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I'm going to read 1 Samuel 21 
beginning in verse 1 to chapter 22 verse 5. Remember last time 
that we were in 1 Samuel, David and Jonathan are in a covenant 
together. Jonathan gave David a sign. If Saul was still angry and wanted 
to kill David, then Saul or Jonathan would shoot arrows. And they 
spoke with one another. They parted from one another. 
Now David is on an escape. He's a fugitive. He is running 
from Saul. And essentially what we have 
in chapter 21 and up to chapter 22 verse 5 are various places 
that David goes to. He goes first to Nob and then 
to Gath. and then to the cave of Adullam, 
and then to Moab, and then to Hereth. So these are several 
places in David's journey when he is on the run from Saul. So beginning in chapter 21 at 
verse 1. Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech 
the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when 
he met David and said to him, why are you alone and no one 
is with you? So David said to Ahimelech the priest, the king 
has ordered me on some business and said to me, do not let anyone 
know anything about the business on which I send you or what I 
have commanded you. And I have directed my young 
men to such and such a place. Now, therefore, what have you 
on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand or whatever 
can be found. Then the priest answered David 
and said, there is no common bread on hand. But there is holy 
bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from 
women." Then David answered the priest and said to him, truly, 
women have been kept from us about three days since I came 
out. And the vessels of the young 
men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though 
it was consecrated in the vessel this day. So the priest gave 
him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the show bread 
which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot 
bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. 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 chief 
of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. And David said to Ahimelech, 
is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought 
neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business 
required haste. So the priest said, the sword 
of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, 
there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will 
take that, take it. For there is no other except 
that one here. And David said, there is none 
like it. Give it to me. Then David arose and fled that 
day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And 
the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David the king 
of the land? Did they not sing of him to one 
another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and 
David his ten thousands? Now David took these words to 
heart. and was very much afraid of Akish, the king of Gath. So 
he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their 
hands, scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva 
fall down on his beard. Then Akish said to his servants, 
look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 
Have I need of madmen that you have brought this fellow to play 
the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my 
house? David, therefore, departed from there and escaped to the 
cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all 
his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 
And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and 
everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became 
captain over them. And there were about 400 men 
with him. Then David went from there to 
Mizpah of Moab and he said to the king of Moab, please let 
my father and mother come here with you till I know what God 
will do for me. So he brought them before the 
king of Moab and they dwelt with him all the time that David was 
in the stronghold. Now the prophet Gad said to David, 
do not stay in the stronghold, depart and go to the land of 
Judah. So David departed and went into 
the forest of Herod. Amen. I mentioned on Sunday that 
when we read these narratives of biblical history, it's not 
strictly history, it's not only history, it certainly recalls 
events It recalls data. It focuses on persons. It's historically 
rooted, to be sure. There's always a theological 
agenda. Why the author writes what he 
does, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is to convey 
truth concerning God, his providence, his kindness, his faithfulness. 
and as well concerning things about his servants. And this 
chapter is no different, or this section is no different. It's 
rich in theology. As we look at each of these particular 
stops along the way in David's journey or his escape from Saul, 
we will learn certain things concerning God. Let's look at, 
in the first place, the escape to Nob in chapter 21, verses 
1 to 9. In the first place, David makes 
a request for bread, verses 1 to 6. The setting. The tabernacle 
is no longer at Shiloh, it's located here in Nob. Ahimelech 
is probably the high priest. He's the son of Ahitab, and he 
is also the brother of Ahijah, who's mentioned in chapter 14. 
