In today’s episode of Add Bible, we explore the fascinating 21st chapter of 1 Samuel, where David finds himself in dire straits, on the run from King Saul. Faced with the urgent need for survival, David makes a controversial series of decisions involving the sacred bread of Ahimelech, the sword of Goliath, and a strategic deception before the Philistines. Through a compelling narrative tied to his personal reflections, our host shares insights drawn from years of Bible reading and reflections, revealing how one can wrestle with faith in God’s unfolding story.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in 1 Samuel chapter 21. 1 Samuel 21 will be read by Faith Comes By Hearing, all 15 verses. 1 Samuel 21
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Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no one with you?
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And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with a matter, and said to me, Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you. I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here. And the priest answered David,
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I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread, if the young men have kept themselves from women.’
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And David answered the priest, “‘Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?’
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So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.
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Then David said to Ahimelech, Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.
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And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.
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And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me. And David rose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances? Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And David took these words to heart, and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be insane in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard.
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Then Achish said to his servants, Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?
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At the end of chapter 20, you might remember David and Jonathan parted, and now David is on the run, running for his life. And so this is the first stop on his run for his life, chapter 21. Back in 1983… When I read this chapter, I had one of those great one-liners again. David flees Saul, takes priestly bread, and Goliath’s sword. I sure had a way with words back when I was 28 years old, didn’t I? In 2002, I wrote, David lies to a priest for food. He also eats holy bread. Does the end justify the means? Even Jesus refers to this incident, inferring that religious ceremony does not come before preservation of life. In 2007, when I read this chapter, I wrote Survival. David is on the run. He lies to the priest, he eats consecrated bread, goes to the enemy for safety, and falsely acts insane to save his life. All this for a guy anointed king of Israel. Where is his faith? Jesus refers to this chapter in Matthew chapter 12, verses 3 through 4. So he read more than the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Well, I think we’ve all used the term white lies. What are they anyway? Lies that somehow justify the means? Well, in this chapter, we can probably count about three white lies for David is using. First of all, he lies to a priest. Can you imagine that? Lying to a religious figure, a priest, a pastor? He tells the priest he’s on the king’s business. Lie number two is he said he’s got a gang of men with him. He’s running on his own. The next lie is maybe more like a half-truth. He says, for I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king’s business required haste. Well, yeah, he ran out of there in haste, but it wasn’t because of the king’s business. It was because he was, you know, on his own running. Well, I guess it could be from the king’s business because he’s running from the king. So I think that’s a little bit of a half-truth, don’t you? Next he runs to Gath, which is the enemy’s territory. Gath is part of the Philistine country. So he is now running behind enemy lines to save his own bacon from Saul. Well, David has made the Philistine news quite a bit. So they know exactly who he is. They recognize him. So what does he do? Verse 13, so he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. This chapter is full of white lies, isn’t it? Maybe you too are stuck in some uncomfortable circumstances at the moment. Are you acting on your faith in God? Or are you tempted to offer up a few white lies yourself? One thing I like about the Bible is it’s filled with stories about real people. Though David is certainly one of the most famous and most faithful people in all of Scripture, he is a flawed human being like the rest of us. If my life was in jeopardy, maybe I would stretch the truth a little bit, too, to save my own skin. Oh, I would like to say to you that I would not do such a thing. I would like to tell you I would just rely on my faith in God and pray, hope, and expect Him to save me. But… Father, when faced with uncomfortable circumstances in my life, I pray that you would put a shield of protection around me, that you would strengthen me so that I could stand. on my faith in you. And Lord, I would hope that that would be my response. But Lord, I pray that if I do stretch the truth a little bit, if I have some white lies in my life, I thank you that you are a God of forgiveness and that you forgive me when I fail you. Help me, Lord, to walk with you when the circumstances get a little uncomfortable in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to AdBible. Though the Bible can be read at the speed I’m speaking in about 78 hours, surveys show we don’t read it. How many of you have ever read the Bible cover to cover? How many have tried and failed? I want to encourage you to try it again. I want to share with you what I call the Triple I Doctrine and some powerful reasons to stay in your Bible daily. I begin with a verse from 2 Peter 1.21. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That’s how we got the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to write it, all of it. Because he did, we can now look at the Triple I Doctrine, the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. But what do these terms mean? Inspired means God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, What does infallible mean? It means no potential or ability to err. Totally reliable. It cannot contradict itself. And Hebrews 6.18 says, And the last one is inerrant. What does that mean? It means it’s technically correct. It’s free from falsehood and deceit. Wholly true. It’s doctrine. It’s history. It’s science. It’s geography. And Matthew 5.18 says, For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. And Revelation 22, 18 and 19 say, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. So the Triple I Doctrine is reason enough to be in God’s Word each day. But in case you need more encouragement, here are three more thoughts. First, improve your spiritual maturity. According to Barna Research, of the seven dimensions in which Americans were asked to rate their faith maturity, Bible knowledge ranked dead last. So if you want to improve your spiritual maturity, stay in God’s Word daily. Number two is develop a dynamic relationship with God. Dr. Woodrow Kroll, former president of Back to the Bible, wrote a book called Taking Back the Good Book. He said, When people tire of reading the Bible, it’s because they read it for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way. They read the Bible to gain knowledge, store facts, or pick up a few principles to live by. When you see the Bible as a means to a dynamic relationship with God, you can’t get enough of it because you can’t get enough of Him. And the third thought is to be transformed. Don’t read the Bible to be informed. Read it to be transformed. And I’m going to share a fun little story with you about being transformed by the Word of God. It’s about an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early, sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, Papa, I try to read the Bible, just like you, but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do? The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water. The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, you’ll have to move a little faster next time and send him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, I don’t want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough. And he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather, the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, See, Papa, it’s useless. So you think it’s useless, the old man said. Look at the basket. The boy looked at the basket, and for the first time, he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. So read the Bible so you can improve your spiritual maturity, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed, not informed. The Bible came to us from the Holy Spirit, directed by holy men of God. The triple I doctrine reminds us it’s inspired, God-breathed, infallible, without error, and inerrant, technically correct, and wholly true. Read it to grow spiritually, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.
