Life Of David - Lesson 13

Dealings with Frenemies - 1 Samuel 26 & 27

Prayer: Help us Lord as we deal with those who oppose us, especially when they oppose us because of our Faith.  Help us Lord to build bridges & be peacemakers with those who oppose us, as much as it depends on us.  Help us to be both shrewd and tender, both discerning and loving.  Help us to stand firm in our faith, and help us never to cease striving to find ways to relate to and reach out to the unsaved.

What opposition are you facing today?  Who is picking on you?  I think most of us today would be feeling picked on about any political stance we've taken, whatever side we've taken, since we're right in the middle of contentious political times.  Is your political view being stepped on?  Some of us may be feeling pressures at work or school, or perhaps you're having problems with a neighbor.  What about your friends & family?  As you strive to live your life for Christ do they give you a bad time about it?

At this point in his life David faced opposition from multiple sources.  He faced opposition from within Israel in the form of Saul & Saul's forces & those who wanted to win Saul's favor, and he faced opposition from outside Israel from other countries.  You could conclude David wasn't safe anywhere, or was he?  In truth, David was safe everywhere as long as he continued to trust and follow God.  In these passages we're going to see how David deals with "Frenemies", those who he treats like friends but who are in truth his enemies.

1 Samuel 26 v1-4:  If you remember from our previous studies David and his extensive entourage liked to hide out in remote areas, one of which was the Desert of Ziph.  The Ziphites for some reason, perhaps to gain favor with Saul, went and ratted out David's location.  Saul heads out with 3000 of his troops to search once again for David, Saul just can't let David go, he's intent on hunting David down and killing him.  David catches wind of it and sends out scouts to check on things.

This Psalm is noted as having being written when David was ratted out by the Ziphites.

Psalm 54: David doesn't just scout things out, he also cries out to God.  David knows that God is his real protection against his enemies.  

When it comes to dealing with opposition we must remember that God expects us to act; however, He expects us to act according to His direction & His ways and to cover any & all actions with prayer.  If we attempt things on our own strength without relying on God we're likely to fail miserably, or at the least have some unpleasant consequences.

1 Samuel 26 v5-8: David takes a couple men with him to scout out Saul's camp at night.  When he gets close he asks one to volunteer to go into the camp with him, presumably the other would stay outside the camp in order to escape for help if something went wrong.  Abishai volunteers to go, Abishai is David's nephew (Zeruiah is David's older sister) & brother to Joab who served for a long time as commander of David's army.  They are able to sneak right up to Saul undetected, and Abishai wants to strike.

v9-13: David won't let Abishai harm Saul, he reminds Abishai that Saul was anointed by God, and Saul's fate is to be left in God's hands.  Instead David & Abishai take Saul's spear and water jug - two vital pieces of equipment for this warrior king.  Then they get out of camp to a safe distance.  It's interesting that verse 12 adds the insight that God had put Saul & his troops into a deep sleep that allowed David to sneak in and back out again.

v14-16: Once at a safe distance David calls out to Saul's companion Abner - Abner was Saul's cousin & presumably was acting as his bodyguard.  David in essence accuses Abner of failing in his duty to protect the king, he points to the evidence of the king's missing spear & water jug.  David is not only getting their attention, he is proving that he's not out to kill the king - since he has the spear & jug he obviously had opportunity but resisted.

v17-20: Saul calls out to David calling him "my son", a term of endearment, but David isn't fooled.  David very respectfully questions Saul, he asks if there is some reason God has sent Saul out after him.  If God has sent Saul then David is willing to repent & make a sacrifice in order to set things right; however, David makes it clear that if it was simply Saul's idea to pursue him then Saul will have to answer to God for his actions. 

v21-25: Saul is convicted by David's questions, and admits his wrongdoing.  Saul asks David to come back to him, but David knows he can't trust Saul so he arranges to have Saul's things returned & parts ways with Saul once again.  

This is the second time that David had the chance to take Saul's life but spared it, David is exercising great restraint where his enemy Saul is concerned, and it is obvious he's leaning on God for the strength to resist taking advantage of Saul.

David faced opposition from Saul and sought out God for strength, protection, and direction.  Think about opposition you may be facing, how are you dealing with it?  What resources are available for you to deal with it in a Godly manner?

Resources you have:

Prayer - your own, the prayers of others

Bible - the wisdom and guidance of the Scriptures

Fellowship - the care and counsel of other believers

Holy Spirit - God living in you to direct your words and actions

1 Samuel 27 v1-4: What's different about David's approach to his situation this time?

He "thought to himself" (v1)

David seems to have a lapse of faith, and depends more on his own reasoning & not on the guidance of God.  I like it when the Bible points out the flaws in its characters, it's one of the qualities that reinforces the authenticity of the Scripture, if it were a mere story the "hero" likely wouldn't be so flawed.  Anyway, David & his men & their families go to Gath, a royal city ruled by the Philistine king Achish.  David's thinking had in part been right, Saul had no desire to go against the Philistines in order to hunt down David.

v5-7: David, and probably his men as well, really didn't want to be under the constant scrutiny of Achish & his men, so he wisely convinced Achish to send them to occupy Ziklag - a small town further to the south.  David is being shrewd in this case, he speaks as a humble servant unworthy of living in the royal city, but what he really wants is a bit more freedom - freedom from the scrutiny of the Philistines, as well as freedom to launch his own campaigns.  David & his entourage lived in this area for a year & four months.

1 Chronicles 12 v1-7:  As David is living in Ziklag more people are coming to join him from Israel, his numbers continue to grow.  Life in Israel under an unreasonable (demonically tormented) king was likely getting increasingly worse.  Things are so bad that even some of Saul's kinsmen are among those listed as defecting to join David.  