This city, particularly in verse 19 of chapter 22, is called a 
city of priests. Chapter 22, the rest of the chapter 
after what I read, certainly ties in with this particular 
event in verses 1 to 9 in chapter 21. But it is the religious city, 
it is the central sanctuary, it is the place where the high 
priest ministers unto God. The high priest is scared or 
he has fear when he sees David. Certainly he's probably in tune 
with the reality that there's this problem between Saul and 
David. The high priest doesn't want 
to get into the middle of this particular situation. Remember 
Saul is the reigning king. Saul is now the recipient of 
a distressing spirit from the Lord. Saul is an apostate and 
Saul desperately wants to destroy David because David poses a threat 
to Saul's kingship. And so Saul has madness in his 
heart, he has malice in his heart, he has rage and a desire to terminate 
David. If the high priest has an understanding 
of this, certainly he would be afraid when he met David. He 
says to him, why are you alone and no one is with you? Now note 
David's response in verse 2. So David said to Ahimelech the 
priest, the king has ordered me on some business and said 
to me, do not let anyone know anything about the business on 
which I send you or what I have commanded you. And I have directed 
my young men to such and such a place. Now, certainly as we 
read that particular statement, we know that it's a lie. It is 
a falsehood. David looks at a Himalaya and 
makes up a particular story. John Gill says, he pretended 
he was upon a secret expedition by the order of Saul, which none 
were to know of. no, not his own servants. And that was the reason why he 
came to him alone, which was a downright lie and was aggravated 
by its being told only for the sake of getting a little food 
and especially told to a high priest and at the tabernacle 
of God, and when he was come to inquire of the Lord there, 
and was attended with a dreadful consequence the slaughter of 
the Lord's priests there, which afterwards lay heavy on David's 
mind, and is the very sin he is thought to refer to in Psalm 
119.28. This shows the weakness of the best of men when left 
to themselves. David, who as much hated lying 
as any man did, fell into it himself. So this is inescapable. That is precisely what we find 
in this particular section. As Gil says, it's a downright 
lie. And when we note verse 8, we 
observe that David's not a really good liar, which is a good indicator. If somebody's able to lie and 
they're good at it, that's a very terrifying situation. Notice 
in verse 8, David said he had to leave in such haste that he 
didn't have time to pick up a sword for battle. or for protection. But in verse 5 he says that these 
young men are ritually pure. They have not laid with a woman 
in the specified time. This is completely incongruous. Thankfully, a Himalaya doesn't 
see right through it. If you have no time to pick up 
a sword, you certainly don't have time to ensure the ritual 
purity of of red-blooded young Israelite men. So David here 
does lie, but there are several things we need to consider when 
we come to this particular passage. In the first place, the narrator 
does not make an interesting comment. The Bible would be a 
very boring volume if after every particular situation there was 
a three to four page discourse on ethics. Not everything that 
we find in Old Testament narrative gives us an ethical pronouncement. Rahab's lie, for instance. Rahab 
does lie as well in order to hide the spies. I think the Bible 
vindicates what she does later on. This particular situation, 
what happens in chapter 22, certainly doesn't vindicate David. But 
as well, we need to recognize that the Lord Jesus refers to 
this particular passage in Matthew 12. He doesn't mention anything 
concerning the lie. Remember, Jesus is being questioned 
about Sabbath ethics. And he refers to this situation 
when David needed bread and refreshment to underscore the particular 
point that Ahimelech follows, is that mercy precedes ceremonial 
purity. So Jesus doesn't comment one 
way or another on this particular lie. The king himself, David, 
does however realize that it was indeed a great tragedy. Notice in 22.22. So David said to Abiathar, I 
knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely 
tell Saul. I have caused the death of all 
the persons of your father's house. Stay with me, do not fear, 
for he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall 
be safe." So while he does lie, the rest 
of the Bible doesn't give us a particular ethical pronouncement 
on it. David himself acknowledges that 
what he has created in this particular situation had repercussions that 
were quite severe and quite tragic. for those who were in the city 
of knob. Now note the request. He requests 
five loaves. The report is that there are 
no common loaves, but rather only holy loaves. The stipulation 
is that the man must have been ritually pure. Now, holy war 
was considered a sacred enterprise, and as a result, the men who 
participated in holy war had to be ritually pure. Exodus 19, 
Leviticus 15 speaks to this particular stipulation. And when we get 
to 2 Samuel 11, it seems as if Uriah the Hittite had imbibed 
that particular ethic. Remember when David sought to 
entice or got Uriah to the point where he could go back to his 
home and lay with his wife, Uriah restrained or refrained from 
that particular practice. Uriah was a a man faithful in 
terms of the prescriptions concerning holy war. So David says to the 
high priest here that it was, in fact, the case that they were 
ritually pure. And when we see in verse 5, when 
the vessels of the young men are holy, probably a reference 
to the male organ. Some have said to weapons or 
to garments or to whatnot, but it's probably a reference to 
the sexual organ. Now, notice that the priest complies. The priest gave him holy bread, 
for there was no bread there but the show bread, which had 
been taken from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in 
its place on the day when it was taken away. Now, in the first 
place, by way of a practical observation, we notice that when 
David flees from Saul, and even when David engages in unethical 
conduct, nevertheless, God provides his daily bread. God provides 
for his servant. This whole section and much that 
follows is a time of great trial and difficulty and hardship for 
David. In fact, this particular chapter 
is the place or the context for four Psalms in the Psalter. When 
we come to David and Gath in verse 10, this is when David 
penned Psalms 34 and 56. When we get to the cave of Adullam, 
this is where Psalm 57 and Psalm 142 were composed. David, in 
the midst of trial and hardship and difficulty, could nevertheless 
see the goodness of his God making provision for him every step 
of the way. Now we might read this particular 
passage and say, wait a minute, David lied and he got his daily 
bread. Does that mean that we can lie 
in order to get our daily bread? No, we're not supposed to lie. 
