Directions for Departing Gath

Directions for Departing Gath

1 Samuel 21; Psalm 34   

 

Illus. The Way Out.

 

As we turn to 1 Samuel 21 this morning, we find David on the run for his life from King Saul and upon running from Saul, he ends up running into situations that indicate him losing some of his directional faculties spiritually.

We left off a couple of weeks ago in chapter 20, and this morning, in chapter 21 David is on the run for his life from King Saul. David will be on the run from King Saul for over a decade. Saul had already tried to kill David three times personally by throwing his spear at him and attempting to pin David to the wall. David continued to serve Saul. He had entered into Saul’s service full time…But as David had great success in battle, and the people began to publicly praise David, Saul became suspicious of David, began trying to kill him privately, or put him in compromised position militarily, but after David continued to have success, Saul directed his men to kill David. Saul’s son Jonathan tried to step in and convince Saul to spare David’s life, but in chapter 20, Saul made it clear to Jonathan and then Jonathan made it clear to David, that it is no longer safe for him to be anywhere near Saul, and that David needed to get away from Saul.

David will become public enemy number one in Israel for many years. Saul tells everybody at his command, hunt him down, kill him, end his life. From chapters 21 to 31, we will set these circumstances repeatedly. The last section of the book is all about David in exile. David being hunted. David running from place to place to place. This morning we see him run to the city of Nob, and from Nob to the city of Gath, and from Gath to the cave of Adullam.

It starts here in chapter 21, David comes to a new city, but the depiction we get throughout this chapter of David, however, is not of this fearless newly anointed king known as a man after God’s own heart, but he we will get into a new city, a new territory and things don’t get off to a good start. David will end up veering off course (so to speak), he will lie his way through one city and then end up attempting to take refuge in enemy territory, that city, is a city known as Gath, which would represent the wrong place at the wrong time amongst the wrong people. While running for his life, it seems that David will be begin to show some cracks in his ability to navigate his difficulties with the same faith that we have seen throughout David’s history. But as we read the story, and see all that is happening outwardly, we will look at what David’s experiences were bringing about internally, and personally with the Lord through two Psalms David wrote in response to the events we learn about in chapter 21.

 

Read: 1 Samuel 21:1-15

 

1 Samuel 22:1(a), So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam…

 

If we were reading a chronological Bible, then two Psalms would be written toward the end, and at the end of 1 Samuel 21. The first is Psalm 56, which in the introduction to the Psalm we learn that David wrote it when he was captured in Gath. The second is Psalm 34, which from the introduction we know that it was written when David pretended to be insane, was driven away, and departed Gath.

Through these Psalms, we are given directions for departing Gath from the one who himself departed Gath…

 

Psalm 56:1(a), Be gracious to me, God…

 

Psalm 34:1-8(a), I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice. Exalt the Lord with me, and let’s exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He answered me and rescued me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed. This wretched man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them. Taste and see that the Lord is good…

 

1. Turn to God and See That He Is Still Good

 

• David, on his first stop after running for his life from King Saul, came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and he came trembling to meet David.

 

• I want to note right from the start that the place David runs to is the right place…He heads to the house of Lord. That was his first place of refuge, the house of the Lord, to the place where God’s representatives were, and he spoke with Ahimelech the priest, the great-grandson of Eli.

 

• He goes to the right place, seeks to surround himself with the right people, but he begins heading down the wrong path when questioned.

 

• The priest was nervous when he sees David. David was well known, a warrior, he is the the son in law of King Saul and for someone like him to travel alone was unusual. David arrived at Nob without protection, without the secret service, without soldiers, the priest was trembling.

 

• The priest asks David in verse 1, “Why are you here alone, and no one with you?”

 

1 Samuel 21:2, David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’

 

• David, in survival mode, trying to protect himself makes up a story about why he is there, who he is with, and what he is doing.

 

• He made up the story to protect himself, and then elaborated on the lie, putting words in Saul’s mouth to make it seem like Saul sent him there in secret, and further, he referred to “young men” who were with him, though he himself was alone.

 

• It is easy to understand why he did what he did, to put oneself in a similar situation and realize that many would do the same, if not worse.

 

• But there is a lesson here to learn and that is that David lied, but shouldn’t have, nor did he need to.