1 Samuel 27 v8-12:  David is launching campaigns against some of the enemies of Israel, enemies that were supposed to be routed from the promised land when Joshua & company brought the people into the land.  David is careful not to leave any witnesses, but takes the plunder.  David uses the plunder to win favor with Achish, claiming that the plunder has been taken from Israel.  Achish actually thinks he has control of David, and that David has become subservient to him.

Final thoughts: God knew who He was picking when He picked David... despite David's failings David usually acted wisely.  David was good with people, he was able to gain their trust or convince them of what he wanted them to believe.  He was a strong leader of men, and a good political/military strategist.  I'm not going to stand here and say he did everything right, I know in fact that he didn't, but he was God's choice and he was God's servant, he had the traits God needed to get His work accomplished.  There will be consequences for David's lapse of faith, but he's still the man whose heart belongs to God.

In Matthew 10:16 Jesus tells his disciples "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."  The verses that follow go on to talk about the types of oppression that the disciples would face as they were sent out into the world to do His will.  As Jesus current crop of disciples in this world we should expect the same treatment, we will be opposed and oppressed and we need to be ready.  In what circumstances do you need to practice being shrewd yet tender, being discerning yet loving?  Think of the different groups of people you interact with work/school/gym/home, with which group do you need to standing firm in your faith and at the same time reach out to rescue the unsaved?

Closing Prayer: Lord train us to come to you first, to lean on you for strength, to be your humble servants.  When we instead lean on our own thinking or our own strength pull us back, keep us from harming ourselves and from harming others because we've failed to seek you first.  Lead us Lord, help us to listen and to follow, help us to be both "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves".

Life Of David - Lesson 12

David & Abigail - 1 Samuel 25

Prayer: Lord I thank you for this interesting passage we get to look at today, and I thank you for the way your Holy Spirit worked through the author of this passage.  I thank you that your Word is so compelling, so intriguing, so worthy of continuous study. 

1 Samuel 25 v1: Samuel was still seen as a prominent figure in Israel, and his death brought about a time of national mourning.  Samuel had apparently been able to live out his later years peacefully, at home in Ramah.  With the death of Samuel the era of the Judges is completely finished, the book is closed, the transition to a monarchy is unquestionably complete.  During this time, or shortly afterward, David and his entourage move from En Gedi to the wilderness region of Paran (Maon).

At this point we come to my favorite passage on the life of David, the story of David & Abigail.  Abigail is one of my favorite Bible characters, she's an amazing woman (the likes of Proverbs 31), and she has an amazing impact.

1 Samuel 25 v2-3:  Here we meet a very miss-matched couple, Nabal & Abigail.  Nabal is very wealthy & powerful, harsh, evil, God-less, and a complete fool.  Abigail is intelligent, thoughtful, beautiful, and God-fearing.  Her marriage was probably arranged, seeing their personalities I can't imagine Abigail would have chosen Nabal (though we don't really know), and probably her parents thought they were taking good care of their little girl by marrying her off to a rich husband... but riches don't solve problems, in fact they tend to create problems - especially if in the wrong hands.

Nabal's name means "fool", in the Scriptures a fool was a person who was morally deficient, who said "there is no God" (Psalm 14:1 & 53:1)  and lived his life as if there were no God.  If this is his real given name that tells us a bit about his parents, who may have been atheists and named him this as a means of expressing their point of view (but that's just an educated guess).  There are some who think this wasn't his given name, but more what people called him behind his back, though scripture doesn't indicate this - it says Nabal was his name.  Whatever the circumstance behind his name, his name suits him in many ways... not only was he foolish, he was living as if there were no God. 

Nabal is a descendant of Caleb, the name Caleb means "dog" and the author is likely throwing that information in as another way of demeaning Nabal since calling someone a "dog" was an insult.  Soon Nabal is going to be a "dead dog", which like "apple of your eye" and other expressions that are commonplace today, is an ancient term that comes from the Bible (I thought you might find that interesting).

v4-8: Its sheep-shearing time!!  To you and I that doesn't mean much, but in those days this was when you made your money (from wool) and it was considered a festive occasion.  

Though Saul was still king and had extensive forces at his command, he didn't use his forces to protect against local difficulties (perhaps that just was too daunting a task).  David on the other hand is looking out for the shepherds and flocks while he and his men are in the area - this is pretty amazing, this band of misfits is being honorable, they are not taking what they want from those who are vulnerable, but instead protecting them.  I'm sure they were hungry at times, it must have been tempting to pilfer a sheep, but they didn't.  David and his men protected the shepherds and the sheep both from wild animals and from wandering tribes that would come in and steal livestock or pillage small villages, in essence providing a protective wall about them - this is a beautiful picture of how God protects His shepherds & His sheep.

David & his men were dependent on the generosity of local farmers to provide for their needs; there just wouldn't be enough wild game in the area to feed so many mouths.  David's sending of the young men was a conventional method of asking for a gift, in the customs of that day the owner of the animals would set aside a portion for those who protected the shepherds in the fields (David as a former shepherd would be well aware of this custom).  It was kind of like a waiter expecting a tip in our culture, how much of a tip is dependent on the generosity of the tipper, but a tip is still expected.

v9-11:  David's men arrived, gave Nabal David's greeting, and waited. Nabal was a selfish & stingy man, he was going to have nothing to do with providing a gift, and instead of demonstrating appreciation for all that was done he hurled insults regarding David.  His words imply that David is a nobody & a vagrant who has run away from his master, an outlaw - this would have been a monumental insult in that day.  David had served Nabal honorably, but Nabal is repaying David's service with dishonor.

v12-13:  David's response to being dishonored, to having his name slandered, was typical in his day.  This was the sort of thing that started wars in ancient cultures, but this still doesn't excuse David's hasty angry response - David is not stopping to seek God, David is taking matters into his own hands.  I love the way scripture deals with this, it shows us David is normal & struggled with sin & failed at times - just like we do.  David didn't just go himself, he took 400 of his armed men with him... and he left quickly, not bothering to move his entire entourage but rather leaving 200 men behind to guard their supplies.  David is enraged & on his way to teach Nabal a lesson... 

