I Samuel 16 - 24

 

The LORD asked Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go to Jesse in Bethlehem, for I have chosen one of his sons to be king."

"How can I do that?" Samuel protested. "Saul will kill me when he hears about it."

The LORD replied, “Take a heifer with you and say that you have come to offer a sacrifice to the LORD. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. Anoint for me the one I point out to you.”

Samuel did as the LORD had said.

When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the town came out to meet him, alarmed, and asked, “Is your coming here a sign of trouble?”

“Don’t worry,” Samuel replied. “I have come to offer a sacrifice to the LORD. Purify yourselves and join me in the sacrifice.”

 

He also invited Jesse and his sons, and he personally performed the cleansing ceremony for them. When they arrived, his eyes immediately fell on Eliab, and he said to himself, "Surely the one standing there is the one the LORD wants to anoint." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or his stature, for I have rejected him. What man sees is not what the LORD sees; man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, but Samuel said, "The Lord has not chosen him either."

Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, "The Lord has not chosen him either."

So Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but each time Samuel said that this was not the one the LORD had chosen.

"Are these all the sons you have?" he asked.

"No," replied Jesse, "the youngest is not here; he is tending the sheep and goats."

Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Bring him here. We will not begin the meal until he arrives."

Jesse sent for him. He was a handsome boy with reddish hair and expressive eyes.

And the LORD said, "Anoint him. He is the one."

Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. From that moment on, the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

*

Psalm 23 A psalm of David.

 

The LORD is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures

and leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul

and guides me along safe paths

for the sake of his name.

 

Even though I walk

through a death-dark valley,

I will fear no evil,

for You are with me,

Your rod and Your staff,

give me courage.

You invite me to Your table

in the presence of my enemies;

 

You anoint my head with oil,

my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy follow me

all the days of my life,

I will dwell in the house of the LORD

for as long as I live.

*

 

The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. His courtiers said to him, “It is clear that an evil spirit is tormenting you. Just give the order, sir, and your servants will find someone who can play the lyre. He can play music for you when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and it will make you feel better."

"Do that," Saul said. "Find me someone who can play well and bring him to me."

"I know someone who can play well," said one of the courtiers. "He is a son of Jesse of Bethlehem. He belongs to a prominent family and is a good warrior, and he is eloquent and well-built. Moreover, the LORD is with him."

Saul sent messengers to Jesse with the request, “Send me your son David, who tends your sheep and goats.”

Jesse sent his son David to Saul with a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat.

 

So David came to serve Saul, and Saul grew very fond of him and made him his armor bearer.

He sent word to Jesse, saying, “I am very pleased with your son. May he remain in my service permanently?”

And whenever the spirit of God came upon Saul, David took his lyre and played on its strings. This relieved Saul and did him good, for the evil spirit left him for a while.

*

 

From Psalm 144

By David.

 

Praise be to the LORD, my rock,

who trains my hands for battle,

who trains my fingers for battle,

my refuge, my fortress,

the fortress that gives me safety,

the shield behind which I take refuge,

He who subdues nations for me.

 

I want to sing a new song for You, God,

play for You on the ten-stringed harp,

_- for You bring salvation to kings,

You have delivered David, Your servant.

 

The Philistines prepared for war again. They gathered at Socoh in Judah and camped at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul summoned the army of Israel and set up camp in the Valley of Elah. There they faced the Philistines: the Philistines on one slope and the Israelites on the other, with the valley between them.

From the ranks of the Philistines, a champion stepped forward, a man named Goliath from Gath, who was six and a half cubits tall. He wore a bronze helmet on his head and bronze armor weighing five thousand shekels. His greaves were also bronze, as was the curved sword slung over his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. A shield bearer went before him. The Philistine stood in the valley and called out to the army of Israel, "Why should you come up and fight? I am the pride of the Philistines, and you are only slaves of Saul! Choose someone from among you and send him down here. If he can defeat me, we will be subject to you, but if I defeat him, you will be subject to us and serve us as slaves. I hereby challenge the army of Israel: send someone here for a duel!"

When Saul and the army of Israel heard these words, they were paralyzed with fear.

 

David was a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, which is in the region of Ephrath in Judah. Jesse had eight sons. He himself was too old to go to war in Saul's time, but his three eldest sons went to war with Saul. The eldest was named Eliab, the second Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. His three eldest brothers had gone to war with Saul, but David went back and forth between Saul's camp and Bethlehem, where he tended his father's flock.