 

Illus. Well…

 

• David seemingly saved himself from potentially being turned in here, but in chapter 22 we will see that David’s lie would impact Ahimelech and his family.

 

• Saul will hold Ahimelech accountable for helping a fugitive…David will come to deeply regret it when seeing how the outcome affects Ahimelech and his family.

• In verses 3 to 6, David, continuing with the story that he had men with him, asks the priest for bread.

 

• The only bread there is the showbread, it was reserved only for the priests to eat.

 

• There were 12 loaves of bread representing the 12 tribes of Israel and they were put in the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle, and they would be face to face with the Lord.

 

• The 12 loaves were baked and then replaced every sabbath day, and the priests, the sons of Aaron were given the bread being replaced to eat (Leviticus 24:9).

 

• The bread represented God’s continual presence with Israel.

 

• In response to David’s need, Ahimelech broke away from priestly custom, and gave the bread to David.

 

• Jesus would one day reference this story when His disciples were walking through grainfields on a Sabbath and His disciples began to pick grain and eat. It is there that he was questioned by the Pharisees, that His disciples were going against the law, but Jesus points them back to this story, and shows his approval for offering this bread to David in his time of need.

 

• Looking at this text, one may look and say, wait a minute, David lied, made up a story, said he had people with him, and he didn’t, even when he was asking for the bread, the holy bread, made implication that there were men on the mission with him, waiting for him…and he is given the show bread? The Holy bread? God blessed him and provided for him?

 

• But God has provided compassion for us when we did not deserve it personally. Despite the times when we have turned away from “THE Way,” and gone our own way, He still offers us grace, mercy, and all of His goodness; He gives us the bread of God presently.

 

John 6:33-35, For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

 

• When David turns to God at the end of this chapter in 1 Samuel, he will cry out to God and recognize his need for the Lord’s grace and mercy.

 

Psalm 56:1(a), Be gracious to me, God…

 

• When he asked God to be gracious, the word there tells us that he is asking the Lord for compassion, to bend or stoop in kindness, to be merciful to him, to have grace upon him.

 

• Grace is often defined as God’s favor toward the unworthy. And God, in His grace, is willing to forgive us and bless us, even though we do not deserve it.

 

Romans 3:23, All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

 

Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

1 John 1:8-9, If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

Psalm 34:6, This wretched man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

 

• The term wretched, is also translated “poor,” “needy,” “lowly,” “weak.”

 

• David cried out to the Lord, past tense, as he looks back on what just happened, and he realized that the Lord, at that point, saved him.

 

Psalm 34:8, Taste and see that the Lord is good…

• David calls the people to taste and see that the Lord is good…

 

• The way the words are ordered, I believe are important.

 

Illus. It is good.

Psalm 34:8(a)b, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.

 

1. Trust Again that There is None Like Him

 

1 Samuel 21:7-8, Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds. David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there no spear or sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s matter was urgent.”

 

• While there, in the house of the Lord, David sees one of Saul’s servants onsite.

 

• This servant, Doeg, was not an Israelite, but an Edomite, a descendant of Esau. He was the chief of Saul’s herdsmen. Since he was not an Israelite, we aren’t sure why exactly he was there, however, what we find in the next chapter is that Doeg is not a good character.

 

• This scene will come back later. Doeg will end up telling Saul all about what happens here with Ahimelech helping David out.

 

• Doeg is watching what was taking place, we understand that he was there, David understands he was there, and turns to Ahimilech, do you have any weapons on hand?

 

1 Samuel 21:9, Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

 

• The only sword onsite was Goliath’s sword. It was wrapped in a cloth in the tabernacle.

 

• David, when he had defeated Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, took his sword, and there we learned that he put the sword of Goliath in his tent.

 

• Sometime later, it seems that he took that sword to the tabernacle, to the house of the Lord. The Lord had given the victory, David with great faith and trust in the Lord was victorious in the battle and the Lord was given the glory. The sword hidden there and wrapped in the cloth.

 

• But here, David is in another battle, running for his life, and he asks for a weapon. When the priest reveals it is Goliath’s sword, David makes an interesting statement… “bring it to me, there is none like it.”

 

• David, the one who chose faith over fear in the face of Goliath. David, the one who once trusted in the Lord, believing God would protect and bring about the victory.