In scripture we see that God doesn't take lightly the insulting of one's name, here are two examples:

Exodus 21:17 - children toward parents

2 Kings 2:23-24 - youths toward God's prophet

v14-17:  In the mean time Abigail is informed by one of the servants what Nabal has done.  The servant knows Abigail is reasonable and approachable, and that Nabal is completely unreasonable & unapproachable.  A disaster is looming if no action is taken - after all David and his men are a sizable group of warriors - so even if they didn't have direct news telling them David was coming in retaliation they would by rights have expected this response, especially in light of the insults spewed against David.

v18-20:  Abigail takes action immediately, she prepares a feast worthy of a small army, and sends it out ahead of herself.  I'm impressed with Abigail, this would have been a huge amount of food to prepare & she seems to pull it together at a moments notice.  I'm also impressed with what she sends: bread, wine, meat, roasted grain (a cereal of sorts), raisin cakes & fig cakes (sweets).  She sends a variety of foods, the sort that would allow the recipients to enjoy a nice meal (not just sustenance).  But that's not all, she's also going to go along to present this gift.

I'm also impressed at Abigail's wisdom, she doesn't even bother to try to reason with her unreasonable husband, and she doesn't bother to inform him (she probably knew he wouldn't even notice she was missing).  Abigail knows what the right action is to take and she sets things in motion.   Abigail isn't acting against her husband, she is acting in his favor - in reality sparing his life; wisely, she is acting without his knowledge.

Abigail rides into a mountain ravine, right toward an angry mob of fighting men...

v21-22:  As Abigail is riding toward them David is expressing his anger quite openly, and his anger is gaining steam, not only is he planning on taking out Nabal but also all of the males of his household.  His desire was to send Nabal & his household into complete ruin.

v23-25:  I can't help but think that on the way to meet David Abigail must have been fervently praying for the Lord to give her words and actions that would sooth David's anger.  When she finally is face to face with David she humbles herself & bows before him, she takes blame for not sending a gift.  Abigail doesn't try to hide her husband's faults, she is honest about them, but she willingly takes responsibility for the fault of not providing David & his men with provisions.

v26-31:  David allows Abigail to speak at length, and again I believe that God was speaking through her.  Normally women would not have addressed men - and she was addressing a leader of men, so this is an interesting encounter.  She speaks of David's honor & reputation, asking him not to harm his good name with bloodshed.  She speaks of David's dynasty & of his security, how they are wrapped up with God.  She encourages David not to do something that he will later regret.

Abigail acts as a type of the Lord, convicting David and turning away David's wrath.  Abigail's words about David's dynasty sound prophetic, seeming to indicate that she had some knowledge from God about the importance of David's throne (its messianic nature).  I think its interesting that she, as woman of position, doesn't take that position for granted but instead humbles herself and calls herself David's maidservant, by taking this humble posture she not only acknowledges David as God's chosen leader but protects his dignity.  Abigail gives David, and us as well, the reminder that we should evaluate our situation & our choices from God's perspective & with eternity in mind - this world will cause us trouble, but this world is not our home!

v32-35: This beautiful intelligent & Godly woman has got David's attention... her gifts and her words have turned aside David's wrath.  David doesn't make excuses, he openly admits that he had been on a wrong path, his ready confession shows why he is a man after God's heart - not perfect, but teachable.  I think its interesting that David's pride is what got him into trouble, but his pride has now receded and he has gone from being out of his mind with anger to being calm & reasonable.  We all fail, sometimes its the little things that trip us up, we need to emulate David: when faced with our failure we should quickly repent & get back on the path God has set for us.  David is more than just calm & reasonable, he tells Abigail to "go home in peace", only someone of great character can so quickly accept their failure, repent, and make peace with their enemy.  David is demonstrating meekness, a character attribute of Christ: strength that is harnessed and under control.

v36-38: Nabal is acting like he's a king, in this we see parallels to (or a caricature of) Saul.  Scripture doesn't mince words, he was drunk... and Abigail is wise not to speak to him in this state.  Can you imagine the night she had, a drunk husband on her hands & knowing she was going to have to confess her actions to him once he sobered up... its possible she slept well, as honesty doesn't seem to be a problem for her, but seeing his reputation as a mean & evil man she may have been in for some terrible treatment.  Morning comes, she breaks the news, and Nabal has a literal physical reaction to the news - we can assume from the description that its a stroke, but we really don't know; whatever the medical cause the scriptures teach us that the Lord allowed him to remain like that for 10 days and then took his life.  Seeing Abigail's character, how she protected his life by her actions, I'm guessing she cared for him as best she was able during his last days - honoring her husband until his end.

v39-40: David gets the news, God has upheld David's cause and punished Nabal for his wrongdoing.  David wastes no time, he sends for Abigail and asks her to be his wife - yikes!!  David must have realized what an amazing woman Abigail was: her faith, her wisdom, her humility, her strength... and wanted her by his side.

v41-44: Abigail also doesn't waste any time, she quickly goes to meet him and become his wife.  Abigail becomes a wife of the future king, and she is a wife worthy of a king; a wise, humble, God-fearing wife.  I wish I could say this is a "happy ending", but in a way its a bit sad... Abigail was probably making the best of her situation, and it wasn't a foolish choice, but it is rather sad.  

As a widow Abigail likely wouldn't have taken over her husband's business, that's just not how that culture worked, instead the business likely would have come under the control of a close male relative of Nabal.   If she & Nabal had grown sons they would have taken over the business, but it sounds like she was childless at this point.  Widows in Israel were at the mercy of friends and family, and if Nabal was any indication of what his family was like she'd have had a tough time.

We also learn that Abigail is wife #3 - Michal was wife #1 (and still technically his wife even though given by Saul to another), Ahinoam os Jezreel is wife #2, and more are yet to come.  As a woman I can tell you I would not be happy sharing my husband with anyone else, he is precious to me and I am very selfish when it comes to his affections, this must have been hard - though perhaps not as hard as dealing with a mean-spirited & evil man like Nabal.  

