1 Samuel 21 – Study
For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: 1 Sam 21:1-15
1 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?’
2 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. 3 Now then, what have you to hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.’
4 But the priest answered David, ‘I don’t have any ordinary bread to hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here – provided the men have kept themselves from women.’
5 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!’ 6 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.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.
8 David asked Ahimelek, ‘Don’t you have a spear or sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.’
9 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.’
10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 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”?’
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he feigned insanity 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.
14 Achish said to his servants, ‘Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 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?’
A. Find Out:
- What did David want from the priest? v.3
- What else did he want? v.8
- To whom did David then flee? v.10
- How did his servants refer to David? v.11
- How did David feel when he was recognised? v.12
- What did he do therefore? v.13
B. Think:
- Read Matthew 12:3-7 How was Jesus using this story?
- What does it say about David’s state that he fled to an enemy city?
- Read Psalm 56, especially v.11, written at this time.
C. Comment:
This was a desperate time for David. Saul has a warrant out for his arrest and death, and he doesn’t know where to turn. His first need is for provisions, so he goes to the priest, Ahimelech for help. However, Ahijah, Ahimelech’s brother was spiritual advisor to Saul (see 14:3 & 22:9) so David didn’t feel he could be completely open with him. So he tells him a story of half truths and receives food and a weapon. David is far from perfect, but he is God’s anointed and so the Lord will not reject him for these minor failings in desperate times.
David feels insecure in Israel so flees out of the country to the land of the Philistines; that is the extent of his desperation. Once he gets there he is recognised and is under threat again. His only way out is to pretend to be insane.
This is not a glorious part of David’s story, but it does show the depths of despair that he went to. He is a man on the run for his life. So far all he has known is the security of family life and fighting a known enemy with acceptance of his own people. Now he is a fugitive. Like other leaders of old, Abram, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, he has to go through a time of severe testing before he will come into his own. God allows it for much of benefit will happen in it.
D. Application:
- God does not reject us for minor failings. Grace prevails!
- God’s testing and proving grounds are often uncomfortable!