Have you ever noticed that the Lord’s Prayer is laid out in six petitions? The first three are focused on the hallowing of God’s name, the coming of his kingdom, and universal obedience to his will. The last three are focused on our needs for provision of necessities, pardon of sins, and protection from the evil one. In other words, the first three requests focus our attention on the Promised Land which still lies before us, and the last three requests address our needs for the present day as we look ahead to our inheritance in the land. And if that is the basic framework of the prayer, it means that we are praying it while we are in the wilderness on our way to the Promised Land. The reference to “daily bread” in the prayer confirms this reading because it harkens back to Israel’s experience in the wilderness, where they relied upon the Lord to give them bread from heaven each morning to sustain them for the coming day. Jesus taught us to pray as though we are in the wilderness.
And we are. In Revelation 12, a woman representing the messianic people gives birth to a son, and the dragon, representing Satan, tries to devour this child, but he fails because the child is caught up to God and his throne. So then the dragon turns his wrath on the woman herself, and verse 6 reads, “and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.” As Satan attacks the messianic people, the church of Jesus Christ, he is unable to destroy us because God provides refuge in the wilderness.
In Scripture, the wilderness is a place of provision, protection, and testing. This was true for Israel, and it was true for Jesus. David also had his own time of provision, protection, and testing in the wilderness, and that story is told in 1 Samuel 21-26. Here David is on the run as a fugitive from King Saul, who has grown insanely jealous of David’s popularity and has been repeatedly trying to kill him. This is the moment when David could look at his circumstances, interpret them in light of his own human reasoning, and draw the conclusion, “God is against me. Why else would I be suffering like this? Why else would I be the target of the most powerful man in Israel? Why else would I be in this unsettled condition, constantly on the move, constantly on guard for my life, without any permanent place to lay my head?” But David doesn’t do that. He’s not a perfect man in these stories, but he never loses sight of the Lord’s promise to him, and in the end, his faith overcomes.
The stories of David in the wilderness encourage us to see that the sufferings of this life are not signs of God’s displeasure with us. On the contrary, they are opportunities, filled with exciting potential. For it is in those unsettled times in the wilderness that God’s faithfulness shines most brightly, and our faith can be strengthened as it never has been before. The main truth we can draw out of this text is that faith in God’s promises carries us through the wilderness.
David is on the run. In these chapters, we see seven stories in which some kind of threat is posed to David, and yet in every single story there is at least one reminder that God has destined David to be king, and that promise nurtures David to hold on in faith. I want to walk through each story briefly and then draw out some specific words of application for us.
The first story is that of the priests at the city of Nob. It is told in two parts. In the first part (21:1-9), David flees Nob, a city just south of Saul’s headquarters in Gibeah. Nob was the city where the tabernacle (but without the ark) had been relocated from Shiloh after the death of Eli the priest. David came alone, and the priest Ahimelech (great-grandson of Eli) thought it strange and concerning to see a prominent military leader out by himself. So David made up a story about being on an urgent mission from the king, and he asked for food. Surprisingly, though Ahimelech had no common bread on hand, he gave David the holy bread that had just been replaced in the tabernacle, the bread that was reserved for the priests alone to eat. David also asked if Ahimelech had any weapons lying around, because the king’s mission was so urgent that David didn’t have time even to arm himself. You can see at this point that David is a terrible liar, because that story doesn’t make a lick of sense. Nevertheless, Ahimelech tells him that it just so happens that Goliath’s sword, David’s great trophy from the battle at the Valley of Elah, is there at Nob. “There is no sword like it! Give it to me,” David says. And he leaves Nob both fed and armed.
