saul, he
would have provided nothing to David and would have also sent others to tell
Saul that David was here. If Ahimelek sided with David and helped him after
knowing the truth, it is possible that Saul would punish Ahimelek for his
disobedience, perhaps quite severely. So David probably reasoned that the lie
would both protect himself and protect Ahimelek.
Does this analysis justify
the lie? Should we lie in similar circumstances? This is a difficult question,
but generally, I believe the answer is no.
My reasoning is based on what we see in the life of Jesus. There is no recorded
instance of Jesus ever lying, even during his trials. He sometimes chose not to
answer at all, but he did not make up a story to avoid an undesirable outcome.
And, far from sheltering us, Jesus tells us up front that to side with Him is
to face the wrath of the world, of its spiritual and earthly kings. From John
15:
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you
as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember
what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted
me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey
yours also. They will treat you this way because of my
name, for they do not know the one who sent me. – John 15:18-21
So I believe David was
mistaken to take this approach. Now, David is a shadow, or “type” of Jesus, and
there is much about how David lived his life that is commendable, but he is also
human and fallible, just like us, and this is one of the times when he did not
make the best decision. One of the problems that results when you shelter
someone from the truth by lying is that the consequences are no longer the
responsibility of the person who has been lied to but are yours (along with any
other individuals directly involved).
Perhaps you have never
thought about it this way, but because Jesus chooses to be up front with us as
to the challenges and hardships and persecutions we may face as a consequence
of following Him, Jesus is not responsible for these hard things. Neither are
we, but my point is that it is completely inappropriate to blame Jesus for the
hard things we face as a result of choosing to follow Him. Now, there is more to
this – Jesus doesn’t only tell us
about the hardships we may face; He also promises us something. But we will
come back to that a little later.
Back to David and the
priest: David asks for five loves of bread or whatever can be found for “his
men.” Here is how the passage continues:
But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on
hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept
themselves from women.” David replied, “Indeed women have
been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even
on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,
since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been
removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on
the day it was taken away. – I Sam. 21:4-6
Now, Fred explained more
about the bread of the presence a couple of weeks ago, so I won’t go into this
again. I just want to point out that David is continuing his lie, expanding on
it, even as the priest is explaining the need for all who take this bread to be
holy. I don’t know this for certain, but I think the priest’s response, how he
worded it, was prompted by the Spirit of God, to specifically make it even more
awkward and painful, even a greater prick of the conscience of David for the
path he is choosing. But David doubles down on his lie. I’m not sure what David
had in mind when he said “How much more so today!” Was he referring to the made
up story about his men’s mission or about what had actually happened to him,
being forced to flee for his life? To us, who know the truth, David is not a
very good liar, both the content of the lie and the delivery of the lie is
weak. To my ear, David sounds very nervous, like he is talking far too much,
almost like the modern approach at humor in which a liar gets all giddy and
nervous as they try to hold their lie together. This approach to humor is found
in both Western and Eastern entertainment – you find it both in Disney and in
anime. So I suspect it is universally a source of humor – if so, it is because
it is a human behavior that is embarrassing in all cultures. In any case, David
got his bread.
Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the
Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd. – I Sam. 21:7
Why mention Doeg? Here we
also see a very modern approach to telling a story. Point out a random guy,
without explanation, setting things up for something that will happen later.
Later, for us, is today – Doeg will come into the story again shortly.
David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I
haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was
urgent.” The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you
killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the
ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David
said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” – I Sam. 21:8-9
The lie
continues. It has to – there is no rational explanation for why David would go
on an official mission without his weaponry. It’s hard for me to imagine a
mission so urgent that you couldn’t pick up your sword.
Ironically,
the only weapon here is Goliath’s sword, taken from David’s best moment of
faith-filled following of God, David’s long-ago battle with Goliath. It would
seem that this could have also been used by the Holy Spirit to prick David’s
conscience, to see the difference between his living by faith back then versus
his working out of fear at the present time. But David presses on.
