Samuel ch 21-24 David goes to Nod to visit Ahimelech the priest. When he asks David why was he by himself, David tells Ahimelech Saul sent him there on a private matter. He then asks for food; he wanted 5 loaves of bread or anything else the priest could give him. Ahimelech tells David he had just put fresh showbread out and he and his men could have the loaves he removed if they weren’t unclean from being with women. David also asks for a weapon and is given the sword he killed Goliath with. David is unaware that Doeg, Saul’s chief herdsman, is present and overhears the conversation. David leaves Nod and goes to Gath. While he is there, he over hears King Achish officers talking about him. They did not want him there so he was afraid for his life. David pretends to be insane and is allowed to leave. From Gath he escapes to the cave of Adullam. Others who were in trouble, in debt, or just discontent came to Adullam as well, and David ends up being the captain of ~400 men. David then asks the king of Moab for permission to let his parents stay in Mizpeth. The prophet Gad tells David to go back to Judah. When Saul gets the news, he accuses his men of conspiring against him. Doeg then speaks up and tells Saul he saw David in Nod and Ahimelech gave him food and Goliath’s sword. Saul sends for Ahimelech and all of his family that served as priests in Nod. Saul accuses them of conspiring with David to kill him; Ahimlech denies knowing about the men’s dispute, but Saul refuse to listen. Saul tells his men to kill the priests, but they refuse. Saul then tells Doeg to kill the priests, and he kills 85. He then goes to Nod and kills all of the priests’ families and livestock. Abithar, one of Ahimelech sons, escapes and tells David what Saul did to his family. David then tells Abithar to remain with him; he was going to protect him. The Philistines attack Keilah. Because Abithar brought the ephod with him when he fled, David seeks the Lord for instruction. Twice the Lord tells David he was going to him victory, so he goes against the Philistine. After rescuing the people of Keilah, Saul finds out David is there and plans an attack. David asks the Lord was the people of Keilah going to betray him, and the Lord said yes. David and his men then flee to the wilderness. As David and his men continued to roam around in the wilderness, he gets new that Saul was on his way to Ziph; he was searching for David so he could kill him. Jonathan tracks David down and encourages him. They also renew their covenant with each other before the Lord. Jonathan then returns home. The people of Ziph, however, betrays David and tells Saul he was in the hills of Hachilah. By the time the men of Ziph made it back home to confirm David’s exact location to give to Saul, he had went to the wilderness of Maon. Saul continues to search for David until they were on opposite sides of the mountain. Just as they were getting close to finding David, Saul gets new that the Philistine attacked Israel. Saul had to quit his search and go fight the Philistine. After his fight with the Philistine was over, Saul chose 3,000 men to help him continue his search for David. David and his men were hiding in a cave when Saul comes in to relieve himself. David is so close to Saul he cuts off a piece of Saul robe. His men tell him to kill Saul, but his conscious would not let him. After Saul leaves the cave, David waits until there is distance between the two and calls his name. When Saul looks around, David shows him the piece of robe he cut and explains to Saul that he could have killed him if he wanted to. He then tells him he was not trying to kill him like he thought he was. Saul begins to cry and tells David he is a better man than him and that he knows David was going to be king of Israel. He then makes David promise not to kill family when he takes the throne. Saul then goes home, but David remains in the wilderness. Lessons being taught: 1. People bound or possessed by spirits, have no conscience when it comes to certain things. When the evil spirit came upon Saul, his personality and behavior changed. He broke the oath he made with Jonathan not to kill David. He tries to kill his own son in a fit of rage. He has Ahimelech, 84 other priests from Nod, and their families killed because Ahimelech gave David food and Goliath sword. 2. A kingdom divided against itself will not stand (Matthew 3:24). Even though Saul and his men were looking for David, God had Samuel, Jonathan, and several others helping him. Because of this, Saul did not trust anybody and was constantly accusing people of conspiring against. His own men even refused to kill the 85 priest and their families, so he had Doeg, his herdsman, do it. This made him even more paranoid which plays a role in his destruction. 3. God is our refuge. Every time Saul tried to kill David, the Lord warned him, and he escaped. Even when they were on opposite sides of the mountain, God intervened. The Philistine attacked Israel right when Saul and his men were about to capture David; Saul and his men had to stop their search and go fight the Philistine. When Saul and his men returned, he walked right in the cave David and his men were hiding in and did not even see them. 4. Vengeance belong to God (Deuteronomy 32:35). When David and his men were hiding in the cave, they tried to get him to kill Saul. David cuts off a piece of Saul’s robe, but his conscious would not let him kill the king. Even though David did not like what Saul was doing to him, he refused to stoop to his level. David understood that it was God who appointed Saul king, and God was going to remove him. That is why in his Psalms, he told God to punish his enemies.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 18:59:12 +0000
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