Ninth Commandment, you shall bear no false witness. You are 
to be a man or a woman of truth. You are to speak the truth. You 
are to swear to your own hurt and not change your mind. But 
as we look at this passage, we have to admit that God does indeed 
bless David with this provision of bread. Davis makes this observation. Some scrupulous reader may object 
and complain that David, in all his finagling and deception, 
does not deserve this provision. You might just be tempted to 
say, that's not fair, David, you lied, you finagled, you worked 
the system, you manipulated the high priest, you shouldn't get 
your daily bread. Isn't that what some of us might 
be tempted to say? He goes on to say, so what else 
is new? Who would have daily bread if 
it rested on our desserts? We'd all be skeletons. We can 
only second Jacob's position in Genesis 32, 10, when Jacob 
said, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and 
of all the truth which you have shown your servant. Davis goes 
on to say, when everything is scraped down to the bone, I receive 
my daily bread, not because I am godly, but because Yahweh is 
gracious. That's the foundation upon which 
David is sustained and blessed and provided for. It's not because 
he's good and he's earning his keep. He's not singing for his 
supper, but God in his grace and in his mercy wants to ensure 
that his servant makes it to the throne. And even though his 
servant is, like the rest of his servants, filled with sin, 
And struggling with issues, God comes in faithfulness and provides 
this bread so that he may not die. Now notice, as we consider 
the situation at Nob, the presence of Doeg. If you've read ahead, 
if you know the story, you'll know it's Doeg who drops dime 
on David at Nob. It's Doeg, according to 22.8 
and 9, that tells Saul what's happened in Nob. It's as a result 
of that that Saul goes on this campaign to rid the city of priests 
of all the priests. Notice what verse 7 says, 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 chief 
of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. Back in chapter 14 at 
verse 47, there's a summary statement concerning Saul's reign and it 
says that he had battled against and had become a victor over 
the Edomites and so now Doeg is in Saul's employ. Robert Alter 
makes this observation. He says this seemingly intrusive 
notation is a piece of ominous foreshadowing. Verse 7 really 
doesn't need to be there, does it? at all. I mean, we're moving 
along, David needs bread, in the next place he needs a weapon, 
but this statement concerning Doeg in verse 7, this is foreshadowing. This is putting a character in 
the right place at the right time so that he can then go spill 
his guts to Saul in chapter 22 to make sure that these priests 
die. Alter says the ghastly consequences 
of David's visit to Nob will pivot on Doeg's fatal presence. His identity as an Edomite reflects 
the enlistment of foreign mercenaries in the new royal bureaucracy. 
It also marks him as a man who will have no inhibition in what 
he does to Israelites, even Israelite priests. So Doeg is an ominous 
figure standing there, hearing what is going on, witnessing 
it, and as we see later, he is the one that turns in David and 
the priests. Now notice the request for a 
weapon, verses 8 and 9. This is a good thing. Is there 
not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my 
sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required 
haste. So the priest said, The sword of Goliath, the Philistine, 
whom you killed in the valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped 
in a cloth, behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, 
for there is no other except that one here. And David said, 
There is none like it, give it to me. So now he's got food in 
his belly, he's got a sword on his side, and he's still on the 
run. And look where he goes next, 
to Gath. Now, Gath is where Goliath came 
from. As we come to verse 10, we might 
want to do a little sort of Monday morning quarterbacking or some 
sort of talking to our Bibles and say, David, that's probably 
not a good idea. I mean, you just lopped off the 
head of their champion. You even have his sword on your 
side. David, everything in us thinks 
it's probably not a good idea for you to trek into Philistine 
territory, specifically Gath, where Goliath comes from. It 
says, David arose and fled that day from before Saul and went 
to Achish, the king of Gath. This is a risky prospect. I think everybody would agree. 