As far as David is concerned in this we need to remember that having multiple wives was never part of God's plan, even for kings (Deuteronomy 17:14-17), though at this point in the time of David's history he may not have been aware of these regulations.  As we will see David will be led astray... but that will be covered in another lesson.

Final thoughts:

Nabal's life is a shadow of another, several commentators point out that Nabal is a type of Saul.  Nabal, like Saul, has a bad attitude toward David who had guarded his men and his flocks - we can't help but see David as also guarding God's men & God's flocks (the nation of Israel).  Saul is also a fool, and Saul will also soon be meeting his end.

David's angry flare toward Nabal, his response to the insult and injury directed at him, show us that David's dealings with Saul were dealings of tremendous restraint & self-control.  David certainly had the temper, the skill, and the opportunity to remove Saul forcibly, but held back.  Its interesting that this passage dealing with David's vengeful behavior toward Nabal is sandwiched between the two chapters (24 & 26) in which David refrains from taking Saul's life when Saul was at his mercy.

Closing Prayer: I thank you for the honesty of your Word, which openly shows the failings of one of your "good guys".  As we reflect on passages like these help us to realize that our failings don't hold us back from being useful in your will, as long as we keep our hearts  open and soft toward you.

Life Of David - Lesson 11

David's actions & Saul's reactions - 1 Samuel 21-24

Prayer: Lord as we open your Word prepare our hearts, help us to learn and grow in our own faith walk as we observe the faith walk of your servant David.

David has just confirmed with Jonathan that he's no longer going to be able to serve Saul, he's now on his own, and Saul is out to destroy him.  David & Jonathan will remain committed friends, sharing an oath together before God, but will rarely encounter each other again.  Jonathan will continue to obediently serve his father King Saul, who continues to rule Israel.

David is in exile, he's going to have to depend on the kindness of others, and on his own wits, in order to survive.  That said David is God's man, God is on his side.  We will see as we continue to look at the lives of David and Saul a great divide between the two, the one is seeking God's approval & the things of God, the other is seeking man's approval and the things of man.

1 Samuel 21 v1-9: David goes to the priest Ahimelech at Nob, when Ahimelech saw David alone he was afraid, I don't know why he was afraid except perhaps he feared that Saul might have sent David to harm him (perhaps 1 warrior alone would have been seen as an assassin).  If this is the case, this might help explain why David lied to Ahimelech about why he was there, he may have been trying to protect Ahimelech from retribution from Saul.  Ahimelech likely would have helped David even if he had told the truth, since David came there to inquire of the Lord (we'll learn this in chapter 22), in any case David isn't corrected by God so we must assume that this behavior was not condemned by God.  Several weeks back we spoke of the need, when in war or in matters of national security, to either withhold information or provide misinformation.  David is in essence at war with Saul, though the battle so far has not developed, but we will see quickly that Saul is definitely his enemy.

David asks the priest for bread, whatever is available; unfortunately, all that's available is the consecrated bread (bread of the Presence kept in the tabernacle).  This bread (according to Leviticus 24:9) was only to be eaten by the priests; however, Ahimelech agrees to give it to David as long as he and his men are ceremonially clean.  Later Jesus would teach about David to show how the ceremonial laws weren't to be held to legalistically; Jesus taught that it is always lawful to do good and to save life, to do so is in keeping with the spirit of the laws of God. (references Matthew 12:3-4 & Luke 6:9)

Another person is present at the tabernacle, Doeg an Edomite & herdsman who belonged to Saul, perhaps he's the reason David lied to Ahimelech.  Doeg is paying attention to what is transpiring... keep this in mind because we're going to see him again.

Finally David asks for a weapon, and he's given the sword of Goliath - the giant he slew several chapters back.  Apparently the sword had ended up in the care of the priests, and just when David needs a sword God has one ready for him.  Normally priests wouldn't have weapons, so we can see the hand of God interceding for David.

1 Samuel 21 v10-15: David with Bread in his pack and armed with Goliath's sword heads (of all places) to Gath.  Anyone remember the significance of Gath?

<Philistine territory, where Goliath was from.>

David has fled to enemy territory, preferring to be in the presence of the Philistines to being in the presence of Saul.  Achish is informed by his servants that this is the "king" that the song is about, the one who has slain ten thousands - perhaps by this they also know he's the one that killed their warrior Goliath.  David, realizing he's at risk, acts like a madman... behaving strangely & drooling all over himself... This tactic works, Achish thinks he's a madman & is dismissive of him.

Two Psalms go along with this passage, and we're going to read through them:

Psalm 56: The heading for this Psalm actually indicates that David had been captured by the men of Gath.

Psalm 34: The heading for this Psalm speaks of the time when David acted like a madman in the presence of Abimelech (not Ahimelech the priest) rather than Achish, but Abimelech is believed to be a title of the position of king to the Philistines, it translates something like "my father the king".  So saying Abimelech would simply be saying "the Philistine king" rather than being more specific by saying "Achish the Philistine king".

1 Samuel 22 v1-5: David moves on to Adullam.  I think its interesting that David's brothers come to his side, especially seeing their early treatment of him; however, time has had the opportunity to teach them lessons as well as David, and they wisely decide to join him.  Many others in Israel were also in distress with Saul as king, apparently it wasn't just David who suffered, and enough joined with him that he had a force of 400 men serving him.  Mind you this was 400 men, they also would have wives and children with them, as well as possibly flocks & herds, so David is suddenly the leader of a large nomadic people group.

David takes his entourage on to a stronghold, presumably somewhere near Mizpah of Moab (other side of the Dead Sea), and places his parents (who would be elderly at this time) in the care of the King of Moab for their well being.  The implication of the passage is that they stayed with the king until David & his people left the area.  How long David was in this area we don't really know, but we do know that he was told by a prophet of God named Gad that he should return to Judah, so he returns to Israel, to the Forest of Hereth.

