Friday, December 27, 2013

David Goes to Nob (1 Samuel 21:1-9)

6/29/2010 6:22:46 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  David goes to Nob

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Samuel 21:1-9

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, "Why are you alone and no one with you?" 2  David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ’Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3  "Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found." 4  The priest answered David and said, "There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women." 5  David answered the priest and said to him, "Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?" 6  So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away. 7  Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds. 8  David said to Ahimelech, "Now is there not a spear or a sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s matter was urgent." 9  Then the priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here." And David said, ‘There is none like it; give it to me.’”
            This section begins a new part of David’s life, a life on the run, a life of exile.  This part of his life lasted for about ten years and it is thought that many of the Psalms that he wrote were written at this time of his life.  The Psalms that he wrote have given comfort to many people who have been in similar situations in their lives where comfort is needed.  David may have looked back on this time of his life as a very profitable time where he grew closer to the Lord.
            Dr. Wiersbe thinks that perhaps in this section that David was referring to the Lord whenever he said that he was on the “king’s” business, but I think that this is a stretch even though he was on the Lord’s business overall.
            This section goes back to one of the questions that I had earlier while studying the book of 1Samuel concerning the high priest Eli, and wondering why he was there in the first place because he was not from the line of Ithamar when it should have been from the line of Eleazar.  The Lord said that He would remove Eli’s line from being priests and when Saul kills these priests at Nob this was part of the process of removing that line.  Dr. Wiersbe says that the Bible is silent on the moving of the priestly line between these two men listed above.
            The question in this section, at least one of these is why was David able to eat this bread that was supposed to be only for the priests who served at the tabernacle.  Jesus spoke of this while on the earth speaking to some of the Pharisees who were accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath day by eating grain from a field.  Jesus answered these Pharisees in Matthew 12:7-8 this way, “7  "But if you had known what this means, ’I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8  ‘For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’”
            The tabernacle was at Nob but the Ark was still at the house of Abinadad in Kiriath Jearim, (1Samuel 7:1).
            One more point and that is about Doeg who was from Edom, and was the shepherd for Saul.  What was he doing at this place in the first place for he was from Edom?  He may have been a Jewish proselyte and because of killing sheep he may have touched their dead bodies and had to then bring a sacrifice there.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can see that the Lord cared for David as he began this long exile that lasted for ten years.  He was building character in the life of David so He could use David to bring about His will with the children of Israel, for latter on David would be chosen by God to had the Messiah come from his line, and this was an awesome privilege to be sure.  I can be encouraged by this as I go some deep waters at this time.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Continue to trust the Lord to build His character into my life, and to use these difficult days to cause me to grow.


6/29/2010 10:15:23 AM

I went to a men’s group this morning and that is why the time seems so long.

 

            

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