The
Book of First Samuel
Chapter 21
[1] Then came David to Nob to
Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech
was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why
art thou alone, and no man with thee?
[2] And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The
king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any
thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and
what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a
place.
[3] Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is
present.
[4] And the priest answered David, and said, There is
no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men
have kept themselves at least from women.
[5] And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have
been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of
the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it
were sanctified this day in the vessel.
[6] So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the
shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to
put hot bread in 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 chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
[8] And David said unto Ahimelech, And
is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me,
because the king's business required haste.
[9] And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah,
behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that,
take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
1) The Fugitive
Vs 1-9
David has left Jonathon and his family behind
He comes to Nob, 12
mi from
A.
Alone
Ahimelech the
priest saw David
David was probably teary eyed,
weary and distressed
David was not accompanied by the kings liason and escort, yet a few
outlaw men
David is King Sauls son in law
David lies about his business
there at Nob (to protect self & others)
His clever lies are
his cover not his trust in God’s protection
He will be sorry for
his lie I Sam 22:22 (Ps 119:28,29)
B.
Asking Shewbread
David and his men are very hungry
He asks for 5 loaves
The table of shewbread
was located on the right entry side of the tabernacle
It has 12 loaves (one for each
tribe) and symbolized the continual fellowship of God
To eat it was showing
God’s friendship & hospitality
Lev 24:6-9 This bread is holy and those that partake should be pure
The bread was to be always fresh,
if loaf eaten another loaf was to take it’s place
Your time w/ the Lord
should always be fresh, never a stale relationship w/God
The bread demonstrates out
dependence on God
Bread is necessary for
survival (Lk 11:3 our daily bread)
Ahimelech gives
David the bread (human need was more important than observance of cermony)
Matt 12:1-8 Jesus even quoted
this Himself
C. Adversary
Doeg the Edomite was there. He was a very mighty, obstinate and
violent man
D. Asking
David asks for a spear or sword
He continues his lie, but is
given the sword of Goliath, which David had left there before
This sword was won with truth
& trust
David says “There is none like it, give it
me”................ The Word of God
there is none like it
[10] And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of
[11] And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not
this David the king of the land? did they not sing one
to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David
his ten thousands?
[12] And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of
[13] And he changed his behaviour before them, and
feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and
let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
[14] Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see
the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
[15] Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this
fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this
fellow come into my house?
2)
The Fleeing Vs 10-15
A. Afraid
David flees, as Saul is looking for him, to
the enemy (Philistines @ Gath)
Remember what David had done to the enemy
(now he carries the sword of their champion)
David was discovered
Ps 56 tells us that he was
captured (probably written after vs 10)
David is afraid of the enemy
To escape David pretends to be mad, even
foaming at the mouth like an insane man
Ps
34 written after he escapes and he declares his joy as he escapes
God had truly delivered David out
of a mess (even David’s lies)
God
has gotten us out of a mess Rom 5:8 But God commendeth
his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.