Tag: lies

David Deceives the High Priest

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.

Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” 

1 Samuel 21:7-9, ESV 

Mark my words; Doeg the Edomite was an evil man. Evil men do very evil things. He is immortalized forever in the pages of 1 Samuel as terribly wicked. Doeg is not a Hebrew, and he is called a chief shepherd overseeing other shepherds, and he was in the service of King Saul. 

Was he a captive? Was he a traitor? And what about this phrase, “detained before the Lord?” I got curious so I looked up the word, “detained.” The Hebrew word is pretty broad and I didn’t get any real insight. It’s used 46x and has several meanings, but the general sense is “restrained, halted, or stopped.” Why? 

(If you want, you can jump ahead to 1 Sam. 22:19 to understand Doeg’s heart.) 

In vv. 7-8 the spotlight is turned back on David and Ahimelech. David continues the charade. His deception lies continue as he presses his need to the high priest of Israel. David takes the holy loaves of bread, but he wants more. He really needs a sword. 

Apparently, the sword that Goliath carried had been kept in Nob in safe keeping. For the priests it was special, maybe even holy. No matter, it was a memento of a glorious victory, but everything is different now. 

“It is painful to the last degree to see one whose faith towered to such a lofty height in the encounter with Goliath, coming down from that noble elevation, to find him resorting for self-protection to the lies and artifices of an impostor.” William Blaikie 

Did you catch that? An imposter. David had become a deceiver, a liar. What do we do with that ugly indictment? I guess I have more questions than answers. Just maybe, in the heat of the moment lying became permissible. 

Maybe David should of just leveled with the high priest. 

In Psalm 34 David wrote, “Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?  Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!” 

Wow, David. Are you sure about that? To be honest, I don’t want to malign with David. After all he was fleeing for his very life. Undoubtably there was a price on his head, and the bounty hunters would be out in force. David was scared out of his wits. 

You might say he was just being resourceful, and he didn’t want to implicate anyone else in his escape. Saul and his army were hunting him, and maybe David thought that the priests would be beyond Saul’s reach. Maybe they would have. 

Except for Doeg, the Edomite. 

David at Nob

Biblical village of Nob

“David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. “Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?”  “The king has sent me on a private matter,

“David said. “He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later. 3 Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.”

1 Samuel 21:1-3

David was afraid and anxious; he really doesn’t seem to have a plan. So where did he go? He went straight to Nob, the city of priests overseen by Ahimelech the High Priest of Israel. David did right; when you’re confused go to God. 

The Ark of the Covenant was still in Nob. 

We have a fleshly tendency to lean on our understanding. We think we know what is right as we calculate our best move. However, when we lean on our own understanding bad things are apt to happen. Proverbs 3:5-6 fits well here: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; 
    do not depend on your own understanding. 
6 Seek his will in all you do, 
    and he will show you which path to take.” 

Ahimelech was on edge by David’s arrival. He saw something in David, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was. I think he also was nervous. The passage points that he “trembled” when he saw David. Why, I’m not sure. 

The word “trembled” has an interesting meaning. Literally it means “terror,” or even an earthquake. Ahimelech was disturbed by David’s arrival, and it seems that he didn’t understand what was happening politically. David had fallen out of favor for some time now. 

David lied to Ahimelech, claiming he was on a secret mission for the king. 

David’s world was complicated; he could trust no one, not even the high priest. These verses advance the idea of paranoia and fear affecting everyone. Ahimelech asked two questions. I believe that he couldn’t really discern David’s reasons for coming to Nob.

It was a bald-faced lie.

David demanded bread. He was hungry and no provision was made before his escape. It would be nice if they had planned better—a secret cache of food and weapons would have been incredibly helpful. 

We will pick this story up in the next post.