David arrived in Nob and went to Ahimelech, the priest, who was afraid because David was alone. Ahimelech asked him why he was travelling alone, and David lied to protect himself. Is it ever right to lie? I have to say ‘No’. He said that the king had sent him on a secret mission (v1,2). It seemed that Ahimelech did not know of the rift between Saul and David, and he thought that David was telling the truth. One could perhaps understand why David lied, but it is never right, in fact, it backfired and led to the death of Ahimelech at the order of Saul (see chapter 22:22). Ahimelech told Saul the truth but Saul in his anger and jealousy had him put to death, accusing him of siding with David.
It never pays to lie, someone usually gets hurt, in this case dies. It always leads to trouble.
When David arrived, he was hungry, and he asked Ahimelech for some bread. The priest said that there was no common bread, only the holy bread which he could have so long as he was ceremonially clean from women (v3-6). This bread was the showbread which was to be offered before The LORD. It was twelve loaves and was renewed daily in the tabernacle. It was not to be treated casually. Leviticus 24 tells us about this that it was to be eaten in a holy place. It was for Aaron and his sons, and it was regarded as holy. Evidently other young men were present, and although not with David, he seemed to associate himself with them, and seemed to speak for them.
Ahimelech, rather than standing upon religious tradition, realised that human need was important, and Jesus, Himself, spoke of this event in Matthew 12:1-8, and approved of Ahimelech’s actions. Human tradition is never to be considered more important than God’s word, which did not say that only the priests could eat it.
We must never add to nor take away from the Word of God (see Revelation 22:19). It is THE truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Sometimes in our churches we are bound by tradition rather than the truth of God’s word.
If we are going to tell lies, we must be certain of all our facts and surroundings. I often used to remind people, that to be a good liar, one needs to have an exceptional memory. Some might not agree with that, but to keep on lying, you need to remember what you said before, and you need to be consistent. This seemed to happen in this event – one of Saul’s servants was in the vicinity. Doeg, an Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, was present there (v7-9). David had said that he was on a secret mission for Saul, but Doeg would, no doubt, know differently. Doeg, we shall meet later, was not a reliable man, he was violent and untrustworthy. David said that he had brought no weapon with him because he left in haste, to carry out Saul’s mission, so he asked for a sword or a spear. Ahimelech told him that the only weapon was Goliath’s sword wrapped in a cloth. David’s response was that there is none like it. Memories must have come flooding back – the last time he held it was to cut off Goliath’s head after he had killed him. I wonder if he also remembered that he attacked the giant, not with lies, but in The Name of The LORD. Now he has resorted to subterfuge. If only he went back to trusting in The LORD and not his own ways and methods. He was now even glorying in Goliath’s sword. One writer says that there was nothing wrong with Goliath’s sword, but David was trusting in that rather than in His God.
The apostle Paul tells us that we have the armour of God available, but we must put it on, and we must use the Sword of The Word of God. This is the only weapon of attack we have; we fail to use it and rely on it at our peril.
David went out of the frying pan into the fire (v10). He fled to Gath. Of all places to go to, Gath in the land of the Philistines, and what’s more, carrying Goliath’s sword. Lying to protect himself was useless, his trust should have been in God, but he went to Achish, the king of Gath. The Philistines recognised David (v11,12) and reported this to Achish. They knew of the song that had been sung which angered Saul – ‘Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands’. Hearing of this, David was afraid. It was clear that his living by lies was not bringing him safety. He had to keep moving on.
Does the Bible throw any more light on the situation here? It certainly does in Psalm 56 where the title informs us that he wrote it – ‘When the Philistines captured him in Gath’. It is interesting that it says, ‘captured’. When he arrived there, he was free, but it transpired that he was not so free, probably when Doeg recognised him. He became a prisoner. However, in the Psalm, David recounts how he found himself closer to God during his stay there. He recognised the danger, and he asked God to be merciful to him (v1). His enemies were hounding him all day (v2) but he turned to God and put his trust in Him (v3). He stated (v4) ‘in God I have put my trust, I will not fear what man can do to me.’ It is truly a Psalm of praise and trust in God, if only he had done that in the first place!
David needed to get away from there, so he pretended to be a madman (v13-15). King Achish was taken in by it, and said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me?” He said that he didn’t need madmen in his house he probably thought he had enough. It was a great humiliation for David, but it worked. Some have questioned whether this act was before his stated trust in The LORD, or after. Most think it was after, and that God helped him to get out of the situation his lies had got him into. See Psalm 34 which was written when he pretended madness before Abimelech. I assume that Achish and Abimelech are the same person.