The second part of this story is related in 22:6-23. It just so happens that Saul’s chief herdsman, Doeg the Edomite, was present in Nob on the day that David had this interaction with the priest Ahimelech. Doeg saw an opportunity to prove his loyalty to King Saul, and he reported to Saul everything he witnessed at Nob. In response, King Saul summoned Ahimelech and the other priests from Nob. He accused Ahimelech of conspiring against him. Naturally, the priest had no idea what he was talking about, but Saul had descended so far into his alternate reality that he ordered his servants to slaughter the priests. But Saul’s men would not obey this order. Even they recognized that their master had gone too far this time, and they feared the consequences of putting to death holy men. So Saul turned to Doeg, who, being an Edomite and not an Israelite, didn’t share the same scruples, and Doeg slaughtered eighty-five priests that day. Then Doeg ordered that the city of Nob be put under the ban, meaning that everything that breathed in the city—man, woman, child, animal—was ordered to be slain. Saul had failed to carry out this order against the Amalekites when God told him to in chapter 15. Here his servant Doeg carries out the order, yet perversely against the city of the Lord’s priests! And yet, everything that happens does so in fulfillment of the word of the Lord, who had prophesied this day about the house of Eli in 1 Samuel 2:31.
But one priest, Abiathar the son of Ahimelech, escaped that day, and he fled to David and traveled around with him from that time on. So let’s note two details about David in this story that highlight his destiny as future king of Israel. One is that he receives the holy bread, which was reserved for the priests, and he eats it without consequence. How is he able to do this? Many commentators argue that this story illustrates that human need transcends the ceremonial requirements of the law. But I don’t think that is what is going on here. Jesus appeals to this story in Matthew 12, not to argue that David’s great need justified his act, but rather to argue that David’s special anointing from God as king justified this act. The reason I see Jesus making that argument is because it is in the context of claiming his own authority over the Sabbath as God’s anointed one. In the midst of wandering in the wilderness, David eats holy bread without consequence as a sign that God has anointed him with a unique authority. And when Israel’s king Saul turns even against the priests, David becomes the guardian of Israel’s priesthood. In both of these details of the story, God is giving us reminders that this man wandering in the wilderness is the recipient of a great promise that is still to be fulfilled.
The second story is that of David’s time in Gath of the Philistines in 21:10-15. Having received Goliath’s sword from Ahimelech, David fled to Goliath’s own hometown among the Philistines. Talk about boldness! Maybe he thought he could present himself as a defector from Saul and get hired as a mercenary by King Achish of the Philistines, but it didn’t work out the way he planned. The servants of Achish reminded him that David was the Israelite warrior widely praised throughout the land for killing Philistines, and David knew he was in trouble. Thus we read in 21:13, “So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands [apparently under arrest] and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.” David didn’t think through this plan of going to Gath very well, and thus he is reduced to humiliating behavior. Yet the Lord protects him. Verses 14-15 read, “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?” I find that to be one of the funniest verses in the Bible. “Do I lack madman? Can’t you see we have plenty of those around here?” It reminds me of one of Jack Nicholson’s famous lines: “Sell crazy somewhere else. We’re all stocked up here.” As humiliating as it was, David composed Psalms 34 and 56 to celebrate the Lord’s protection over him on this occasion. But don’t miss one little detail of this story. In verse 11, the servants of Achish said, “Is not this David the king of the land?” It’s an odd expression. David was not, in fact, king of the land yet. But even the Philistines seem to recognize what God has decreed for him, and thus he gets one more reminder of God’s promise to carry him through another difficulty.
The third story is a story about the city of Keilah, which is a city in Judah, in 23:1-14. When David heard that his countrymen were being raided by the Philistines, and their food supply was being plundered, David inquired of the Lord, presumably through the prophet Gad (compare 22:5 and 23:2), and the Lord told him to go and deliver the city, for the Lord had given the Philistines into his hand. Verse 5 reads, “And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.” But the real tension in the story begins to build after this. Saul heard about all the commotion at Keilah, and with David’s location now revealed, Saul perceived an opportunity to lay siege to the city and put pressure on the people of Keilah to give David up in order to relieve their suffering. David could see this situation forming, so he went to Abiathar the priest, who had fled to him from Nob, and he asked him to consult the Urim and Thummim, the priestly tools of seeking to hear God’s direction. By this means, David heard from God that yes, Saul was on his way, and yes, the people of Keilah would give David up to save themselves, even though David had just rescued them. So David, with this word from God, escaped from the city before Saul could get there, and once more, God delivered him. But notice that in the midst of this story, David has led an army, by God’s command, to the rescue of an Israelite city that was in danger. That is a kingly way to act. Saul should have been the deliverer of his people, but David, by God’s direction, steps into that role where Saul fails to act.
