Madness and Lies
Here is a link for today’s audio of this post.
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
Luke 1:32 & 33
As the “Kings” series continues, we going to move quickly through the next several chapters. I hope you will make time to read 1 Samuel 20-22 verse by verse. This way, you won’t miss a single moment in this epic story.
Chapter twenty opens with King Saul, aggressively seeking to murder David. His son, Jonathan, has acted as a mediator between Saul and David. He remained loyal to David while never becoming disloyal to his father.
But Saul has made his wicked intentions very clear.
Jonathan and David have established a blood covenant with one another. They have each vowed complete loyalty to each other as more than friends. They are like brothers, unified in their faith to the Lord God.
Now Jonathan sees that David cannot safely remain in Saul’s presence. Jonathan tries one last time to convince Saul that David is loyal and true. But Saul reveals the treachery in his own black heart.
Saul became enraged with Jonathan for defending David.
Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.
1 Samuel 20:33
All that Jonathan can do now is to put a plan in motion to save David’s life. Click on the link to read the poignant story as the great friends say good-bye. (1 Samuel 20:35-42) The Bible records only one more reunion between the two friends before Jonathan’s death. (1 Samuel 23:15-18)
The wickedness of Saul is escalating. David has sought refuge in Nob. Nob is significant because it is the priestly city where the tabernacle was kept. (Exodus 25:8-9)
When David arrives at the tabernacle, he and his men are tired, hungry and probably fearful. They know that Saul will pursue them. The godly priest, Ahimelech (Abimelech in some translations) fears meeting with David because of Saul. So, the priest questions David.
…Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?”
Now David will tell Ahimelech a lie that would have deadly consequences later in the story.
David answered… “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission…Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”
1 Samuel 21:1-3
Ahimelech gave bread to David and his men. He also gave David a sword. This was a special sword. You may have guessed where this sword came from. It is one that David has held in his hands before.
David said to Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t even bring my sword or my weapons since 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, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there isn’t another one here.” “There’s none like it!” David said. “Give it to me.”
1 Samuel 21:8-9
David fled that day from Saul’s presence and went to King Achish of Gath.
1 Samuel 21:10
You may wonder why David fled to Gath, the hometown of Goliath, and a city of the enemy, the Philistines. The Scripture clearly tells us how David used a risky strategy to fool his enemies including Saul.
When David arrived in Gath. the people there recognized him. David became very fearful of the Philistines and their king, Achish. So, he pretended to be insane.
“Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me? Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me…”
Once again, David will be on the move, running from Saul.
So, David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there. In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
1 Samuel 22: 1 & 2
Next week we will witness the aftermath of David’s lie.
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Isaiah 52:7
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Statement of Faith
Baptist Faith and Message 2000
