1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,240 But we're going to be in First Samuel, chapter 21 here this evening. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:04,960 So if you have your Bibles, please turn there. 3 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:07,000 1 Samuel, chapter 21. 4 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,320 I want to thank Pastor Ethan for going through chapter 20, and 5 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,320 there was a lot of great lessons in that chapter, and I pray 6 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,040 that we can glean some truths from chapter 21. 7 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,440 Chapter 21 is a difficult chapter, to be honest with you. 8 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,400 As you read through this passage of Scripture, there's going 9 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,880 to be some times probably where you're going to leave scratching 10 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,010 your head, going, I wonder what this means? 11 00:00:28,010 --> 00:00:29,130 Why did this have to happen? 12 00:00:29,290 --> 00:00:33,050 And I want you to understand that within Scripture, we have passages 13 00:00:33,530 --> 00:00:37,050 that are what we call prescriptive, meaning this is something 14 00:00:37,050 --> 00:00:38,090 that we should be doing. 15 00:00:38,090 --> 00:00:41,850 We're learning something from someone's life, and this is actually 16 00:00:42,250 --> 00:00:43,810 something that God wants us to do. 17 00:00:43,810 --> 00:00:46,970 But then there's other passages that are descriptive, obviously, 18 00:00:46,970 --> 00:00:48,330 just describing what happens. 19 00:00:48,330 --> 00:00:50,930 And just because something is in scripture doesn't mean that we 20 00:00:50,930 --> 00:00:54,330 are to follow that example exactly, because there's going to 21 00:00:54,330 --> 00:00:57,820 be times in the life of David that he does things that we don't 22 00:00:57,820 --> 00:00:58,420 want to follow. 23 00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:01,780 Obviously, we know some of the more glaring problems in David's 24 00:01:01,780 --> 00:01:03,140 life, and we certainly don't want to do that. 25 00:01:03,140 --> 00:01:06,180 But there's lessons to learn, even from people's mistakes in Scripture. 26 00:01:06,180 --> 00:01:07,780 So there's always lessons in Scripture. 27 00:01:07,940 --> 00:01:09,020 I want you to understand that. 28 00:01:09,020 --> 00:01:10,940 I want you to understand that there are. 29 00:01:10,940 --> 00:01:13,780 Even if the passage of Scripture is not a prescriptive passage, 30 00:01:13,860 --> 00:01:16,700 there's still a lesson, a spiritual lesson that we can learn 31 00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:17,180 in our lives. 32 00:01:17,180 --> 00:01:20,100 And I believe there are some lessons here in First Samuel, Chapter 33 00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:20,740 21. 34 00:01:21,300 --> 00:01:22,180 So let's go here. 35 00:01:22,180 --> 00:01:26,070 But before we get right into the text, let's build a little bit 36 00:01:26,070 --> 00:01:27,870 of the context, a little bit of the background. 37 00:01:28,190 --> 00:01:29,270 What's happening here? 38 00:01:29,270 --> 00:01:34,150 Well, we know from last week that David is being chased by Saul. 39 00:01:34,150 --> 00:01:35,630 Saul wants to kill him. 40 00:01:35,790 --> 00:01:37,630 David hasn't done anything to Saul. 41 00:01:37,630 --> 00:01:38,830 He hasn't sinned against Saul. 42 00:01:38,830 --> 00:01:42,710 The only thing that he's done to Saul was obviously threaten Saul's 43 00:01:42,710 --> 00:01:44,670 ego, his pride, his. 44 00:01:44,990 --> 00:01:45,870 His throne. 45 00:01:45,870 --> 00:01:49,680 And we know that this is already a promise of God that Saul's 46 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:54,200 family will lose the throne and David would be the new king. 47 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,160 And what Saul is essentially doing is he's trying to make his 48 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:57,480 own plan. 49 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,320 He's trying to scheme a path in which he can beat God's plan and 50 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:02,640 David's running for his life. 51 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,280 But David also has to remember that God has made a promise to him 52 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,520 and that God is faithful and we know that through many different 53 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,600 instances in the early life of David that he's seen God's faithfulness 54 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:17,040 go back to the whole instance with Goliath. 55 00:02:17,510 --> 00:02:19,510 Obviously, the odds were stacked against David. 56 00:02:19,510 --> 00:02:21,950 But he went out on the battlefield in faith. 57 00:02:21,950 --> 00:02:23,190 He fought in faith. 58 00:02:23,350 --> 00:02:25,270 And in his faith, he saw the victory. 59 00:02:25,510 --> 00:02:26,750 So the victory was not David's. 60 00:02:26,750 --> 00:02:27,830 He even admitted that himself. 61 00:02:27,830 --> 00:02:31,070 If you remember, he said, the victory is not mine, it's the Lord's. 62 00:02:31,070 --> 00:02:32,230 It's through the power of God. 63 00:02:32,870 --> 00:02:36,190 But because of what David is going through here, he is going to 64 00:02:36,190 --> 00:02:38,350 face a lot of fear. 65 00:02:38,350 --> 00:02:41,910 And in this fear, David does not face it with faith. 66 00:02:41,910 --> 00:02:43,670 He faces it with something else. 67 00:02:43,670 --> 00:02:45,960 And what we're going to learn through this passage, I believe, 68 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,600 is that sometimes instances in our life, circumstances in our life 69 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,560 that cause us to fear can lead us to a place of faithlessness and 70 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,200 lead us to a place in which we are trying to figure out our own 71 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:57,920 plan, scheme our own plan. 72 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:00,559 And in this case with David, he actually lies. 73 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,920 So I don't believe that this is a justification for David's lie. 74 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:09,520 All it is giving us is the reason why David lies to Ahimelech 75 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:10,600 here in this passage. 