Meanwhile, every morning and every evening for forty days, the Philistine came forward and stood in the valley.

 

One day, Jesse said to his son David, "Here is a bag of roasted grain and ten loaves of bread. Take them quickly to your brothers in the army camp. And give these ten cheeses to their commander. Ask your brothers how they are doing and bring back a sign of life from them."

Saul was still encamped in the Valley of Elah with the soldiers of Israel, including David's brothers, opposite the Philistines.

 

Early the next morning, David set out with the provisions, as Jesse had instructed him. He left the flock in the care of someone else.

He arrived at the camp just as the army was taking up its positions with battle cries. The Israelites and the Philistines faced each other in battle formation. David gave his supplies to the quartermaster and hurried to the front line. There he found his brothers and asked them how they were doing.

While he was talking to them, the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, stepped forward from the Philistine ranks, and David heard him challenge the Israelites as he did every day. When they saw Goliath, the Israelites recoiled in fear. "Do you see that man over there?" they said to each other. "He wants to mock Israel! Whoever defeats him will be showered with riches by the king. Moreover, he will receive the king's daughter as his wife, and his family will be exempt from taxation and servitude."

David asked the soldiers standing near him, "What will happen to the man who defeats that Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? What does that uncircumcised Philistine think, daring to revile the ranks of the living God!"

The soldiers repeated to him what they had just said. When David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he flew into a rage: "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out in the desert tending your sheep? It's just like you, wanting to be at the front of the battle with your cheeky nose."

"What am I doing wrong now?" David replied. "I'm just asking!"

He turned his back on his brother and asked the same question to others, receiving the same answer.

 

David's questions did not go unnoticed. They told Saul, and he summoned him.

David said to Saul, "We don't need to lose heart because of that Philistine, sir. I will fight him."

"But you can't possibly defeat him," Saul replied. "You are only a boy, and he has been accustomed to fighting since childhood."

"I have always tended my father's sheep," David replied. "When a lion or a bear came to steal a sheep or a goat from the flock, I went after it, overpowered it, and rescued the animal from its mouth. And if it wanted to attack me, I grabbed it by the throat and killed it. I have defeated lions and bears, and that uncircumcised Philistine will suffer the same fate because he has reviled the ranks of the living God! The LORD, who saved me from the claws of lions and bears, will also save me from the hands of this Philistine."

"Go," Saul said to David, "and may the LORD be with you."

He gave him his own equipment and helped him put it on: a bronze helmet for his head and a breastplate. Finally, David girded on the sword and tried to take a few steps, because he was not used to such heavy equipment.

"I can't walk with this," he said to Saul, "I'm not used to it."

 

So he took it off again. He picked up his staff, selected five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd's bag. Then he approached the Philistine with his sling in his hand.

With heavy steps, the Philistine approached David, preceded by his shield bearer. He looked contemptuously at David, a handsome boy with reddish hair, and said, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with a stick?" And he cursed David in the name of his gods. "Come on," he said, "I'll make you food for the birds of prey and the wild animals."

"You challenge me with your sword, your spear, and your dagger," David replied, "but I challenge you in the name of the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. But today the LORD will deliver you to me: I will strike you down and cut off your head, and I will give the corpses of the Philistines to the birds of prey and the wild animals, so that the whole world will know that Israel has a God. Then everyone here will realize that the LORD does not need a sword or spear to win, for He is the one who determines the outcome of the battle, and He will deliver you into our hands."

When the Philistine prepared to attack David, David was quicker than him. He ran toward him, reached into his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine so hard on the forehead that the stone penetrated and the Philistine fell face down. Thus David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone; he struck him dead without needing a sword.

 

David ran to the Philistine, bent over him, and drew his sword from its sheath. With it, he gave him the coup de grâce and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. Now the Israelites and Judeans sprang up, raised their battle cry, and pursued them to the valley and the gates of Ekron.

The entire road from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron was littered with dead Philistines. And when the Israelites returned from their pursuit, they plundered the Philistine army camp.

David took the Philistine's head to bring it to Jerusalem, and he put the weapons he had taken from him in his tent.

 

As Saul watched David confront the Philistine, he asked his commander Abner, "Tell me, whose son is that young man?" "As surely as you live, O king," Abner replied, "I don't know." "Then find out whose son he is," the king ordered him.

