Running from Saul - The Book of 1 Samuel

In this Bible Story, David escapes from Saul and has to lie to priests, pretend to be insane to kings, and escape to caves in order to preserve his life. However, God continued to bless David. Outcasts, misfits, and debtors from Israel began to band around him. This story is inspired by 1 Samuel 21-22. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is 1 Samuel 21:5 from the King James Version.

Episode 89: David made his way to Nob, the city of priests, and Ahimelech came to meet him and asked why he was there. David quickly told Ahimelech what he needed to hear and asked for food to sustain him on his journey. He asked for a sword and Ahimelech gifted him the sword of Goliath that he had used so many years ago. After this, David fled quickly to Gath knowing that Saul would be hot on his tail. But Gath wasn’t safe for him either and so he fled again to a cave in Adullam where he would praise God and write Psalms in the midst of his suffering.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. 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
sacrificed this day in the vessel first Samuel twenty one five.

(00:25):
Dear Heavenly Father, when the weight and burden of pursuing
my calling becomes too much, fortify my mind so that
the thought of going crazy isn't even an option. Instead,
when my vision begins to wear on me, I will
position myself and begin to worship you for who you

(00:46):
are and for your faithfulness. For I know that that
worship is my worship and will allow me to regain
mental growth when I feel that my foundation is becoming unstable.
Thank you for always placing me on the heart of
my family and loved ones. Thank you that, like David

(01:06):
in to day's reading, at just the right time, they
will come and comfort me in my time of need. Lord,
as you begin to build the community for my dreams,
I will not be taken back by what appears to
be misfits, for I know that it is in the
unlikeliest of relationships, that greatness and loyalty are formed. So

(01:31):
I celebrate the difference. I celebrate the uniqueness. I celebrate
the fact that through uncommon relationships, uncommon blessings and breakthroughs
are born. In Jesus name, Amen, thank you for praying
with me to day. Continue listening for an incredible Bible

(01:53):
story brought to you by Bible in a Year dot.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Com Running from Saul. In our last story, we learned
how David and Jonathan made promises to one another. Jonathan
would protect David from Saul, and David would show favor

(02:17):
and love to Jonathan and his family for all his days.
Jonathan learned that Saul's hatred for David still burned heart,
so he warned David. David fled to the wilderness. In
this story, we will learn how David continues to flee
and visits a Himelech, is given Goliath's sword, and then

(02:38):
in Gath pretends to be crazy in front of Akish
as inspired by the Book of First Samuel.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. In yesterday's story, we heard
how Jonathan helped David evade Saul, and how the two
men an oath a covenant together that they would always
seek each other's good. This is a touching picture of
a friendship that is stronger even than family bonds. We

(03:08):
saw how David fled from an increasingly angry and insane king,
King Saul. Today we'll continue this story with David on
the run. He will use clever deception to protect himself.
His intentions are always noble, and soon other outcasts will
gather around him, furthering the anger of Saul. Let's listen

(03:29):
now to today's reading from God's Word.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
David's chest was about to burst. Heavy rain fell and
lightning filled the skies with light. David's heart was racing
and his lungs couldn't gasp fast enough. He was completely exhausted.
Running from Saul had cost him a great deal of energy.
David needed food. David stumbled to knob near the temple,

(03:55):
and a Himelech, the priest, came out to greet him.
A Himmelech was afraid to see David, for he knew
he was one of Sal's commanders. Why are you here alone,
Ahimelech asked. David was overcome with hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.
Out of angst, David lied to ahimelech, saying, the King
sent me on an important mission. I have an appointment

(04:18):
with a young man here, and Knob, please give me
five loaves of bread or whatever you have here. The
priest shook his head and said, sadly, I only have
the holy bread meant for ceremony. Only the priests and
men who have kept themselves from women are allowed to
eat it. David regained his composure and spoke with less

(04:40):
desperation in his voice, saying, whenever I or my men
are on expedition, we are kept from women, we are
truly worthy of the bread. David acted as though he
was with a whole team of people to get more bread.
The priest, not wanting to question David's authority, took the
bread off of the altar and gave to David. Do

(05:01):
you have any weapons, David asked, The King's business required
I leave immediately, so I did not bring any sword
or spear. The priest's eyes lit up. He said nothing
and beckoned David. Inside the temple was warm and dry.
David held the bread close to his chest, still feeling
a slight sting of guilt as he carried it. The

(05:25):
priest led David into a room. There was a figure
on a table, wrapped in cloth. The priest took it
in his hands and began to unwrap it. A beautiful
sword glistened in the candlelight. The priest lifted it up
and gave it to David. He held it in his hands.
It was a large sword, but felt familiar to David.

(05:45):
The priest smiled and said, this is the sword of Goliath,
the Philistine, whom you defeated in battle. It is the
only weapon we have here. David's heart began to flutter
as he held the sword he once used to cut
the giant's head off. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Not long had passed before Saul caught wind of where

(06:07):
David was, so in a hurry, David fled to Gath
to escape. Gath was the homeland of Goliath and Philistine country. David,
afraid and alone, ventured into enemy territory with Goliath's sword
sheathed on his side. Aikish, the king of Gath was
perplexed by David's arrival. The people of Gath had thought

(06:29):
all along that David was the King of Israel. This
meant David was in more danger than he realized. Aikish's
servants brought David in, so David, in an attempt to
save himself, began to act insane. He marked his chambers
with odd symbols and drooled all over himself. Akish was
perturbed by his servants bringing David in. Do you think

(06:51):
I need more madmen in my home? So he had
David depart from his presence. David departed immediately from Gath
and escaped to a cave in Adullam. David wallowed in
the loneliness of the cave, crying out to God in
his distress. There he wrote songs to God in the darkness.
He questioned God, praised God, and loved God. It was

