Reflections on 1 Samuel 21

1 Samuel 21 (Contemporary English Version)

1. David went to see Ahimelech, a priest who lived in the town of Nob. Ahimelech was trembling with fear as he came out to meet David. "Why are you alone?" Ahimelech asked. "Why isn't anyone else with you?"
   
2. "I'm on a mission for King Saul," David answered. "He ordered me not to tell anyone what the mission is all about, so I had my soldiers stay somewhere else.
   
3. Do you have any food you can give me? Could you spare five loaves of bread?"
   
4. "The only bread I have is the sacred bread," the priest told David. "You can have it if your soldiers didn't sleep with women last night."
   
5. "Of course we didn't sleep with women," David answered. "I never let my men do that when we're on a mission. They have to be acceptable to worship God even when we're on a regular mission, and today we're on a special mission."
   
6. The only bread the priest had was the sacred bread that he had taken from the place of worship after putting out the fresh loaves. So he gave it to David.
   
7. It so happened that one of Saul's officers was there, worshiping the LORD that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite, and he was the strongest of Saul's shepherds.
   
8. David asked Ahimelech, "Do you have a spear or a sword? I had to leave so quickly on this mission for the king that I didn't bring along my sword or any other weapons."
   
9. The priest answered, "The only sword here is the one that belonged to Goliath the Philistine. You were the one who killed him in Elah Valley, and so you can take his sword if you want to. It's wrapped in a cloth behind the statue." "It's the best sword there is," David said. "I'll take it!"
   
10. David kept on running from Saul that day until he came to Gath, where he met with King Achish.
    
11. The officers of King Achish were also there, and they asked Achish, "Isn't David a king back in his own country? Don't the Israelites dance and sing, 'Saul has killed a thousand enemies; David has killed ten thousand enemies'?"
    
12. David thought about what they were saying, and it made him afraid of Achish.
    
13. So right there in front of everyone, he pretended to be insane. He acted confused and scratched up the doors of the town gate, while drooling in his beard.
    
14. "Look at him!" Achish said to his officers. "You can see he's crazy. Why did you bring him to me?
    
15. I have enough crazy people without your bringing another one here. Keep him away from my palace!"
    

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    At the conclusion of chapter 20, David and Jonathan part ways after Jonathan delivered the news that his father was indeed seeking to kill David. They would never to see each other again. Now David was on the run with a group of men who were loyal to him.
    
    The first verse of chapter 21 tells of David going to Nob where he went to the priest, Ahimelech, to seek food for him and his men. To protect himself, he lied about his presence there, telling the priest that the king sent him out on a secret mission. Some are critical of David for lying rather than trusting the Lord to protect him. Did David do this out of weakness of faith, or are the critics caught up in legalism as were the Pharisees who criticized Jesus and His disciples for supposedly breaking the Sabbath when they picked heads of grain while passing through a grainfield? Are they more concerned for the letter of the law than the welfare of the individual? Would they also criticize David for killing an enemy out of self-defense? Is there a difference?
    
    David asked the priest for bread to feed himself and his men, but the only bread available was consecrated bread which, according to the law, was only for the priests to eat. But the priest, Ahimelech, gave him the bread anyway after confirming that the men had not defiled themselves with women.  This was a concession the law allowed. On the occasion in which the Pharisees criticized Jesus and His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath, Jesus spoke to them of this occasion when David ate the sacred bread. Life is more sacred than sacred bread or the letter of the law which was given for man's good.
    
    In addition to the bread, David secured a sword from the priest that had belonged to Goliath whom David had killed. Then David left and went to Gath, Goliath's hometown. He was soon recognized by the king's servants as a hero of the Israelites, referring to him as "the king of the land." (21:11) When David became aware that he was recognized he feigned insanity, again resorting to deception. David was relying on an ancient practice which considered the insane to be under the protection of the gods.  And it worked for the king wanted nothing to do with him.