When David returned after defeating the Philistine, Abner waited for him and led him to Saul. He still had the Philistine's head in his hand. "Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked,

and David replied, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

 

Jonathan, who was present during this conversation, immediately felt strongly attracted to David and formed a close friendship with him. From that day on, Saul took David with him and did not let him return to his parents' house. And Jonathan, who loved David as his own life, befriended him: he took off his cloak and gave it to David. He also gave him his equipment, including his sword, his bow, and his belt.

David was successful in all the campaigns he undertook on Saul's behalf. Therefore, Saul appointed him commander of the army, with the approval of the soldiers and the courtiers.

 

When the army returned, and David came back from his victory over the Philistine, the women of all the towns of Israel went out singing and dancing to welcome King Saul and David with tambourines and bells. They sang joyfully:

"Saul has slain his thousands,

David ten thousand."

 

Saul was annoyed by this song and became furious: "They give David tens of thousands and me only thousands. Soon they will give him the kingship!" From that day on, Saul began to distrust David.

*

Psalm 20

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

 

May the LORD answer you in times of trouble

and may the name of the God of Jacob protect you,

may He send you help from His sanctuary,

and support you from Zion.

 

May He remember all your gifts,

accept your burnt offerings with favor. 

May He grant the desires of your heart,

and make all your plans succeed.

 

Let us rejoice in your victory,

raise the banner, in the name of our God.

May the LORD fulfill all your wishes.

 

Now I know for sure:

the LORD grants victory to his anointed one,

He answers him from his holy heaven

with victory through his mighty hand.

 

Others trust in horses and chariots,

we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Others bow down and fall to the ground,

we rise up and stand firm.

 

LORD, grant victory to the king,

answer us when we call upon You.

*

 

The next day, Saul was again overcome by an evil spirit from God. He ran around the house like a madman, spear in hand, while David strummed his lyre as usual. "I'll pin that boy to the wall!" Saul shouted. He threw his spear, but David dodged it twice.

Then Saul began to fear David, because he realized that the LORD had left him and was with David. He no longer wanted David around and appointed him commander of a thousand men. At the head of his troops, David undertook several campaigns, and he brought them all to a successful conclusion because the LORD was with him. When Saul saw that David succeeded in everything he undertook, he became even more afraid of him. But everyone in Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them again and again in their campaigns.

 

Then Saul said to David, "Here is my eldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife, on condition that you continue to show your bravery in my service and go to war for the LORD"—for he thought to himself, "I don't have to kill him myself; let the Philistines do it."

David replied, "Who am I, and what is my family, my father's relatives, in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?"

 

When the day came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to marry David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah. Meanwhile, Saul's daughter Michal had fallen in love with David. Saul heard about this and it suited him well. I will offer him Michal as his wife, he thought, then she will trap him and the Philistines can kill him.

He said to David, "You can still become my son-in-law by marrying my second daughter."

And he instructed his courtiers: "Go and talk to David, but do so discreetly. Say to him, 'Do you see that the king is fond of you? And all his servants like you. So seize this opportunity to become the king's son-in-law.'" Saul's courtiers conveyed these words to David, but he replied,

"You think it's so easy to become the king's son-in-law. I am just a poor and simple man."

 

When they told Saul what David had said, he replied, "Tell David that the king does not care about a bride price and that he is satisfied with the foreskins of a hundred Philistines as revenge on his enemies."

His intention was that David would be killed in battle against the Philistines. The courtiers conveyed Saul's words to David, and he agreed to become the king's son-in-law. He fulfilled the condition within the specified time. He set out with his troops and killed two hundred Philistines. He took their foreskins with him to present to the king. There were more than enough to win the hand of the king's daughter, and Saul gave him his daughter Michal as his wife.

 

From all this, Saul concluded that the LORD was with David. Moreover, his daughter Michal loved David. His fear of David increased, and from then on he was David's arch enemy. And whenever the Philistine commanders attacked Israel, David fought them more successfully than any of Saul's other servants. Thus he gained more and more fame.

*

 

Saul told his courtiers and his son Jonathan that he wanted David dead. But Jonathan, who was very fond of David, warned him, "My father Saul is planning to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning, hide yourself, and stay where you are. I will go out of the city with my father, stop near you, and bring up the conversation about you. Then I will let you know how things stand."

 

Jonathan pleaded with his father Saul on David's behalf, saying, "Let the king not harm his servant David. He has done you no wrong. On the contrary, he has rendered you great service. At the risk of his own life, he defeated the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for Israel. You saw it with your own eyes and were delighted. Why then should you shed innocent blood by killing David without cause?"