I know that
God has worked this way in my life many times. As I start towards a path that
is not based on faith but on fear or greed or some other sin, God uses people
and events and my own mind to try to draw me back to the better road. Sometimes
I have listened, and sometimes I have not.
I believe
that God works in this way in all people’s lives, believers and unbelievers
alike. Unbelievers are often blind and deaf to what God is doing – a result of
tuning out His voice for a long time – but believers too can harden or deaden
themselves to what God is trying to communicate to them.
I don’t
have time today to go into depth in how to know whether a prompting is from
God, from the “other guy,” or from having a pickle at lunch. But in short what
I am talking about here are pricks of conscience – things we know from God’s
Word that are the right things to do – but we choose to do the opposite. God
will often let us go in the wrong way for quite some time, but the longer we do
so, the more painful the consequences. It is so much better to repent, quite
literally, to turn from the path we are on and go back on the path of
righteousness, the path that is clearly lit when we cling to Him in faith, as
He is our light.
I want to
jump ahead in the story of David. He ended up hiding out in a cave called the
cave of Adullam. Over time, members of his family and household and then others
joined with him. Ultimately, there were about 400 men who were him, and David
led them as their commander. I see God’s loving hand of provision here, as
person after person chooses to give up their comfort and potentially even their
lives so as to follow David. For me, it confirms that David’s initial choice to
lie at Nob, the place of the priests, was not the right one.
David’s 400
is again a foreshadowing of the New Testament; in particular, it foreshadows
the church, the body of followers of Jesus. In our relatively easy and
comfortable lives it is easy to lose connection to the fact that all around the
world there are believers living in caves and in much worse than caves as a
result of their decision let Jesus be their commander. I am reminded of the
great irony that the church is at its healthiest when it is persecuted.
The last
thing we read about David until the end of this chapter is I Samuel 22:5:
But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold.
Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. – I
Sam. 22:5
So David,
to his credit, follows the advice of this prophet. This is no small action.
David’s band of “merry men” at 400 people (probably plus wives, children, and
animals) would be pretty easy to spot once they left the caves. To leave the
caves made following God (for David) and following David (for David’s men) far
more dangerous.
I believe
there is a lesson for us here. It is tempting to stay in the cave when God
calls us out into the world. But God indeed calls us out of the cave. As Jesus
shared in the Sermon on the Mount,
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be
hidden. Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same
way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your Father in heaven. – Matt. 5:14-16
Do your
student friends know you are a Christian? Your coworkers? Build your town on a
hill. I struggled mightily with this when I was a new believer. Usually what
holds us back is fear. Let your love for and faith in Jesus overcome your fear.
Now I Sam.
22:5 is the last we hear about David for quite a while. The account shifts back
to Saul. David is now somewhat out in the open, so let’s see what happens.
Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And
Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah,
with all his officials standing at his side. He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will
the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you
commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? Is
that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a
covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me
that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.” –
I Sam. 22:6-8
This picture of Saul, spear
in hand, is very disconcerting. We remember what, again and again, Saul has
done with that spear. He has thrown it at David and even at Jonathan. I suspect
he has thrown it at many others as well. We learn that news of David has
reached Saul, and he is very angry. He is also jealous, and he is also pretty
unhinged. He continues to refuse to call David by his name, instead calling him
the son of Jesse, a phrase that emphasizes David’s humble beginnings.
Saul accuses everyone of
conspiring against him. He says that none of them are concerned about him. He
also believes some conspiracy theory that Jonathan has incited a servant to lie
in wait for Saul, presumably to kill him. There is no evidence anywhere in Scripture
that there is any truth to this theory.
I suspect Saul’s men knew he
was unhinged. I doubt there were many left among those who spent lots of time near
Saul that were happy that he was their king. Mostly I suspect they were just
terrified of him.
