1 Samuel 21:1-6 – Do not allow rigidity to hinder God’s work

Jonathan was sure of his father’s intention to kill David. For he had angrily hurled a spear at him on hearing that he allowed David to leave for Bethlehem to celebrate the new moon with his family. As promised, Jonathan then met David to reveal his father’s intention to him. The secret rendezvous probably took place near the fringes of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul. After a tear-jerking farewell and rehearsal of the pledge they had made to each other, David made his escape. So in 1 Samuel 21, we see the beginning of his journey as a fugitive. The first place he came to was Nob, a few miles south. He came to Ahimelech, the great-grandson of Eli. Ahimelech was the chief priest at that time. Here David found help from him. It must be said that Ahimelech was, of course, uncomfortable with David’s visit. We are told in verse 1 that he came “…trembling to meet David and said to him, ‘Why are you alone and no one with you?’” 

Ahimelech was said to be trembling, a word that indicates that he was terrified. The obvious question then is “why should he be so terrified that he trembled?” The answer would be found in 1 Samuel 22. Suffice to say that David appearing alone now without his men, provided the hint to Ahimelech that he had fallen out with Saul and was now a fugitive. In verse 2, David sought to allay the anxiety of the priest by fabricating a story that he was on a secret mission of the king. And that he had agreed to meet up with his men later at a secret location. We have dealt with the issue of deception and lie earlier so we shall not pause to deal with it here. Enough to say that David used it to pacify the priest and allay his anxiety. Besides, David was not prepared at this point to fully trust Ahimelech.

David then proceeded in verse 3 to ask for bread.  He was hungry and needed food. Here he also kept up with the story that he would be meeting his men later, and they all needed food as well. We cannot explain why Ahimelech bent the rule and gave David the consecrated bread meant for use in the service of the Tabernacle, but he did. His only caution to them was that those who partake of the bread must not have intimacy with any woman. David assured him that they had no time for such activity since they were on a mission. It is difficult to explain Ahimelech's rationale for giving them the consecrated bread. But we know that in Jesus’ day, how He also bypassed some of the laws at the vehement protest of the Pharisees. What we know is that God has provided laws that prescribed how his people should act in given sets of circumstances. The laws, however, were not given to hinder the progress of the Kingdom. Similarly, we must always stay in conformity with God’s purpose and standards, and as we do so, we must never hinder the progress of God’s kingdom and work by our rigid dogmatism.