Saul was persuaded by Jonathan and swore, "As the LORD lives, he will not be put to death."

Then Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. He brought David to Saul, and David returned to live in the palace as before.

*

 

Meanwhile, the war continued. David went out again to fight the Philistines, inflicted a heavy defeat on them, and put them to flight.

And again Saul was tormented by an evil spirit from the LORD. He sat at home, his spear in his hand, while David played music for him. Again he tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but again David dodged him and the spear stuck into the wall.

David fled and sought refuge that same night. Saul sent men to David's house to guard it and kill him the next morning.

But David's wife Michal warned him, "Get to safety tonight, or tomorrow you will be done for."

 

She helped him down through the window, and he fled and escaped. Then Michal took the image of the household god and put it in the bed. She braided some goat hair around its head and covered it with a blanket.

Saul sent men to capture David, but Michal said he was sick. Then Saul sent them back to David's house to see for themselves that David was there, and he instructed them, "Bring him here, even if you have to carry him in his bed, so that he can be put to death."

When the men entered, they saw an idol lying in bed, with a tuft of goat hair around its head.

"Why have you deceived me like this?" Saul asked Michal. "You have helped my arch enemy escape!"

"I had to," Michal replied. "He said to me, 'Help me escape, or shall I kill you?'"

 

From Psalm 59

For the choir director. To the tune of "Destroy." From David, a silent prayer, when Saul had ordered David to be held captive at home and killed.

 

Deliver me from my enemies, my God, protect me from my attackers.

Deliver me from those who do wrong, save me from those who shed blood.

They have set their sights on my life

and attack me with violence.

 

Night after night they return

and roam the city, growling like dogs.

Their mouths overflow with venom,

the words on their lips are swords, they think: Who hears it?

 

You, LORD, will laugh at them, You mock all the nations.

My strength, I cling to You, yes, God is my fortress.

God, who is faithful, will come to my aid,

God will make me look down on those who attack me.

 

They return, evening after evening, 

growling like dogs, wandering around the city,

wandering in search of food,

whining when they are not satisfied.

*

 

David had fled and sought refuge. He had gone to Ramah, to Samuel, and told him everything Saul had done to him. Together they went to the house of the prophets and took up residence there.

When Saul heard that David was staying at the house of the prophets in Ramah, he sent men there to capture him. When they arrived, they saw the entire community of prophets in ecstasy, under Samuel's supervision. Saul's men were also overcome by the spirit of God and they too fell into ecstasy.

When Saul heard about this, he sent other men, but they too fell into a trance. Saul did not give up and sent a third group, but they too fell into a trance.

Finally, he went there himself. When he arrived at the large well in Sechu, he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"

"They are in the house of the prophets in Ramah," came the reply.

Saul went to Ramah, and on the way he too was overcome by the spirit of God. All the way to the prophet's house he was in ecstasy, and when he arrived there, he too took off his clothes and lost his senses in Samuel's presence, after which he fell naked before him on the ground.

He remained there all day and night, and since then people have said, "Is Saul now also among the prophets?"

 

From Psalm 55

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. An artful song of David.

 

If only I had wings like a dove,

I would fly away and settle,

I would flee far, far away,

spend the night in the wilderness, sela

hurrying to find shelter

from the gusts of the storm wind.

 

If an enemy grieved me, I would endure it,

if he hated me and turned against me,

I would hide from him.

But you, who thought and acted like me,

my heart's friend, my confidant!

How we enjoyed being together

in the festive bustle of God's house.

 

Those who do so betray their friends

and breaks the brotherly bond.

His mouth is smooth as butter,

but his heart is hostile,

his words, softer than oil,

are a drawn dagger.

 

David left the house of the prophet in Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked him, "What have I done wrong? How am I guilty? What have I done to your father that he wants to kill me?"

"There is no question of your dying," Jonathan replied. "My father never does anything without consulting me, even if it is something insignificant. Would he keep something like this from me? That is impossible!"

But David insisted, "Your father knows very well that you care for me. That is why he thinks, 'Jonathan must not find out about this, it would only cause him grief.' But I swear to you, as surely as the LORD lives and as surely as you live, Jonathan, I am only one step away from death."

