1 Samuel 25:23-44 - Saved from Destruction by Grace

1 Samuel 25:23-44

23 Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24 So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 25 Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.”

36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37 So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.

39 So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”

41 Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives.

44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

The account of David and Abigail against the evil intent of her husband Nabal comes to a righteous conclusion here.  While David was going to defend his calling as the jointed king against the foolish and worthless Nabal (as his name described him) by wiping out him and his male heirs, Abigail stood in the gap between them by providing the food needed that her husband denied them and causing David to open his eyes to grace shown him by the LORD through her.  He heard her plea for mercy and to protect himself from seeking personal revenge.  She said, “He [God] has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself.”  A wise woman mediated the grace of God for David’s and the kingdom’s good by keeping blood from his hands as planned in the heat of the moment.  David blessed the LORD, respected her, and sent her home in a blessing of peace.  The wicked foolish man had been partying at home when she arrived and did not hear from his wife the near destruction he had escaped until the next morning when he sobered up.  The news made his heart grow still and he looked as lifeless as a stone until his death ten days later from the news of the escape of him and his sons from a certain destruction at the hand of the anointed of God.  We likewise bear witness of the bad news of impending destruction in the final judgment on all who reject the Anointed of God who offers mercy in forgiving grace in His name through repentance from sin and faith in Him and His mediating work on the cross to reconcile us (Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20-21) with Himself by grace alone (Romans 3:24, 5:2, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5) in Christ alone (Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5) by trusting Him alone by faith for his faithful deliverance from that certain eternal (Romans 3:23, 6:23) sentence.  Once foolish (Titus 3:3-4, 5, 6-7) ourselves like Nabal as we fought against and denied the Lord as the Anointed of God, Christ-Messiah, we had our eyes opened by the Mediator Jesus Christ to see the grace of eternally-atoning forgiveness by Him and His offering for us and our sin on the cross of our former curse under sin as we turned from sin to know Him and His infinite grace.  We also have been saved from destruction by mediating grace, only ours in the final Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:15, 12:24) is spiritual and never-ending.  And as David took his mediator Abigail as wife, our Mediator has taken we who trust in Christ to be His bride forever (Romans 7:4, 1 Corinthians 6:17) now and forever upon His return.  Such is the reward of our deliverance from destruction by the great grace (Ephesians 2:7) of our Lord!

1 Samuel 25:1-22 - Beauty and the Worthless Beast

1 Samuel 25:1-22

Death of Samuel

1 Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

David and the Wife of Nabal

2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

4 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

9 So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

12 So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.

14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. 15 But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. 22 May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”

After the prophet Samuel who anointed David as the true king died, David and his band of loyal brothers came near Carmel by the house of a rich descendant of loyal Caleb.  This wealthy man Nabal had a wife called Abigail who had good understanding and a beautiful appearance.  Her husband, unfortunately, was the opposite; he was both harsh and evil, a true scoundrel as foolish his name (1 Samuel 25:25) depicted him.  David visited him to inform Nabal that they had been protecting his flock and shepherds all the while they were there, and therefore asked if he could return the blessing by providing some sustenance for him and his men.  The foolish and evil response to civility and good will was to disregard David as a breakaway servant of Saul who was unworthy of giving any of his hard-earned living to feed.  David was rightly furious and armed himself and four hundred of his men for battle against him.  Abigail was warned and the servant pleaded with her to intervene for this gross misconduct of Nabal as she knew the good David had done for them.  They knew Nabal was such a scoundrel (son of Belial) that he would continue on this path to destruction unless she mediated for him to save them all from destruction.  Such is the parallel of God’s Son mediating for us to deliver from the certain destruction of God’s wrath on all who follow and support the evil one who denies and defies the living God of all creation.  She stood in the gap by sending supplies to meet David and his approaching army after they arrived to him.  As she met them, Abigail heard David’s oath to answer the repayment of his good protection against unthankful and disrespectful evil with certain destruction.  He vowed to wipe out the evil man and all his male heirs to put an end to such worthless folly.  But for Abigail the wise and understanding beauty, that would have been the outcome of the evil and unthankful beast denying the Lord’s Anointed.  A mediator was needed then and is even more critical now in light of eternal judgment. 

