Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

David was on the run. He was in fear of Saul – it can be said for good reason – and he was trying to get somewhere that the arm of the King of Israel could not reach him. This was David’s desert place. But David had a relationship with God. David was not in despair. David’s roots ran DEEP (Colossians 2:7-9; Psalm 1:1-3). He was never without the Lord. He was never without God’s peace – although he did not always engage it. The only times in the desert that David felt dry and alone were the times he acted in his OWN strength on his OWN advice. There were very few of those times. David’s life again and again shows us the lesson of the value of seeking God’s face 24/7/365.25 no matter WHAT is going on around us. David’s heart attitude was almost always focused on the Lord.

David and some of his men (it’s unclear how many went with him, but the language implies there were a few) went down to Nob, where the tabernacle was, and he went into Ahimelech the high priest. David lied. No nice way to say it. He lied. David claimed to be on a secret mission for Saul. He claimed his full group of men were meeting him elsewhere, but they were desperate for food. Implication is that because of the secret mission they (1) could not all come together (David only had his closest men with him if he had anyone) and (2) they couldn’t make and bring the usual preparations (it would give away they had a mission, vs just hanging out or training). He asked for food. The only food Ahimelech had was the showbread in the Holy Place – which only the priests could eat (Leviticus 22:10; 24:5-9). Ahimelech asked if David and his men were ritually pure because he had no common bread.

David admitted that they were clean (they certainly hadn’t done anything to make them unclean), they’d been on the move for three days. Then David makes a great statement: “And the things of the young men are holy when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will the things be holy?” (1 Samuel 21:5). This showed that David had REAL understanding about the holy things (which Jesus backed up in Mark 2:25-28). David saw beyond the symbolism. The bread itself wasn’t really holy. It was just bread. The important thing was what it symbolized. It’s the same as Communion bread today. It’s just bread. You could make sandwiches of it. But we don’t in order to understand what it symbolizes. David was pointing out that all the rituals and objects were different ways of making the point that loving God is THE most important thing. From the ark to the candles to the bread, they all spoke the same message: love God (Matthew 22:36-40). David saw what the Law pointed to, instead of thinking of the Law as the end-stop (Psalm 51:17).

Ahimelek gave him the showbread for him and his men, and then got ready to put out new showbread. This was the usual procedure, except it was the priests who would have eaten it. Also, this made it stale bread, and not fresh. David was not partaking of a luxury. And it did NOT defile him in any way (Matthew 12:1-8). David also asked if there was a spear or a sword around. He’d left in such a hurry, he hadn’t armed himself (remember he left straight from the field). All Ahimelek had was Goliath’s sword, wrapped in a cloth. David accepted it alongside the bread and fled. However, he wasn’t the only one at the tabernacle that day. There was also the chief herdsmen of Saul, the Edomite Doeg.

Off David went. And he went straight to Gath. To the city-state ruled by Achish. In Philistine territory. The hometown of Goliath. Who he had killed. While carrying Goliath’s oversized sword. This was NOT smart. I get that he was going to the LAST PLACE Saul would look for him. But even his men seemed to have more smarts. They didn’t go down with him (again, if there were any. The language is unclear). David was noticed. Duh. The servants of the Achish pointed David out as the king of Israel who had killed ten thousands of the Philistines. Even David’s enemies recognized his anointing. David heard the talk and realised he had made a mistake. So he changed his behaviour and pretended to be mad. Why mad? In the ancient world, when you were mad it was assumed evil spirits had possessed you. If you did harm or killed a mad person, the evil spirits would leave that person and attach to you. David had picked the best way to ensure they would at least not kill him.

Achish was not thrilled with his men. He asked them if they felt he had a low supply of madmen? He didn’t think he needed another one. He did not want a walking timebomb in his palace. They all encouraged David to leave, which he did. He went to the cave of Adullam, south of the valley of Elah, about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem (it was where Judah found his first two wives – Genesis 38:1-20). His family heard about it and joined him there (including his elder brother who chastised him about Goliath – 1 Samuel 17:28). Other people heard about it too. People in distress. People in debt. People who were discontented with the rule of Saul. In this, David was a type of Jesus who also drew the same kind of people to Him (Luke 4:18-19). At the same time, it must have been a temptation to be discouraged. Only his enemies and the dregs of society were acknowledging the role God called him to. But David didn’t let circumstance take a bigger place than God’s vision or God’s will. That’s a powerful lesson.

David took his mother and father and went to the people of his great-grandmother, Ruth – there’s a Rabbinical tradition that she lived into the time of David’s son Solomon. David asked the king of Moab to keep his parents safe and they stayed there in Moab until the trouble was over. David returned to Adullam. The prophet Gad came to him and told him not to stay there, but to go to Judah. David listened and went to the forest of Hereth. Judah had a varied landscape, including hills, valleys, and wooded areas. No one knows the extent of the forest or its exact location, but it is probable it was in the southern part of Judah near the wilderness areas. These moves show that David wasn’t just panicking. He was being wise. He was listening to God. He was concerned for his life, but he wasn’t giving fear first place.

Saul heard that David had men with him. Saul called his men and asked them if they were going to be loyal to the man who WAS king, or defect to the man who MIGHT one day be king? A man with nothing to give them? Saul railed and shouted about the whole thing. Claimed everyone was against him. Ticked that Jonathan had made a covenant with David – which everyone kept from him until David was gone. No one told Saul anything. Poor Saul. Then Doeg the Edomite (from when David was at the tabernacle) spoke up. He said he had seen David in Nob, talking to Ahimelek (true). That Ahimelek had sought God for David (a lie), given him provisions (only a little bread, so a half-truth), and the sword of Goliath (true). Saul called for Ahimelek and all the priests in Nob and they came.