76 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,350 So he's running from Saul. 77 00:03:13,230 --> 00:03:18,350 David and Jonathan had that wonderful time in chapter 20 when 78 00:03:18,510 --> 00:03:20,350 David and Jonathan had this covenant. 79 00:03:20,430 --> 00:03:22,910 And David leaves in faith. 80 00:03:22,910 --> 00:03:26,630 But we know that sometimes we can have faith today, but tomorrow 81 00:03:26,630 --> 00:03:27,309 we struggle. 82 00:03:27,710 --> 00:03:31,710 And so in chapter 21, verse 1, it says, then came David to Nob, 83 00:03:31,950 --> 00:03:34,030 to Ahimelech the priest. 84 00:03:34,190 --> 00:03:37,270 And Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David and said unto 85 00:03:37,270 --> 00:03:40,180 him, why are thou alone and no man with thee? 86 00:03:40,180 --> 00:03:43,260 Now, let's stop here and get an understanding about this verse. 87 00:03:43,260 --> 00:03:44,940 Now, David goes to a place called Nob. 88 00:03:44,940 --> 00:03:46,380 Why is Nob important? 89 00:03:46,540 --> 00:03:50,220 Well, we know through the context of this passage that all 90 00:03:50,220 --> 00:03:52,780 of the worship was happening there. 91 00:03:52,780 --> 00:03:56,500 And we see that the Ark of the Covenant's being held there. 92 00:03:56,500 --> 00:04:00,780 There's this place of worship, and the priest is there, Ahimelech. 93 00:04:00,860 --> 00:04:02,220 And why is he afraid? 94 00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:05,490 Ahimelech's afraid because David would have been a man that 95 00:04:05,810 --> 00:04:06,530 had a following. 96 00:04:06,530 --> 00:04:09,770 David would have been a man who probably had servants and people 97 00:04:09,770 --> 00:04:10,490 working with him. 98 00:04:10,490 --> 00:04:14,090 And so for David to be alone and on the run, it was concerning 99 00:04:14,090 --> 00:04:14,970 to Ahimelech. 100 00:04:14,970 --> 00:04:16,170 He was like, what's going on, David? 101 00:04:16,170 --> 00:04:17,050 Why is no one with you? 102 00:04:17,050 --> 00:04:17,810 Why are you alone? 103 00:04:18,050 --> 00:04:21,450 It would be like today, us being out and about and seeing someone 104 00:04:21,450 --> 00:04:25,210 who's very famous, just out by themselves, no security, no one around 105 00:04:25,210 --> 00:04:26,050 them to watch them. 106 00:04:26,050 --> 00:04:29,170 It would not make sense for him to be this way. 107 00:04:30,310 --> 00:04:33,270 And instead of David telling Ahimelech what's going on and being 108 00:04:33,270 --> 00:04:36,070 honest, he comes up with this plan. 109 00:04:36,070 --> 00:04:38,310 And this plan is to really essentially lie. 110 00:04:38,710 --> 00:04:43,070 And David said unto Ahimelech, the priest, the king hath commanded 111 00:04:43,070 --> 00:04:46,790 me a business, and have said unto me, let no man know anything 112 00:04:46,790 --> 00:04:50,190 of the business whereabout I send thee and what I have commanded 113 00:04:50,190 --> 00:04:53,270 thee, and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 114 00:04:53,910 --> 00:04:55,390 Now, what is he saying here? 115 00:04:55,390 --> 00:04:57,750 He's basically saying that I'm on the secret mission. 116 00:04:58,280 --> 00:04:59,800 I'm not allowed to tell anyone what I'm doing. 117 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:01,240 No one should know where I'm at. 118 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:02,800 I'm doing a work for the king. 119 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,840 Now, there's some commentators that I've read that have basically 120 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,000 tried to justify David's lie here by saying, well, he's not really 121 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:09,400 lying. 122 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,840 He's kind of just strategically getting around the 123 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:13,160 point. 124 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,480 And I. I don't think that we can honestly see this passage and 125 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:19,480 see anything else other than him lying. 126 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:21,880 It's not clever diplomacy. 127 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,070 I saw one commentator say it was just clever diplomacy. 128 00:05:25,150 --> 00:05:28,110 I don't really think that we could justify it that way. 129 00:05:28,510 --> 00:05:30,510 And one of the things that I thought about when I was reading 130 00:05:30,510 --> 00:05:34,030 this passage is that even though we could understand why David 131 00:05:34,030 --> 00:05:37,470 lies here, and maybe even in many cases, we, if we were in the 132 00:05:37,470 --> 00:05:41,230 same position, might do the same thing, but David lies. 133 00:05:41,470 --> 00:05:44,710 And though we know that there's times and places where that 134 00:05:44,710 --> 00:05:48,110 might be more advantageous for us to lie in the moment, the Bible 135 00:05:48,110 --> 00:05:50,270 says that lying is never the right thing to do. 136 00:05:51,020 --> 00:05:53,860 So here we would not say that David's an example of how we should 137 00:05:53,860 --> 00:05:54,020 be. 138 00:05:54,020 --> 00:05:55,940 When we're going through a trial, we shouldn't lie about it. 139 00:05:55,940 --> 00:05:57,100 We shouldn't try to avoid it. 140 00:05:57,740 --> 00:06:03,500 Here we see that David tells Ahimelech an untruth, a lie, and 141 00:06:05,180 --> 00:06:06,859 we shouldn't try to justify it. 142 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:08,660 Why does David do this? 143 00:06:08,660 --> 00:06:12,700 Well, David's fear caused him to abandon his faith and his courage 144 00:06:13,020 --> 00:06:16,300 and do something outside of his normal characteristics. 145 00:06:17,060 --> 00:06:19,100 This isn't typically how David would respond. 146 00:06:19,100 --> 00:06:22,380 David usually responds in faith, but because of his fear and 147 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:25,620 because of what's going on around him, he's in real danger, 148 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:28,260 and someone's coming after him for his life. 149 00:06:28,420 --> 00:06:33,540 And that pressure reveals in him a weakness, a moment of the flesh. 150 00:06:34,100 --> 00:06:36,420 And I want us to understand that pressure doesn't necessarily 151 00:06:36,420 --> 00:06:39,220 create our weakness, but it exposes our weakness. 