Catch Me If You Can

By John Stallings



The first grey streaks of dawn appeared and the young fugitive knew he must move on.

He traveled light because he was on the run. As he swung his backpack on, his mind wondered back over the last months. It felt as if he’d been on the road all his life. He knew every back trail, every village, every cave, every gully, and every place a man could hide for a few hours. Such was his life lately. Such had been and would be his life for most of his twenties.

As any man whose home is the road knows there were good days are bad days. Today he didn’t have to concern himself with eating breakfast because there was nothing to eat. As dawn appeared- down the dusty winding road he went; a road that seemed to lead nowhere in particular.

The tattered traveler came to the top of a hill & surveyed the valley below. There sat a small village, rather non-descript; just a few buildings with a large tent in the middle. Hopefully our fugitive might find some food for his empty stomach in this little backwater town.

NOB

The village he is viewing is called Nob. Eighty-five priests of God live here & it’s also home to High Priest Ahimelech and home to the Tabernacle.

The fugitive has run out of options. He didn’t really want to come to this place but as detectives say, “he had a tail.” A mad man was tracking him and he had no choice but to stop in this village & try to get help. He has the “street- cred” to know “you play the hand you’re dealt.”

Though the fugitive basically had a good character, in his present state of affairs he’d lie or do just about anything to stay alive.
This story begins in 1 Samuel 21.

DAVID VERSUS SAUL

The fugitive is young David and he’s being hotly pursued by King Saul. It should not be forgotten that this traveler had been anointed by the prophet Samuel years earlier as the future king of Israel. Now his only royal distinction was—king of the road.

There are few men in the Bible that attract our attention as much as David. He’s mentioned more than any other man in the Bible except Jesus. From the time Goliath’s body hits the ground until he was anointed king, in spite of the mistakes he made and repented in bitter tears, we come to understand why David is the only man in the Word of God who’s called: “A man after God’s own heart.”

It’s important as we look at this story to remember that it’s not irrelevant to our lives. This is a cautionary tale God had recorded for a reason -as we’ll see.

What makes this particular story stab the heart is the fact that David had never done anything to Saul but show him compassion and respect. Saul had gotten his nose out of joint out of jealousy of young David who was Israel’s ‘boy wonder,” and greatly loved by everyone. But as we know, life isn’t always fair; it certainly wasn’t in this instance.

After a meeting with Jonathan, David went straight into the wilderness to begin his years on the LAM. He’s smart enough to know how to pull some strings, or call in a few favors so his first stop will be Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. David and Ahimelech go way back. When Ahimelech answered his door-bell and saw David, he trembled & asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

SITUATIONAL ETHICS

When David entered the desert he had some very real needs. He has no weaponry, no food, no water “no nothing.” Those needs will have to be met if he’s to stay alive. The important thing is, how will David choose to meet those needs? Answer: David resorts to situational ethics meaning--the end justifies the means.

We see it all the time in our day. We see it in our government, in our churches, even our own lives; doing things that hurt other people in the name of expediency.

Now David is going to tell a whopper of a lie. He says to Ahimelech, “The king [Saul] charged me with a certain matter & said to me, -- no one is to know anything about your mission & your instructions.”— David didn’t place all his cards on the table. Or put it another way-David lied.

David was running from Saul, not conducting a secret mission for him. He must have sounded convincing because Ahimelech bought it without question. But it was still a lie. David lied because he was between a rock and a hard place. Saul was trying to kill him. After so long on the road a man gets desperate and he says whatever he has to say to stay alive. David never meant to hurt anyone with his fabrication. Oh- but he did.


“OH WHAT TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE …..”

David is telling lies that are so preposterous the truth would have sounded better. A small boy was asked to describe what a lie was and he said; “A lie is an abomination unto the Lord, but an ever present help in time of need.” I’m not sure which translations the kid was reading.

THE PLOT THICKENS

Someone else was in Nob that day. A certain someone knows who David is and knows David is telling a lie. His name was Doeg the Edo mite. He was Saul’s head shepherd, - one of Saul’s hired guns. He saw David and David saw him. And Doeg saw Ahimelech give several loaves of consecrated tabernacle bread or- “bread of the presence” to David.

Why did God allow David to see Doeg that day? He knows Doeg will “high-tail” it to Saul and tell him he saw David. Doeg is nothing short of a mercenary and won’t fail to use this information to ingratiate himself with the king. David also knows what that will mean to his old friend Ahimelech. IMHO God allowed this sighting of Doeg to give David another chance to come to his senses and do the right thing here. But alas, David doesn’t do the right thing; he does the quickest thing which is almost always wrong. David cares about no one but himself right now and is probably whistling-“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, glory- hallelujah.”

Just before David leaves town he says to Abimelech, “Oh, by the way, you don’t happen to have a sword handy do you? I left mine back at home”? Now David makes an attempt at putting himself into “Oscar’s best actor” contention “by adding, -“……Because the King’s business is urgent.” It turns out that among David’s other talents; he’s also a “drama-king.” He’s acting his brains out. When we tell one lie we usually have to tell another one to prop it up.

