1 Samuel 21
I almost laugh out loud every time I read the story. But, first, the background: David is — as so often was the case for him — on the run from King Saul. His life, once again, is on the line. He flees to a town called Nob, where he has a conversation with Ahimelek the priest. David is frantic. He’s in desperate need of protection. In fact, he’s sopanicky that he lies to Ahimelek, telling him that he’s on a mission for King Saul. Ahimelek is doubtful, wondering why — if David is on a mission for the king — he has come alone.
In the end, Ahimelek helps David, and David escapes — with the help of a little white lie — and all seems well for the moment. Except …
There is one little problem. David’s conversation with Ahimelek was overhead by Doeg the Edomite. Doeg was one of King Saul’s faithful servants. And what do faithful servants do? They report any perceived threat to the king. Which is precisely what Doeg did. And now David is in even deeper difficulty.
So now David not only flees; he actually flees to one of Israel’s mortal enemies, King Achish of Gath. Gath was hometown of Goliath. Remember him? Goliath of Gath! He was the giant David took down back in 1 Samuel 17. And now David is pleading for asylum in the belly of the beast.
And here’s where the story gets interesting. Achish apparently seems inclined to accept David, to help him. And it is then that his servants ask him: “Isn’t this David, the one the Israelites sing about in their dances?” And then they repeat this refrain:
Saul has slain his thousand,
and David his tens of thousands.
It’s what the women sang after David slew Goliath. And the implied question on the part of the servants of Achish is, “Do you really want to forge an alliance with the soldier who killed the bestsoldier we’ve ever had?!”
David realizes that, without quick action, he’s history. So here’s how the text reports what he did next:
So [David] pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard (1 Samuel 21:13).
Pretty ingenious, right? But it’s the next part that makes me laugh.
Achish said to his servants:
“Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front me? Must this man come into my house?” (1 Samuel 21:14–15)
So, what are we to make of this tale? How might it apply to us? That sometimes a white lie is acceptable? That, at times, when life is at stake, we do whatever is necessary to survive? That nobody sane wants more madmen in their house? Or something else altogether?
Here’s what encourages me. Recognizing that while God’s people are clearly called to high standards — standards of truth and justice and integrity — God was still willing to use people like David, people who often failed to reach that standard, failed to speak truth, to manifest integrity and to trust God. People who, rather than placing their lives into God’s hands, took things into their own hands.
After all these years of studying the Bible, it still amazes me just who it is that God is willing to use. People like David. People like you. People like me.
—Randy Roberts, DMin, is vice president for spiritual life and mission at Loma Linda University Health.