152 00:06:39,860 --> 00:06:44,350 Oftentimes as a believer, we're able to walk a path of faith, 153 00:06:44,430 --> 00:06:47,990 when everything seems to be going our way, when things make sense, 154 00:06:47,990 --> 00:06:52,830 when things are positive in the circumstances that we're facing. 155 00:06:53,150 --> 00:06:56,190 But oftentimes it's when the pressure comes and the stress comes 156 00:06:56,430 --> 00:06:59,030 that we are in a place of doubt. 157 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:02,150 And sometimes with that place of doubt, we turn to actions of the 158 00:07:02,150 --> 00:07:05,830 flesh, and we would allow ourselves to fall into that weakness 159 00:07:05,830 --> 00:07:06,990 and fall into a sin. 160 00:07:07,230 --> 00:07:09,990 And so there was a quote that I read recently, says pressure doesn't 161 00:07:09,990 --> 00:07:13,070 necessarily create our weakness, but it exposes it. 162 00:07:13,470 --> 00:07:16,070 And in this case, David obviously was having a weakness. 163 00:07:16,070 --> 00:07:18,990 And he turns to Ahimelech and he lies. 164 00:07:18,990 --> 00:07:20,590 And so what does he do next? 165 00:07:21,070 --> 00:07:26,030 He's going to build upon this lie by basically asking Ahimelech 166 00:07:26,030 --> 00:07:29,990 to do something that in cultural understanding and even according 167 00:07:29,990 --> 00:07:32,590 to the Levitical law, he was not supposed to do. 168 00:07:33,150 --> 00:07:37,230 David turns and says in verse three, now, therefore, what is under 169 00:07:37,230 --> 00:07:37,870 thine hand? 170 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,880 Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 171 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,640 So basically, David's like, I'm really hungry. 172 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:45,600 I need something to eat. 173 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:46,400 Give me some bread. 174 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,760 And he says, give me five loaves of bread. 175 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:50,760 Now, why would he ask for five loaves? 176 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,840 Well, there's like, a few commentators that I was reading, 177 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,120 one that said, man, maybe he was just really hungry. 178 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:57,480 That's a lot of bread. 179 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,920 Or it could have been that he understood that I could eat now, 180 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,160 but I also need to take things with me on this travel that I have 181 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:04,840 to run away from. 182 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,120 Saul, either way, he asked for five loaves of bread. 183 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,720 And the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread 184 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:12,680 under mine hand. 185 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:15,880 Basically, he says, I don't have any bread to give you. 186 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,680 He says, I do have bread, but it's not the common bread for the 187 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,400 average everyday Jewish person. 188 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,760 He says, there's no common bread under mine hand, but there 189 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,560 is a hallowed bread if the young men have kept themselves at 190 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:29,400 least from women. 191 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,930 So essentially what he says here is, he's like, I've got this 192 00:08:33,010 --> 00:08:35,530 showbread, which we're going to talk about the show bread and 193 00:08:35,530 --> 00:08:36,770 what that is here in a moment. 194 00:08:36,770 --> 00:08:40,130 And he says, I could offer this to you if you've kept yourself 195 00:08:40,130 --> 00:08:43,730 from women, if you're pure, if you haven't come into a place of 196 00:08:43,730 --> 00:08:44,370 impurity. 197 00:08:44,370 --> 00:08:47,490 And David answered the priest and said unto him of a truth, women 198 00:08:47,490 --> 00:08:50,090 have been kept from us about these three days. 199 00:08:50,090 --> 00:08:52,450 Now, this is really interesting here because he said, 200 00:08:52,450 --> 00:08:53,330 why are you alone? 201 00:08:53,330 --> 00:08:55,890 And now he's speaking like there's a group of them around, and 202 00:08:56,290 --> 00:08:58,970 there really isn't a strong answer for why they're talking this 203 00:08:58,970 --> 00:08:59,170 way. 204 00:08:59,170 --> 00:09:01,890 Other than, um, maybe the assumption is, is that there's more 205 00:09:01,890 --> 00:09:04,330 men with David and they're not just right there with him in that 206 00:09:04,330 --> 00:09:04,570 moment. 207 00:09:04,570 --> 00:09:05,490 Maybe they're far out. 208 00:09:05,730 --> 00:09:07,250 But either way, he says, no, we. 209 00:09:07,250 --> 00:09:08,050 We've kept ourselves. 210 00:09:08,610 --> 00:09:09,690 And he says, and. 211 00:09:09,690 --> 00:09:12,210 And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in 212 00:09:12,210 --> 00:09:15,130 the manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the 213 00:09:15,130 --> 00:09:15,650 vessel. 214 00:09:15,970 --> 00:09:19,450 So the priest gave him hallowed bread, or holy bread, for 215 00:09:19,450 --> 00:09:22,730 there was no bread there, but the show bread that was taken before 216 00:09:22,730 --> 00:09:26,130 the Lord to put hot bread in the day when it was taken. 217 00:09:26,610 --> 00:09:29,250 So let me just give you some context of what this is all about. 218 00:09:29,970 --> 00:09:33,970 There was in the temple the show bread. 219 00:09:33,970 --> 00:09:36,970 The show bread was something that was instituted back in the book 220 00:09:36,970 --> 00:09:37,890 of Leviticus. 221 00:09:37,970 --> 00:09:41,810 And what it was to symbolize was God's provision. 222 00:09:42,050 --> 00:09:44,370 And we'll talk a little bit more about that later on. 223 00:09:44,370 --> 00:09:44,970 But what he. 224 00:09:44,970 --> 00:09:48,290 What they were to do was to have 12 loaves, and they would have 225 00:09:48,290 --> 00:09:50,130 two stacks of six loaves. 226 00:09:50,130 --> 00:09:52,970 And that was to symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel. 227 00:09:52,970 --> 00:09:55,690 And it was to show the power of God and their life. 228 00:09:55,690 --> 00:09:59,050 And it was to be a remembrance of what God had done in the past 229 00:09:59,050 --> 00:10:00,890 for the nation of Israel. 