Message: In 1 Samuel 21 David had run away after Jonathan confirmed Saul’s intent to kill him. He ran away to see the priest Ahimelech in the city of Nob. Ahimelech seemed surprised to see David and when he asked, David lied to him telling him that he was on a secret mission from the king. They were probably really hungry from running and traveling and they wouldn’t have provisions for them in this situation. David asked Ahimelech for bread so he allowed them to eat the bread of presence as long as they were ceremonially clean. At this point the scripture doesn’t indicate whether or not David was telling the truth here or not but he told Ahimelech that they were clean. As I read this I thought about how sad it was that David was smart enough to run to the temple for help, but instead of asking for help he lied to the priest. This is what a lot of us do when we go to church but refuse to be honest about what’s really going on in our lives. We might even partake in consecrated things but if we aren’t honest we will be in the right place but we won’t get the help so desperately need. I think it’s also telling that he asked for a sword. He told Ahimelech that the king’s mission was so urgent that he forgot his sword. This probably looked suspicious but Ahimelech cooperated and gave it to him. For me this represented the times when revert to things that were successful in the past and we assume they will work for us again.