1 Samuel 24:1-22 - Do no Evil to Your Enemy

1 Samuel 24:1-22

David Spares Saul

1 Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) 4 Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” 7 So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

8 David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. 9 And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? 10 Look, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. 12 Let the LORD judge between you and me, and let the LORD avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? 15 Therefore let the LORD be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

16 So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, ”Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. 18 And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Therefore swear now to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”

22 So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

David and his men were holed up in a cave in En Gedi in the place called the Rocks of the Wild Goats when Saul went in the cave and David’s men urged him to kill Saul while he was alone and exposed.  David refused to do evil to his enemy in such a way and cut off a piece of the king’s robe instead to prove his loyalty and righteousness in mercy for the one God had put in place as the king, evil as he was.  We are also called to protect our leaders and do them no evil, even those who do evil and seek to do us harm as believers, for (Romans 13:1-2, 4-5) the Lord has put them there for His purposes.  David showed submission to God’s will and under the authority of the evil king because he accepted the situation as being under His sovereign control and so did no evil of his own to take advantage of the serendipitous situation where he could have killed Saul to end his pursuit of David and assumed the throne himself.  He did not.  He showed mercy even as others called for vengeance and blood.  Then David followed Saul out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” to gain his attention as he made himself vulnerable to attack.  He reminded Saul that if he intended to kill the king he could have easily done so just then.  David even told him that his men urged him to kill Saul and he had refused because of the position the LORD had put Saul in as king.  Then he showed the corner of Saul’s robe he removed as proof of his proximity and resulting ability to have killed him.  He then quoted a proverb and a promise with, “‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’  But my hand shall not be against you.”  He reminded Saul that he was small and insignificant compared to the king and that therefore he was no threat and need not be pursued to the death.  David called on the LORD to judge between them.  Saul admitted David was more righteous in showing mercy and good for evil, just as we are called (Matthew 5:44, Romans 12:14) to do.  Saul blessed David and his actions that day and admitted that one day David would be king in a prophetic utterance contrary to his past and future actions to prevent that and put his own son Jonathan on the throne.  He only asked that his descendants be allowed to continue and not be wiped out when he came to reign.  David swore to do so and they went their separate ways.  Note that David trusted this but still acted wisely to go back to the stronghold in the mountain for protection.  He trusted God but not Saul completely because of his past promises and pursuit.  May we be so wise as deceitful serpents but remain harmless as doves of peace (Matthew 10:16-17, Colossians 4:5-6) ourselves as we trust God’s sovereign will of providence and protection.  Do no evil to your enemies. 

1 Samuel 23:1-29 - Delivering and Deliverance

1 Samuel 23:1-29

David Saves the City of Keilah

1 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”

And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the LORD once again.

And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”

And the LORD said, “He will come down.”

12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”
And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.”

13 So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.

David in Wilderness Strongholds

14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me. 22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.”

24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.

27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.

David was given the news that the Philistines were attacking Keilah and robbing their threshing floors of their food supply.  The man who would be king asked the LORD if he should go into the fray to save Keilah.  His men balked at the thought of putting their small band in the middle of such a large army, so David asked for God’s guidance once more to be sure.  So they went and delivered their people from the ungodly Philistines with an overwhelming victory.  He even took the livestock of the enemy who would have taken the food from them and then Abiathar the son of Ahimelech came to David at Keilah with an ephod that was used to discern God’s will (Exodus 28:30, Numbers 27:21) in matters with the attached Urim and Thummim.  David consulted the LORD through this means when he heard Saul discovered his whereabouts and received the answer that the people of Keilah would turn him over to Saul, so they quickly left for safety to fight another day.  Having delivered their people, David now was delivered by the LORD God for his faithfulness and for God’s purpose for his life.  He and his men holed up in the fortress of the mountains for safety as Saul continued to pursue him to the death, yet even there he found encouragement from his best friend who was also his enemy’s son, Jonathan, who knew and believed that God made David the true king and that he would be by his side to help him as even Saul knew.  When David and his band of brothers were trapped at the mountain with Saul encircling it, God intervened once again with news that the Philistines had invaded back home, so he returned and stopped his dogged pursuit.  He was so thankful that he even named that place the Rock of Escape.  Then David went to En Gedi described as a place in the rugged hills west of the Dead Sea translates as “The Spring of the Young Goat” where they had isolation, protection, and a supply of fresh water from the En Gedi spring there.  The LORD delivered and provided for David there as he had delivered the people of Keilah.  We should also deliver those under the assault of the enemy of their souls by proclaiming the Lord’s deliverance of the gospel of Christ’s work on the cross for all His people.  We are to be involved in delivering them because we have been delivered (1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) ourselves. 