Note the detail that Saul’s
leaders are all Benjaminites. Saul has not really tried to unify the country,
to unify the tribes of Israel. His own tribe rules everything. Note that David
is of the tribe of Judah. Saul is basically saying, will a person from Judah
give all you Benjaminites anything remotely like what I do? This terribly
inappropriate behavior is yet one more example of the weakness and failure of
Saul as a leader.
But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials,
said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob. Ahimelek inquired of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the
Philistine.” – I Sam. 22:9-10
Here the story of Doeg
returns. It is not an Israelite who shares information about David, but this
Edomite who happened to be at Nob when David came there. Sharing this
information leads to, for Saul, the important question of why Ahimelek did not
send someone to him to report this.
Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all
the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the
king. Saul said,
“Listen now, son of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he answered. Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the
son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so
that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?” – I
Sam. 22:11-13
We don’t know how long it
took to get Ahimelek and the other priests to come, but probably not more than
a day. We should be careful not to read into scripture what is not there, but I
can just imagine Saul saying “Listen now, son of Ahitub,” with barely contained
anger, and I can imagine Ahimelek’s answer “Yes, my lord,” given with much fear
and trembling. Saul’s question is tainted with his conspiracy fears. David in
fact is not lying in wait to kill
Saul, but is simply trying to stay alive. And as we know from the earlier
passage, Ahimelek did not knowingly conspire against Saul; David lied to him
and Ahimelek assumed that what David said was true. He thought David was on an
urgent mission from Saul.
Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal
as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected
in your household? Was that
day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king
accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows
nothing at all about this whole affair.” – I Sam. 22:14-15
Even now, presumably months
later, Ahimelek knows nothing about what has transpired between David and Saul.
All of this is news to him, and in his response he is sure it cannot possibly
be true. He cannot believe David would lie in wait to kill Saul. As to what has
happened to cause David and Saul to become estranged, he knows nothing of it.
Now the title of this
message is No Turning Back, and by
this title I mean Saul’s response in this and the following verses. For a
Jewish listener, what happens next is absolutely unthinkable, unimaginable:
But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your
whole family.” Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the
priests of the Lord, because they
too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.”
But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests
of the Lord. – I Sam.
22:16-17
The priestly tribe has no
inheritance. They have no land. They are utterly dependent on the gifts and
offerings of the other tribes to survive. They were set apart by God for a most
holy service, to be the ones who offer sacrifices for the sins of the people
and thereby maintain relationship between the people and God. In the time of
Moses, rebellion against God’s order, against God’s establishment of who had
various roles, was met with severe punishment by God. So to order the killing
of God’s chosen priests was unthinkable. To do such a thing could lead to God
destroying all the Israelites, certainly those who were to perpetrate such a
hideous act. The priests were unarmed and untrained in war or fighting. To
attack them was like attacking sheep. And to kill them all when only the main
priest was in charge was a level of brutality that was shocking to its core.
The others had nothing to do with any of this.
Now the king’s officials
greatly feared Saul, but to their credit, it appears they feared God even more.
They simply stood there, in shock, but not moving. None of them was willing to
be the first one to raise up a sword against the innocent priests. Talk about a
constitutional crisis!
One of the terrible ironies
of this passage is that Saul got himself in so much trouble that he ultimately
lost the kingship over not killing
the peoples that were enemies of the Israelites, the Amalekites. Now, in
contrast, he is all too willing to kill, eager to murder people who have told
the truth and done nothing wrong.
The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the
priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed
eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men
and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. – I
Sam. 22:18-19
This is shocking and tragic
and evil. We know next to nothing about Doeg. In Chapter 21 he is called Saul’s
chief shepherd. This may mean that he was in charge of the personal flocks of
Saul or it may mean he was in charge of the flocks for the priestly sacrifices.
These may have been one and the same. Being an Edomite, he may have not
respected the purpose of the sacrifices and seen it as a waste. Why an Edomite
is with Saul at all is a question that is not answered. The most likely answer
in my opinion is that Saul picked him up as a boy during one of his early
conquests. As David effectively grew up in Saul’s court, it is possible that
Doeg had known David for a long time and also been jealous of his exploits like
Saul. But this is just conjecture.