1 Samuel 22 v6-15:  Saul knows that people are siding with David, but in his usual fashion he blows things out of proportion.  He exaggerates the numbers that are with David, and blames all those within hearing of conspiring against him.  He even whines "not one of you is sorry for me", this would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic.

Doeg figures maybe he ought to fill in the king about what he saw at Nob (back in chapter 21), possibly to win favor with the king - after all he's a foreigner & likely the property of Saul.  He tells Saul that he saw David with Ahimelech, that Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for David, gave David provisions & Goliath's sword.

I can almost see the steam coming out of Saul's ears, he doesn't like what he hears and demands that Ahimelech and all his family come see him immediately, which they do.  Saul accuses Ahimelech of siding against him by giving David bread & a sword, and inquiring of God for him.  I love Ahimelech's response, he reminds Saul who David is - Saul's most faithful servant & son-in-law, an honorable man, and one who regularly inquired of the Lord (this wasn't the first time)... Ahimelech begs mercy of Saul, claiming innocence regarding his behavior (and he was innocent - remember David lied).

1 Samuel 22 v16-23:  How does Saul respond to a priest's claim of innocence & cries of mercy?  He has him and his whole family killed.  Its interesting that Saul's servants wouldn't carry out his order to kill the priest and his family, I'm guessing they were all Israelites & had a healthy respect for the priesthood & a healthy fear of God as well.  It took Doeg, the Edomite (Edomites were known to be enemies of God's people) to do the dirty work... and "overkill" would be a good word for how Doeg handled things.  Doeg killed the priests, 85 in all, but didn't stop there; he also killed all the people men/women/children/babies as well as all of the animals of the city of Nob.

One of Ahimelech's sons, Abiathar, escaped and ran to David, telling him what had transpired.  David expresses grief & regret, he knew that Doeg would rat him out to Saul, and takes responsibility for the deaths.  Abiathar is invited to stay with David's entourage & under his protection.  I think its interesting that if Doeg would have told Saul everything that had happened, including the lies that David had told Ahimelech, that Ahimelech and his family might not have been killed... but Doeg is not a good guy.

Psalm 52:  The heading of this Psalm makes it clear that Doeg is the bad guy, not only a "rat" but one that specifically told Saul just enough (a half truth) to cause Saul to burn with anger against the priest.

1 Samuel 23 v1-6: The city of Keilah is under attack, this is likely an Israelite city since it is being attacked by Philistines, they are being attacked at harvest time and the harvest is being stolen.  David wants to help, that's his nature, but he doesn't presume; instead, he inquires of the Lord (most likely using the Urim & Thummim from Abiathar's ephod - Abiathar served as High Priest until removed by Solomon much later).

David was ready to go, but his men weren't so certain, so David inquired of the Lord once more (presumably for their sake), and the Lord said to go... They defeated the Philistines at Keilah and took possession of their livestock.

1 Samuel 23 v7-13: Uh-Oh, Saul gets word that David is at Keilah, he thinks he's got David trapped, and he heads out to besiege David & his men... David gets news that Saul is coming with his army and inquires of the Lord again... God indicates that Saul is coming and that the people of Keilah will hand him over if he stays, so David and his men (wisely) high-tail it out of there and head for the hills.

1 Samuel 23 v14-29: The wilderness area they inhabited is a rocky, hilly, arid region along the western shore of the Dead Sea.  This area is rough terrain, riddled with caves, there would have been many places to hide and seek shelter, this would be relatively inaccessible, and would have been nearly impossible to track someone there.  This is the same region where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden for several hundreds of years.  Can you imagine the difficulty of keeping their families with them at this point?  It is possible that during this time they were forced to leave their families & flocks behind.

Who shows up at this time, a time of deep discouragement for David, but his best friend Jonathan... Jonathan came and encouraged David.  But not everybody is happy to see David, the Ziphites rat out David's hiding place to Saul, and Saul gets them to provide intelligence on David's specific hiding spots.  Soon David is on the run again, and I find it humorous (almost sounds like the stuff of silent movies) that David is keeping away from Saul by staying on the other side of the mountain from him.  Just when it seems like Saul is going to overtake David what happens?  God happens!!  God used those pesky Philistines to invade Israel & cause Saul to move the army to fight their old enemies.  David takes his men to the region of the city En Gedi, still within the area of strongholds, but En Gedi was known as an oasis of the area.

Psalm 63: This Psalm comes from the times of David living in the wilderness.

1 Samuel 24 v1-7: Saul needs to relieve himself, and what cave should he pick for his latrine but the cave occupied by David and some of his men.  It may not be obvious the offense committed by David... what he did is cut off the hem (or part of the hem) of Saul's garment - I went to the hebrew for the text to verify that the word used though correctly translated as "a corner", for a garment it indicates the hem. The hem was a symbol of his authority (similar to the markings a military uniform today) - the hem of the garment could be pressed into wax, similar to pressing a signet ring, and the particular pattern would tell people who's hem it was.  By cutting the hem David was symbolically cutting off Saul's authority, something he felt only God was authorized to do since God had anointed Saul as Israel's king.  David restrained his men, who would have loved to end their wanderings by ending Saul's life, and Saul is allowed to finish his business & exit.

1 Samuel 24 v8-15: Imagine Saul's shock to be face to face with David, his sworn enemy, to see David bow down to him, to see David hold the hem of his robe, to realize that David could have taken his life with no trouble at all... and to be told in no uncertain terms that David has no intention of killing him.  David puts the weight of the situation onto Saul's shoulders, saying in essence "your move"; however, in reality he puts the situation squarely on the shoulders of God, the best place to put it, and lets God be the one to judge, to protect, to defend.