230 00:10:01,050 --> 00:10:04,610 And really what we're going to see is that in the book of Leviticus, 231 00:10:04,610 --> 00:10:08,490 it was said that it was only supposed to be the Levitical line 232 00:10:08,490 --> 00:10:10,090 that was to eat of the showbread. 233 00:10:10,250 --> 00:10:15,210 Leviticus 24:5,9, give the basic regulations. 234 00:10:15,210 --> 00:10:18,490 And what it was was that these 12 loaves were to correspond with 235 00:10:18,490 --> 00:10:19,370 the 12 tribes. 236 00:10:19,690 --> 00:10:22,650 And then they would be placed in the holy place before the Lord, 237 00:10:22,650 --> 00:10:26,670 and they would place frankincense on them as a memorial. 238 00:10:26,990 --> 00:10:29,390 The bread was supposed to be made of fine flour. 239 00:10:29,470 --> 00:10:31,790 It was to be arranged in two stacks of six. 240 00:10:31,950 --> 00:10:34,510 It was supposed to be placed before the Lord. 241 00:10:34,910 --> 00:10:37,070 It was supposed to be replaced every Sabbath. 242 00:10:37,310 --> 00:10:40,070 And as the old bread was pulled away, the priests were supposed 243 00:10:40,070 --> 00:10:40,550 to eat it. 244 00:10:40,550 --> 00:10:45,470 So Leviticus 24:8,9 says that every Sabbath he shall set it in 245 00:10:45,470 --> 00:10:46,910 order before the Lord continually. 246 00:10:47,310 --> 00:10:50,230 Then eventually he says, and it shall be Aaron and his sons, and 247 00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:51,660 that shall eat of the holy place. 248 00:10:52,700 --> 00:10:55,260 So this wasn't just ordinary bread that was sitting around. 249 00:10:55,260 --> 00:10:59,580 It was holy bread, holy in the concept of being set apart for a 250 00:10:59,580 --> 00:11:00,540 specific purpose. 251 00:11:00,540 --> 00:11:03,500 And that was to honor God and to feed the priest. 252 00:11:04,460 --> 00:11:08,380 It was consecrated bread associated with Israel's worship 253 00:11:08,380 --> 00:11:09,500 and the priesthood. 254 00:11:10,060 --> 00:11:12,660 So why was David even able to get it? 255 00:11:12,660 --> 00:11:14,380 Why did, ahimelech, give it to him. 256 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:18,420 Well, well, David comes to this place and he is showing that 257 00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:19,340 he's in great need. 258 00:11:19,950 --> 00:11:21,270 He's showing that he's very hungry. 259 00:11:21,270 --> 00:11:25,430 And Himlek answers in the fact that he's like, there's no ordinary 260 00:11:25,430 --> 00:11:25,830 bread here. 261 00:11:25,830 --> 00:11:27,070 There's only holy bread. 262 00:11:27,390 --> 00:11:30,150 But Ahimelech clearly understands the distinction. 263 00:11:30,150 --> 00:11:31,630 We know that this isn't a mistake. 264 00:11:31,710 --> 00:11:34,110 Some people would say, well, Himlek didn't really understand what 265 00:11:34,110 --> 00:11:34,590 he was doing. 266 00:11:34,830 --> 00:11:36,910 He clearly understood what he was doing. 267 00:11:36,910 --> 00:11:37,470 In this case. 268 00:11:37,470 --> 00:11:39,430 He was going to give David. 269 00:11:39,430 --> 00:11:43,390 And he does give David this showbread that was coming off of 270 00:11:43,390 --> 00:11:44,070 the cycle. 271 00:11:44,070 --> 00:11:45,980 It was coming off of the. 272 00:11:45,980 --> 00:11:49,300 The six and six loaves there, and it was going to be replaced. 273 00:11:49,300 --> 00:11:53,980 And so he's giving David these pieces of bread, and he says, you 274 00:11:53,980 --> 00:11:54,620 know, take it. 275 00:11:55,020 --> 00:11:56,580 And he says, are they pure? 276 00:11:56,580 --> 00:11:57,020 Are the. 277 00:11:57,020 --> 00:11:59,020 Are the people that are with you and you pure? 278 00:11:59,020 --> 00:12:00,300 And he says, yes, we are. 279 00:12:00,700 --> 00:12:03,780 And normal Levitical procedure would have been that it would not 280 00:12:03,780 --> 00:12:05,580 be given to anyone other than the priest. 281 00:12:06,540 --> 00:12:10,980 And we could just pass over this and say, okay, Ahimelech made 282 00:12:10,980 --> 00:12:11,500 a mistake. 283 00:12:12,150 --> 00:12:12,630 Because that's how. 284 00:12:12,630 --> 00:12:14,150 That's how we would read it in this context. 285 00:12:14,150 --> 00:12:18,670 David made a mistake by lying, and Ahimelech made a mistake by giving 286 00:12:18,670 --> 00:12:20,470 the show bread to David. 287 00:12:21,110 --> 00:12:22,950 And we haven't even talked about Goliath sword yet. 288 00:12:22,950 --> 00:12:23,990 We're going to get there in a minute. 289 00:12:24,390 --> 00:12:25,710 But then we have a problem. 290 00:12:25,710 --> 00:12:29,590 If you've read the rest of Scripture, Jesus actually uses this 291 00:12:29,590 --> 00:12:33,910 passage as a lesson later on in the book of Matthew, Mark and 292 00:12:33,910 --> 00:12:34,310 Luke. 293 00:12:34,470 --> 00:12:37,550 And I want us to go there and see what Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 294 00:12:37,550 --> 00:12:37,830 12. 295 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,280 Because if we just start to gloss over this as Ahimelech making 296 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:46,160 a mistake, Jesus later on says what? 297 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,280 That Ahimelech made the right decision and we should be like him. 298 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,560 So there's a problem here if, if we don't see it from what the 299 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:54,560 Lord wants us to see. 300 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:58,560 Because what some people might say is that, hey, there is a contradiction 301 00:12:58,560 --> 00:12:58,880 here. 302 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:01,560 Was Ahimelech wrong for doing what he did? 303 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,360 Then why would Jesus support it? 304 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,670 Why would Jesus promote what he did? 305 00:13:05,750 --> 00:13:09,430 Well, let's look at it here in Matthew chapter 12, and I want to 306 00:13:09,430 --> 00:13:12,830 give you some level of understanding of what Jesus is talking 307 00:13:12,830 --> 00:13:13,990 about here in Matthew 12. 308 00:13:14,310 --> 00:13:18,190 And then we'll go back to first Samuel, chapter 21, and see 309 00:13:18,190 --> 00:13:19,830 what Ahimelech was really doing. 310 00:13:20,950 --> 00:13:26,630 So in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus is out on the Sabbath day with 311 00:13:26,630 --> 00:13:27,750 his disciples. 