Going to the city where the champion whom you just slain is or from. This is a risky thing, but it 
underscores his desperation. I mean, how bad must it have 
been for David to go to Gath? Saul and his pressure was such 
that David would rather try and seek refuge and security in Gath 
of Philistia before he would go back into Judah or face Saul. So his desperation is manifested 
in this particular situation. The Philistines remind Achish 
that David is the man who slain Goliath. They recite perfectly 
what the women had said when David came back victorious from 
the Valley of Elah. Saul has slain his thousands 
and David his ten thousands. Now notice what happens. Now 
that Achish knows who David is, there's no question whatsoever. 
David is afraid, and rightly so. I mean, if you were in this 
particular situation, you would be fearful as well. If the enemy 
king now knows your identity, and he wants to deal with you 
in a very severe way. So David is very much afraid 
of Achish, the king of Gath. And then notice in verse 13. 
He fakes madness. He fakes madness. He changed 
his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched 
on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his 
beard. That's right, David. He had a 
beard. We all see that. Yes. David feigns 
madness to try and escape the hands of Achish and the Philistines. Now, again, this is the time 
when David composed Psalms 34 and 56. If we had an extra hour 
tonight, we would read each of these particular Psalms. When 
you read these particular Psalms, David speaks of the angel of 
the Lord delivering him. David speaks of the goodness 
of the Lord. David speaks of being in the 
hand and in the care of the Lord. But wait a minute, David is faking 
to be a madman. He's pretending to be a madman. 
He's scratching on the doors of the gate. He's letting his 
saliva fall down on his beard. How do we know he's not just 
lucky in this particular situation? Again, I think Davis is right 
on here. Says, we must not merely call 
this episode David's folly and sigh about how lucky he was to 
get out. I suggest our response be governed 
by David's own response. According to the headings of 
Psalms 34 and 56, those Psalms arose in the wake of this fiasco 
in Gath. You may look at 1 Samuel 21, 
10 to 15 and wonder, can anything good come out of Gath? Here is 
David, foolish, desperate, confused. Ah, but it's the stuff Psalms 
are made of. You see, David understands theology. David, when he comes on the scene 
in 1 Samuel 17, the very first thing that he says in all of 
Scripture is, why is this uncircumcised defying the armies of the living 
God? In other words, if we serve a 
living God, that ought to affect the way that we deal with such 
threats and menaces like these. David thinks of all things in 
terms of God. Davis goes on to say, So David 
does not say, I am lucky, but God is for me. He sees men not 
as frightful, but as flesh. His deliverance from all his 
fears and all his troubles, Psalm 34, 4 and 6, is the pledge that 
Yahweh will follow suit for other believers, verses 15 to 22, and 
the basis for his continuing praise, verses 1 to 3. along 
with desperation there is nevertheless praise. Davis says, I do not 
mean that we should act foolishly in order that praise may come, 
but only that we should never forget God's mercy, given even 
in our foolishness. You know how many times God has 
delivered us when we have behaved poorly? how many times that God 
has granted our daily bread when we didn't earn it, we didn't 
sing for our supper, or how many times we acted foolishly. We 
may not have pretended madness in front of an enemy king and 
let saliva run down our beards, but we have engaged in no small 
share of foolishness. And nevertheless, God is for 
us. Nevertheless, God helps us. Nevertheless, 
God delivers us. And that is precisely what we 
see here in Gath under this enemy king, Achish. Note Achish's response 
as well. It's interesting. He says, look, 
you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 
Have I need of madmen that you have brought this fellow to play 
the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my 
house? It's almost as if he said, it's 
almost like, have I needed more madmen? I got enough madmen to 
deal with as the king of the Philistines here. Don't bring 
me another one to saddle me down with this particular problem 
and this burden. So in Nob, God delivers David. When we get to Gath, God delivers 
David. And again, in ways that are mysterious. Certainly, David could sing with 
us, Cooper's hymn. God moves in a mysterious way, 
his wonders to perform. It's not as if God dropped a 
battle ax onto David so that he could deal with all of his 
enemies. It's not as if God developed a helicopter and sent it down 
to shimmy David away into friendly country. These are means that 
we might not otherwise think would be the way that God delivers 
his faithful servant from these very difficult straits he finds 
himself in. Now his next stop is the cave 
of Adullam, chapter 22, verses 1 and 2. This is the occasion 
for Psalms 57 and 142. Note, David therefore departed 
from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his 
brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down 
there to him. Now, David's father and his family 
were not foolish people. They knew that Saul's murderous 
rage against David was probably going to be turned against them. 