1 Samuel 24 v16-22: Saul is moved by David's words and actions, he calls him "my son" and weeps.  Saul admits that he has acted in an evil manner and David has repaid that evil with good.  Saul again has temporarily had a change of heart regarding David, wishes him well, and agrees that the kingdom will be given to David.  Interesting that though David is the one behaving in a trustworthy fashion it is Saul that want's the assurance of a covenant with David that his family will not be destroyed... David agrees, after all he's already agreed to this with Jonathan.

These two Psalms lament the stressful circumstances surrounding David's days of hiding:

Psalm 57 - a prayer for safety from enemies.

Psalm 142 - a plea for relief from persecutors.

Closing Prayer: Lord as we have looked at this passage we have seen the behavior of these two very different men.  David takes purposeful action, seeking your will, but Saul simply reacts & attempts to push his own will.  Lord help us to be men and women like David, who seek you even when hard pressed, always working to fulfill your will rather than our own.

Life Of David - Lesson 10

Friendship put to the Test - 1 Samuel 20

Prayer: Lord as we go through this passage help us to learn about the bonds of friendship between David & Jonathan, and help us to learn to be loyal friends as they were.  Help us Lord to learn from these two men with unique callings, who both seek to honor you in the way you called them, and as we learn help us to each be content with the unique calling you have placed on our lives. 

Saul is losing it & David is on the run.  David's had to leave behind his home, his wife, and his jobs... but he knew where to go for help, he turned to Samuel (God's prophet) and once again Saul's plans to get rid of David are thwarted.  Now David is going to turn to his best friend & most committed associate for help, Jonathan (Saul's son).

Quickly Form Groups and answer these Questions:

1. In your life, what has caused the person(s) you call "best friend" to hold that special title?

2. Is your best friend a brother/sister in Christ?

a. If yes: what impact does your shared faith have?

b. If no: how do you deal with issues of faith?

<have groups share answers... some thoughts:> (1) The ability to safely share secrets or intimate information, with complete confidence and with no fear of gossip.  (2) My shared faith with those I consider my best friends means I can share the deepest part of who I am: my relationship with the Lord... and when that relationship with the Lord is hurting I can share those hurts with them & they understand and care for me.

New Moon Festival (paraphrased from my Chronological Study Bible):  The new moon marked the beginning of a new month in ancient society, in Israel this became an important festival, so important that it was expected to continue in the new earth where people enjoy companionship with God (Isaiah 66:22-23).  It was supposed to be a solemn day by statute of God (Psalm 81:3-4), but apparently not everyone appreciated it (Amos 8:4-6).

1 Samuel 20 v1-3: David has fled from Naioth, apparently to get away from Saul (who you remember from last week was laying there stripped of his clothes & prophesying - likely against his will).  David heads to another trusted one, another who has shown his faith in God, his best friend Jonathan.  David fills Jonathan in but Jonathan is having trouble believing him, Jonathan doesn't realize that his Dad the king is now keeping his intentions secret from him.  David comes to Jonathan in a panic & takes out his frustrations on him... it almost seems as if they're yelling at each other... but what is amazing is that they are able to speak their minds with each other, even in the midst of their emotional turmoil, and move on without it having a negative impact... this is an amazing friendship.

v4-8: Jonathan is willing to help David, and David devises a test that will bring out the truth in the matter.  David would have been expected to be at the feast, to dine with the king, it was his assigned place.  To not attend the feast would require a legitimate excuse, and Jonathan is going to provide one... how Saul reacts will tell Jonathan the truth.  David challenges Jonathan: "if I'm guilty kill me, why hand me over to your father?"  David is in essence placing his life in Jonathan's hands... this is the mark of a true friendship, trusting each other with our very lives.

v9-11: Jonathan isn't about to hand David over to his father without knowing the truth about his father - Jonathan is in a tough spot.  Jonathan needs, as a servant of God, to honor Saul both as his father and as the king; yet, Jonathan needs to make sure that in doing so he doesn't sin and harm an innocent man, one he's made a covenant with before the Lord.  Jonathan needs to know the truth...

v12-15: Jonathan is determined to get to the bottom of things with his father, and to let David know the results.  If Saul is favorably disposed toward David he'll let David know, if not he'll help David get away safely.  In return Jonathan asks a special favor of his best friend: continue to show kindness to Jonathan's family - even if all David's other enemies have been defeated don't take Saul's actions out against the rest of his family.  This might seem strange to us, but in their culture leaving a descendant of the defeated king meant that you were leaving someone to exact revenge on your family in the future.

v16-17: David & Jonathan reaffirm their covenant, and apparently this time there is a portion of the covenant that represents promises on David's part (likely the promise to remain kind to Jonathan's family).

v18-23: Jonathan agrees to carry out David's plan, and devises a way to communicate to David the results.  Jonathan will come out to a field, one he and David knew well & that had a good hiding spot.  Jonathan will shoot arrows, have a target practice of sorts, something very ordinary for Jonathan to do.  Jonathan will bring a boy with him to collect his arrows, also an ordinary activity; however, when he instructs the boy he will speak words that will tell David precisely what his next actions should be - whether to stay or go.

v24-27: The feast begins and David is missing... David would have been expected to attend & Saul was probably waiting for him hoping to have another chance to kill him.  Saul arrogantly thought that there was no way David would miss the feast, even though Saul had pursued him.  Saul keeps his cool the first day of the feast, telling himself that David must have become ceremonially unclean.  But on the second day of the feast Saul's true feelings start to show, he starts asking about David but can't bring himself to use David's name - he's already exhibiting veiled anger - he calls David "the son of Jesse", attempting in his own way to dehumanize David.

v28-33: Jonathan provides David with an acceptable excuse for missing the feast, that of observing a sacrifice with his family at the request/order of his brother.  In their culture that would have been a reasonable excuse, giving honor to God and to Family were highly esteemed.  Saul is ticked, he knows David is avoiding him, and now he realizes Jonathan knows that he's out to kill David & is protecting David.  Saul looses it, does the equivalent of a nasty "Yo Mamma" insulting his own wife in the process... now he not only can't call David by name he appears unable to address Jonathan directly as well.  Saul's wrath is fully exposed, his intent is exposed... he tries to excuse his anger by saying that he's just looking out for Jonathan's best interests - after all Jonathan won't inherit the kingdom if David is around (remember the giving of the clothing / armor & transfer of position from the beginning of Chapter 18).  Jonathan knows better than to trust his Dad at this point, and refuses to expose David, at which point dear old Dad tries to skewer his own son... yikes!  Now Jonathan knows the truth, there is no doubt, he knows that his Dad (King Saul) intends to kill David.

Rebecca Manley Pippert, in her book A Heart Like His, speaks about Jonathan honoring his father at this point:

"Jonathan did honor his father; he told Saul the truth.  Furthermore, when he realized his father was in deep rebellion against God, Jonathan refused to assist him in his destructive efforts..."

v34: Could a father & son be any more different from each other?  Saul's anger is self-centered, we might call it self-righteous, and sinful.  Jonathan's anger is righteous and does not lead to sin, instead it leads to grief at the sin of his father.  Saul wants what he wants no matter the price, even at the price of the life of his own son.  Jonathan wants what God wants, no matter the price, even though it cost him the kingdom - in fact he'd already willingly given up the kingdom to the one he believed God had chosen.

v35-40: Jonathan is a man of his word - he goes to the field with a young boy, shoots his arrows, gives the signal... Then he sends the boy away, carrying his weapons back to town.

v41-42: After the boy has left David bows down to Jonathan, an act of submission and respect - after all David knows its not his time to be king yet, Jonathan is still technically his superior and Jonathan has acted in a manner that deserves respect - risking his own position (and in fact his own life) for David's sake.  Then they embrace, and kiss (customary greeting for this culture - not homosexual behavior), and wept... and it says David wept the most.  These two friends were being vulnerable with each other, this is another mark of an amazing friendship.  David was a very tenderhearted man, we don't know why he wept so deeply - perhaps for Jonathan because of his Dad, perhaps for his own loss of home/wife/job, but I think its really because he knew he had to leave behind his best & most trusted friend... a tremendous loss for a man who had already lost so much!  They part company, at peace with each other & with God, and still bound by a covenant to each other.  David will start to gather other men around him, his "mighty men", and will not serve Saul again.  Jonathan will continue to obediently serve his father King Saul, keeping the unique & likely awkward position given to him by God, until he dies.

Closing Prayer:  Lord thank you for showing us David's troubles, how he expresses his emotions, and how he is vulnerable with those he trusts.  Help each of us to have those special, perhaps sacred, friendships which can withstand the storms of our lives.  Thank you also for showing us Jonathan as a man of Godly character, help us also to be men and women that honor you no matter our circumstances.  Amen!

Quickly Form Groups Again, and answer the following questions:

3. What stands in the way of you being open & vulnerable with your close friends?  What can be done to change this?

4. Are you in the awkward position of having a parent/boss/superior that doesn't honor God, yet that God says you must respect (or even serve)?  How should you deal with this?

5. Chuck Swindoll points out that David was stripped of all human "crutches" (home, wife, job, best friend), possibly so that he would learn to depend on God alone.  What "crutches" in your life would you have difficulty loosing & why?

Life Of David - Lesson 9

Saul's Pendulum - 1 Samuel 19

Prayer:

Lord, we each will face things that will shake us up.  We may get hurt or betrayed, we may be threatened, or we may face a difficult loss.  Help us Lord to prepare ourselves now for those difficult times, help us to be people that have ourselves firmly grounded in you, help us to look to you as our only source of security in this ever changing world.

Saul has gone from appreciating David to being envious of him, and has already tried to skewer him twice...  Saul has tried to manipulate the situation in a variety of ways, to either undermine David or get him killed off... Saul continues to feel more & more threatened by David.  If you've not already noticed Saul has some pretty extreme mood swings, caused by his own deeply rooted sin, and his moods appear to be amplified by the evil spirit that is tormenting him.  Unfortunately for David he is going to bear most of the brunt of Saul's wrath; however, God is still training David for the throne - so we need to try to see how God is using the situation for His purposes.

Quickly Form Groups and answer these Questions:

1. God has placed authorities over us, and asks us to be submissive and obedient to those authorities.  Is it ever ok to be disobedient?  (If yes, give examples)

2. What do you think would happen if you, like David, were to deliberately chose to love and serve someone you were at odds with?

3. What are the consequences of choosing sin, and of choosing to remain in that sin?

<have groups share answers... some thoughts:> (1) Human authority has limits, we should always be obedient to God as our ultimate authority over any other authority that might present itself.  (2) I have done this, in doing so both I and the other were blessed - but this can't be our expectation.  We should expect to be blessed in some way by loving (personal growth), but should not expect the other to respond well (as we'll see Saul doesn't respond well to the blessing from David being in his court). (3)  When we choose sin there are consequences, and choosing to remain in that sin cause the sin to grow (snowball) - in the case of Saul we will see how his sin of envy has grown into hatred, and the consequences are just going to keep getting worse!

1 Samuel 19 v1-3: As we learned at the end of chapter 18, David has continued to be successful in battle against the Philistines, and he's becoming increasingly popular with the people.  Saul can't stand this, his jealousy has peaked again and he's got his sights set on David, so he orders Jonathan and all of his attendants to kill David.  Jonathan does the right thing in disobeying his father the King, and warns David about the danger to his life.  Jonathan arranges a way to speak to Saul on David's behalf, somewhere near where David would be hidden & possibly within David's hearing, so that David can get a clear picture of the situation.  Jonathan made himself an intercessor on David's behalf.

v4-7: Jonathan reminds Saul of the blessings that David brings, and that David has not wronged Saul.  Jonathan reminds Saul about Goliath, and how Saul had been glad at what God had accomplished through David.  Saul listens and agrees with Jonathan, and makes an oath before the Lord that David will not be killed.  Jonathan's love and care reunite David and Saul, and all is well... the pendulum has swung back... at least for the moment... 

v8-10: Once again David has gone out to war against the Philistines, once again he is successful, and once again Saul's envy is aroused.  David is back from the battlefield, attempting once again to sooth Saul as he's being tormented by an evil spirit, and once again becomes Saul's target... and we're told that it was this very night that David made his escape.

Saul sees David as a threat to him.  Rebecca Manley Pippert in her book A Heart Like His, likens Saul's position to one of a CEO who is being forced to step down, she describes it like this:

"In the best of circumstances, it is extremely difficult for a CEO to step down.  But imagine the terror that would strike you if you were fired from a job that gave you a sense of being and power and prestige.  That was Saul's situation.  Samuel had just given him his 'termination papers,' due to a negative performance evaluation from Saul's 'Boss.'  The choice before Saul was probably the same choice that all CEOs have when their time is up.  Will they behave with humility and dignity during their remaining days in office?  Will they determine to face squarely the flaws that brought the termination?  Will they blame the boss or even their successor for their woes?  When the time comes, will they exit as statesmen, with behavior worthy of the office, or will they embarrass everyone by clinging to the last vestige of power?"

Saul could have repented, could have been the good guy, could have been looking out more for Israel than himself, but that's not what Saul chose... Saul had time to leave a good legacy, one source I was reading indicated that he ruled at least 10 years after Samuel told him he was rejected by God, but Saul didn't make the right choices, Saul left behind an embarrassing legacy.

v11-13: Here we get some additional details of what happened that day.  Saul has sent men to watch David's house, with the intent of killing him in the morning.  David's wife Michal doesn't want him killed, she encourages him to escape & helps him escape through a window - this was likely a window of a house that was built into external wall of a city (similar to the ones in Joshua 2:15 & Acts 9:25).  Then we're told Michal takes an idol and places it in the bed, covered with a garment, and with goats hair at the head.  Its possible this isn't an idol in the normal use of the term, but we don't know... at the very least its the equivalent of putting a dummy with a wig on into the bed.

v14-17: Saul's men come to David's house to "collect" him, and Michal tells them he's sick.  Saul won't have that excuse, orders him to bring David back in the bed if necessary so that he can kill him... the men go back and discover the dummy.  Saul is furious at his daughter, he's irate that she'd deceive him (notice he doesn't give a thought to her feelings in the matter), and questions her loyalty.  Out of fear and a sense of self-preservation Michal lies to her father, indicating that David would have killed her if she hadn't let him get away.

We're going to read through Psalm 59.  Though the exact timing of the writing of this psalm is not known, the notes that are placed in the ancient texts of scripture indicate that David wrote this psalm regarding this particular time of his life.  At this time of David's life he had been fighting the enemies of Israel (enemy nations), and is concerned about Israel; in addition, David is facing his own personal enemies in the form of Saul and his henchmen.  With those things in mind let's read Psalm 59.

We've just crossed into the next phase of David's life, David living on the run.  David hasn't done anything wrong but he's become the #1 fugitive on Saul's most wanted list, and Saul is obsessed with having David killed.  David has, in very short order, lost two good jobs (military & musical), his home, and his wife.  God has in essence removed all his worldly support system...

I was thinking about this during the week, and I was wondering how I would respond if life were to suddenly throw me a major curve... and wouldn't you know, a curve got thrown into my life.  I don't think we have any idea how we might react until something happens... I will admit, I was doing a bit of the "poor me", but I also found myself crying out in prayer, and eventually I decided (yes, I made a choice) to praise God despite my circumstances - I wish that would have been my first response, but God isn't finished with me yet!

David is the "man after God's own heart", David isn't so concerned with position & prestige.  Make no mistake about it - David is running for his life!  But David is running in the right direction...  David's response to being cut down is not to sin, but rather to seek God's help - so lets see what he does...

1 Samuel 19 v18-21: David knows right where to turn, he makes a bee line straight to Samuel - God's chosen prophet, and Samuel immediately moves them both to Naioth.  

<Some notes about Naioth:> Naioth may very well have been a colony of Prophets (indicated loosely in vs 20).  Chuck Swindoll, in his study on the life of David, tells that archaeologists found remains in that area that were houses built in a maze-like arrangement that would have made it an ideal place to hide out from Saul and his men.

In any case Saul learns where David is hiding and starts sending his men to capture him.  Three times he sends out men to capture David, three times the men encountered the prophets and started prophesying.  Saul's men aren't able to capture David, God is hindering them in following the King's commands.

v22-24: Finally Saul, frustrated at the failure of his men, goes after David himself... but his results aren't any better, in fact Saul is so blown over by the power of God working through him that he strips himself & lays down, unable to control himself.  Once again Saul's attempts to undermine & eliminate David have failed.

<Clarification: 1 Samuel 15:35 said Samuel never goes to see Saul again - and I think this means they are never face to face again during Samuel's life (which is what I taught when we covered that passage); however, its possible that Saul & Samuel saw each other in this instance, but notice its Saul coming to Samuel - not the other way around.  Another possibility is this: that when it says Saul is "in Samuel's presence" it may mean that he is in the presence of (or under the influence of) the same spirit that is influencing Samuel.>

Closing Prayer:  Thank you Lord for David's example which shows us to run to you for help when trouble strikes.  Lord the scriptures teach us that you are our Rock, our Fortress, our Firm Foundation.  As we face troubles of various kinds help us to turn to you first as our best source of help, of strength, of security.  Amen!

Quickly Form Groups Again, and answer the following questions:

4. What's your first response when trouble strikes?  How might you change your response to be one that glorifies God instead?

5. What scriptures do you turn to when facing trouble?  (suggestions: Jeremiah 29:11-13; Romans 8:28, 31; Psalm 143)  Share your favorites with the group.