“David on the Run”

 Background

David had left the field he had hid in and received the message from Jonathan that Saul intended to kill David.

Fear

“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?” (1 Samuel 21:1)

Fear has a way of controlling people. David was afraid of Saul, Ahimelech was afraid of David and Saul. Ahimelech is a priest of the God of Abraham. The rules surrounding the tabernacle were strict. David has run to the tabernacle as a shelter from Saul.

Ahimelech is wanting to know why David is here and alone. David lies.

“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.” (1 Samuel 21:2)

David says, “The king hath commanded me a business”, this is untrue. David wanted this information to be kept secret. This is because David is hiding from Saul. Fear is due to his lack of Faith. The exact same problem Saul had.

David makes things worse when he asks for bread. The only bread Ahimelech had was Shew Bread. Shew Bread is a type of bread created for the Priests on the Sabbath. It is intended for their use only. Ahimelech make his own mistake by giving the bread to David. Ahimelech gives David one more thing.

David asked for weapons because he hadn’t brought any weapons. Ahimelech had the sword of Goliath. The same one David had used to kill Goliath. Ahimelech would certainly be happy if David would go elsewhere.

Eyes

David and Ahimelech were not alone in the Tabernacle.

“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.” (1 Samuel 21:7)

Keep Doeg in mind as the story progresses.

Stay Tuned…