1 Samuel 21:1-15

DAVID'S FLIGHT TO NOB, AND SUBSEQUENTLY TO THE PHILISTINES (1 Samuel 21:1-15.).

EXPOSITION

DAVID'S FLIGHT TO NOB (1 Samuel 21:1-9).

1 Samuel 21:1

Then came David to Nob. Nob means a knoll or hill, and apparently was situated a little to the north of Jerusalem on the road leading to Gath. The ark had evidently been removed thither by Saul early in his reign, after it had remained for twenty years in the house of Abinadab; and as eighty-five priests wearing an ephod were murdered there by Doeg at Saul's command (1 Samuel 22:18, 1 Samuel 22:19), it is plain that the worship of Jehovah had been restored by him with something of its old splendour. And this agrees with Saul's character. At the commencement of his reign we find Ahiah with him as high priest, and even when he fell his excuse was the necessity for performing the public rites of religion (1 Samuel 15:15). But with him the king's will was first, the will of Jehovah second; and while he restores God's public worship as part of the glory of his reign, he ruthlessly puts the priests with their wives and families to death when he supposes that they have given aid to his enemy. Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David. More literally, "went trembling to meet David." Ahiah, described as high priest in 1 Samuel 14:3, was either dead or, more probably, was a younger brother, who, while Ahimelech remained with the ark, acted as high priest at the camp for Saul, especially in consulting God for him by means of the ephod with the breastplate. Why art thou alone? Nevertheless, in Mark 2:26 our Lord speaks of those "who were with David," and the "young men" are mentioned in Mark 2:4, Mark 2:5. While David went alone to consult Ahimelech, that his visit might be kept quite secret, he had taken a few of his servants with him, and had left them somewhere in the neighbourhood, or even, more probably, had instructed some one to meet him with such men as he could collect. The arrival of the king's son-in-law without an escort would naturally strike the high priest as strange, and therefore as alarming.

1 Samuel 21:2

The king hath commanded me a business. This pretence of a private commission from the king was a mere invention, but his "appointing his servants to meet him at such and such a place" was probably the exact truth. After parting with Jonathan, David probably did not venture to show himself at home, but, while Saul still supposed him to be at Bethlehem, gave orders to some trusty officer to gather together a few of his most faithful men, and await him with them at some fit place. Meanwhile alone he sets out on his flight, and, having as yet no settled plan, goes to Nob, because it was out of the way of the road to Bethlehem, whither Saul would send to arrest him. Naturally such a visit would seem strange to Ahimelech; but David needed food and arms, and probably counsel; and. but for the chance of the presence of Doeg, no harm might have ensued. As it was, this visit of David completed the ruin of Eli's house.

1 Samuel 21:3, 1 Samuel 21:4

What is under thine hand? This does not mean that Ahimelech was himself carrying the shewbread out of the tabernacle, but simply, "What hast thou? The sense of the whole verse is, "Now, therefore, what hast thou at hand? Give me five loaves, or whatever there may be." Ahimelech answers, "There is no common bread at hand." I have no ordinary food; there is only hallowed bread, that is, the shewbread, which, after remaining in Jehovah's presence from sabbath to sabbath, was then to be eaten by the priests in the holy place (Le 1 Samuel 24:8, 1 Samuel 24:9). As Ahimelech could not venture to refuse David's request, he asks if his attendants are at least ceremonially clean, as in that case the urgency of the king's business might excuse the breach of the letter of the commandment. Our Lord in Matthew 12:3 cites this as a case in which the inward spirit of the law was kept, and the violation of its literal precept thereby justified.