This was not unfounded based on what we see in chapter 22. 
If Saul will take the sword against an entire city of priests, Jesse, 
David's mother, and David's brothers are chump change. He does not 
care about these people. Notice as well that Saul the 
tyrant has reneged on his promise. What was the promise that Saul 
had made for the man who killed Goliath? That man would receive 
his daughter, and that man's father would receive tax-exempt 
status in Israel. Not only does Jesse not enjoy 
tax-exempt status, but now Jesse, who is in his older age, along 
with his wife, have to go on the run because they are the 
parents of David. Remember, David hasn't done anything. Now, in this chapter, David lies, 
to be sure. David is not a spotless, sinless, 
perfect man. But up to this point in the narrative, 
what has David done? David has played his harp to 
soothe Saul. David has taken his slingshot 
and slain the giant. David has simply been faithful 
in terms of Saul's employ. He has done nothing wrong. And 
yet Saul, in murderous rage and his tyrannical abuse of authority, 
wants to murder him. So now David's family comes to 
the cave of Adullam. Notice who else is in this cave. Now, when we think of cave, we 
think of a little crevice at East Harrison. These are big 
caves. These are massive. And it's probably 
a complex of caves. But notice, there's the distressed, 
the indebted, and the discontent. I mean, could there be a more 
fitting description for a miserable lot than verse two? And everyone 
who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone 
who was discontented gathered to him. I mean, come on, that 
is as bad as it gets, right? This is the riffraff. These are 
probably persons that suffered under the oppressive regime of 
Saul. Now, as Gil says, David's not excusing that persons don't 
pay their debt. Probably what's in view here 
is exploitation, authoritative abuse by way of a wicked monarchy. But this is David's company. 
He's comforted by family, and he's comforted by these friends. An odd group to be sure. The 
triple D's that we have here. Distress, debt, and discontent. So what do they do? We know David, 
you can be our captain. We want you to lead us. You can 
be the captain over the discontented. So he became captain over them. and there were about 400 men 
with them. Now, it shouldn't take us a whole 
lot to reflect upon David's greater son. Remember, as we work through 
1 Samuel, there is the typical significance of David that is 
seen step by step along the way. When we get to the New Testament, 
don't we find that Jesus is the captain of the distress? of the indebted, of the discontent? Isn't Jesus the captain of our 
salvation? Aren't we the persons described 
in verse 2? Isn't this an apt and fitting 
explanation of who we are, distressed, in debt, and discontent? This 
was one of those moments where I had the reflection myself and 
then I read John Gill and he had this to say. In this he was 
a type of Christ who receives sinners distressed with a sense 
of sin, discontented in their present state, and in debt and 
unable to pay their debts. And Gill says, see Matthew 11, 
28, come to me. all you who are weary and heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." So you see, even here, as David 
is on the run, as David escapes, as David goes into this cave 
of Adullah, we would think, wow, this has got to be miserable. 
A man who's been anointed, a man who's been identified, a man 
that will sit upon the throne. It will be called the throne 
of David from subsequent to him until the Lord Jesus comes, is 
living in a cave as a fugitive, running like a hunted dog. And 
yet God says it sends his family and God surrounds him with these 
triple D folk that want to make him their captain. Now in the 
next place, he goes to Moab. Now this is quite a journey. 
He's got to cross the river Jordan to go to Moab. Let's read the 
text, verse 3. Then David went from there to 
Mizpah of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, please let 
my father and mother come here with you till I know what God 
will do for me. So he brought them before the 
king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David 
was in the stronghold. Now notice the particular request 
David is a good type of Christ. Again, what is David, or the 
greater David on the cross? He says, woman, behold your son. 