Ahimelech replied, “The sword of Goliath whom you killed as a boy in the Valley of Elah is here; it’s wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” [1 Samuel 21:9]

David, what’s gotten into you? First you lie then you lie again. Now you’ve taken the sword of Goliath, the giant you defeated-- to fight your battles. David, have you lost your mind? Where is God in all this? When you were just a shepherd boy you faced Goliath & all you needed was one stone from your sling. Now are you going to use the weapon of the man you killed with a rock?

David was wrong when he took the consecrated bread and now he’s wrong again by taking the sword that had been consecrated to the Lord because it stood for Israel’s victory over the Philistines.

Yes, in a sense, David has lost his mind. Another old saying goes, -- “Honesty is the best policy but insanity is the best defense.” If you cut a man off from his friends and family and put him in the wilderness, it does strange things to him. The constant pressure pulls at him until it wears him down. Things he swore he’d never do now don’t seem so bad.

Up to this point in his life David had done everything right. He has been the absolute model of faith, obedience, courage, integrity and devotion to God and to his king. But he is still a very young man who is living a long way from his family and home because he’s a fugitive on the run from King Saul. David needed some stability in his life but for the time being that had gone.

DAVID HAD BECOME USED TO POSITION & POPULARITY

A humble shepherd boy had been promoted to a captain over a thousand in Saul’s army and he had all the popularity that came with that. David had leaned on the support of people but now in this trying hour that support had been dismantled.

David had the support of his wife Michal. He also had the support of Saul’s son Jonathan who loved him more than his own father. Then David had the support of the prophet Samuel who’d taught him about sacrifice, service & worship. Samuel was a significant support to David during his early years.

It’s wonderful to have supports, props & crutches in our lives to help us make it. Praise God if He’s been gracious to you and given you an adequate support network in your life.

BUT DAVID’S SUPPORT SYSTEM HAS BEEN DISMANTLED.

Think of it. Think of all David had lost and how far he’d slipped to now be a desert dweller, begging for sustenance. David had been the greatest battlefield hero his nation had ever known and now he was a fugitive from justice.

David had also lost his popularity, his people and his pride and was now relegated to a distant memory. He’d been removed from the public eye. People assumed Saul would be successful in his attempts to take David’s life. Every person upon whom David had leaned in his life was taken away.

The lowest place a man can come to is the place where he loses his pride. Now all that David had to cling to have been stripped away.

His lies were acts of fear but taking Goliath’s sword was an act of desperation. First there’s fear, then there is a lie, then desperation, but the worst is yet to come.

Fear drove David to lie to Ahimelech. Fear drove him to take Goliath’s sword. Now fear drives him to do the strangest thing he has ever done.

NEXT DAVID GOES TO GATH

Gath? Haven’t we heard that name somewhere? Yes, we have. Gath is in Philistine territory. That means it’s not in Israel; it’s foreign to David. But wait; Gath is also the hometown of Goliath, enemy territory. Why would David do something like this?

It’s hard to know but we can imagine he was thinking, --no one would ever look for him there. -- So now David’s in Gath with Goliath’s people. The man of God is hiding in the enemy’s camp. It was an outright act of spiritual treason. God’s people were to have nothing to do with the Philistines. They were to be separated from the surrounding nations. But David looked around and said, “This looks like the quickest way out.”

The greatest temptation when we’re in trouble is to take the quickest way out. You and I can write this next principle down; -- when in trouble, the quickest way out is almost always wrong.” When we go over to the world’s side and compromise our convictions, disaster is soon to follow.

DAVID HAS A MELT-DOWN

Once David realizes he’s been seen and recognized, he plunges headlong into an act of madness. He feared what might happen to him so he –“pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 1 Sam. 21:13

Have you ever seen someone put on a crazy act, but then you realized if they were sick enough to be that convincing, they in actuality had a “screw loose.” IMHO, you can’t play-act like someone who’s “lost it” without having some level of emotional disturbance, at least for the moment. Can we say Mel Gibson? Keep in mind this is the man who won the greatest military victory in Israel’s’ history, the victory over Goliath and the Philistines, Israel’s arch enemy.

David’s compromise [ostensibly play acting] didn’t work. All it got him was thrown out of Gath. Now he’s back on his own and back on the run. First there is fear, then the lie, then desperation, then compromise and now humiliation.

DAVID WILL SOON BECOME THE CAPTIAN OF CROOKS AND THE DUKE OF DEADBEATS.

Still on the run, David comes to a place called the Cave of Adullam. Chapter 22:1 tells us that his family went to meet him there. Now he’s back in Israel. David has basically reached bottom and is on his way back. Then we’re told that “all those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him and he became their leader.”

About four hundred men were now with David; the exiled king and his rag-tag army. Every crook and troublemaker came out to join him. David was now the captain of crooks & the duke of deadbeats. As David grew spiritually, these men began to grow & they would one day become his mighty men. In later years his greatest warriors would come from this motley crew.

DAVID FINALLY STARTS TO WALK WITH GOD AGAIN.

Living in a cave changes David and as he changes, his men change. Some parents tell their children --“Don’t do as I do-- do as I say do.” But you and I know that’s never what actually happens. The reality is, in the end our children will do what we do. All David has to do to change these 400 hoodlums huddling in this cave with him is to start doing right & they’ll follow suit. It’s here that David again becomes a force to be reckoned with.

The story should be over but it isn’t, not yet. There are a few loose ends dangling that need to be tied up. Whatever happened to Doeg the Edomite & Ahimelech?

Let’s return to the village of Nob for a moment. Things are quiet, -too quiet. There’s not a sound in that little village of priests. There never was much noise but now all you hear is the wind whistling through the bushes. It’s deathly quiet. Tumbleweeds are rolling around and overhead the vultures are circling. In the hot sun dismembered bodies lie on the ground. They’ve been hacked to death in some kind of execution. Eighty-five priests are dead along with their families. A whole village has been wiped out.

WHAT HAPPENED HERE? WHO DID THIS?

Doeg the Edomite told Saul that he had seen Ahimelech give the sacred bread to David. Keep in mind; Ahimelech believed David’s lie that he was on a mission for King Saul. He’d acted out of patriotism but Saul called him out and accused him of treason for aiding and abetting David, a fugitive. Ahimelech had no way of knowing David had told him a lie but he will now pay with his life. When Saul ordered the priests killed, his own soldiers wouldn’t do it because the priests were servants of the Lord.

But Doeg was an Edomite, a foreigner and a lackey for Saul and priests meant nothing to him. So the whole village was wiped out. Only one man lived to tell the story and his name was Abiather. Somehow he found David and told him what happened at Nob. David’s reaction in 1 Sam. 22:22 is, ---That day when Doeg the Edomite was there I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father’s whole family.

David thought he could get away with the lies and the charade but he couldn’t and didn’t. He knew Doeg was there and he knew he’d tell Saul but he was so wrapped up in himself and his own problems that he acted out of self-interest and didn’t level with Ahimeleck.

Who killed the priests of Nob? Who is really responsible for the tragedy? Not Doeg, not Saul- but David. David’s hands were dripping with the blood of the innocent people of Nob.

LOOK AT THE MALIGNANT GROWTH OF SIN

First there is selfishness, then fear, then desperation, then compromise, then humiliation and finally disaster. The saddest part of the story is that David never intended for things to end up like this. Not in a million years. He lied to get food and it seemed justifiable at the time. Most of us would have done the same thing.

If David had stopped to think, if he’d even dreamed of such a thing he’d never have told the lie. But he didn’t think. He didn’t dream, he just lied.

NO ONE EVER GETS AWAY WITH SIN

Numbers 32: 23 says, -- Be sure your sin will find you out. Galatians 6:7 says…….a man reaps what he sows. The chickens always come home to roost and the skeletons always eventually come out of the closet.

This story is so powerful because many of us are like David. We cut corners morally and ethically, we make excuses for our small sins and under pressure we do things we shouldn’t do. All the while we’re like fugitives, running, hiding always looking over our shoulder, hoping against hope we won’t get caught today.

GOD’S SEVERE MERCY

But even though David committed such horrendous sins he’s still God’s man and God is going to use him. This brings up the question; couldn’t God have supplied David’s need for food so that he didn’t have to bother Ahimelech in the first place? The answer is yes.

Why did God allow David to disobey knowing that a whole village would be wiped out in the process? It’s not possible for us to fully understand God’s ways but this much we know; God allowed this so that David would humble himself and realize that left to himself he’d ruin his own life. Sadly this is a case of severe mercy because a city was destroyed in order for the lesson to be learned.

As we’ve already said, we can lean on many things in this world. Some people lean on a pill, some on a needle & some on a bottle. What are you leaning on today?

Are you leaning on a spiritual spouse who prays for you? Are you leaning on people or things more than you trust in the Lord?

Is your support system keeping you from looking to God for the real support you need? Every plank in my support system can fail but God will never fail me.

God is famous for dismantling men’s support systems and the process is painful, but it helps us to learn to lean on Him-- and Him alone.

When at last David got back to his own country on his own turf, resting safely in the cave of Adullum, reflecting on the events in Gath, he wrote Psalm 34. If you check, you’ll see the inscription at the top of the chapter--“When David feigned madness before Ahimelech.”

There in the cave of Adullam, gradually God restored David to his spiritual roots. In Adullam David wrote Psalm 34, one of the classic descriptions of true spirituality;

I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear it & rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

Then David refers to the specific events of his deliverance;

I sought the Lord & He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him & were radiant,
And their faces shall never be ashamed.
THIS POOR MAN cried & the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

This brings me to the final point in this story: When we sin, someone is going to have to pay the price. In this case an entire village of innocent people paid the price.

The one overarching quality David possessed that made him a –Man after God’s own heart- was his willingness to repent. Saul on the other hand didn’t seem to ever be able to do it. The javelin he threw at David started the manhunt that lasted nearly ten years. But in a sense, that javelin never stopped traveling & years later it found Saul & pierced his heart on Mount Gilboa.

The good news of the gospel is that God specializes in forgiving sinners.


Whenever we’re ready to turn for home, the Heavenly Father will meet us on the way.


Blessings,


John