The fourth story is one of deliverance in the wilderness of Maon in the rest of chapter 23, where Saul received a tip from the Ziphites, who were also from the tribe of Judah, about David’s location. As Saul begins closing in on David, the tension becomes thick. Look at 23:26-28: “Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.’ So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.” Isn’t it ironic that the very same enemies whom David had just defeated at Keilah were the cause of distracting Saul from pursuing David any further at just the moment when David needed it most? So once again, David is delivered. But notice what Jonathan said to David at their last meeting just prior to this event in 23:17: “And he said to him, ‘Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” Yet one more token from the Lord that David’s destiny to reign has already been decreed, and David has one more reminder of a promise that can carry him through the wilderness.
The fifth story is in chapter 24, and here we find David in the wilderness of Engedi. Saul’s intelligence operation discovered him there, and Saul led a force of three-thousand men in pursuit of him. But it just so happens that even when you are out chasing your enemy, nature still calls from time to time, so Saul stopped in at a cave to visit the latrine, so to speak. Saul was completely unaware of the fact that David and his men were hiding in this very cave! Read with me 24:4-7: “And the men of David said to him, ‘Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, “Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.”’ Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, ‘The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.’ So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went his way.” What is David thinking here? Is his point that he can’t reach out his hand against an authority figure? No, it's more than that. One commentator put it this way: “Why did men consider the anointed to be inviolate, to be kept from attack, and to be preserved from degradation? The answer lies in the fact that once anointed, the individual was set apart or consecrated to God. A specific bond was established in relation to God, in separation from men and women in general, and from the common aspects of life in particular…Hence to touch, defile, and attack the anointed one was to approach the Lord himself and to seek to defile, harm, and remove the Lord from his rightful place.”1 This is why David’s conscience strikes him over even cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe. That was a symbolic action by which David dramatized the tearing of the kingdom away from Saul, and David came to realize because the kingdom was not his to take, but rather the Lord’s to give, he should not have communicated otherwise.
But since he had the piece of Saul’s robe in hand, he used it to confront Saul once there was enough distance between them outside the cave. He made it clear to the king that he had every opportunity to kill him, and he did not take it. In response to this revelation, Saul wept, his conscience being pricked by David’s kindness. Note particularly what Saul says to David in verse 20: “And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.” Once again, David received a reminder of God’s promise about his destiny.
The sixth story is a lengthy one in chapter 25. First, there is a brief mention of the death of the prophet Samuel, which will become important to the story later. David and his men headed over to the wilderness of Paran. While there, he got word that a wealthy businessman named Nabal was in the area shearing his sheep. So David sent ten men to Nabal to request food for his men on a feast day as a gesture of gratitude to David for protecting Nabal’s shepherds and flocks while they were in the wilderness of Paran. Nabal’s response is recorded in 25:10-11: “And Nabal answered David’s servants, ‘Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” Upon hearing this news, David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” And while they were on their way to wipe out the house of Nabal, the wife of Nabal, a woman named Abigail, found out about it and quickly arranged a significant gift for David and rode out to meet him without telling her husband. Her intervention stopped David from his planned course of action. Notice particularly her words in verses 30-31: “And when the LORD has done to my lord [David] according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.” This was the moment when David almost became more like Saul than he ever wanted to be and ordered a slaughter of men based on a personal grievance. But the Lord intervened, as David himself acknowledged in verses 32-34, to protect him from this sin. And so this story of deliverance is not from an external threat to David, but from the internal threat of his own heart. Once again, God delivers him, and once again, he does so with a reminder of his promise that David will reign as king.