312 00:13:28,390 --> 00:13:29,910 And that's the context. 313 00:13:29,910 --> 00:13:33,990 And Then I'll read the first four verses and then we'll see what, 314 00:13:33,990 --> 00:13:35,230 what Jesus is talking about here. 315 00:13:35,230 --> 00:13:38,270 He says, at the same time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through 316 00:13:38,270 --> 00:13:42,190 the corn or the wheat, and his disciples were hungered and began 317 00:13:42,190 --> 00:13:43,910 to pluck the ears of corn in to eat. 318 00:13:44,630 --> 00:13:47,750 So Jesus is out with his disciples on the Sabbath. 319 00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:50,310 They pull the grain and they eat it. 320 00:13:50,790 --> 00:13:53,750 And that's a problem because the Pharisees saw it. 321 00:13:54,150 --> 00:13:54,710 Verse 2. 322 00:13:54,710 --> 00:13:57,270 But when the Pharisees saw, they said unto him, behold, thy disciples 323 00:13:57,270 --> 00:14:00,690 do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. 324 00:14:01,170 --> 00:14:05,210 And he said unto them, have you not read what David did when 325 00:14:05,210 --> 00:14:08,930 he was in hungered and they that were with him, how he entered 326 00:14:08,930 --> 00:14:12,530 into the house of God and did eat the showbread which was not lawful 327 00:14:12,530 --> 00:14:13,330 for him to eat. 328 00:14:13,810 --> 00:14:19,010 So Jesus does not commend David necessarily for doing what 329 00:14:19,010 --> 00:14:19,650 he was doing. 330 00:14:19,890 --> 00:14:22,810 But, but he goes on to say, neither for them which were with 331 00:14:22,810 --> 00:14:24,450 him, but only for the priest. 332 00:14:24,990 --> 00:14:27,190 Or have you not read the law, how on the Sabbath day the priests 333 00:14:27,190 --> 00:14:29,230 in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless. 334 00:14:29,390 --> 00:14:30,870 So he goes on to talk about something else. 335 00:14:30,870 --> 00:14:31,510 But what does he do? 336 00:14:31,510 --> 00:14:35,390 He mentions and references this instance with, with David. 337 00:14:36,270 --> 00:14:40,470 And Jesus acknowledges that the bread was normally restricted 338 00:14:40,470 --> 00:14:40,949 to priest. 339 00:14:40,949 --> 00:14:44,110 He says he did something that was outside of what was the norm. 340 00:14:44,750 --> 00:14:48,230 And so under normal rule, David was not supposed to eat of 341 00:14:48,230 --> 00:14:48,830 this bread. 342 00:14:49,710 --> 00:14:52,580 But Jesus, we can't just say, well, Jesus is saying, technically 343 00:14:52,580 --> 00:14:54,500 David was okay, he's not breaking the law. 344 00:14:54,660 --> 00:14:56,540 No, I, I don't think that's the right way to do it. 345 00:14:56,540 --> 00:14:57,820 So what is Jesus's argument? 346 00:14:57,820 --> 00:15:01,300 Jesus's argument is, and, and he's dealing with the Pharisees. 347 00:15:01,540 --> 00:15:03,820 And the Pharisees are questioning the disciples eating 348 00:15:03,820 --> 00:15:04,820 grain on the Sabbath. 349 00:15:04,900 --> 00:15:07,380 And the Pharisees accusation was basically this. 350 00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:10,780 Your disciples are, are violating Sabbath regulations. 351 00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:11,940 They're all about the law. 352 00:15:12,180 --> 00:15:16,700 And Jesus responds by giving them the biblical precedent of David 353 00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:17,380 doing this. 354 00:15:17,910 --> 00:15:19,190 And then he uses the priest. 355 00:15:19,190 --> 00:15:23,950 And he actually quotes Hosea 6, 6 down in verse 8. 356 00:15:23,950 --> 00:15:28,870 He says, the son of a man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day. 357 00:15:29,190 --> 00:15:34,550 And he goes on to quote some other things, but Hosea 6, 6 he says, 358 00:15:34,790 --> 00:15:37,910 for I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God 359 00:15:37,910 --> 00:15:39,190 more than burnt offerings. 360 00:15:39,510 --> 00:15:44,070 So Jesus is obviously teaching something here and he's obviously 361 00:15:44,070 --> 00:15:46,460 trying to emphasize a point. 362 00:15:46,700 --> 00:15:48,060 Well, his point is this. 363 00:15:49,340 --> 00:15:52,100 And I don't think it's just, hey, when you're hungry you can break 364 00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:52,540 the law. 365 00:15:52,700 --> 00:15:57,100 What he's doing here is he's identifying that the law is not about 366 00:15:57,340 --> 00:16:00,980 just following it, and that's all we can do and forgetting about 367 00:16:00,980 --> 00:16:01,740 the needs of others. 368 00:16:01,980 --> 00:16:05,900 What he's saying is, is that Ahimelech looked at David and recognized 369 00:16:05,900 --> 00:16:09,700 that David was in need of bread and he wasn't bound by that 370 00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:11,060 law to help someone in need. 371 00:16:11,060 --> 00:16:13,370 And so what Jesus is essentially teaching is, is that, 372 00:16:13,370 --> 00:16:15,610 yes, the Levitical system is good and it's God given. 373 00:16:15,690 --> 00:16:16,810 He's not attacking the law. 374 00:16:16,810 --> 00:16:19,730 We know that Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the 375 00:16:19,730 --> 00:16:20,010 law. 376 00:16:20,330 --> 00:16:23,930 But Jesus points them back to the purpose behind God's law. 377 00:16:24,090 --> 00:16:26,970 The Sabbath was given for God's glory and for man's good. 378 00:16:26,970 --> 00:16:29,329 The temple regulations were given for God's worship. 379 00:16:29,329 --> 00:16:31,050 The showbread was sacred. 380 00:16:31,210 --> 00:16:35,290 But God didn't institute the ceremonial system so that people 381 00:16:35,290 --> 00:16:36,810 would be overlooked in their needs. 382 00:16:37,210 --> 00:16:37,570 So. 383 00:16:37,570 --> 00:16:40,810 So that a preserving a loaf of consecrated bread would take precedence 384 00:16:40,810 --> 00:16:44,000 over preserving a human life and a legitimate need. 385 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,440 So Ahimelech is not condemned for what he does, because what he 386 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,880 says is, look, I'm taking care of a person and I'm not going to 387 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,800 be bound or restricted by this Levitical law so that I can't help 388 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:55,600 someone in need. 389 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:56,920 And so it's a. 390 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,000 It's a tough passage to deal with because a lot of times people 391 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:00,800 look, hey, it's. 392 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:01,680 It's right or wrong. 