Year 1, Week 31, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 31, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Samuel 21-22.

Today’s reading continues describing Saul’s jealous hatred toward David. David is still on the run. 1 Samuel 21 records the stop David made to see Ahimelech the priest at Nob. David is looking for supplies and explains to Ahimelech that the king has sent him on a special assignment. David’s misleading statements about his mission were untrue. Perhaps David’s tactical deceit was to shield Ahimelech from doing anything that put him in a bad place with Saul, or perhaps David was unsure of Ahimelech’s loyalties and was attempting to leave Ahimelech in the dark for his own purposes of personal protection. Whatever the motivation for misleading Ahimelech, Doeg, the Edomite, watched the encounter. Still on the run, David flees to Gath, a Philistine city. The people of Gath recall a song about David: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” Since those thousands that the song speaks of were Philistines, David realizes the danger he is in and feigns the actions of a mad man. 1 Samuel 22 records David’s escape to a cave, where he is joined by many of his family as well as a host of troubled men. After he drops off his family in Moab, David is back on the run. Saul visits Nob and with the help of Doeg, the Edomite, he attempts to eradicate Ahimelech and his family for the aid that David received. One son of Ahimelech, Abiathar, escapes and comes to David who says to him: “I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping” (1 Samuel 22:22b-23).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is how to square the fact of David’s anointing as King with the fact that David is fleeing for his life: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). The LORD did not choose to keep his king from afflictions, but He would deliver His king from those afflictions. But before the deliverance came, heartache sat in: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). The LORD did not keep His king from affliction but would at the appropriate time deliver His king from those afflictions. But even before He delivered His king from those afflictions, He was ever present with His king to sustain him in the heartache surrounding those afflictions. Life in God’s kingdom is not without affliction: “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22b).

The LORD’s presence with David during the afflictions that unfolded due to his need to flee from Saul, did not mean that David always made the right call or did the right thing. I am not sure that David’s misleading of Ahimelech was a commendable action. Nor am I sure that David’s faking the crazy look was fitting. Perhaps it best to suggest that David’s awareness of the LORD’s presence as well as his confidence of the LORD’s eventual deliverance were realities that David realized over time. Perhaps David was in a growth and developmental process and had not fully arrived in these realities. Perhaps the Psalms of David that we read, which connect with these historical events (such as Psalm 34, 57, 59, 142, etc), teach us what David came to more fully know and not a reflection of how he perfectly responded at the time.

But we can see the effects of the LORD’s presence in David’s life, even while he imperfectly responded to his afflictions. David’s focus was not simply himself and his own protection. Afflictions can drive us inward, wherein we can become overly focused just upon ourselves and our safety. David was concerned for the safety of this family and their protection: “And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me” (1 Samuel 22:3). While the Moabite were perennial foes of Israel, David’s great-grandmother was a Moabite (see Ruth 4:13-22). It was ultimately a display of God’s good provision that while David needed to flee from the Israelite king, he found a place of refuge for his family with the Moabites. David’s outward focus was also displayed through his commitment to offer protection to the serving son of Ahimelech. Concerning the entire house of Ahimelech, Saul said, “You shall surely die” (1 Samuel 22:16b). David assures the surviving son, Abiathar, "With me you shall be in safekeeping” (1 Samuel 22:23b).

By the way, the elimination of the house of Ahimelech, has bearing upon the pronounced judgment that was to befall the house of Eli because of his wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas: “Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house” (1 Samuel 2:31). While Saul’s (and Doeg’s) actions were evil, the LORD can accomplish His purposes through the evil actions of His creatures (see Acts 2:22-24). The LORD does not force people to do evil, nor do such arrangements make God the author of evil. Evil people act freely according to their own nature and thus will be held accountable before God for their sinful actions. Nevertheless, God accomplishes His good and just plans even through the deployment of the wicked.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe