David fled from Saul and went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech was afraid upon seeing David alone. David lied and said he was on a mission from the king. Ahimelech gave David consecrated bread to eat. A man named Doeg witnessed their interaction, which would prove important later. Jesus later referenced this event to teach that mercy and helping people in need is more important than religious rules. God desires mercy, justice, and humility over ritual sacrifice.

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September 9, 2012 1

2. After Jonathan told David that Saul was
determined to kill him, David fled.
This began ten years for David, living as an outlaw,
approximately from age 20 to age 30.
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3. 1 Samuel 21 1 Then came David to Nob to
Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at
the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art
thou alone, and no man with thee?
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4. Certainly everyone knew of Saul's irrational hatred
of David, and would have feared to intervene.
Nob was only a few miles from Gibeah, and was
surely not safe from Saul's reach.
Since David was by himself, Ahimelech was
suspicious that David was on the run,
Which he was.
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5. 2 And David said unto
Ahimelech the priest, The king
hath commanded me a business,
and hath said unto me, Let no
man know anything of the
business whereabout I send thee,
and what I have commanded
thee: and I have appointed my
God shows us
servants to such and such a
His heroes,
place.
Warts and all.
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6. As a young man of about 20 years, and in a
dangerous situation,
David's faith in God grew momentarily weak.
Weak faith produces fear,
And fear brings about sin.
Sin never produces any good thing!
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7. David told Ahimelech a gross untruth. What shall we
say to this? The Scripture does not conceal it, and we
dare not justify it; it was ill done, and proved of bad
consequence; for it occasioned the death of the priests
of the Lord. David thought upon it afterward with
regret.
David had great faith and courage, yet both failed him;
he fell thus foully through fear and cowardice, and
owing to the weakness of his faith. Had he trusted God
aright, he would not have used such a sorry, sinful
shift for his own preservation. It is written, not for us
to do the like, no, not in the greatest straits, but for our
warning. Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary.
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8. 3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me
five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is
present. 4 And the priest answered David, and said,
There is no common bread under mine hand, but
there is hallowed bread; if the young men have
kept themselves at least from women.
Jesus talked about this incident and taught an
important lesson from it in the New Testament.
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9. Matthew 12 1At that time Jesus went on the
Sabbath day through the corn; and His disciples
were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of
corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto Him, Behold, Thy disciples do that
which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.
3 But He said unto them, Have ye not read what
David did, when he was an hungered, and they that
were with him;
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10. 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat
the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to
eat, neither for them which were with him, but only
for the priests?
7 Butif ye had known what this meaneth, I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have
condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is
Lord even of the Sabbath day.
To feed hungry people is greater than to preserve
the shewbread or do no work on the Sabbath.
The greatest Law is to love God and people.
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11. Mark 12 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first
Commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely
this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There
is none other Commandment greater than these.
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12. To show mercy and to do good is the essence (core,
heart, real meaning) of God's Will for us.
Micah 6 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is
good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God?
That is the summation of the Will of God for us.
Treat everyone fairly; cheat no one; belittle none.
Be merciful to everyone, even when we don't deserve it.
If we deserved mercy, we wouldn't need it.
Never let pride rule your behavior. 12

13. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto
him, Of a truth women have been kept from us
about these three days, since I came out, and the
vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is
in a manner common, yea, though it were
sanctified this day in the vessel.
It was lawful for the priests to eat this bread,
after it had been replaced with fresh bread.
David said that their need was such that it was
right for him and his men to eat it.
In Matthew 12, Jesus agreed!
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14. 6 Sothe priest gave him hallowed bread: for there
was no bread there but the shewbread, that was
taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the
day when it was taken away.
Ahimelech agreed with David and gave him
the bread to eat.
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15. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was
there that day, detained before the Lord; and his
name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the
herdmen (Head shepherd) that belonged to Saul.
We will see later why this is important.
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16. We must be always doing good.
Psalms 37 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so
shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt
be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He
shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit
thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He
shall bring it to pass.
The desires of one's heart will change, when
our delight is in the Lord.
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17. When we trust God we will do good.
We will have no reason to fear, because we
know that God is our Protector and Provider.
We won't just obey His Commandments, but
we will love His Way and His Will.
His Way will not seem grievous, but joyful!
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18. We will place ourselves freely and completely in
God's Hands, with no thought of our own will.
God has great plans for each of us.
Let His Word be your
compass in life,
And His Plan will
come to pass.
God's Plan is good!
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