1
Samuel chapter 21 reminds me of how bizarre life can get when we are
under stress. Life is not always calm and smooth. Sometimes in our
efforts to escape from one pressure we end up complicating things
even more. Good people that want to honor God end up in bad places
and are left to ask themselves, “How did I end up here?” In the
chapter, David had literally run for his life. Like many people in
trouble, he went to the house of the Lord. He had immediate needs
and did not think it was necessary to tell the priest the whole sad
story… so he lied. “The
king has charged me with a certain matter… no one is to know
anything about your mission… Give me five loaves of bread or
whatever you can find“.
The priest explained that he had no ordinary bread; “There
is some consecrated bread here“.
This was the bread that was set before the Lord and replaced each
week. The bread was then to be eaten “In
the presence of the Lord“.
The priest only asked if David and “his men” were ceremonially
clean. David simply continued the ruse. He was hungry and tired and
in real need, and in his current state he was no longer trusting God
for his needs.
David
next asked the Priest, “Don’t
you have a spear of sword here?”
The priest replied, “The
sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom you killed…If you want it
take it, there is no other sword here“.
David said, “There
is none like it“.
The sword of faith now became a symbol of his self reliance. All
David could think about was his current troubles. In the midst of
the story we also read that “one
of Saul’s servants was there… Doeg the Edomite“.
Unknown to David at the time, his little sham would later cause him
deep regret. Very often people are observing our actions without our
notice (particularly when we are under stress). The old expression
is true, “actions speak louder than words”. When we think things
can’t get any worse, we read “This
day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath“.
David
was being pursued by the king of Israel and his army and ended up in
the town of Gath, the hometown of Goliath. David was in the heart of
the enemy’s territory, alone, and carrying the sword of the local
hero he killed. He was immediately recognized and was even
mockingly serenaded him with the Israelites’ song of praise about
his victories over the Philistines. “David
took these words to heart and was very much afraid… so he pretended
to be insane.”
What crazy places we end up in when we run from the things of God!
Seeing his insanity, the king did not even want David in his
sight. Looking back at this event, David recognized the significance
of God’s presence. Psalm 34 is his reflection of this time. “This
poor man called and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of his
troubles.”
David’s words encourage us to, “Taste
and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that takes refuge
in Him“.
I pray that whatever nutty situation you have been through, it will
cause you to run to the refuge of God.