Tuesday, September 11, 2007

1 Samuel 21:11

11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances:
" 'Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands'?"

David has been on the run. Saul, though still the king of Israel, was afraid of David and wanted him dead because he, Saul, knew that the LORD had left him and was now with David. And it didn't help that the women's song taunted him even more.

The people of Israel could see that David was being lead by the LORD, but Saul didn't want to believe it. David, the boy who once had killed Goliath in the Valley of Elah and who helped sooth Saul's evil spirits by playing his harp, had also become good friends–lifelong, sworn friends–with Saul's son, Jonathan. Everything reminded Saul that the LORD was no longer with him. Saul tried to fight his own battle and get rid of David by throwing spears at him in the temple, but to no avail. But David knew the time had come to flee for his life.

He went to Nob, a town NE of Jerusalem and S of Gibeah where the tabernacle was relocated after the destruction of Shiloh. While on the run, he needed food, and asked Ahimelech the priest for the showbread from the table in the tabernacle. He also needed a weapon, and Ahimelech gave him Goliath's sword, which David had once taken from Goliath after he killed him with his slingshot and used to cut off Goliath's own head.

Did David ask the women to sing for him? No. Did David give himself the honor and glory for defeating Goliath? No. Did he look for the glory? No. But God let the women sing his glory and praises. God will do the same thing for us if we are humble. God humbles the proud, but gives grace to the lowly.

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