"Tell me what you want, and I will do it for you," said Jonathan,

and David replied, "Listen, tomorrow is the new moon. I am supposed to be at the king's table. But if you give me permission, I will hide outside the city until dark. If your father notices my absence, you must say, 'David urgently asked me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem, where his whole family is gathered for the annual sacrifice.' If he says it's okay, I can rest easy, but if he gets angry, then you know he's determined to harm me. At your insistence, you and I have sworn allegiance to the LORD, so please do me this favor: if I have done anything wrong, kill me, but don't hand me over to your father.

"Never!" Jonathan exclaimed. "If I find out that my father intends to harm you, I will definitely let you know."

"How will I know if your father has reacted angrily?" David asked.

"Wait, let's leave the city first," Jonathan suggested.

 

When they had left the city, Jonathan said, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, tomorrow or the day after, at this time I will find out how my father feels about you. If things look good for you, I will send a message to let you know. But if my father has decided to harm you, may the LORD do to me whatever He wants if I do not let you know and do not make sure you can find a safe place to hide. May the LORD be with you as He was with my father. I know that you will treat me well as long as I live, as the LORD commands, but promise me that you will continue to be kind to my descendants after my death, even when the LORD wipes out all your enemies one by one.

Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the LORD keep you faithful to this."

Then he made David swear an oath of friendship, for he loved David as he loved himself.

Then he said, "If your place remains empty tomorrow during the new moon festival, people will surely miss you. The day after tomorrow, you must go a long way and hide in the same place as last time, at the Hazzelah rock. I will shoot three arrows at the rock, as if I were aiming at a target, and have my armor-bearer retrieve them. When I call to him, ‘No, closer!’ take him with you and come to me, for as surely as the LORD lives, you will be safe and nothing will happen to you. But if I call, 'No, farther away!' then you must leave, for it is the LORD himself who is sending you away. And in all that we have agreed upon, you and I, the LORD is our witness."

 

So David hid outside the city. At the new moon, the king sat down to the feast. When the king sat down at his usual place against the wall, Jonathan rose. Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place remained empty. Saul said nothing about it that day, thinking, "Something must have happened to make him unclean. Yes, that must be it."

But when David's place remained empty the next day, the second day of the new moon feast, Saul asked his son Jonathan, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, neither yesterday nor today?"

"David asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem," Jonathan replied. "Please let me go," he asked. "There is a sacrifice at my home, among my family, and my brother has told me to come. Please let me go home unhindered, so that I may join my brothers." That is why he is excusing himself from the king's feast.

Saul burst out at Jonathan in anger: "You son of a whore! As if I don't know that you have taken the side of the son of Jesse. You are bringing shame upon yourself and upon the mother who bore you! As long as the son of Jesse walks the earth, you cannot be sure of your life or your kingship. Bring him to me immediately, for he is doomed to die."

"But why should he die?" Jonathan asked. "What has he done wrong?"

Saul then hurled his spear at Jonathan in an attempt to strike him. Jonathan then understood that his father was determined to get rid of David. Furious, he left the table without eating anything on that second day of the new moon festival, because he was worried about David and grieved that his father had insulted him so badly.

 

The next morning, Jonathan left the city to meet David at the agreed place, taking a young servant with him. "Quickly find the arrows I shoot," he ordered him. As soon as the boy ran off, Jonathan shot an arrow over him. When the boy reached the place where the arrow had landed, Jonathan called after him, "Isn't the arrow farther away?" And, "Hurry up, don't just stand there!" Jonathan's servant gathered the arrows and brought them back to his master. Of course, he didn't know what it was all about, but Jonathan and David knew all too well. Jonathan gave his weapons to his servant and instructed him to take them back to the city.

As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from behind the rocks, knelt down, and bowed three times. They kissed each other as tears ran down their cheeks, until Jonathan pulled himself together and said, "Goodbye. Remember what we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, and that we and our descendants will always be bound by it. The LORD is our witness."

Then David left, and Jonathan returned to the city.

 

Psalms 58

For the choir director. To the tune of "Destroy." From David, a silent prayer.

 

Do you really judge fairly,

and do you judge people honestly?

In your hearts you practice injustice, and everywhere on earth

you give free rein to the violence of your hands.

 

From the womb they are estranged from God;

from birth these liars go astray.

They are poisonous like a biting adder,

deaf like a snake that closes its ears,

that does not listen to the voice of its charmers,

no matter how skillfully they speak their spells.

 

God, knock their teeth out of their mouths,

shatter the jaws of those lions, LORD—

may they vanish like water that flows away,

like arrows that break on the bow,

like a snail that melts away as it crawls,

like a miscarriage that never sees the sun,

like a thorn branch blown away in a storm before it can heat the pot.

