No Place to Run
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we learned that there was NO doubt that Saul is out to kill David. He knows that as long as David is alive, the dynasty of Saul will end with Saul, and Jonathan will succeed him as king. So, Saul has once again tried to usurp God’s plan.
We also saw that unlike his father, Jonathan understands that his destiny is to live out God’s plan. And he knows that God’s plan includes the fact that his good friend David would be the next king of Israel.
Two men, in the same family who understand God’s plan vastly different from each other.
We left off our story with the last verse of 1 Samuel 20. There we read:
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
The last part of the verse is our emphasis, “Then David left, and Jonathan back to town.” If you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn to 1 Samuel 21 where we will continue our story.
On the Run!
On the Run!
Well, it’s official, David is on the run! He is fleeing for his life. The only question is where will he go? He has a couple of problems:
Israel is not that big a country. So there’s not a lot of places he can really go.
He is extremely well known! That means it would be hard for Saul to send men to try to find him. If he goes and stays in a city, he will be caught.
I think you might agree that these are two big problems for David. So where is he to go?
David flees to Nob
David flees to Nob
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?”
David goes to Nob. Three places have been identified as the possible location of this town.
—It may have been a town may have been on Mount Scopas about a mile northeast of Jerusalem.
—It could have been on the hill Qu’meh a mile further north.
—Or the third possibility is Ras el-Mesharif which is also about a mile north of Jerusalem.
David went there to Ahimelek the priest. The text doesn’t tell us why he went there. Nob was a city of priests. While there is no mention of the Ark of the Covenant being there, it was a place where many of the priests of Yahweh lived. David may have gone there to seek refuge (like he did when he went to Samuel at Ramah) or he may have gone there to inquire of God.
Ahimelek’s name means “my brother is king.” He was the brother of Ahijah who was the spiritual advisor to king Saul. For that reason, David isn’t really sure he can be trusted.
But when Ahimelek sees David coming, he is afraid. Why is David coming to Nob?
Finally, we learn that Ahimelek is shocked that David is alone. Where are his troops? What has happened?
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.
David tells a bit of a story
David tells a bit of a story
Okay, he lies!
He says Saul sent him on a secret mission.
As for David’s men, they are coming and going to meet him in a disclosed location.
But David needs supplies—remember he just took off! He did not go back home and pack—he just RAN!
Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
David is hungry, and needs supplies!
He asks for 5 loaves of bread. . .
Or whatever Ahimelek can find.
Well, there’s a problem!
Well, there’s a problem!
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.”
Apparently there is not a lot in Nob!
All Ahimelek has is the consecrated bread—this was that had been on the table of showbread in the tabernacle or before the Lord. It had been removed so that hot bread, we would say fresh bread, replace it.
The problem is that it is still consecrated to the Lord, so the men (David) could eat it, but they had be ceremonially clean.
David responds:
David responds:
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!”
Any time we go out on a mission we prepare ourselves to be clean before the Lord.
It is even more important today! The inference is that David is on a mission for Yahweh.
So Ahimelek gives him the bread! Look at the next verse.
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.
The Spy
The Spy
Now, I can’t help but think that David might have stayed there for a while, but there is a problem! He sees a spy!
Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.
We are introduced to a man named Doeg, and we are given some information about him:
—First of all he is one of Saul’s servants.
—He was Saul’s chief shepherd! So he is a trusted servant!
We are told that Doeg is there because he was “detained before the Lord.” For some reason, known only to God, God had kept Doeg at Nob. Perhaps he was completing a sacrifice or an act of purification. Nevertheless, he was there. And that fact alone means that David is in danger!
Any Weapons?
Any Weapons?
Remember, David did not go home and pack, so he has NONE of his weapons. He has seen Doeg—a presumed enemy—and he feels naked! So he asks:
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.”
Do you have any weapons? Perhaps a speak or a sword? Anything?
I haven’t brought any of mine with me.