1 Samuel 21:5, 1 Samuel 21:6

About these three days since I came out. This exactly agrees with the time during which David had lain concealed (1 Samuel 20:24, 1 Samuel 20:27, 1 Samuel 20:35), and explains the hunger under which he was suffering, as he had no doubt taken with him only feed sufficient for his immediate wants, he wishes, however, the high priest to believe that he had been engaged with his men during this time on public business, whereas they had been at home and some of them possibly were unclean. The whole chapter sets David before us in a very humiliating light. Just as some books of Homer are styled "the prowess" of some hero, so this chapter might be called David's degradation. The determined hatred of Saul seems to have thrown him off his balance, and it was not till he got among the hills of Judah, wherein was the cave of Adullam, that he recovered his serenity. The vessels of the young men. Their scrips, in which they would carry the bread, and their baggage generally. The bread is in a manner common, etc. The word bread is supplied by the translators, to give some sense to this most difficult passage. Literally translated, the two last clauses are, "And the way is profane, although it be sanctified today in the vessel." Among the numerous interpretations of these words the following seems the best: "And though our journey be not connected with a religious object, yet it (the bread) will be kept holy in the vessel (in which it will be carried)." There is no difficulty in supplying bread in the last clause, as the shewbread was the subject of the conversation, and a nominative is constantly supplied by the mind from the principal matter that is occupying the thoughts of the speakers. David's argument, therefore, is that both his attendants and their wallets were free from legal defilement, and that though their expedition was on some secular business, yet that at all events the bread would be secure from pollution. The shewbread that was taken from before Jehovah. The Talmud ('Menach.,' 92, 2) points out that this bread was not newly taken out of the sanctuary, but, as the last clause shows, had been removed on some previous day. As after a week's exposure it was stale and dry, the priests, we are told, ate but little of it, and the rest was left (see Talmud, 'Tract. Yom.,' 39, 1). It also points out that, had such violations of the Levitical law been common, so much importance would not have been attached to this incident.

1 Samuel 21:7

David's visit to Nob had probably been dictated simply by a desire to get food while a few attendants were being collected for him, and under ordinary circumstances would have remained unknown to Saul. Unfortunately there chanced to be a person present there who informed the king of it, and brought a second terrible catastrophe upon the house of Eli (see on 1 Samuel 2:33); by working too upon his jealousy he caused Saul to commit a crime which sets him before us as a hateful and remorseless tyrant. This man was Doeg, an Edomite, who had, it seems, long been in Saul's service, as he was his chief herdsman. According to the Septuagint he had charge of the king's mules, but the other versions agree with the Hebrew. As herds would form the main part of Saul's wealth, his chief herdsman would be a person of importance. He was detained before Jehovah. I.e. shut up in close seclusion within the precincts of the tabernacle, either for some vow, or for purification, or perhaps as suspected of leprosy (Le 1 Samuel 13:4), or, as some think, as a proselyte. Ephrem Syrus thinks he had committed some trespass, and was detained till he had offered the appointed sacrifice. David at once felt that Doeg's presence boded much ill (1 Samuel 22:22), and it probably was the cause of his taking the rash resolution to flee for refuge to Gath.

1 Samuel 21:8, 1 Samuel 21:9

Is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? The sight of Doeg made David feel how helpless he was in case of attack, and he excuses his request for weapons by saying that he had left home unarmed because of the urgeney of the king's business. The whole matter must have seemed very suspicious to Ahimelech, but he was powerless, and answers that the only weapon in the sanctuary was David's own votive offering, the sword of Goliath, carefully deposited in a place of honour behind the ephod with the Urim and Thummim, and wrapped in a cloth for its protection. As the word is used in Isaiah 9:5 of military attire, it may mean Goliath's war mantle, but more probably it was a covering to preserve it from rust and damp. In 1 Samuel 17:54 it is said that Goliath's armour became David's private property, and nothing could be more natural than that he should thus lay up the sword in the tabernacle, as a thank offering to God. He now takes it with pleasure, saying, There is none like that; for it was a memorial of his greatest achievement, and might be the presage of good fortune again.

DAVID SEEKS REFUGE WITH THE KING OF GATH (1 Samuel 17:10-15).