 

The righteous rejoice when they see retribution,

they wash their feet in the blood of the lawless.

Then people say, "The righteous are rewarded,

there is a God who does justice on earth."

*

 

David went to Nob, to the priest Ahimelech. Ahimelech came out to meet him, alarmed, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?"

"The king's orders," David replied. "The king has sent me on a mission that no one must know about. My men are waiting for me at a designated place. But now, what do you have in stock? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever else you have."

"I don't have any ordinary bread," replied the priest. "I can give you consecrated bread, but only if your men have not had relations with a woman."

"As usual, we have taken upon ourselves the obligation to abstain from intercourse with women," David replied. "Whenever I go out with my men, we and everything we have with us are consecrated, even if it is an ordinary undertaking. So today we are certainly consecrated."

So the priest gave him consecrated bread, for he had no other bread except the bread of the Presence from the sanctuary of the LORD, which is replaced every few days.

 

On that day, there was also a servant of Saul, a certain Doeg of Edom, the overseer of Saul's shepherds. He was there because of some obligation to the LORD.

 

"Do you have a spear or a sword here?" David asked Ahimelech. "I couldn't even bring my sword and other weapons with me, because the king's command was so urgent."

"I have here the sword of the Philistine Goliath, whom you defeated in the Valley of Elah," replied the priest. "It is hanging there, behind the priest's robe, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, you can take it. There is no other weapon here."

"There is no other like it," said David. "Give it to me."

*

 

That same day, David continued his flight from Saul until he came to Achish, king of Gath. Achish's courtiers said to their prince, "Isn't that David, the king of the land? Isn't that the one they sang triumphantly about, 'Saul slew thousands, but David tens of thousands'?"

These words did not escape David's notice, and he became terrified of Achish.

 

From Psalm 56 For the choir director. To the tune of "A motionless dove in the distance." From David, a silent prayer when the Philistines had seized him in Gath.

 

In my hour of greatest fear, I trust in You.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust, I know no fear,

what can mortal man do to me?

 

You have recorded my wanderings,

collect my tears in your jar.

Is it not all written in your book?

In the hour that I call upon You, my enemies retreat,

for I know that God is on my side.

 

That is why David pretended to be mad: when they seized him, he raved like a madman, scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and drooled into his beard.

"Don't you see that this man is mad?" Achish said to his courtiers. "Why did you bring him to me? Don't I have enough madmen here, that you bring him to me to rage against me? What is this fellow doing in my palace?"

 

From Psalm 34

By David, when he pretended to be insane at the court of Abimelech and did not leave until Abimelech drove him away.

 

The LORD hears the cries of the righteous,

He delivers them from distress.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted,

He saves those who are afflicted.

Even though the righteous suffer,

the LORD will deliver him again and again.

 

David left Gath again and found refuge in a cave near Adullam.

 

From Psalm 142

An artful song of David, a prayer when he was in the cave.

 

I am at my wits' end,

You know the way I should go,

You know that on my path

a snare is hidden.

 

I look around and see

no one who cares about me,

nowhere to take refuge,

no one who cares about my life.

 

I call to You, LORD: "You are my refuge,

all I have in the land of the living.'

*

 

When his brothers and the rest of his family heard about this, they joined him. All kinds of people who were in trouble, in debt, or bitter also joined him. David became their leader; there were about four hundred men.

From there he visited the king of Moab in Mizpe and asked him, "Please allow my father and mother to stay in your territory until I know what God has in store for me." So he brought his parents to the king of Moab, and they stayed there while David remained in his refuge in the mountains.

But the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the mountains; go to the land of Judah." So David went to the forest of Hereth.

 

From Psalm 63

A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

 

O God, you are my God, I seek you,

my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You

in a dry and thirsty land, without water.

 

Lying on my bed I think of You,

waking in the night I murmur Your name.

 

But the king will rejoice in God,

those who swear allegiance to Him will praise themselves as fortunate—

liars will be silenced.

 

Saul sat with his spear in his hand under the tamarisk tree on the hill near Gibeah, with all his servants around him. When he heard that David and his men had been spotted, he said to his servants, "Men of Benjamin, listen. Has the son of Jesse promised you all fields and vineyards? Do you expect him to appoint you commanders over a thousand or a hundred men? Why else are you conspiring against me? No one has informed me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you care about me. And no one has told me that my son has incited my servant to attack me."