Son, behold your mother. This is Christ's care for his 
mother. David does that in this particular 
instance. Please let my father and mother 
come here with you. I want them protected. If I'm 
on the run, if I am fleeing, if I'm escaping, if I'm a fugitive, 
if I'm being hunted like a dog for something I never ever did, 
I don't want my parents to suffer this sort of thing as well. He 
goes or he appeals to the king of Moab so that he will give 
them safe quarter, so that he will give them safe haven. And 
note that David is acknowledging God's providence. Let my father 
and mother come here with you till I know what God will do 
for me." Now if it is the case that Saul chokes in his sleep 
and David assumes the throne tomorrow, well then David will 
come fetch his folks and they can live happily ever after right 
there with him in Jerusalem. But David is open. David knows 
and David acknowledges that he is not living in a godless world. 
He knows that he must wait till he knows what God will do for 
me. And as well, we have to appreciate the wisdom of David in this particular 
instance. Why Moab? Why would David go 
to Moab? Well, in the first place, the 
Moabites were enemies to Saul. Certainly, anybody that was an 
enemy of Saul would be a friend to the Moabites. And in this 
instance, David is an enemy of Saul. But something even more 
fundamental, some of David's blood was a reason to argue for 
this particular situation. Who was David's great-grandmother? Her name was Ruth, and there's 
a book of the Bible all about her. And so what David does here 
is absolutely brilliant. He appeals to the king of Moab 
based on the relationship to Ruth the Moabitess. And the king 
of Moab is far more gracious than the king Saul. The king 
of Moab does what Saul should have done. Saul was supposed 
to give tax-exempt status to David's family, but he doesn't 
do that. Now they are in danger of their 
lives, and they have to seek refuge in the Moabite king, and 
that is precisely what happens. Now note God's ways here. Look at what happens. The way 
God's providence functions, the daily bread in Nob, the escape 
from Achish in Gath, the surrounding by family and friends in the 
cave of Adullah. And note here that God had acted 
in the distant past. to prepare this situation in 
a favorable way for David. This is beautiful. Again, Davis 
makes this perceptive comment. He says, in David's case, all 
the unusual arrangements For Davis' commentary, sometimes 
he gives illustrations from our own history, typically history 
of war and baseball. He seems to like baseball quite 
a bit. But one of the illustrations he uses, I just skimmed it so 
I'm probably shaky on some of the facts, but there was a particular 
instance where a man saved another man during the war. I think the 
man that saved the other man was a Polish pilot and he saved 
this one man by giving him a ride but dropping him off before he 
got to the checkpoint because the man that he saved was a Jew. 
Now later on in the war, this Polish pilot was downed and he 
ended up with severe brain trauma. When he woke up in the hospital, 
there was the man that he had delivered all those few years 
prior. And Davis's point was, God oftentimes 
does things back here to provide a favorable outcome over here. 
Now, in this particular story that he was speaking about, it 
was just the span of a few years. Notice what we have here, though, 
with this Ruth-David connection. He says, in David's case, all 
the unusual arrangements have been made over a century before. 
Yahweh plans his kindnesses long beforehand. Isn't that beautiful? I like to think that way. God 
plans his kindnesses long beforehand. He directed circumstances long 
in advance in order to bring a ray of relief in David's present 
distress. It was not something David set 
in place, it was a gift. Yahweh arranged it long before. Nor is it something he does only 
for chosen kings. A great number of his saints 
have stories to tell about desperation and providence. Has it ever been 
the case that you look back and you say, wow, now I understand 
why that happened for this particular time. That is what we have here, 
standing in Moab while David is asking for a safe haven for 
his parents. Now notice in the final place, 
the departure to the forest of Areth. Verse 5, now the prophet 
Gad said to David, Do not stay in the stronghold. Depart and 
go to the land of Judah." So David departed and went into 
the forest of Harith. No sooner, verse 3, does David 
say, till I know what God will do for me, verse 5, Dad is there 
telling David specifically what he must do. You see, God's providence 
truly is glorious. Now, we may not get a gad dropping 
into our lives saying, eat the Wheaties, or take the banana, 
or take that job, or buy the yellow house. We may not get 
that sort of direct intervention from God, but God's providence 
is sure. He governs all his creatures 