1 Samuel 21:10

David arose and fled that day. The presence of Doeg at Nob was a most untoward circumstance; and though David could never have anticipated that Saul would visit upon the priests the unwitting assistance they had given him with such barbarous ferocity, yet he must have felt sure that an active pursuit would be at once instituted against himself. He therefore took a most unwise and precipitate step, but one which clearly shows the greatness of the danger to which he was exposed. For he flees to Achish, king of Gath, the first town upon the Philistine border, at the mouth of the valley of Elah (see on 1 Samuel 17:3). Achish is called Abimelech in the title of Psalms 34:1-22; written by David in grateful commemoration of his escape, that being the official title of the kings of Gath handed down through many successive centuries (see Genesis 26:1). It has been objected that nothing could be more improbable than that David, the conqueror of Goliath, should seek refuge with a Philistine lord, and that this is nothing more than a popular tale, which has grown out of the real fact recorded in Psalms 27:1-14. But when men are in desperate straits they take wild resolutions, and this meeting with Doeg, just after he had broken down with grief (1 Samuel 20:41), evidently put David to his wits' end. As, moreover, Saul was degenerating into a cruel tyrant, desertions may have become not uncommon, and though only three or four years can have elapsed since the battle of Elah, as David was only about twenty-four years of age at Saul's death, yet the change from a boyish stripling to a bearded man was enough to make it possible that David might not be recognised. As for Goliath's sword, we have seen that it was not remarkable for its size, and was probably of the ordinary pattern imported from Greece. Even if recognised, Achish might welcome him as a deserter from Saul, the great enemy of the Philistines; for as a deserter never received pardon or mercy, he must now use his prowess to the very utmost against Saul. Finally, the historical truth of the narrative is vouched for by Psalms 34:1-22; and the details are all different from those in Psalms 27:1-14. David there is a powerful chieftain with a large following of trained soldiers, and feels so secure that he takes his wives with him; he asks for some place in which to reside, and occupies himself in continual forays. Here he is in the utmost distress, has no trained band of soldiers, and goes well nigh mad with mental anguish. And this is in exact keeping with that extreme excitement to which David was a prey in his last interview with Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:41); and only in his first grief at Saul's cruel bitterness would his mind have been so affected, and his conduct so rash.

1 Samuel 21:11

David the king of the land. The servants of Achish use the title of king in a very general way. Thus Achish, though really a seren (see on 1 Samuel 5:11), is called king of Gath; and they meant nothing more as regards David than that he was Israel's great man, though in accepting Goliath's challenge he had undertaken what in old time was regarded as the king's especial duty. Did they not sing one to another of him in dances? The Hebrew method of singing was by choruses, who sang and danced in turns to the music of their tambours (see on 1 Samuel 18:7). David evidently had hoped not to be recognised, but to be admitted to serve as a soldier, or in some other capacity, without many questions being asked. As we find an Edomite in Saul's service, Cushites, Maachathites, and other foreigners in the employment of David, there was probably much of this desertion of one service for another, especially as kings in those days had absolute authority and their displeasure was death.

1 Samuel 21:13

He changed his behaviour. The same word is used in the title of Psalms 34:1-22. Literally it means "his taste," and, like the Latin word sapientia, is derived from the action of the palate, and so from the faculty of discriminating flavours it came to signify the power of discrimination generally. Thus "to change his taste" means to act as if he had lost the power of distinguishing between objects. Feigned himself mad. Literally, "he roamed hither and thither" restlessly and in terror. In their hands. I.e. before them, in their presence. Scrabbled on the doors of the gate. The Vulgate and Septuagint read drummed upon them. Literally the verb means "to make the mark of a Tau," the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and which anciently was in the form of a cross. The gate, on the leaves of which David scrawled, was probably that of the court or waiting room, in which the servants of Achish passed their time when in attendance upon him. Possibly David had witnessed these symptoms of madness in Saul's case during his fits of insanity. The idea of some of the older commentators, that David really for a time went out of his mind, is opposed to the general sense of the narrative.

1 Samuel 21:14, 1 Samuel 21:15

The man is mad. Achish supposes that David's madness was real, and "drove him away" (Psalms 34:1-22; title). Here we have only his contemptuous words, declaring that he had madmen enough of his own, and needed no more. As madmen were looked upon in old time as possessed by the Deity, and therefore as persons who must not be interfered with, they probably presumed upon the liberty granted them, and gave much annoyance. In my presence. Rather, "against me." Achish feared personal injury. Shall this fellow come into my house? A strong negative taking the form of a question. It means, David shall not enter into my service (comp. Psalms 34:1-22; title). The whole psalm bears witness to the deep perturbation of David's spirit, and helps to explain his strange conduct.