393 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:02,120 Is, Is. 394 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,200 Is David right in this? 395 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,360 I say no, because David's lying here. 396 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:06,880 But David certainly had a need. 397 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,380 Ahimelech, is he wrong or, well, him just being deceived because 398 00:17:10,380 --> 00:17:11,180 David's lied to him. 399 00:17:11,180 --> 00:17:15,500 But Ahimelech's trying to help David being in a place of difficulty. 400 00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:18,660 So David was hungry, he was fleeing Saul, he was a. 401 00:17:18,660 --> 00:17:23,660 He was looking for something, and Ahimelech met him in his need. 402 00:17:24,940 --> 00:17:26,260 So how do we look at this passage? 403 00:17:26,260 --> 00:17:27,940 We look at this passage in two different ways. 404 00:17:27,940 --> 00:17:31,780 I think we can look at this as David was pressed with an issue that 405 00:17:31,780 --> 00:17:35,130 he had, and instead of responding biblically and honestly, 406 00:17:35,130 --> 00:17:36,410 he responds in a lie. 407 00:17:36,410 --> 00:17:37,730 And I think David's wrong here. 408 00:17:38,050 --> 00:17:40,930 But I look at Ahimelech and I look at Ahimelech saying, well, David 409 00:17:40,930 --> 00:17:41,490 needs something. 410 00:17:41,730 --> 00:17:42,530 I'm going to help him. 411 00:17:42,530 --> 00:17:42,970 I'm going to. 412 00:17:42,970 --> 00:17:44,530 I'm going to be a blessing to him. 413 00:17:44,770 --> 00:17:48,650 And what he was not bound by was the whole law is written so that 414 00:17:48,650 --> 00:17:52,010 the grace of God can be seen, the love of God can be seen, and 415 00:17:52,010 --> 00:17:53,250 so he wasn't bound by that. 416 00:17:54,050 --> 00:17:56,890 Mark adds a different dimension, an important dimension 417 00:17:56,890 --> 00:18:00,690 in Mark Chapter two, Jesus says the Sabbath was made for man 418 00:18:00,690 --> 00:18:02,630 and not man for the Sabbath. 419 00:18:03,270 --> 00:18:06,190 So Jesus isn't saying that that Sabbath doesn't matter, but 420 00:18:06,190 --> 00:18:10,150 what Jesus is saying is that the ceremonial law was there to facilitate 421 00:18:10,150 --> 00:18:11,870 God's worship and holiness. 422 00:18:11,870 --> 00:18:13,910 But we can't be bound by that law. 423 00:18:13,910 --> 00:18:16,270 And we know that later on the New Testament, we're free from the 424 00:18:16,270 --> 00:18:17,110 bondage of the law. 425 00:18:17,510 --> 00:18:17,830 So. 426 00:18:17,830 --> 00:18:20,910 So Jesus is making a bigger claim that the person's need is more 427 00:18:20,910 --> 00:18:25,150 important than any tradition, any man's traditional law. 428 00:18:25,150 --> 00:18:28,630 And by the way, it does say in the book of Leviticus that it was 429 00:18:28,950 --> 00:18:32,870 designed for Aaron and his family, but it doesn't say that nobody 430 00:18:32,870 --> 00:18:34,230 could eat it ever. 431 00:18:34,390 --> 00:18:36,550 Okay, so Jesus is never going to. 432 00:18:37,270 --> 00:18:40,590 What I would say is commend someone for breaking the law, but 433 00:18:40,590 --> 00:18:43,270 in this case, Jesus is saying, I'm lord over it. 434 00:18:43,270 --> 00:18:46,470 And that's what we see in the book of Matthew, Mark and John. 435 00:18:47,190 --> 00:18:47,550 So. 436 00:18:47,550 --> 00:18:50,910 So there is a fascinating connection between 1st Samuel 21 437 00:18:50,910 --> 00:18:56,690 and Hosea chapter 6, because Hosea chapter 6 says that God wants 438 00:18:56,690 --> 00:18:58,850 mercy and not necessarily sacrifice. 439 00:18:59,010 --> 00:18:59,330 So. 440 00:18:59,330 --> 00:19:02,650 So what he's saying here is that if we're just doing the law 441 00:19:02,650 --> 00:19:05,970 and we're just doing all the motions and we have no heart in the 442 00:19:05,970 --> 00:19:07,650 matter, God's not pleased with that. 443 00:19:07,970 --> 00:19:08,290 So. 444 00:19:08,290 --> 00:19:11,129 So Ahimelech could look at David and say, well, I see a need 445 00:19:11,129 --> 00:19:12,610 that you have, but you know what? 446 00:19:12,690 --> 00:19:16,090 I'm going to follow all the rules to a T. And in this case, what 447 00:19:16,090 --> 00:19:19,250 he's doing is, is he's missing the heart behind that. 448 00:19:19,250 --> 00:19:21,610 And the Bible says very clearly that we're supposed to help 449 00:19:21,610 --> 00:19:22,130 our neighbor. 450 00:19:22,450 --> 00:19:25,090 So him, like, helps David in this time. 451 00:19:25,170 --> 00:19:28,210 And I believe that even though he doesn't know the implication of 452 00:19:28,210 --> 00:19:30,490 what he's doing, obviously God understands it. 453 00:19:30,490 --> 00:19:35,330 And Jesus later on talks more about that when it comes to showing 454 00:19:35,650 --> 00:19:38,770 help for others and not being bound by the things that we have 455 00:19:38,850 --> 00:19:40,810 in our life in accordance to the Levitical law. 456 00:19:40,810 --> 00:19:43,290 And we know that we don't even have to live by the Levitical law 457 00:19:43,290 --> 00:19:43,730 anymore. 458 00:19:43,730 --> 00:19:45,010 But how can we take this with us? 459 00:19:45,010 --> 00:19:49,180 We could take this with us with the concept of, well, maybe 460 00:19:49,180 --> 00:19:51,020 you've heard the phrase, well, we've never done it this way before. 461 00:19:51,500 --> 00:19:54,100 Okay, so we can allow sometimes man's traditions to hold 462 00:19:54,100 --> 00:19:57,260 us back from doing things of helping someone in need right in 463 00:19:57,260 --> 00:19:57,820 front of us. 464 00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:02,700 So does Jesus approve of David's lie and Ahimelech's action? 465 00:20:02,940 --> 00:20:03,739 I don't think so. 466 00:20:03,739 --> 00:20:06,300 I don't think Jesus approves of David's lie. 467 00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:10,380 But I do believe that Jesus understands the heart of Ahimelech 468 00:20:10,380 --> 00:20:14,020 and his grace and his mercy to help David in this time of great 469 00:20:14,020 --> 00:20:14,380 need. 470 00:20:15,430 --> 00:20:17,790 So moving forward, it says in verse seven now, a certain man of 471 00:20:17,790 --> 00:20:21,270 the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord, 472 00:20:21,270 --> 00:20:24,950 and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen 473 00:20:24,950 --> 00:20:25,910 that belonged to Saul. 474 00:20:25,990 --> 00:20:28,550 So basically, Saul has eyes in this place. 