and all their actions, and he is purposed in Romans 8 to do 
good to those who love him and to those who are the called according 
to his purpose. So no sooner does David say, 
I need to wait till I know what God will do for me. Verse five, 
now the prophet Gad said to David, do not stay in the stronghold, 
depart and go to the land of Judah. So David departed and 
went into the forest of Herod. Now there's a contrast here that 
we ought to appreciate. Saul had rejected the word of 
the Lord. It comes to a head in chapter 
15. Remember, kill Agag, kill the Amalekites. Saul claims to 
have done this. Samuel says, if that's the case, 
why am I hearing sheep and oxen? Saul rejected the word of the 
Lord and then Samuel says, God therefore has rejected you. Saul 
had received a distressing spirit from the Lord in 1614. Saul knew 
the departure of the Lord according to 1812. Later on, in 28.6, Saul 
will inquire of the Lord. Do you know what Saul gets? He 
gets nothing from the Lord. This is a mercy. This is a blessing. This is a good thing. The prophet 
comes to speak to David. This is another affirmation, 
another seal of approval, another statement to us, the reader, 
that David is God's man. We know that because God is speaking 
to him. God is directing him. God is 
moving him. God is blessing him. God is prospering 
him. God is watching over him, even 
in the most distressing times that this man had ever faced 
up to this point. Now, in conclusion, we ought 
to consider three things, and then we close. In the first place, 
this chapter highlights that there are trials in the life 
of God's people. I don't think you can dispute 
that. There are trials in the lives of God's people. If we 
don't know trials and we're God's people, hold on and wait. You will know them. You will 
get them. You will experience them. There is no escape. When 
we live in this world, Jesus promised us in John 16, 33, you 
will have tribulation. You can't avoid it. You can't 
escape it. You can't run from it. I mean, 
David was able ultimately to escape Saul, but David could 
never escape trials. Never. They dogged him to his 
very grave. One commentator, Vannoy, very 
excellent little commentary on this book, he says, this was 
a difficult and dangerous period in his life, one in which he 
underwent severe testings and trials, but also one in which 
the Lord sustained him in spite of his own failures and his persistence 
or and the persistence of Saul in seeking his life. We ought 
to appreciate that probably this is formative for the man that 
David would become. You see, we look at trials and 
we think, God's trying to get me. God's punishing me because 
I coveted a biscuit at dinner last night. That's probably not 
the case. I'm not saying God doesn't judge, 
God doesn't chastise, God doesn't inflict punishment upon his erring 
children. But in times of trial and distress, 
there is often a remedial benefit in view. God has his ways of 
shaping us. When we read in Romans 8 that 
God has predestined us, that He is going to conform us unto 
the image of His Son, if His Son learned obedience through 
suffering, how do you think you and I are going to learn obedience? 
Is it going to be sitting on a park bench with a cup of tea? No, it's going to be through 
suffering. That's one of those little things 
that we as Christians don't like to sort of peek back and look 
on. This is God's means. This is 
how he shapes us. This is how he molds us. This 
is how he makes us useful. Roger Ellsworth says, so it was 
off to the wilderness with David. There, God would break him of 
relying on his own wisdom and teach him to rely wholly on the 
word of the Lord. God frequently brings hardship 
into the lives of his children in order to bring them to a higher 
level of maturity and usefulness. That's the fact. That's the reality 
of it. So when we're in the midst of 
trials, instead of whining and complaining, we certainly are 
to cry out to God. We can certainly take pen to 
paper and write psalms of praise to God, but we ought to appreciate 
the reality. With David as an example, with 
our Lord Jesus as an example, with the Apostle Paul as an example 
of a man who was tried and afflicted, we ought to see in these men 
something of a paradigm for all of God's people to follow. It's 
going to be through hard times that we're going to grow. It's 
going to be through the difficulties that we're going to progress. 
It's going to be through testing that we mature and that we're 
shown to be faithful men and women. Chapter 21 and 22 certainly 
highlight this for us. Secondly, in terms of provision, 
we have seen the provision of daily bread, the protection from 
hostile enemies, the encouragement of family and fellow distressed 
people, the preservation of family and the word of the prophet. 
Again, Vannoy makes this observation. He says, so chapter 21 provides 
a wake-up call to God's believing people of all times and places. 