Among Saul's servants was Doeg the Edomite. He spoke up and said, "I saw the son of Jesse in Nob; he went to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. Ahimelech consulted the LORD for him and gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

Then the king summoned the priest Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, and all his relatives who were priests in Nob. When they were brought before the king, Saul said, "Son of Ahitub, listen."

"Yes, my lord," Ahimelech replied,

and Saul asked, "Why did you conspire against me with the son of Jesse by giving him bread and a sword and consulting God for him, so that he is now secretly preparing to rebel against me?"

"But king," Ahimelech replied, "who among all your servants could be more trustworthy than David? He is your son-in-law and the commander of your bodyguard, and he is highly respected in your court. It is not the first time I have consulted God for him, is it? On the contrary! I beg you, do not hold this against me and my family, for I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about any of this."

But the king said, "You shall die, Ahimelech, you and your whole family."

And he commanded the royal guard standing beside him, "Strike them down, kill the priests of the LORD, for they helped David, and even though they knew he was a fugitive, they did not inform me."

But the king's servants refused to raise their hands against the priests of the LORD.

So the king said to Doeg, “You do it. Strike them down and kill the priests.”

 

So Doeg the Edomite struck down the priests and killed them with his own hands. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also killed all the inhabitants of Nob, the priestly city: all the men and women, all the children and infants, and all the livestock: cattle, donkeys, and sheep.

However, one son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, managed to escape and sought refuge with David. His name was Abiathar. When he told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD, David said to him, "When I noticed that the Edomite Doeg was also in Nob that day, I was afraid that he would inform Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your relatives. Stay with me from now on and do not be afraid. Anyone who seeks your life will have to deal with me. You will be safe with me.”

 

From Psalm 52 For the choir director. An artful song by David, when the Edomite Doeg went to Saul and told him, "David is in the house of Ahimelech."

 

Why do you praise evil, you hero,

and constantly mock God!

You plot evil, your tongue

is the sharp blade of a deceiver.

 

You love evil more than good,

lies more than truth.

You love words that hurt,

of a tongue that deceives.

 

God himself will break you, forever,

He will seize you and drag you from your tent,

tear you away from the land of the living.

The righteous will see it, full of awe, and they will laugh at him:

 

"Look at that hero,

who did not seek refuge in God,

but trusted in his wealth—

his refuge became his misfortune."

 

But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God,

I trust in the love of God

forever and ever.

 

I will praise You forever for what You have done,

I will continue to hope in your name, which is good,

in the circle of your faithful ones.

 

*

 

David heard that the Philistines were attacking Keilah and plundering the grain from the threshing floors. David consulted the LORD and asked, "Should I go and fight these Philistines?"

The LORD replied, "Yes, go and fight the Philistines; you will rescue Keilah."

But David's men said, "We are already in fear here in Judah; how much more so if we go to Keilah to face the Philistine forces?"

So David inquired of the LORD again,

and the LORD replied, “Go up to Keilah, and I will hand the Philistines over to you.”

So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He took their livestock and inflicted heavy losses on them. Thus David rescued the people of Keilah. There in Keilah, Ahimelech's son Abiathar also sought refuge with David. He had brought the priestly garments with him.

 

When Saul heard that David had entered Keilah, he thought, "By entering a city with gates and bars, he has trapped himself. God has delivered him into my hands!" He called the army to arms with the intention of cornering David and his men in Keilah.

David knew that Saul meant him harm. So he asked the priest Abiathar to come to him with the priestly garments.

Then he said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has been told that Saul is preparing to go to Keilah and destroy the city because of me. Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Is Saul really on his way, as I have been told? Lord, God of Israel, I beg you, let your servant know!”

"Yes, he is on his way," the LORD replied,

and David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?"

"Yes, they will," replied the LORD.

Then David and his men left Keilah and began to wander here and there. Their numbers had grown to about six hundred. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off his campaign.

*

 

David and his men took refuge in caves in the rugged wilderness east of Ziph. Saul searched for David every day, but God did not deliver him into his hands. David, who was in Horesh in the wilderness of Ziph, realized that Saul was still trying to kill him.

Saul's son Jonathan visited David in Horesh to tell him to keep trusting in God. "Don't be afraid," he said, "my father Saul will not catch you. You will become king of Israel, and I will be second to you. My father knows this too."

After they had confirmed their friendship before the LORD, Jonathan returned home, and David remained in Horesh.