HOMILETICS.

1 Samuel 21:10-15

Uncertain light.

The facts are—

1. Arriving at Nob, David quiets the suspicions of Ahimelech by stating that he was on the king's secret business.

2. On this ground he asks for and obtains hallowed bread to appease his hunger, and the sword of Goliath.

3. Doeg the Edomite, being detained there that day, is observant of David's proceedings. Hitherto David had held position as an officer in Saul's household or in the army, and therefore, despite Saul's private jealousy, had a right to the respect and protection of every man. Henceforth loyalty to Saul meant death to David. Therefore the paternal home at Bethlehem was out of the question, and there were reasons for not compromising Samuel with any appearance of open revolt. To a devout mind it was natural under these circumstances to flee to the sanctuary, and there seek solace and aid. The narrative relates how good and evil were blended in the conduct of the man of God at this critical juncture, and it suggests for consideration several important truths.

I. THE HIGHER LAWS OF LIFE. David desired the shewbread to appease his hunger, and the priest in charge at first objected to the request on the plea that it was contrary to the ceremonial law to give it to him. The fact that David, a devout and reasonable man, ventured to ask for it, combined with his argument on the priest's own ceremonial principles (1 Samuel 21:5), shows that he perceived the existence of a law which rose above the ceremonial. Some would perhaps regard David's action as typical of the prerogatives of the real King and Priest of Zion, and even interpret his statement about the "king's business" as a spiritual enigma, pointing to the "Father's business" which Christ was commissioned to accomplish (Luke 2:49; John 17:4-9). But, at all events, it is certain that our Saviour regarded David's request and the response of the priest as indicative of the subordination of a lower to a higher law (Mark 2:24-28). To save and sustain the life of a man, though a fugitive, was more important than the observance of a ritual. This subordination of law runs through all things, till we come up to the highest—that of supreme love of God. Health, and even life, may have to be set aside for the assertion of a moral principle. Hence the paradox (Matthew 10:39). Class distinctions, official relations, domestic claims, and private rights may be, in seasons of extreme national peril, entirely ignored for the maintenance of public safety. On this principle it is that attention to the affairs of this life, though right and good, is to yield to the higher obligation of regard to eternal things; and deference to self—one of the most important of laws—must give way when Christ claims submission to his yoke, the submission of love. Thus it could be shown how entirely in harmony with the scientific principle of interaction and subordination of laws is the cardinal teaching of the gospel.

II. WEAKNESS IN EMBARRASSMENT. The embarrassment of David was great, and not unlike what many fall into when called to high service for God. He was evidently under the impression that he was being led by God to some service for Israel not yet explicitly revealed (cf. 1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Samuel 17:26, 1 Samuel 17:45; 1 Samuel 19:18-24; 1 Samuel 20:13-15). At the same time he had neither the will nor the thought to rise in revolt, nor would Samuel or Jesse encourage it; yet, without home, friend, or covering, whither could he flee, and what do? To aid him would be deemed by the enraged king as treason. Under these circumstances, as a devout man, he naturally fled from his hiding place to the sanctuary at Nob. But the considerations which hindered him from compromising Samuel, Jesse, and Jonathan also operated with him to save Ahimelech from the cruel suspicion of Saul. Hence, for covering the priest as well as for saving life, he fabricated the falsehood.

1. God's service and approval afford us no exemption from embarrassment. No man was ever more truly called to service and more distinctly approved than was David, and it is difficult to find in history a case of more undeserved and painful embarrassment. The Psalms, especially 7; 10; 13; 35; 52; 54; reveal how keenly he felt his position. Those who think that the service of God is free from cares and trials know little of history and life. The Apostle Paul had his full share, though chief of apostles (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). The purifying fires easily enkindle in this world. There are materials for them in domestic affairs, in business, in the developments of private experience.

2. The causes of weakness in embarrassment are often traceable. If we fall, as did David, it is because of either—

3. Education may have impaired our moral perception in reference to some actions. Custom does in one age tolerate what in another is abominated. Good men have bought and sold slaves. In David's time the tongue that lied for bread may have committed only a venial offence.

