I
S A M U E L
CHAP. XXI.
David
has now quite taken leave both of Saul's court and of his camp, has bidden
farewell to his alter idem--his other self, the beloved Jonathan; and
henceforward to the end of this book he is looked upon and treated as an
outlaw and proclaimed a traitor. We still find him shifting from place to
place for his own safety, and Saul pursuing him. His troubles are very
particularly related in this and the following chapters, not only to be a key
to the Psalms, but that he might be, as other prophets, an example to the
saints in all ages, "of suffering affliction, and of patience," and
especially that he might be a type of Christ, who, being anointed to the
kingdom, humbled himself, and was therefore highly exalted. But the example of
the suffering Jesus was a copy without a blot, that of David was not so;
witness the records of this chapter, where we find David in his flight, I.
Imposing upon Abimelech the priest, to get from him both victuals and arms,
ver. 1-9. II. Imposing upon Achish, king of Gath, by feigning himself mad,
ver. 10-15. Justly are troubles called temptations, for many are by them drawn
into sin.
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David
Obtains the Show-Bread; David Gets the Sword of Goliath.
B. C. 1057.
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1
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at
the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man
with thee? 2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king
hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing
of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I
have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 3 Now
therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread
in mine hand, or what there is present. 4 And the priest answered
David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is
hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from
women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a
truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came
out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a
manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.
6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there
but the showbread, that was taken from before the LORD,
to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 7 Now a
certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before
the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the
herdmen that belonged to Saul. 8 And David said unto
Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have
neither brought 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 thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here
wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it:
for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is
none like that; give it me.
Here, I. David, in distress, flies in the tabernacle of God, now pitched at
Nob, supposed to be a city in the tribe of Benjamin. Since Shiloh was
forsaken, the tabernacle was often removed, though the ark still remained at
Kirjath-jearim. Hither David came in his flight from Saul's fury (v.
1), and applied to Ahimelech the priest. Samuel the prophet could not protect
him, Jonathan the prince could not. He therefore has recourse next to
Ahimelech the priest. He foresees he must now be an exile, and therefore comes
to the tabernacle, 1. To take an affecting leave of it, for he knows not when
he shall see it again, and nothing will be more afflictive to him in his
banishment than his distance from the house of God, and his restraint from
public ordinances, as appears by many of his psalms. He had given an
affectionate farewell to his friend Jonathan, and cannot go till he has given
the like to the tabernacle. 2. To enquire of the Lord there, and to beg
direction from him in the way both of duty and safety, his case being
difficult and dangerous. That this was his business appears ch. xxii.
10, where it is said that Ahimelech enquired of the Lord for him, as he
had done formerly, v. 15. It is a great comfort to us in a day of
trouble that we have a God to go to, to whom we may open our case, and from
whom we may ask and expect direction.
II. Ahimelech the priest is surprised to see him in so poor an equipage;
having heard that he had fallen into disgrace at court, he looked shy upon
him, as most are apt to do upon their friends when the world frowns upon them.
He was afraid of incurring Saul's displeasure by entertaining him, and took
notice how mean a figure he now made to what he used to make: Why art thou
alone? He had some with him (as appears Mark ii. 26), but they were only
his own servants; he had none of the courtiers, no persons of quality with
him, as he used to have at other times, when he came to enquire of the Lord.
He says (Ps. xlii. 4) he was wont to go with a multitude to the house of
God; and, having now but two or three with him, Ahimelech might well ask, Why
art thou alone? He that was suddenly advanced from the solitude of a
shepherd's life to the crowd and hurries of the camp is now as soon reduced to
the desolate condition of an exile and is alone like a sparrow on the
housetop, such charges are there in this world and so uncertain are its
smiles! Those that are courted to-day may be deserted to-morrow.
III. David, under pretence of being sent by Saul upon public services,
solicits Ahimelech to supply his present wants, v. 2, 3.
1. Here David did not behave like himself. He told Ahimelech a gross untruth,
that Saul had ordered him business to despatch, that his attendants were
dismissed to such a place, and that he was charged to observe secrecy and
therefore durst not communicate it, no, not to the priest himself. This was
all false. What shall we say to this? The scripture does not conceal it, and
we dare not justify it. It was ill done, and proved of bad consequence; for it
occasioned the death of the priests of the Lord, as David reflected
upon it afterwards with regret, ch. xxii. 22. It was needless for him
thus to dissemble with the priest, for we may suppose that, if he had told him
the truth, he would have sheltered and relieved him as readily as Samuel did,
and would have known the better how to advise him and enquire of God for him.
People should be free with their faithful ministers. David was a man of great
faith and courage, and yet now both failed him, and he fell thus foully
through fear and cowardice, and both owing to the weakness of his faith. Had
he trusted God aright, he would not have used such a sorry sinful shift as
this for his own preservation. It is written, not for our imitation, no, not
in the greatest straits, but for our admonition. Let him that thinks he
stands take heed lest he fall; and let us all pray daily, Lord, lead us
not into temptation. Let us all take occasion from this to lament, (1.)
The weakness and infirmity of good men; the best are not perfect on this side
heaven. There may be true grace where yet there are many failings. (2.) The
wickedness of bad times, which forces good men into such straits as prove
temptations too strong for them. Oppression makes a wise man do foolishly.
2. Two things David begged of Ahimelech, bread and a sword.
(1.) He wanted bread: five loaves, v. 3. Travelling was then
troublesome, when men generally carried their provisions with them in kind,
having little money and no public houses, else David would not now have had to
seek for bread. It seems David had known the seed of the righteous begging
bread occasionally, but not constantly, Ps. xxxvii. 25. Now, [1.] The
priest objected that he had none but hallowed bread, show-bread, which
had stood a week on the golden table in the sanctuary, and was taken thence
for the use of the priests and their families, v. 4. It seems the
priest kept no good house, but wanted either a heart to be hospitable or
provisions wherewithal to be so. Ahimelech thinks that the young men that
attended David might not eat of this bread unless they had for some time
abstained from women, even from their own wives; this was required at the giving
of the law (Exod. xix. 15), but otherwise we never find this made the
matter of any ceremonial purity on the one side or pollution on the other, and
therefore the priest here seems to be over-nice, not to say superstitious.
[2.] David pleads that he and those that were with him, in this case of
necessity, might lawfully eat of the hallowed bread, for they were not only
able to answer his terms of keeping from women for three days past, but the
vessels (that is, the bodies) of the young men were holy, being possessed
in sanctification and honour at all times (1 Thess. iv. 4, 5), and
therefore God would take particular care of them, that they wanted not
necessary supports, and would have his priest to do so. Being thus holy, holy
things were not forbidden them. Poor and pious Israelites were in effect
priests to God, and, rather than be starved, might feed on the bread which was
appropriated to the priests. Believers are spiritual priests, and the
offerings of the Lord shall be their inheritance; they eat the bread of their
God. He pleads that the bread is in a manner common, now that what was
primarily the religious use of it is over; especially (as our margin reads it)
where there is other bread (hot, v. 6) sanctified that
day in the vessel, and put in the room of it upon the table. This was
David's plea, and the Son of David approves it, and shows from it that mercy
is to be preferred to sacrifice, that ritual observance must give way to moral
duties, and that may be done in a case of an urgent providential necessity
which may not otherwise be done. He brings it to justify his disciples in
plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day, for which the Pharisees censured
them, Matt. xii. 3, 4. [3.] Ahimelech hereupon supplies him: He gave him
hallowed bread (v. 6), and some think it was about this that he
enquired of the Lord, ch. xxii. 10. As a faithful servant he would
not dispose of his master's provisions without his master's leave. This bread,
we may suppose, was the more agreeable to David for its being hallowed, so
precious were all sacred things to him. The show-bread was but twelve loaves
in all, yet out of these he gave David five (v. 3), though they had no
more in the house; but he trusted Providence.
(2.) He wanted a sword. Persons of quality, though officers of the army, did
not then wear their swords so constantly as now they do, else surely David
would not have been without one. It was a wonder that Jonathan did not furnish
him with his, as he had before done, ch. xviii. 4. However, it happened
that he had now no weapons with him, the reason of which he pretends to be
because he came away in haste, v. 8. Those that are furnished with the
sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith cannot be disarmed of them, nor
need they, at any time, to be at a loss. But the priests, it seems, had no
swords: the weapons of their warfare were not carnal. There was not a sword to
be found about the tabernacle but the sword of Goliath, which was laid up
behind the ephod, as a monument of the glorious victory David obtained over
him. Probably David had an eye to that when he asked the priest to help him
with a sword; for, that being mentioned, O! says he, there is none like
that, give it to me, v. 9. He could not use Saul's armour, for he
had not proved it; but this sword of Goliath he had made trial of and done
execution with. By this it appears that he was now well grown in strength and
stature, that he could wear and wield such a sword as that. God had taught
his hands to war, so that he could do wonders, Ps. xviii. 34. Two things
we may observe concerning this sword:-- [1.] That God had graciously given it
to him, as a pledge of his singular favour; so that whenever he drew it, nay,
whenever he looked upon it, it would be a great support to his faith, by
bringing to mind that great instance of the particular care and countenance of
the divine providence respecting him. [2.] That he had gratefully given it
back to God, dedicating it to him and to his honour as a token of his
thankfulness; and now in his distress it stood him greatly in stead. Note,
What we devote to God's praise, and serve him with, is most likely to redound,
one way or other, to our own comfort and benefit. What we gave we have.
Thus was David well furnished with arms and victuals; but it fell out very
unhappily that there was one of Saul's servants then attending before the
Lord, Doeg by name, that proved a base traitor both to David and
Ahimelech. He was by birth an Edomite (v. 7), and though proselyted to
the Jewish religion, to get the preferment he now had under Saul, yet he
retained the ancient and hereditary enmity of Edom to Israel. He was master of
the herds, which perhaps was then a place of as much honour as master of the
horse is now. Some occasion or other he had at this time to wait on the
priest, either to be purified from some pollution or to pay some vow; but,
whatever his business was, it is said, he was detained before the Lord.
He must attend and could not help it, but he was sick of the service, snuffed
at it, and said, What a weariness is it! Mal. i. 13. He would rather have
been any where else than before the Lord, and therefore, instead of minding
the business he came about, was plotting to do David a mischief and to be
revenged on Ahimelech for detaining him. God's sanctuary could never secure
such wolves in sheep's clothing. See Gal. ii. 4.
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David
Driven from Achish.
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10
And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the
king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is
not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him
in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands? 12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was
sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 And he changed his
behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled
on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then
have ye brought him to me? 15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have
brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow
come into my house?
David, though king elect, is here an exile--designed to be master of vast
treasures, yet just now begging his bread--anointed to the crown, and yet here
forced to flee from his country. Thus do God's providences sometimes seem to
run counter to his promises, for the trial of his people's faith, and the
glorifying of his name, in the accomplishment of his counsels, notwithstanding
the difficulties that lay in the way. Here is, 1. David's flight into the land
of the Philistines, where he hoped to be hid, and to remain undiscovered in
the court or camp of Achish king of Gath, v. 10. Israel's darling is
necessitated to quit the land of Israel, and he that was the Philistine's
great enemy (upon I know not what inducements) goes to seek for shelter among
them. It should seem that as, though the Israelites loved him, yet the king of
Israel had a personal enmity to him, which obliged him to leave his own
country, so, though the Philistines hated him, yet the king of Gath had a
personal kindness for him, valuing his merit, and perhaps the more for his
killing Goliath of Gath, who, it may be, had been no friend to Achish. To him
David now went directly, as to one he could confide in, as afterwards (ch.
xxvii. 2, 3), and Achish would not have protected him but that he was afraid
of disobliging his own people. God's persecuted people have often found better
usage from Philistines than from Israelites, in the Gentile theatres than in
the Jewish synagogues. The king of Judah imprisoned Jeremiah, and the king of
Babylon set him at liberty. 2. The disgust which the servants of Achish took
at his being there, and their complaint of it to Achish (v. 11): "Is
not this David? Is not this he that has triumphed over the Philistines?
witness that burden of the song which was so much talked of, Saul has slain
his thousands, but David, this very man, his ten thousands.