 

1 Samuel 17:45-46, David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a saber, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me…”

 

David, the one who wrote…

 

Psalm 16:8, I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (NIV)

 

Psalm 20:7, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (NIV)

 

• David, the one who directed us to trust the Lord, declaring that there is none like Him through the Scriptures, the one who trusted the Lord for victory without sword or spear and drew near to Him in battles previously, now looks at the sword of Goliath and declares, there is none like it.

 

• In that moment, David, as he held that sword had an opportunity to remember how that sword was won. He did not win it with lies, half-truths, or by trusting what it could do…He won it by trusting the Lord alone and believing in what only He could do.

 

• David was in fear. He said to Jonathan in the previous chapter, “there is but a step between me and death” (1 Samuel 20:3).

 

• David is in need of help, and taking up the sword of Goliath stated, “there is none like it…” Oh that we might recognize in our lives that Ephesians 6 calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit and hold up God’s Word when the winds are against us and say, “there is none like it, give it to me!”

 

Illus. None like Him.

 

Proverbs 29:25, Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. (NLT)

 

• David will come to realize this, what perhaps he is unable to see in the moment, he looks back and sees.

 

• This is important for us to recognize, Alan Redpath says it this way, “I find it tremendously comforting that the Bible never flatters its heroes. It tells the truth about them not matter how unpleasant it may be, so that in considering what is taking place in the shaping of their character we have all the facts available to study.”

 

• Once David was given Goliath’s sword, he left town.

 

1 Samuel 21:10-11, Then David set out and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

 

• When David leaves the house of the Lord, he goes to Gath, the capital of Philistine territory. Goliath was from Gath, and David was a marked man in that city. Here he is walking into town with Goliath’s sword in hand.

 

• Perhaps his mind was so centered on the threat of Saul, that he strapped Goliath’s sword on and fled to the only place Saul might not go searching for him.

 

• He is recognized immediately, not only this, they believe David is the king of the land, and they knew the song that people would sing about David quite well.

 

1 Samuel 21:12-15, David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. So he disguised his sanity while in their sight and acted insanely in their custody, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is behaving like an insane person. Why do you bring him to me? Do I lack insane people, that you have brought this one to behave like an insane person in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”

 

• David arrived into enemy territory, looking for a way of escape, with his trust seemingly centered on his story telling ability (or lack thereof) and the sword he had in hand.

 

• The reality was, they would not save him, so upon being recognized, he comes up with another plan, to start acting crazy.

 

• He was seized, and brought into the custody of the Philistines…. He began to scribble on the doors of the gate, he drooled down his beard, he started acting crazy…why? Because he heard all that was being said in enemy territory and he took their words to heart, he took to fear rather than trusting in the Lord.

 

• The intro to Psalm 56 tells us that David wrote it upon being captured in Gath.

 

• In it, he realizes that it is God he needs. In verse 3 he declares that in his fear, he will put his trust in God; in verse 4 that he will put his trust in God and will not be afraid, what can mere mortals do to him? Again in verse 11, “in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.”

 

• The word there for trust is to place his confidence in, to find security in, to put his hope in and the Psalm closes with the declaration that he knows God alone is the one who brought about his Salvation.

 

Psalm 56:13, For You have saved my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

 

• I want to circle back to verse 12, where David, upon entering into the place he likely never thought he would or truly wanted to be, in enemy territory, taking to heart the words they were saying.

 

• But through the context given in Psalm 56, we see that he, in the midst of the perceived insanity, began trusting, believing, and taking to heart not the words of the enemy, but words of the Lord and applied them to his life personally.

 

III.  Take His Words to Heart for a New Start

 

1 Samuel 22:1, So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam…

 

• It was Psalm 34 that he wrote when departed…

 

• And in from that Psalm we get words of life that give direction for departing Gath in our own lives.

 

Psalm 34:3-4, Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. (NKJV)

 

Psalm 34:6, This wretched man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

 

Psalm 34:12-14, Who is the person who desires life and loves length of days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

 

Psalm 34:17-18, The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 

Psalm 34:22, The Lord redeems the souls of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.

 

Illus. In Gath?

 

John 6:35-37, Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away…”

 

John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

 

Romans 10:13, Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

 

 

 

1 Samuel 21