4. There may be too much inventiveness in seeking an outlet from embarrassment. It is possible to think and scheme too much, not leaving to God that which in our desperate need always belongs to him. In this state of mind evil suggestions are sure to arise, and they lay hold of the spirit just in proportion as, in extreme self-reliance, we lose trust in God. Our Saviour seems to have this in view in Matthew 6:25-34.

5. It is possible that amidst the pressure of life we do not keep near enough to God. Possibly David had been too hurried and worried by the purely human aspect of affairs to have strengthened his faith by fellowship with God. The soul, as in the case of Peter, is weak if it fasts too long, as is the body when bread fails.

III. THE PRESENCE OF AN UNFRIENDLY EYE. Doeg the Edomite was present, and David's conduct was noted. Little sympathy had this proselyte with the lofty aspirations of the "anointed;" great his pleasure in revealing to Saul anything gratifying to his wicked malice. The lesson is obvious. The servants of God live in the midst of a "perverse generation," and any inconsistencies, in their conduct are. sure. to be used against them. Some men take unusual delight in detecting the frailties of professing Christians, as though these were an excuse for their own habits. Deeds which attract no attention in other men become conspicuous in Christians, because of the utter contrast with their holy profession (1 Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:4-8).

IV. A PARALLEL AND A CONTRAST. There is a singular parallel in many of the circumstances of David's life at this period and those of our Saviour's. David, the anointed, was destined to work out a great issue for Israel, but for years carried the secret in his own breast, and was now despised, persecuted, unsustained openly by any in authority, without food, shelter, and visible means of defence, and, moreover, exposed to strong temptations arising out of his sorrows. And so the "Anointed of the Lord," later on, kept for a longwhile the purpose of his life in his own heart, and only by degrees unfolded it to men. He also was despised and rejected of men; unrecognised by the authorities; cruelly persecuted, being charged with motives and intentions most base; not knowing "where to lay his head;" without means of defence against physical injury; and not unacquainted with hunger and weariness. No wonder if the Psalms which assert the "righteousness" of David (Acts 2:29-31; 2 Peter 1:21) shadow forth the "righteousness" of the "Holy One" (Acts 2:27) and his more glorious triumph. But the contrast is manifest. David in poverty and distress trusts in God, but not perfectly. He proves his frailty in common with all others. He knows the shame and bitterness of sin. Not so the Christ. He would have no recourse to expedients for obtaining bread or relief from apprehension (Matthew 4:2-4; Matthew 26:38, Matthew 26:39, Matthew 26:50). "Of the people there was none with him." "He trod the winepress alone." But in all things he was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." In the deepest sense, therefore, do we see the appropriateness of the reference of the Psalms to him in all ascriptions of right and dominion by virtue of purity and righteousness (Psalms 24:3-10). Not in David, but in Christ is the solution of the grandest language of the Psalms. How impossible of solution are the problems when men eliminate the inspiration of the Holy Ghost from the Old Testament!

General lessons:—

1. We should be careful to avoid such a rigid adherence to useful and approved ordinances and arrangements as might deprive the poor and needy of spiritual nourishment. This danger attends some Church regulations.

2. It should be laid down as a rigid rule that no embarrassment, no perils from men, should ever justify even the thought of deception or wrong. Such a principle engrained into the soul will be a "breastplate of righteousness."

3. The prime consideration in times of peril is to commit our way to God, and be willing if need be to suffer and die.

4. We are justly indebted even to the failures of good men; for, out of the bitter review of their sins, they have borne testimony to the value of righteousness and the blessedness of trusting in God. Hence many of the Psalms.

5. We should guard against partiality in judging of the weakness of good men; for an occasional falsehood may be shocking to a man who thinks little of his own habit of backbiting or self-righteous censoriousness.

6. It requires many righteous deeds to remove the bad impression created on unfriendly observers by one indiscretion.

1 Samuel 21:10-15

Uncertain light.