After this event, Abigail reported what happened to her husband Nabal, and he suffered either a heart attack or a stroke on the spot and died ten days later. David then took Abigail as his wife. I know what you’re thinking: “Wasn’t David already married?” Yes, but his wife Michal had been given to another man after David fled from Saul. However, the text does mention that he married Ahinoam of Jezreel in addition to Abigail, so he’s not off the hook for being a polygamist after all.
The seventh and final story is related in chapter 26, and it is very similar to the story of chapter 24. In the wilderness of Ziph, David once again found himself in a position to kill Saul. This time it is because Saul and his men were asleep at their encampment, under a deep sleep from the Lord, and David and his servant Abishai wandered among them. Although Abishai begged permission to run his spear through King Saul, David would not allow it. Instead, David commanded Abishai to grab Saul’s spear and his water jar, and they proceeded to the top of the hill, where he called down to Saul and the commander of his army, Abner. Once again, David produced the evidence that he could have killed Saul but didn’t. Significantly, that evidence is the very spear that Saul once hurled at David, the recurring symbol throughout this story of Saul’s dangerous authority. Once again, Saul’s conscience was pricked, and after this he will not pursue David anymore. His parting words to David are found in verse 25: “Then Saul said to David, ‘Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and succeed in them,’” no doubt a reference to David’s future reign.
Seven times we read of David facing some threat in the wilderness, and seven times we see the Lord deliver him while providing to him some reminder of his promise that David would be king. Faith in the Lord’s promise carries David through this time in the wilderness as he experiences the grace of God in profound ways. What can we take home with us from this story? I want to offer four brief words of application about the faith that carries us through the wilderness.
First,
When David first flees to Nob and then to Gath in chapter 21, it seems that he is relying on his own wisdom to try to navigate his difficult situation. At Nob he lies to Ahimelech the priest, and as he himself acknowledges after the fact, his actions ultimately led to the slaughter of the priests of Nob. Furthermore, the decision to flee to Goliath’s hometown of Gath afterward may have had a certain logic to it, but it didn’t work out as David planned, and he was forced into humiliating behavior to escape from King Achish. It seems significant that just after those experiences we start to read about David listening to the Word of God through a prophet. In 22:5 we read, “Then the prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.’ So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.” Nothing in his mere human wisdom would have suggested such an action of moving from a safe location to expose himself to danger, but David obeyed the Word of God that came to him through the prophet. He has learned by this point not to rely on his own plans anymore.
There are other references to David inquiring of the Lord in chapter 23. It was presumably the prophet Gad who delivered the Word of the Lord to go to Keilah in verses 2 and 4, and we know it was by inquiring of the Urim and Thummim in verses 9-13 that David heard, through Abiathar the priest, that he needed to leave Keilah before Saul got there. In both cases, David listened to God and acted in faith. By contrast, Saul is not hearing from God anymore. Once Samuel departed from Saul in chapter 15, God quit speaking to him, and therein lies a major difference between these two men. David’s faith is nurtured in the wilderness by the gracious provision of communication from God, guiding him.
As Protestants, we confess the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture, which means that everything that we need to know for salvation and to live a life pleasing to God has been revealed to us in Scripture. The Word of God written is your guide to life in the wilderness, and it is your duty to give focused attention to hearing and reading it. Faith depends on the Word of God, both to be created in you and to be sustained in you over time. With all the lies that you hear constantly from the press, from Hollywood, from social media, even possibly from your own friends and family, your faith cannot last if you are not countering those lies with truth. Are you living in an unsettled season right now? Think of it as an opportunity to hear from God more clearly, and with more focus, perhaps than you have before. Faith is nurtured by the Word of God.