(07:16):
not long before David's family discovered where he was. They
came to him and ministered to him. Shortly after, many
men from Israel began to flock to David. Men who
were outcasts, debaters, and bitter found hope in the presence
of David. Four hundred men stood in front of David,
following his every command and hanging on every word. This

(07:39):
was David's new flock, a flock of misfits and social
outcasts broken were given purpose under David's command. This would
be a foreshadowing of the Christ to come. Hundreds of
years later, David and his men dwelled in the land
of Moab for a short while and then departed to
the forests of Judah. There, David and his men became

(08:02):
close and their strength and numbers grew day by day.
Saul was told of David's new community and how four
hundred unruly men followed him everywhere he went. All of
a sudden, David was an even bigger.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
Threat to Saul.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
He became furious with his servants that they had allowed
his whereabouts to go unreported for so long. More so,
he was outraged with Jonathan, who had made a covenant
with David. Saul raged in his throne room. One of
his servants then told him that David was given the
sword of Goliath by a himelech. This caused Saul to pause.

(08:39):
Saul said nothing, his eyes were glazed over in rage.
He gathered his things and his men, and they departed
to Nab to find a himelech. Saul burst open the
temple doors where Ahimelek and the priests had knob served.
The priests cowered in fear as Saul approached them with
his armed men. Saul's face was red and his eyes

(09:00):
were piercing. Saul walked among the priests, pointing his sword
at a Himelech. The priest was trembling as Saul's sword
lightly touched his robes. Hear me, priest, Saul spoke with
silent rage, Why have you conspired against me and armed David.
You clothed him, fed him, and gave him a weapon

(09:21):
of great importance. A Himelech could barely speak, he was
so afraid. He managed to stutter out a few words, saying,
my Lord, I thought David was one of your most
faithful servants. He is your son in law and a
captain over your army. I know very little of any
dispute you have with him. Saul did not listen to

(09:41):
the words of the priest. His rage had blinded his
eyes and cut off his hearing. He turned to his
men and said kill them all, but his men did
not move. To kill a priest over this would be
an absolute sin, and these men would not mudch. Saul
yelled again, kill there, but the men did not move,

(10:03):
so Saul turned to his trusted servant Doeg, who then
killed eighty five priests and their families. The priestly town
of Nob was painted red with Saul's jealousy. At this moment,
Saul was completely given over to Sin's hold over his mind.
One of the sons of a Himelek escaped the bloodshed

(10:23):
and fled to the forest where David and his men lived.
David's heart was tied in knots over the news. He
felt responsible for their deaths, since he had sought refuge
there and lied to a Himelech. David's self preservation had
caused the needless slaughter of priests. David anguished over this
and protected a Himelech's son.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Today's story in God's Word begins with David fearfully on
the run. Desperate for a place to hide, He flees
to Nob, where he encounters a priest named alimele Concerning
to the priest, why would one of Saul's generals be there.
David was desperate, but he also may have wanted to

(11:09):
provide this man some plausible deniability when Saul came asking questions.
Whatever the reason, David actually lies and tells Alimelech. He's
on a mission from the king. He asked the priest
for bread, or whatever food he might have. Halimilech tells
him all he has is the ceremonial holy bread, meant
only for the priest and men who have refrained from

(11:30):
intimacy with women. David says he and his men are
always kept from women while on an expedition. His words
led Elimeleach to believe he was not alone, and so
the priest gave David the bread from the altar. Here's
something very important. Christ would later use this story to
teach the Pharisees about the true purposes of the Sabbath

(11:51):
and God's ceremonial laws. David's heart was being obedient to God,
and eating the bread meant for priests was justified in
such a time of need to strengthened David for what
he was facing. David then reveals that he is traveling
without a weapon, so Halimelech shows him something surprising. For
some reason, the sword that Goliath had carried, the very

(12:11):
one David had used to chop off the giant's head,
is in the temple. Why it is there is unclear,
but David has given this sword to take as protection
for his journey. This is ironic since David was the
one who of course defeated the giant and now has
his sword. But what David does next is unusual. When

(12:33):
Saul discovers where he is, David ventures into Gath, which
is not only Pelicsting territory, but Golias homeland. Alone. David
is easily captured by the people of Gath, who believed
him to be Israel's king, But when he is taken
into the palace, David pretends to be insane. He puts
on quite an act, so the king sends them away unharmed. Finally,

(12:56):
David is able to escape to a cave where he
is join by his family. His family gives him comfort
and aid. He is also joined by other outcasts men
of Israel who stood by David and found hope in
this man who would one day soon be king. First
Samuel twenty two and verse two records this listen to

(13:17):
how they foreshadow another who would come to Bethlehem and
gather the broken and the herding unto himself, and everyone
who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt,
and everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him,
and he became commander over them. In David, we see
here a glimpse of Christ, who would one day bring

(13:38):
hope not only to Israel, but the whole world. Meanwhile, Saul,
consumed by hatred and completely given over to evil, confronts Alimelek.
He accuses him of betrayal. He will hear none of
the priest's reasons. Alimelech was a man of God, but
Saul was so far gone. He had his servants slaughter

(13:59):
this man and more than eighty priests and their families
that day. Only one would escape, Alimeleke's son, who told
David what had happened. David knew his deception was to
blame for the bloodshed, and he was terribly grieved. He
promised to protect a Liimelech's son and remain there with

(14:19):
the ragtag group of outcasts that have become his army.
We'll hear what happens the next time in God's word.
Dear God, thank you for your word. Thank you for
the story of David's life that ultimately points us to
the greater David, the good Shepherd, who is the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was born who lived, who died, and

(14:41):
rose again to bring hope to the world. And it
is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Prey dot
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