Nay, Is not this he that (if our intelligence from the land of Israel be true)
is, or is to be, king of the land?" As such, "he must be an
enemy to our country; and is it safe or honourable for us to protect or
entertain such a man?" Achish perhaps had intimated to them that it would
be policy to entertain David, because he was now an enemy to Saul, and he
might be hereafter a friend to them. It is common for the outlaws of a nation
to be sheltered by the enemies of that nation. But the servants of Achish
objected to his politics, and thought it not at all fit that he should stay
among them. 3. The fright which this put David into. Though he had some reason
to put confidence in Achish, yet, when he perceived the servants of Achish
jealous of him, he began to be afraid that Achish would be obliged to deliver
him up to them, and he was sorely afraid (v. 12), and perhaps he
was the more apprehensive of his own danger, when he was thus discovered,
because he wore Goliath's sword, which, we may suppose, was well known in Gath,
and with which he had reason to expect they would cut off his head, as he had
cut off Goliath's with it. David now learned by experience what he has taught
us (Ps. cxviii. 9), that it is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in princes. Men of high degree are a lie, and, if we make them
our hope, they may prove our fear. It was at this time that David penned Psalm
lv. (Michtam, a golden psalm), when the Philistines took him in Gath,
where having shown before God his distresses, he resolves (v. 3),
"What time I am afraid I will trust in thee; and therefore (v.
11) will not be afraid what man can do unto me, no, not the sons of
giants." 4. The course he took to get out of their hands: He feigned
himself mad, v. 13. He used the gestures and fashions of a natural
fool, or one that had gone out of his wits, supposing they would be ready
enough to believe that the disgrace he had fallen into, and the troubles he
was now in, had driven him distracted. This dissimulation of his cannot be
justified (it was a mean thing thus to disparage himself, and inconsistent
with truth thus to misrepresent himself, and therefore not becoming the honour
and sincerity of such a man as David); yet it may in some degree be excused,
for it was not a downright lie and it was like a stratagem in war, by which he
imposed upon his enemies for the preservation of his own life. What David did
here in pretence and for his own safety, which made it partly excusable,
drunkards do really, and only to gratify a base lust: they made fools of
themselves and change their behaviour; their words and actions commonly are
either as silly and ridiculous as an idiot's or as furious and outrageous as a
madman's, which has often made me wonder that ever men of sense and honour
should allow themselves in it. 5. His escape by this means, v. 14, 15.
I am apt to think Achish was aware that the delirium was but counterfeit, but,
being desirous to protect David (as we find afterwards he was very kind to
him, even when the lord of the Philistines favoured him not, ch. xxviii.
1, 2; xxix. 6), he pretended to his servants that he really thought he was
mad, and therefore had reason to question whether it was David or no; or, if
it were, they need not fear him, what harm could he do them now that his
reason had departed from him? They suspected that Achish was inclined to
entertain him: "Not I," says he. "He is a madman. I'll have
nothing to do with him. You need not fear that I should employ him, or give
him any countenance." He humours the thing well enough when he asks,
"Have I need of madmen? Shall this fool come into my house?
I will show him no kindness, but then you shall do him no hurt, for, if he be
a madmen, he is to be pitied." He therefore drove him away, as it
is in the title of Ps. xxxiv., which David penned upon this occasion, and an
excellent psalm it is, and shows that he did not change his spirit when he
changed his behaviour, but even in the greatest difficulties and hurries his heart
was fixed, trusting in the Lord; and he concludes that psalm with this
assurance, that none of those that trust in God shall be desolate,
though they may be, as he now was, solitary and distressed, persecuted, but
not forsaken.
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