475 00:20:29,110 --> 00:20:31,830 David can't hide from the eyes of Saul in this case. 476 00:20:32,390 --> 00:20:34,790 And so Doag is there, he witnesses it. 477 00:20:35,110 --> 00:20:35,910 And verse eight. 478 00:20:35,910 --> 00:20:40,110 And David said unto him, and is there not here under thine hand, 479 00:20:40,110 --> 00:20:41,030 spear or sword? 480 00:20:41,030 --> 00:20:44,290 David's like, I need a weapon, for I have neither brought my sword 481 00:20:44,290 --> 00:20:47,090 nor my weapons with me because the king's business required haste. 482 00:20:47,090 --> 00:20:49,570 Again he lies, David lies again. 483 00:20:49,570 --> 00:20:53,010 And we could look at David here and really come down on him 484 00:20:53,010 --> 00:20:55,010 and say how a terrible person he is. 485 00:20:55,730 --> 00:20:59,410 But I before we do that, let's inspect our own lives, because we 486 00:20:59,410 --> 00:21:02,690 do know that David later on, I believe it's in Psalm 34, which we'll 487 00:21:02,690 --> 00:21:07,650 look at later on in our study, David does come to a place of humbled 488 00:21:07,650 --> 00:21:10,160 repentance when it comes to these things that he does. 489 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,680 And then what we're going to look at in 1st Samuel, chapter 22 490 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,000 is that he eventually recognizes and realizes the sin that 491 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:17,840 he commits here. 492 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,200 So it would be one thing of David later on says, look what I 493 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,360 did back with the Himalayc, and it was all good. 494 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:24,640 But there's going to be a place. 495 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:28,160 I believe it's later on in chapter 22, verse 21. 496 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:30,440 Maybe it was another place. 497 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,520 But later on in chapter 22, he comes to a place where he realizes 498 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,410 that he makes a mistake, and he realizes of the sin that he commits 499 00:21:38,410 --> 00:21:39,530 here in this chapter. 500 00:21:40,410 --> 00:21:43,010 So he says, hey, can you find me a weapon? 501 00:21:43,010 --> 00:21:46,090 I. I left so quickly with the king's business that, by the way, 502 00:21:46,090 --> 00:21:47,130 he did leave pretty quickly. 503 00:21:47,690 --> 00:21:51,530 And maybe the king's business was to require him to have a hasty 504 00:21:51,769 --> 00:21:52,210 exit. 505 00:21:52,210 --> 00:21:55,090 But he isn't really clear in what he's doing here in verse nine. 506 00:21:55,090 --> 00:21:57,810 And the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom 507 00:21:57,810 --> 00:22:01,290 thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here, wrapped 508 00:22:01,290 --> 00:22:02,970 in a cloth behind the Ephod. 509 00:22:03,460 --> 00:22:05,060 If thou will take it, take it. 510 00:22:05,140 --> 00:22:07,940 And for there is no other save that here. 511 00:22:08,100 --> 00:22:10,020 And David said, there is none like that. 512 00:22:10,100 --> 00:22:11,060 Give it me. 513 00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:14,100 Now, what's this all about? 514 00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:15,380 Because this is interesting. 515 00:22:16,020 --> 00:22:18,740 I. I believe there's great irony here. 516 00:22:19,460 --> 00:22:24,260 If, if you believe that God's working in this sense, remember back 517 00:22:24,260 --> 00:22:29,340 with David and the sword, that was a picture of David's faith in 518 00:22:29,340 --> 00:22:32,890 God using Goliath's own sword to take out his enemy. 519 00:22:33,210 --> 00:22:36,290 That was essentially the culmination of David's faith in God's 520 00:22:36,290 --> 00:22:36,970 provisions. 521 00:22:37,210 --> 00:22:41,650 And so now you see David back when he was there with Goliath in 522 00:22:41,650 --> 00:22:47,170 the valley of Elah, and he slays Goliath with this sword and 523 00:22:47,170 --> 00:22:48,930 he comes back as a sign of victory. 524 00:22:48,930 --> 00:22:49,690 The sword is. 525 00:22:49,690 --> 00:22:51,370 That's why it's being retained here. 526 00:22:52,170 --> 00:22:55,850 But now David's walking in faithlessness, and now he's reminded 527 00:22:55,850 --> 00:22:58,710 of what he did have in the Lord with faith. 528 00:22:58,710 --> 00:23:01,590 And he's reminded of that victory that God gave him. 529 00:23:01,590 --> 00:23:04,750 And it's interesting where David flees to David eventually, 530 00:23:04,830 --> 00:23:08,270 now as he gets this weapon, flees to a place called Gath. 531 00:23:08,670 --> 00:23:09,790 Now why is that significant? 532 00:23:09,870 --> 00:23:11,150 That's where Goliath's from. 533 00:23:11,550 --> 00:23:15,350 We're going to talk more about that next week with David because 534 00:23:15,350 --> 00:23:18,030 he's going to go to Gath and make some more mistakes. 535 00:23:18,510 --> 00:23:21,150 But, but I want you to understand that here in this case, 536 00:23:21,150 --> 00:23:26,840 it's David's fear that reveals to him that he needs to come up with 537 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:27,640 a different plan. 538 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,600 But he's reminded at the very end of this passage, at least in 539 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,520 verse number nine, that God is still the same God that was there 540 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:37,160 with him with Goliath before. 541 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,160 And now he's reminded of this victory that he had. 542 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:41,840 And maybe there's a sense of shame. 543 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:44,440 And I think that that's something to be reminded of as well. 544 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,840 In our own life, when we go through these instances of faithlessness, 545 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,520 we need to go back and be reminded about what God has done 546 00:23:51,030 --> 00:23:52,070 before in our life. 547 00:23:52,070 --> 00:23:55,470 And maybe that can bring us to a place of brokenness and humility 548 00:23:55,470 --> 00:23:58,670 when it comes to the understanding of how God can be faithful 549 00:23:58,670 --> 00:23:58,910 again. 