1 Samuel 22:1-23 - Leader of the Needy

1 Samuel 22:1-23

David’s Four Hundred Men (1 Chronicles 12:16–18)

1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.

3 Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

5 Now the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

Saul Murders the Priests

6 When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him— 7 then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? 8 All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is 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 in wait, as it is this day.”

9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he inquired of the LORD for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

11 So the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub!”

He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”

13 Then 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?”

14 So Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house? 15 Did 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 servant knew nothing of all this, little or much.”

16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” 17 Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “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. 18 And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. 19 Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword.

20 Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the LORD’s priests. 22 So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house. 23 Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”

David drew the discontented and needy to himself an formed a small force of four hundred men and stayed awhile with permission from the king in Mizpah of Moab, that country which descended from the incestuous son (Genesis 19:35-37) of Lot.  A prophet named Gad told David to leave there and stay in a forest of Judah instead.  Saul discovered how David and his men before this had stopped for bread and the sword of Goliath from the priest Abimelech in Nob as Doeg the Edomite spilled the beans to the king.  Saul hurriedly summoned the priest and all who were there at Nob to come and answer to him for these actions.  He was already angry that nobody told him of his son Jonathan’s covenant of protection and support with this son of Jesse, and took out his wrath on the priests with the man who became his right hand, Doeg the Edomite, by slaughtering all the priests for assisting David when the guards refused to do so.  It is interesting that the Edomites of Esau’s descendants, the same Esau who hated his brother Jacob (Israel) and was denied the inheritance that he sold for a price and that we see again in Romans 9:13 concerning the calling of faith over the inheritance of blood.  Doeg had no inheritance with or love for God’s people, just a personal gain in helping Saul.  On;y one son of the priests escaped to inform David of the slaughter of the priests of the LORD and came under David’s protection along with the other four hundred in need.  We find a parallel of sorts in how we all come to the physical descendant and Branch of David who is Christ the Messiah.  He calls us as the needy and (Matthew 11:28) overburdened in life to the Lord and King of all as His army of His righteousness in the proclamation of the gospel that others may also be set free (John 8:36) from bondage (Galatians 4:3, Hebrews 2:15) and tyranny of the soul due to sin.  Jesus the Christ is leader of the needy and downtrodden under sin’s cruel oppression; He alone sets us free indeed to fight (1 Timothy 1:18, 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7) for the right King until His return. 

Samuel 21:1-15 - Partaking of the Lord’s Bread

1 Samuel 21:1-15

David and the Holy Bread

1 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?”

2 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. 3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”

4 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.”

5 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.”

6 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.

7 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.

8 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.”

9 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.”

David Flees to Gath

10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 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’?”

12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

As David fled for his life from Saul, he came to Nob, where Ahimelech the priest was.  David lied to the priest when he told him that he and his men who were nearby were on a secret mission for the king and needed food.  He asked for five loaves of bread and the only bread was the holy showbread on display (Exodus 25:30, Leviticus 24:8, 9) there which they could partake of if they had at least kept themselves from women in holy living to be allowed to eat it the holy bread on display for the priests to eat as was provided to the servants made holy (Matthew 12:3-4, 6) by the LORD.  We who are in Christ have been made both holy in His righteousness and priests to Him who is our God, and likewise are permitted to partake of the true bread of the offering He made for us in His Son.  David assured the priest that they were all holy in their lives that day and that the bread sat long enough to become common anyway, so they were given it to eat.  There was a spy in their midst, however; Doeg the Edomite who was a loyal servant of Saul was there and would later let Saul know what happened there with the priest, the bread, and how David also took the sword of Goliath the Philistine and so was armed.  David then escaped to Gath to king Achish there but his people recognized him and he had to fading insanity to escape his reputation as a well-known slayer of Philistines.  Before they could smite David, however, he caught on and so acted insane until they kicked him out.  David did questionable things in our eyes to survive, yet God was with him and allowed these actions for a greater purpose in deceiving the enemy, much like spies in our armies do today to fight another day.  God allowed Rahab to lie to the enemies of God’s people in Jericho and at other times to keep the righteous alive to fight another day, which may seem contradictory to the command not to lie for personal advantage.  This was for a bigger purpose in God’s plan to bring righteousness in all He calls in His righteous one that we may be counted as holy in Him and partake of Him as our living bread (like manna from heaven, John 6:27, 48, 51, 58) as His priests and kings (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 5:10) for His kingdom and who gives us the sword of victory over the enemy and deliverance to His people, which is the word (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12) of the gospel.  May we likewise partake of the Lord’s holy bread given freely to us in sacrifice of worship (Romans 12:1) in these temples (1 Corinthians 6:19) to sustain us and fulfill the great commission. 