Second,
David has additional failures in these chapters. Although he spared Saul in chapter 24, he did engage in a symbolic act by cutting off a portion of his robe, and David’s conscience let him know about it. But the darkest moment of all came in chapter 25 when David almost slaughtered all the men of Nabal’s house as an act of personal vengeance. The intention was there, but the Lord restrained him through the intervention of Abigail.
What we learn from David’s example here is that he is not a perfect man, but when all the dust settles, he is still a man who is holding on to God’s promise by faith. And that’s what matters. You are not perfect, but you can persevere through the wilderness—and that includes persevering through your own failures—because God is gracious to forgive you and patient to teach and refine you. God is not looking for perfect people. He is looking for repentant people who recognize their sin and never make peace with it. As C.S. Lewis put it, “He will be infinitely merciful to our repeated failures; I know of no promise that He will accept a deliberate compromise.”2 The worst thing you could do when the weight of your failure presses upon you is turn away from God out of feelings of guilt. If you turn away from God, you are running to sin as refuge. God summons the guilty to run to him, not away from him. Hold on by faith, and watch God change you in wilderness.
A third word of application is this:
Of course, there is no organized local church to speak of in these chapters, but David does receive encouragement from a brother with whom he is in covenant. In 23:15-16 we read, “David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in Go.” That last phrase indicates that David was in need of strengthening, and for good reason. He had just come from Keilah, where he had been the city’s deliverer, and yet he heard from God that if Saul laid the city under siege, the people of Keilah would hand David over to spare themselves the suffering of a siege. That event had to be demoralizing. Furthermore, it was about to be followed by David’s betrayal by the Ziphites, who were from his own tribe of Judah, which would only add to the feeling that those David could count on were indeed few and far between. Sandwiched between these two events is Jonathan’s visit to David to encourage him by reminding him of God’s promise at just the moment David needed to hear it. Because of Jonathan’s encouragement, David was able to press on.
Often times what we need is not to hear some new information we have never heard before, but rather to hear a brother or sister affirm to us what we already know to be true. That experience is largely what our Sunday gatherings are for. When we stand together to hear the Scripture read, when we sing together, pray together, and share at the Lord’s Table together, we engage in shared practices that remind us that we are not alone in this sin-darkened, insane world. We have each other, and we need each other. Don’t isolate yourself from the blessing of the church. If you do, not only will you miss rich opportunities for encouragement, but you will also miss rich opportunities to encourage others. If you’re listening to this message online because you haven’t prioritized gathering with the church, let me ask you this: why would you assume that your presence here is not an important gift to others? Why would you deny your brothers and sisters the joyful encouragement of seeing you here worshiping the Lord, of seeing you participate at the Lord’s Table with us all? Not only do you need the church, but the church needs you. Faith is strengthened by the community of the church.
Finally,
With Abigail’s help, and by the grace of God, David spared Nabal’s life. But far more impressive is the fact that he twice spared the life of Saul, the man who was hunting him down. What was the internal motivation to swear off personal vengeance on these occasions? It was faith. Faith trusts God to do his job and doesn’t try to do it for him.
As Jesus taught us, when someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. A slap on the right cheek would be a backhanded slap from a right-handed person, so Jesus’ point is focused on insult, not injury. If someone insults you or slanders you, don’t worry about answering in kind or defending yourself. Don’t assume that you are the one responsible to vindicate yourself. Living in a world that is full of opposition to believers, you will likely be on the receiving end of insults and slander at times. Social media seems to be a forum where this is most likely to happen. The way you respond in those moments will reveal whether or not you trust God to be the one who will vindicate you. Learn from David’s example here. Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. On the contrary, love your enemies and pray for God to bless them with repentance and forgiveness.
Life in the wilderness is unsettled and often chaotic. But don’t fear it. Embrace it. It is the place where our faith is tested and refined. It is the place where God’s promises carry us when nothing else can. And in his wisdom, God knows that is sometimes precisely what we need. Amen.