From Nob to Gath and thence to Adullam.
1893 258 The sword of Goliath came into David's hands a second time, but under very different circumstances from the first. When he took it from Goliath, his absolute confidence in the Lord and his self-devotion to the interests of His people distinguished him above all; and it was a time of blessing for Israel though of brief duration. Saul became jealous of him, and no means were left untried to bring about his destruction. His perils, his escapes, and the exercises of his soul because of them we have traced up to his flight to Nob, to the tabernacle, where he hoped to get help. In this he was not disappointed, though Ahimelech, the high priest, was troubled at his coming and by the manner of it. David's wants were now very pressing. Persecuted, defenceless, hungry, and weary, he turned to the minister of the sanctuary for supplies. Who more suited to meet his need and to afford him comfort in this moment of extreme difficulty and peril? Yes, fair in appearance as this flight to the tabernacle for help was, it was not a true seeking of the Lord, for David stooped to artifice to gain his end. He deceived Ahimelech by specious answers to his enquiries; and though his wants were met, his guile, indirectly at least, brought destruction on the innocent, and bitter anguish to his own soul (1 Sam. 22:22).
In the house of God, however, he found nothing but grace. The order of that house was set aside in his favour; he ate the showbread which it was not lawful for him to eat but only for the priests, and he received from behind the ephod the sword of Goliath. He was fed, he was armed, and he would have been directed; but even this ministry failed, as we shall see, to impart confidence in the Lord. From Matt. 12:3-4, we learn that David's circumstances at this time were typical of the deeper sorrows of the rejected Messiah and of the remnant attached to Him; and hence we think that the showbread and the sword of Goliath may have a typical meaning also, pointing to the all-important ministry, so needed by the soul, of the true bread to nourish and the sword of death, no longer our dread, but for us, when used unsparingly against all within and around that hinders obedience to the will of God (Rom. 6:11, Col. 3:5). As David said, "There is none like it; give it me."
Yet, instructive as the ministry of Ahimelech might have proved, the fact remains that David learned more of God when in the hands of the Philistines than when in the tabernacle; and how true it is now, that saints often learn more of Christ in suffering and distress than from the pulpit. Yet thanks be to God for true ministry. Cam we however shut our eyes to the truth that when David was simply depending on the Lord and in confident assurance of his favour, the lion, the bear, and even Goliath, presented no difficulty to him? Young as he was, he met them all as the common work of the life of faith, and he did the greatest service when, in appearance, he was most defenceless. Now, after being ministered to abundantly, through fear of Saul he fled at once to Achish the Philistine, the king of Gath.
What a challenge this ought to be to us! Upon what is our soul really depending? Ordinances and ministry, the best provisions of the sanctuary, can he no substitute for personal trust in God. They may even draw off the spirit from the consciousness of its own inherent weakness, and thus hinder the good they ought to prove. There is no deception more subtle. The Corinthians had the best ministry, they came behind in no gifts; yet for them even more than for others was the warning needed, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
What can David do with Goliath's sword in Gath? Would he even dare to show it? Association with the world and looking to it for protection too often lead to subjection to it. The title of Psalm 56 implies that this was his case, "The Philistines took him in Gath." Thus, after all that Ahimelech had risked for him and had ministered to him, his unbelief brought him into greater difficulties than those from which he fled. He confesses this in the Psalm:
"Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up;
All the day long he fighting oppresseth me."
His distress, more effectual than ministry, cast him upon the mercy of God, and not in vain. Brought into His presence, his faith revived: he became like the David of early days. What now was the estimate of his troubles? He saw at once the utter impotency of man, of whom he had lately been in such abject fear.
"What can flesh do unto me?
What can man do unto me?
What time I am afraid
I will trust in thee."
If such was man, what had he learned of the Lord? That He was most compassionate, most merciful, entering into all his sorrows and with a perfect knowledge of them. Rarely was David's harp attuned to a sweeter note than is found here.
Thou tellest my wanderings:
Put thou my tears into thy bottle:
Are they not in thy book"?
And it is to be noted, that it is when in distress the soul values the word of God. The bed of suffering is very different from the study chair. There the heart has but little sympathy with questions as to the credit of the holy scriptures. Surely David had but little when he sung:
"In God will I praise his word,
In the LORD will I praise his word."
The time of his deliverance drew near, but the way of it must be the entire withering of the flesh. The conqueror in the valley of Elah now "scrabbled on the door of the gate and let his spittle fall down on his beard," feigning madness to save his life; yet even in this low estate his faith failed not:
"When I cry unto thee, then shall my enemies turn back;
THIS I KNOW; for God is for me."
The closing prayer of the psalm is very expressive of the need of a soul who, running his own course, has had a fall and fears another.
"Thou hast delivered my soul from death;
Wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?"
It has been said, "Oh! the luxury of prayer." This history may tell us that nothing can deprive a believer of it.
Returning to the land, of which even the Philistines owned he was the king, David's heart is again drawn to the people of the land, whatever treatment he may receive at the hand of their leader. Because of Saul he is still a fugitive and we find him after leaving Gath in the cave of Adullam. There his own family come to him for protection, being no longer safe in Bethlehem: and others, to the number of four hundred, men of no reputation — "in distress," "in debt" and "bitter of soul" (1 Sam. 22) It is a change in his position. The Lord had been leading him into greater confidence in Himself, and would now train him for future rule in Israel and for delivering the people from their enemies. We must turn to 1 Chron. 11:10-47, to understand the true worth of this little band gathered to David in the cave, and to Psalm 34, to learn his state of soul at the time he received it. Saul evidently knew that he now had followers and openly sneered at his abject condition. "Will the son of Jesse," he said to his courtiers, "give everyone of you fields and vineyards?" David truly had none, but it would be difficult to find a happier man than he, then or now. The first words of his song are:
"I will bless the LORD at all times,
His praise shall be continually in my mouth."
The Spirit of Christ, Who in Gath had drawn out his desires after God when in tears (Psalm 56) now that he is delivered from all his fears completes his joy. Saul's nature craved for fields and vine-yards; David's, by grace, for the Lord Himself. He had learned more of Him in his affliction than he had ever learned before; and full of praise he would teach others the secret of his joy, His own heart when sorely distressed had found rest, and he could therefore tell others where to find it also. "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart." It is a beautiful Psalm. If in affliction we have turned to it, we can readily picture its effects on the outcasts in the cave of Adullam. David surely shared his joy with them, as in the over-ruling goodness of God, he has done with many since. Verse 6 is the experience of one poorer than David. Concerning such portions we may well adopt the words of the beloved author of "Meditations on the Psalms." "The strings of David's harp are the strings of Christ's heart; and when they are touched, we should be still. There should be something of the deep silence of those who listen to distant music; for the melodies of that heart are far enough away from this coarse and noisy world."