1 Samuel 20:24-42 - Choosing Right against Misused Might

1 Samuel 20:24-42

24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”

28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”

30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”

32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.

34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.

35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. 36 Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. 39 But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”

41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

Jonathan had made a covenant with the man would be king and whose seed (Galatians 3:16, 17) would one day deliver all God’s people, of Israel and out of the nations.  Jonathan faced the misused might of his father who vainly tried to be king by the people’s choice and who tried to pierce him through with a spear for helping the chosen one, just as the Chosen One would be pierced by a spear (John 19:34, 37, Revelation 1:7) as He hung on a cross for our curse of sin (Galatians 3:13) by the misused might of the adversary whose temporary power was given by proxy of God’s providential plan and all who followed him instead as those in this passage did Saul.  Saul sought to kill David as God’s anointed just as the Jews in the time of Jesus sought His death (Matthew 12:14, John 7:19, 8:39-40) to vainly stop the true King from ruling them instead of the Romans.  When Jonathan asked his father Saul why he wanted to kill his closest friend David, he was assailed with a spear; when Jesus stood for we His people to rule us as our closest friend to save us, they crucified and speared him in a futile attempt to stop His words and work.  He arose from death to life and gave us the same hope (John 5:24) as our King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, 19:16) to rule (2 Timothy 2:12, Romans 5:17, Revelation 5:10, 22:5) with Him forever.  Jonathan helped David escape the enemy to live another day and rule God’s people then, just as his Seed Jesus (John 7:42, Romans 1:3, 2 Timothy 2:8) will return to judge the world in righteousness and helps us avoid the spears of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:16) by His word and faith, who keeps us from the evil one (John 17:15, Matthew 6:13, 2 Timothy 4:18, 1 John 5:18) now and as we help one another and rely on our Lord and King to keep and deliver us from evil.  His eternal covenant with us is more certain and unbreakable than that of David and Jonathan and we trust Him (James 2:23) who is our friend by this faith in Him and who will continue to deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:9-10) together until that Day when we reign with Him over all pretenders to the throne.  May we then continue to choose right against the misused might of the world set against the Lord and His Anointed until that Day.

1 Samuel 20:1-23 - Loyal Devotion and Danger

1 Samuel 20:1-23

Jonathan’s Loyalty to David

1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”

2 So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

3 Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”

4 So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.”

5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7 If he says thus: ‘It is well,’ your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”

9 But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?”

10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?”

11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. 12 Then Jonathan said to David: “The LORD God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you, 13 may the LORD do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the LORD be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And you shall not only show me the kindness of the LORD while I still live, that I may not die; 15 but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the LORD require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”

17 Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, as the LORD lives, there is safety for you and no harm. 22 But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the LORD has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the LORD be between you and me forever.”

Jonathan the son of Saul knew he would not inherit the throne of the kingdom because God had given it to his dear and best friend David, so his loyalty was split between the two.  He could not conceive that his father really meant deadly harm to David, especially without telling his son those plans, even though David told him plainly Saul sought to kill him.  David therefore had him lay out a fleece to test Saul’s resolve by asking permission for him to go to his hometown of Bethlehem for a yearly sacrifice there with all his family.  If Saul allowed it, Jonathan was right; if not, David was and plans would be made for his safety.  If Saul was out to get David, he was to make a covenant promise between David’s house and his to show kindness to him and his family for generations to come.  This brotherly love bonded them as best friends of loyal devotion to one another despite their circumstances and blood.  Jonathan would feel out his father’s reaction and let David know the outcome by shooting three arrows and saying to his helper that would fetch them either that they are on the side of the target he would miss or that they are beyond it; if beside, David was safe, but of beyond then he was beyond reconciling with Saul who intended evil for David.  Either way, the covenant between them and their descendants was to be honored with ongoing loyal devotion in spite of the danger.  Do we support our other brothers and sisters in this same devotion as to the Lord and His Anointed?  This is true brotherly love in action (Romans 12:10, Philemon 1:7, Galatians 6:2, 1 Thessalonians 3:7) in the face of peril and danger to ourselves and them.  This is loyal devotion in the face of danger that bonds us together in Christ as it did with Jonathan and the house of the Messiah who is Christ Jesus, the descendant of David, according to (Romans 1:3-4) the flesh.