We have been studying the life of David for the last month, or maybe I should say lifetime of David because we’ve spent a surprisingly small amount of time actually discussing the man himself. Its time for a recap, except this time we’re going to be playing a little bit of fill in the blanks.
So, let us recap:
The story of David’s life begins with: (Saul).
Saul, the first king of Israel, began his life as king by (hiding in the baggage), living in (fear) and that led him to (compromise).
He obeyed part of what God asked of him, and part of what the world around him expected of him, and gained (nothing).
This compromise led God to find himself a (man after his own heart) to rule Israel, and He found David.
One of the first mentioned things David does after being anointed is he went out and killed Goliath. Why was he able to do this? Because he stepped out in (faith) to prove God’s (promises).
After this, Jonathan enters the scene and swears a (covenant) with David, declaring them BFF’s and eventually choosing his friendship with David over his (Kingdom).
Which leads us to now, the end of act one of the lifetime of David. David is running for his life while being chased by an angry king and his army. The heroic music swells as David makes his way into the wilderness throughout Israel.
Now, just out of curiosity, and I know we haven’t actually talked about him that much, we’ve pretty much stayed on the sidelines and watched the side characters, but in one word, how would you describe David?
Also, before we get any further into this, does anyone have any questions on what we’ve talked about so far?
1 Samuel 22:13-17
13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”
14 Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household?
15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”
16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.”
17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
1 Samuel 22:18-23
18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David.
21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.
22 Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family.
23 Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”
So, while David was escaping he dropped by the priests at Nob and gets bread and the sword of Goliath from them (apparently he’s all grown up now, and when Saul hears about this he freaks out, gathers his army and heads over to accuse the priests of treason.
Which, as a side note, is a really odd concept to throw at a priest, if only because the priests serve God, the king doesn’t really even show up in their chain of command.
So, Saul accuses and Ahimelek's answer is fascinating. If you will allow me to remix for a moment: The priest looks over at Saul and says “are we thinking about the same David. Married your daughter, captain of your bodyguard, personal musician, renown war hero, brilliant leader, who has never spoken a bad word against you, even after you tried to pin him to the wall? That David? Are you joking with me? Why wouldn’t I help him? And what are you doing chasing him?”
To which Saul says to his men “Okay, kill them all.” And to which they (still being sane) say “Oh definitely not.” Doeg, who gets top honors in the horrible people in the history of Israel awards, butchers the priests, their families, their animals.
And this is a tragedy, not only because it marks a massacre against the priests of God, but because this is a moment where Saul receives the first of a several wake up calls that moving against David is wrong, and in response he basically redefines the very idea of “epic fail”.
Guilty conscience much?
So, one priest escapes and comes to David who offers him a place to stay, a place where he needs not fear, he offers him safety.
We’ll come back to this idea, but let’s head back a chapter for a moment and dive deeper.
1 Samuel 22:1-5
1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?”
4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
So, David is on the run. He’s escaping Saul, who is after him with an army and intent to kill. He’s hiding in a cave. All of a sudden his family shows up, and then 400 other men show up, and that’s probably just the men. They’ve got families, so David’s gone from Israel’s most beloved son to Israel’s most wanted in 3 chapters, and now he’s gone from a guy hiding in a cave to a guy hiding in a cave responsible for 400+ people. The man basically has a small army, and all the responsibilities that come with that. At that point he decides the cave is getting way to cramped and drops his parents off at Mizpah before marching off on the bibles most dangerous camping trip. But think about that for a moment: David is hiding.
The perfect example of this is sardines. The larger the group gets the harder it is to keep them hidden and he’s gone from one man (easily hid) to a small army (not so much). He’s moved from hiding in a cave to having to hide in an entire forest.
He is beginning to sound an awful lot like Robin Hood.
What kind of man sacrifices safety for responsibility?
The short version: A man who is always ready to step forward and defend those in need.
We'll continue to look into this next week.
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