Because the king’s mission was so urgent, I didn’t have time to pack appropriately.
Just one sword!
Just one sword!
Ahimelek tells David they are a bit low in the weapon’s category. After all they are a city of priests.
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.”
The only sword we’ve got is the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
The giant that you killed in the valley of Elah.
We have it wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod.
It’s yours if you want it.
David says he’ll take it because “There is none like it.” This is the same phrase that David uses to describe Yahweh in 2 Samuel 7:22.
“How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
Off and Running!
Off and Running!
David can’t be sure that he is not in danger. He is talking to the brother of the king’s spiritual advisor. Doeg one of the king’s trusted servants is in town. There is just no way David can be sure he is safe in Nob. So he flees look at verse 10.
That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.
David goes to the enemy of Saul—Achish king of Gath.
But he is carrying the sword of Goliath. So it’s not going to be easy to “fit in!”
Sure enough David can’t hide
Sure enough David can’t hide
But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “ ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
The servants of Achish simply do not trust David.
They call him the king of the land. This is probably a reference to David and his troops keeping peace in the region. He is not king, but the master or viceregent of the area.
Nevertheless, he’s the one the people sang about saying how successful he was in his army victories.
Not a good idea!
Not a good idea!
David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath.
Apparently, David heard these comments and realized this was not his best move.
So he pretended
So he pretended
So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
So David pretended to be insane. Can you imagine? David went from being the one of the greatest warriors in all of Israel to acting insane! To make sure we understand this reality, the author gives describes it for us.
—When he was around the Philistines he made marks on the doors of the gates—he scratched at them like he was crazy.
—he let saliva run down his beard.
—The text has the idea that he stopped caring for himself physically.
Achish’s response
Achish’s response
Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”
Achish believes David is insane!
Do I need another madman? I’ve got enough of my own!
Must this man come into my house?
So David can’t stay in Gath! But where to go?
Back On The Run
Back On The Run
David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
David left Gath (escaped)
He flees to the cave of Adullam—located about 10 miles east southeast from Gath, and about halfway between Gath and David’s home town of Bethlehem are some huge limestone caves that were capable of holding more than 400 people.
David’s family hears where David is and went down to meet him there. If Saul would kill members of his own family (1 Sam 20:33) there is no telling what Saul would have done to David’s family.
A ragtag group
A ragtag group
All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
Anyone who was discontent with Saul and his government came to David at Adullam.
—Those in distress.
—Those in debt.
—Those discontent.
David became their commander.
There were about 400 men.
What about dad and mom?
What about dad and mom?
Realizing that his situation is effecting his family, he decides that he needs to make provisions for his parents.
From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?” So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.
Since David isn’t sure what is going to happen to him, he knows he needs to protect his parents.
So he goes to the king of Moab and gets permission for them to stay in Moab.
And so, his parents stayed there with the king of Moab.
Back on the Run
Back on the Run
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.
A prophet Gad—a prophet that appears to stay with David throughout David’s life—tells David that the caves of Adullam are no longer safe.
He tells David that he needs to go to the land of Judah.
So David (and his ragtag group) go to Judah to the forest of Hereth. We don’t know exactly where this was. There are not other markers given.
So there you have it! David is on the run. He’s been rejected by Saul. He has taken steps to protect his parents. And he now has a ragtag group of discontented people who are following him.
It sure doesn’t look like he will be the next king of Israel. Right now he is a fugitive running for his life.
So What?
So What?
Maybe this morning, you feel like you are running for your life. Maybe you feel like you are a fugitive. Maybe you feel like you are no where close to God, or like He has abandoned you.
We know David felt this way. While he was in the caves at Adullam, he wrote Psalm 142.
A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me. Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
Remember even in the darkness when you don’t understand what God is doing. He is there with you. That’s why I made Psalm 139:7 our memory verse for this week. Because I wanted to remind us that no matter what it looks like around us, God is there! We cannot flee from His presence!
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?