It is a reminder that, one, living as a Christian in a fallen world 
is inherently dangerous. See, we may forget that from 
time to time because we're not being chased by Saul. We may 
forget that from time to time because we're not standing toe-to-toe 
with Akish hearing Philistines report on who we are. We may 
forget that at times because we have air conditioning and 
because we have cars and because we have, you know, all these 
niceties and these good things that we appreciate. But Vanoy 
is right. It is inherently dangerous to 
live as a Christian in a wicked world. This is one of the reasons 
why familiarity with your Bible is most helpful. And dare I say 
familiarity with the Old Testament. Not that the New doesn't have 
its fair share, but a lot of these Old Testament narratives 
gives us the nitty gritty on how life is lived in the trenches 
for God's people. And it is inherently dangerous. Remember Naboth and his field. Ahab wanted to expand his holdings, 
so he has Naboth murdered. That is proof positive that it 
is inherently dangerous to live as a believer in an ungodly world. He says, secondly, our own foolish 
behavior often heightens the dangers of this hostile environment. I mean, it'd be one thing if 
we lived in a fallen world and we didn't have our issues. If 
we didn't walk around making more messes. I mean, wouldn't 
that be nice? We only had to contend with the 
mess that was out there. But it seems at times everything 
we touch turns to a mess. We've got the Midas touch. Only 
we don't make things gold, we make things mess. That's a challenge, 
brethren. As we study David in this particular 
chapter, the man lied. Now, we don't say, well, God 
blessed it for His glory. No, God in His grace, nevertheless, 
provided food for David. What we need to understand is 
that our own foolishness oftentimes heightens the dangers of this 
hostile environment. With that in mind, we ought to 
pray like Solomon. Lord, give me wisdom. Remember, 
God commended Solomon because Solomon didn't ask for more cars 
or more boats or more houses or more wives, but Solomon asked 
for wisdom. He says, in the third place, 
God's mercies are new each day in spite of our failures. Isn't 
that conspicuous in this section of scripture? Do you not see 
that God's mercies are new and fresh each day? David gets up 
out of bed, off he goes, and he meets God's blessing. David 
gets up out of bed, off he goes, and he meets God's blessing. 
in the most unlikely circumstances and in the most unlikely places. 
He's not going to Christian conferences. He's not going to Sunday school 
teachers' meetings. He's not going himself to Bible 
study. He's going to the Philistines. 
He's going to the Moabites. He's going to the Cave of Adullam. 
And what does he find every step of the way? But God's compassions 
and his mercies are new each morning. And then the fourth 
thing that Vannoy points out, God's purposes for his people 
cannot be frustrated by the designs of the ungodly. That's also very 
important for us to keep in mind. David is going to be the king. Saul doesn't like that. Saul 
is resistant. Saul is murderous. Saul is enraged 
against this plan. But God will see to it that his 
man sits upon the throne. Through trial, through struggle, 
through tribulation, through difficulty, David will eventually 
sit upon the throne in Jerusalem, such that it will be called the 
city of David, the throne of David, the holy city of our God. And then he goes on to say, I'm 
just reading this because he said it so well. He says it is 
important that God's people be reminded of the dangers that 
are endemic to their own journey through life as strangers and 
pilgrims on earth, and that these dangers do not just arise from 
without, but also from within. And in all of this, there is 
the occasion for worship. You know that Psalm 34 is an 
acrostic psalm. That means that each line of 
the psalm begins with the letter of the alphabet, such that you 
have an A line, and then a B line, and then a G line, and so on 
all the way. I'm sorry, brethren, but if I 
was going to write a psalm when I was on my way to one of these 
various places, I don't know that I would spend the time to 
ensure that it was an acrostic. The man was a worshiper of God. 
Now, certainly, the spirit of God is upon him. But these instances, 
these scenarios, these difficulties, and these trials were nevertheless 
places of worship for David, because he knew his God. and 
he walked in light of that God. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word and we thank you for what it instructs 
us concerning your faithfulness to us in the midst of trial and 
difficulty. We are not David, we don't have 
the same circumstances, but we have the same God, and in this 
we greatly rejoice We pray that you'd watch over each one of 
us, that you would protect us, that you would grant us grace, 
that you would help us, God, to see things with a theological 
perspective, to see things in terms of your providence and 
in terms of your kindness and your care over us. We thank you 
for the scriptures. We thank you for the realistic 
depiction that you give us of your servants and especially 
of yourself. Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' 
name. Amen.