The facts are—

1. In continued fear of Saul, David flees to the king of Gath.

2. Being recognised as the conqueror of Goliath, he fears the consequences.

3. To escape vengeance he feigns madness.

4. Achish the king thereupon refuses to have him in his service. There is no evidence that David received any Divine direction through the high priest, but the reverse (1 Samuel 22:15). He appears to have been left to the exercise of his own judgment as to a future place of refuge. To be alone, unable to remain in one's own land, a hunted fugitive, on religious principle averse to resistance by sword or concerted revolt (1 Samuel 24:6), with no guide but such as the judgment unhinged by conflicting thoughts could afford—this was certainly being "desolate" and "afflicted." The result was a determination to seek shelter among the enemies of his God and country, a step most perilous, and of very doubtful character, and which involved farther recourse to a most humiliating expedient.

I. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN GOD'S SERVANTS ARE APPARENTLY LEFT TO THEIR OWN USE OF PREVIOUS TEACHING, which they find difficult to apply to new and dangerous circumstances. David was placed in great peril, with no other guidance than what his own spirit might gather from a consideration of his calling by Samuel, and the general signs of God's past favour. There is, as a rule, a difficulty to the inexperienced in applying general principles to novel conditions; and under the physical and mental exhaustion of this crisis David found it hard to extract from the past sufficient light to guide his present steps. He walked in comparative darkness. "Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps" (Psalms 88:6). The supposition that it is reserved only to the deliberately wicked to walk in darkness is not correct. The present life of the righteous in a sinful world is one of discipline, in which they both reap some of the fruits of former imperfections and become trained to higher service. Our Christian course is a campaign in which dark nights of watching and groping and trembling are to be expected as well as bright days of onslaught and victory. The degree of clearness in which the pillar of fire and cloud may stand before us may be affected by our disordered vision—the result of imperfect health; or distraction, or sheer exhaustion. The disciples of Christ, during those dark and dreadful hours of his passion and death, were left to the guidance and cheer of such of the truths as he had taught them in the days of prosperity as their judgment might deem appropriate to their present need. To the young man from home, tossed and torn by the adversities of life, unable to find means of sustenance, and destitute of friends, there is left the lessons of his childhood and such truth as may have been gathered from a brief experience of life. In his agitation he sees no clear light. A "horror of great darkness" comes over the soul, and the servant of God asks why his God is so "far from helping" him (Psalms 22:1).

II. THE SERVANTS OF GOD, ACTING ON THEIR OWN JUDGMENT AT SUCH TIMES, MAY COMMIT THEMSELVES TO INCREASING DANGERS AND HUMILIATING DEVICES. Exercising his judgment both on his present circumstances and his past experience of God's dealings with him, David thought he saw amidst the gloom a hand pointing to Gath as a place of refuge. No voice from heaven said, "Go not thither," and no light led elsewhere. Men would say he did the best under the circumstances, and in all sincerity of purpose. Nevertheless, the step was a false one, apart from his motive, both in itself and in its results. For it was shocking for a pious Hebrew—the assertor of the "name of the Lord" (1 Samuel 10:1-27; 1 Samuel 7:1-17:45), and the victor of Elah—to enter the abode and seek the service of the "uncircumcised Philistine," and the event proved that safety was not secured, but was so imperilled as to suggest the adoption of a most humiliating expedient. Oh, the bitter anguish of those who, having lived in the light of God's countenance, find themselves sinking deeper and deeper into helplessness and sorrow! Thus may it be with us all in our "dark and cloudy day." Every new step we take only makes our path more painful, and taxes more severely our ingenuity. Peter's "following afar off" led him amidst scoffing men and women, and their words (1 Samuel 21:11; cf. Matthew 26:58, Matthew 26:69-75) made a demand on his ingenuity more serious in its success than David's feigned madness. And this has been the experience of multitudes. There are two great dangers of the "hour of darkness" which David's experience indicates.

1. The danger of causing scandal among the enemies of religion. If the servants of Achish suspected David of the low cunning (1 Samuel 21:11) which seeks to slay by stealth, then ms Grave, chivalrous character as a defender of the honour of Jehovah's name (1 Samuel 17:45) is gone; and if they regard him as a fugitive fleeing from his king and country, then he reveals to the "uncircumcised" the woes and troubles of the people of God. It is a sacred duty in all our times of adversity to avoid whatever would cause irreligious men to think that we can do their base deeds, and not to expose to the eye of the unsympathetic the internal sorrows of the Church of God.