 

Meanwhile, some men from Ziph went to Gibeah and told Saul, “Do you know that David is hiding among us in Horesh, in the rock caves of the Hachilah, south of Jeshimon? You are so eager to go after David, king. Do it now; we will make sure he falls into your hands.”

"May the LORD bless you," Saul replied. "At least you care about me. But first, check again exactly where he is and who has seen him there, for I have been told that he is very cunning. Find out all his hiding places and then come back to me with the exact details. Then I will go with you, and if he is indeed with you, I will find him among all the thousands of inhabitants of Judah."

So the visitors left to go before Saul to Ziph. Meanwhile, David and his men were in the desert near Maon in the Arabah, south of Jeshimon. When David heard that Saul and his men were on his trail, he went to the rock cave.

 

From Psalm 54

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. An artful song of David, when the inhabitants of Ziph went to Saul and said, "Do you know that David is hiding among us?"

 

God, deliver me by your name,

and vindicate me by your power.

God, hear my prayer,

hear the words of my mouth.

Strangers attack me,

they seek my life with violence,

they do not keep God in mind.

*

 

Saul had heard that David was in the wilderness near Maon, so he went there to hunt him down. Saul followed the path on one side of the ravine, and David and Saul's men followed the path on the other side. David did his utmost to stay ahead of Saul, but Saul and his men closed in on David and his men. Just as they were about to overpower them, a messenger came to Saul and said, "You must come immediately, for the Philistines have invaded the land!" Saul stopped pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-Hammachlekot.

 

David and his men retreated to the caves near En Gedi. When Saul returned from his campaign against the Philistines and heard that David was in the desert near En Gedi, he chose three thousand of Israel's best soldiers and went with them into the rocky area where the ibexes live, searching for David and his men.

On the way, he passed some sheepfolds behind which was a cave. He went in and crouched down to relieve himself. And right at the back of that cave, David and his men were hiding. David's men said to him, "This is your chance! This is the moment the LORD was referring to when He said, 'I will deliver your enemy into your hands; you can do with him as you see fit.'"

David got up and quietly cut off a piece of Saul's robe. His heart pounded, and he said to his men, "May the LORD forbid that I should harm my king, the LORD's anointed, and raise my hand against him. After all, the LORD himself has appointed him king."

David calmed his men and prevented them from attacking Saul.

 

Saul had risen and gone outside again. Now David also hurried outside and called after him, "My lord and king!"

When Saul turned around, David knelt down, bowed deeply, and said, "Why do you listen to those who say I want to harm you? Today you have seen for yourself that the LORD delivered me to you in that cave. They said I should kill you, but I cared for you and said to myself that I would not raise my hand against my lord, because you are the LORD's anointed.

See for yourself, father, here is a piece of your cloak; I cut off a strip of your cloak, but I did not kill you. Do you see that I have no evil or wrongdoing in mind toward you? I have done you no wrong, but you are hunting me down and seeking my life. Let the LORD decide which of us is in the right, and let the LORD avenge me on you; I will not raise my hand against you. As the old proverb says, 'Bad people, bad deeds.' No, I will not raise my hand against you.

Who is the king of Israel actually pursuing? Who are you hunting down? A dead dog, a worthless flea! The LORD will judge and decide which of us is in the right. He will investigate and defend my case and vindicate me against you.

 

After David had finished speaking, Saul asked, "Is that your voice I hear, David, my son?"

Then he burst into tears and said, "You are in the right, and I am in the wrong, for you have rewarded evil with good. You have just shown that you mean me well: the LORD delivered me into your hands, and yet you did not kill me. Who ever lets his enemy go when he finds him on his way? May the LORD reward you for what you have done for me today. Now I know for certain that you will become king and that you will firmly hold the kingship of Israel. But swear to me by the LORD that you will not exterminate my descendants, so that my name will be preserved within the family."

David swore to Saul as he asked. Then Saul went home, and David and his men went back into the mountains.

*

 

From Psalm 57

For the choir director. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” By David, a silent prayer when he fled from Saul into a cave.

 

Be exalted above the heavens, O God,

let your glory fill the whole earth.

They have set a net for my steps

to bring me down,

they dug a pit for me,

but they themselves fell into it.

 

My heart is at peace, O God, my heart is at peace,

I want to sing and play for You.

Awake, my soul, awake with harp and lyre,

I want to awaken the dawn.

Rise above the heavens, God,

let your glory fill the whole earth.