In any case, it appears that
Doeg went even beyond Saul’s command. Not only did he kill all the priests, he
then went to Nob and slaughtered everyone in the town, even the babies. Even if
Saul did not command this, there is no evidence he did anything to prevent it
or that Doeg was punished for doing so.
Ironically, by ordering this
terrible crime, Saul undoubtedly continued to cause more and more people to
turn against him. His own actions were leading to the very thing he most
feared.
But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and
fled to join David. He told David
that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was
there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of
your whole family. Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The
man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”
– I Sam. 22:20-23
The
story now returns to David. One son of Ahimelek escapes and somehow finds David
and his band of followers. David learns of the terrible actions that have taken
place and takes responsibility for what has happened. Does this mean that David
feels responsible because he lied to Ahimelek, because he went to the priests
at all, or because of both reasons? I would guess the latter. The important
thing is that he promises to protect Abiathar. He assures him that he will
protect him and keep him safe.
I am
drawn back to the parallels between David and Christ. Earlier we read this from
John 15:
If the world hates you, keep
in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is,
you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is
why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A
servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do
not know the one who sent me. – John 15:18-21
Jesus
also protects his followers and promises to continue to protect them even after
he left this world. He prays the following in John 16:
I will remain in the world
no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy
Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they
may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that
name you gave me. – John 16:11-12a
David’s
protection was imperfect and temporary, but Jesus’ protection is eternal and
complete. This does not mean that Jesus shields us from all evil, but that He
protects our souls. Those who put their faith in Him and walk by faith will not
be disappointed. There is nothing that can take them away from Him. I also
think of this passage from 2 Thessalonians:
But the Lord is faithful, and he will
strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. – 2 Thess. 3:3
Also,
we have Jesus’ own words from John 10:
I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. – John 10:28
Although
we may experience hardship and even an unexpected death in this life, we have
the far greater promise and assurance of eternal protection. But how do we get
through the hard situations in this life? I think we can learn something from
David, who wrote about the times and situations of today’s passage in Psalm 52.
Let’s look at the entire Psalm, and then I’ll wrap up with a few conclusions.
Psalm 52: For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all
day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? You who practice deceit, your
tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor. You love evil rather
than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, you deceitful
tongue! – Psalm 52:1-4
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch
you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the
living. The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying, “Here
now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great
wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” – Psalm 52:5-7
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I
trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. For what you have done I will
always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in
your name, for your name is good. – Psalm 52:8-9
This
Psalm is in a structure we see in multiple Psalms. David begins by rebuking
Doeg – it is possible he is referring to Saul, but I don’t think so. Today we
are often uncomfortable with portions of Scripture like this. Aren’t we
supposed to forgive our enemies? Turn the other cheek?
Yes,
we are. But David is not talking to Doeg in person here, he is processing his
emotions. Anger is a natural and normal part of grief, and I think it is a
mistake to prematurely suppress it. David does not vow to take revenge himself,
but instead says that God will be the one to bring him down. I think processing
such anger in response to tragedy brought about by evil people is appropriate.
Later, there will be a time to appropriately pray for the persecutor that he
would repent, but initially, anger is not inappropriate. Some people may be
able to move through stages of grief from anger to forgiveness quickly, even in
a few days. We have seen examples of this in the news after several of the
gunman attacks on innocent people over the last few years.
But
I think it is important to see that although David expresses his anger, he does
not only stay there. In verses 8 and 9, David turns to the Lord. In great
contrast to the hideous evil of Doeg, David reminds himself of the unbounded
goodness of God. His love is unfailing,
without end. His very name is good.
In tremendous contrast to Saul, who has long ago rejected God, and whose
self-directed thoughts and actions have brought him to the point of being a
hideous murderer consumed by anger, instability, and fears of conspiracy, David
is at peace, full of hope in God, whose very name is good.
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