2. The danger of appearing to be what we are not. It may have been a harmless and successful device to simulate madness; but self-respect was gone, and a "more excellent way" of escape might have been sought of God. This is the great peril of us all both in prosperity and adversity. The guise under which the simulation appears is varied. An appearance of wealth covers real poverty; a geniality of manner is adopted when real aversion lies in the heart; a pretence of ill health secures escape from obligations; ambiguous words and evasions are employed to suggest our ignorance of matters when we know them well. To be real, to be known to be just what we are, is the only safe and wise course for a true Christian.

III. THE MORAL VALUE OF THESE SEASONS OF DARKNESS CANNOT BE APPRECIATED AT THE TIME. David was doubtless confounded at the providence that should have him "anointed" to a special service and yet allow him to be hunted as an outcast. He saw not the good of being bereft of friend and counsellor. But God deals with his servants in view of their actual need and the future service they are to render. Unchecked prosperity might have been the greatest curse to such a young man. We do not know what subtle dangers were lurking in his heart, and how necessary it was to cause him to feel his utter helplessness when left to himself. Facts prove that out of this bitter experience he rose a more devout, and humble, and trustful man, and was thereby enabled to be a better king, and to enrich the world forever with psalms expressive of the deepest experience of the human soul. Time is essential to the interpretation of the ways of God. The cruel wrongs of Joseph and the anguish of Jacob proved among the good things of life. The forty years trial in the desert was a blessing to Israel. "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous;" but history proves how blessed it is. The absolute trust expressed in the Psalms could only have been stated by one who had been very poor, desolate, and afflicted. Even the life of the Apostle Peter was the better for the bitterness and shame of his deed. Many on earth can say that they are grateful for their adversities, for through them they have got nearer to God, have found Christ's love more precious, and have set their affections more intently on things unseen and eternal. Who can adequately praise the unsearchable wisdom and love that can thus turn our darkness into light, and convert our sorrows into joys, and even build up holy characters out of the ruins of our own actions and follies? (Romans 11:36-39).

1 Samuel 21:1-8. (NOB.)

Deceit.

1. As in the outward life, so in the inward experience of men great exaltation is often followed by great depression. Whilst David was with Samuel and the prophets his faith in God appears to have been strong, and it was justified by the extraordinary manner in which he was preserved. But soon afterwards (some events which are not recorded having taken place in the interval) he was in mortal fear for his life, and resorted to an unworthy pretext in order to obtain an assurance of safety, and now took another false step. "There seems ground for suspecting that from the time of his parting with Jonathan—if not, indeed, from the time of his leaving Naioth—David had lost some of his trust in God" (Kitto).

2. The intention to deceive constitutes the essence of lying. Truth is the representation of things as they are, and it may be departed from in many ways without such an intention. But veracity is always obligatory. Even if intentional deception be ever justifiable, as some have supposed, it clearly was not in the case of David. The sacred historian records the fact without approval, and without comment, except as the mention of its disastrous consequences may be so regarded (1 Samuel 22:2). "Whoso thinketh that there is any kind of lie which is not sin deceiveth himself".

3. The amount of guilt involved in lying depends upon its circumstances, nature, and motives. The forms which it assumes are endlessly varied (direct, equivocation, suppression of truth, for advantage, pious frauds, malicious, etc.); but that which is marked by hatred and malice is the most reprehensible. This element was absent from the deception practised by David. The age in which he lived, too, was one in which a "lie of necessity" was deemed comparatively venial; and it was borne with, though not approved, by the "God of truth" until men should be trained to a higher moral state. Concerning deceit observe that—

I. IT IS USUALLY URGED BY SPECIAL INDUCEMENTS; such as—

1. The pressure of circumstances. When David presented himself alone before the high priest at the commencement of the sabbath (the evening of Friday) he was pressed by hunger and fear, and thereby tempted to invent a falsehood. If he had steadfastly set his face against the temptation his need would probably have been met in some other way. There is, strictly speaking, no such thing as a lie of necessity. A man may die of necessity, but not lie.