Saul charged Ahimelek with treason. Ahimelek was confused and told the absolute truth. He thought David was on a mission for Saul (David’s lie) and that he was helping Saul by helping David. He thought David was Saul’s son-in-law (true), so how could he be suspicious? He asked Saul if he had sought God for David, because he hadn’t (true). Ahimelek said he knew nothing about all this stuff that Saul was accusing him of (very true). He asked for nothing to be imputed to him, his priests, and none of the household of his father.

Saul was in a rage and consumed with hatred. He demanded the deaths of Ahimelek and all the priests. None of his soldiers would lift a hand against the priests. Saul turned to the informant and demanded HE kill them. Doeg did. He was a descendant of Esau and was more than happy to. He killed eighty-five priests. And then he went to Nob and killed everything in that town. Women, children, men (not priests), nursing infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep. He slaughtered everything. David wrote a Psalm touching on Doeg and these events (Psalm 52). This was a tragic event that never should have happened. BUT one of the sons of Ahimelek named Abiathar, escaped and fled to David. Abiathar was now the rightful high priest and had managed to smuggle out the fancy ephod with him. He told David everything. David was distraught, took responsibility for what happened, and comforted Abiathar. He told him to stick with David and his men. Saul wanted them both dead, so he would be safest in the group that was with David (about four hundred men at this point). Abiathar did that and stayed loyal to David for decades – until Adonijah got his attention (1 Kings 1:5-7).

“Now they told David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting in Keilah and they are raiding the threshing floors.”” (1 Samuel 23:1)

David was on the run. David was being persecuted. People were dying because of him. But he had his eyes on where God had called him. He had a heart for people. He did NOT leave the weak and at risk to fend for themselves. This is God’s heart too (John 3:17-18; 2 Peter 3:9). When David heard about the people in Keilah being attacked, he immediately consulted God (through the high priest Abiathar) and asked if he should go help. God said yes, He would give David the victory. David’s men weren’t so sure. They saw themselves as being fearfully hiding in Judah, so what chance did they have against armed soldiers? David asked God again, got the same answer, and went. His men followed. They attacked the Philistines and God DID give them the victory. They saved the town and took all the livestock from the Philistines.

Saul heard about the battle and shouted with glee. His point of view was that God had brought David to Keilah to be trapped within its walls – nowhere to run and hide like in a forest. Saul called his forces together and marched off to lay siege to Keilah and kill David and his men. But David had not forgotten Saul. He asked Abiathar to come and David consulted God. God told him the men of the town would give David up rather than face Saul’s wrath (after Nob, you can’t blame them at all). David and his now SIX hundred men left the town and ran into the surrounding area. When Saul was told David had fled, he halted his march.

David stayed in strongholds in the desert. These weren’t brick and mortar fortresses, but strategic points and places. Easy to defend and hard to attack. Places to store food and water and survive for a long time. Places not in the open. Hard to find places. They were all throughout the Wilderness of Ziph. Bible Hub’s topical dictionary puts it in the southern part of Judah, near the town of Ziph (today known as Tell Zif), which is about 6 km southeast of Hebron. It had rugged terrain, hills, and sparse vegetation. Lots of places to hide. David stayed in a forest there.

Jonathan came down and found David. He encouraged David. Told him that Saul’s hand wouldn’t find David. That David would be the next king and Jonathan would support him totally – something he said his father knew well. They made another covenant before God (this was their third covenant before God). After a time of fellowship, David stayed and Jonathan went home. This was the last time they ever saw each other.

The people of Ziph knew David was in town. They went up to Saul and told him that David was in their area and they believed he was on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon. They encouraged Saul to come down. If Saul would, they would deliver David over to him. Saul blessed them (he still acted like he had the blessing of God to pass on, even while in total rebellion to God. He doesn’t seem to have seen the hypocrisy of it). He appreciated the compassion they had on him – Saul always saw himself as a victim of other people’s actions. He asked them to go make sure of David’s position. To find out all the places he goes to hide. If their information was true, Saul would come down and hunt throughout Judah for David until he was caught.

These men of Ziph hadn’t been mistreated by David. He hadn’t offended them personally. They appear to have been people seeking favour with Saul by betraying David simply because the opportunity was there. They went back down to Ziph to seek him. David wasn’t there. He’d moved to the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain south of Jeshimon. They were about 5 km apart and connected by a series of trails. Saul came down with his men and chased after David. There were sentries posted and David was told, so they moved on. Saul pursued. David was on one side of the mountain, Saul was on the other and gaining on him. Things looked bad.

At the last minute, messengers came to Saul telling of a Philistine attack. Saul stopped his pursuit, turned his army around, and went to battle against the Philistines. The mountain became known as the Rock of Escape (Selahammahlekoth). David kept running and went to the strongholds in En Gedi (an oasis of freshwater springs, vineyards, wildlife, and caves on the western side of the Dead Sea). God protected David.

Summary

Key Players: God, David, Saul, Ahimelek, Doeg

Key Themes: Kingship, Protection, Rebellion

Key Verse(s): 1 Samuel 21:2-3,7, 10, 14-15; 22:3-5, 9-10, 18-19; 23:1-2, 11-12, 19-20, 26-29