550 00:23:58,910 --> 00:24:03,270 And so I want us to look at Psalm 34, because Psalm 34 is really 551 00:24:04,070 --> 00:24:08,470 a snapshot of David pretty much right after what he does here. 552 00:24:08,550 --> 00:24:13,510 And it gives us a heart of where David was after he makes this 553 00:24:13,510 --> 00:24:14,150 mistake. 554 00:24:14,710 --> 00:24:20,780 And I think that for us, it's not always about being perfect. 555 00:24:21,900 --> 00:24:27,180 One of the lines that I used at my father in law's funeral, you 556 00:24:27,180 --> 00:24:28,540 had to know my father in law. 557 00:24:29,340 --> 00:24:31,020 You guys didn't get to meet him. 558 00:24:31,180 --> 00:24:32,780 He never made it up to Delaware. 559 00:24:33,260 --> 00:24:36,980 But he had a very unique sense of humor, and he was just a unique 560 00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:37,740 guy in general. 561 00:24:37,820 --> 00:24:40,260 And so I said, you know, I wanted to be nice. 562 00:24:40,260 --> 00:24:42,900 At the same time, I Wanted to say some things about who he really 563 00:24:42,900 --> 00:24:43,180 was. 564 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,560 And so I said, you know, his name was Jeffrey. 565 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,200 I said, you know, Jeffrey wasn't a perfect guy. 566 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:48,680 And everyone's like, nodding their head. 567 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,920 I'm like, yeah, but it's not all about being perfect. 568 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:52,120 None of us can be perfect. 569 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,080 The reality is, is that as a believer, sometimes we think the 570 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,120 expectation is, is that we have to be perfect. 571 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,880 And then when we do make a mistake, we're a complete failure. 572 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,440 But the Bible says that really none of us are perfect. 573 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,920 None of us can exceed the perfect nature of who God is. 574 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,280 Therefore, when we do make mistakes, we do. 575 00:25:09,430 --> 00:25:13,190 It's not a mark of a mature Christian to never make a mistake. 576 00:25:13,190 --> 00:25:15,550 It's a mark of a mature Christian to identify where that 577 00:25:15,550 --> 00:25:18,670 mistake is, learn from that mistake, and come to a place of humility. 578 00:25:18,670 --> 00:25:24,110 So this psalm of David in Psalm 34 is when he changes be changes 579 00:25:24,110 --> 00:25:27,830 his behavior before him like who drove him away. 580 00:25:27,830 --> 00:25:28,670 And then he departs. 581 00:25:28,670 --> 00:25:30,750 So says, I will bless the Lord at all times. 582 00:25:30,750 --> 00:25:32,950 His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 583 00:25:33,350 --> 00:25:37,110 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, and humble shall hear 584 00:25:37,110 --> 00:25:38,710 thereof and be glad. 585 00:25:38,790 --> 00:25:40,270 Oh, magnify the Lord with me. 586 00:25:40,270 --> 00:25:42,390 Let us exalt his name together. 587 00:25:42,950 --> 00:25:45,790 I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all 588 00:25:45,790 --> 00:25:46,630 of my fears. 589 00:25:47,270 --> 00:25:50,550 So verse four tells us really what he was plagued with in this 590 00:25:50,550 --> 00:25:51,190 scenario. 591 00:25:51,670 --> 00:25:52,710 It was his fear. 592 00:25:52,710 --> 00:25:55,590 Now, the Bible tells us in other places that the fear of. 593 00:25:55,590 --> 00:25:57,390 Of man is a snare. 594 00:25:57,390 --> 00:25:58,310 It's a trap. 595 00:25:58,870 --> 00:26:04,280 And the fear of man, our fleshly fear, will lead us to do 596 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,880 things that we never thought we would do, or at least lead us 597 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,280 to do things outside of what God's working in our lives. 598 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:14,200 So let's say, for example, I'm walking in the Lord every. 599 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:15,280 I'm doing everything well. 600 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,280 I'm reading my Bible, I'm going to church. 601 00:26:17,519 --> 00:26:19,520 I'm seeing great change in my life. 602 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,120 But yet fear strikes me and I revert back to what I used to be. 603 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:25,080 I revert back to that bad habit. 604 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,400 I revert back to that anxiety. 605 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,050 I revert back to that fear sin that I felt like I had victory over. 606 00:26:31,050 --> 00:26:33,770 Well, the Bible says that it is going to be something that will 607 00:26:33,770 --> 00:26:36,090 happen in our life when that fear takes hold. 608 00:26:36,250 --> 00:26:41,010 And so instead of facing our problems with fear, we're called 609 00:26:41,010 --> 00:26:42,570 to face our problems in faith. 610 00:26:43,050 --> 00:26:45,650 And so he says, I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered 611 00:26:45,650 --> 00:26:47,130 me from all of my fears. 612 00:26:47,290 --> 00:26:50,610 They looked unto him and were lightened, and their face were not 613 00:26:50,610 --> 00:26:51,210 ashamed. 614 00:26:51,210 --> 00:26:54,370 This Poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out 615 00:26:54,370 --> 00:26:55,370 of all of his troubles. 616 00:26:56,710 --> 00:27:01,510 The Bible really tells us here what the response is when we come 617 00:27:01,510 --> 00:27:03,190 to the Lord in humble submission. 618 00:27:03,190 --> 00:27:06,830 He hears us and he meets us in that place of need, and he gives 619 00:27:06,830 --> 00:27:10,270 us a hope that can only be found when we submit ourselves to 620 00:27:10,270 --> 00:27:10,430 him. 621 00:27:10,430 --> 00:27:13,190 And he says in verse eight, o taste and see that the Lord is good. 622 00:27:13,190 --> 00:27:15,510 Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 623 00:27:16,550 --> 00:27:19,950 I think that David learns his lesson, at least in this case, when 624 00:27:19,950 --> 00:27:23,260 he comes to this understanding of, well, trying to go my way is 625 00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:24,820 not going to bring me any satisfaction. 626 00:27:24,820 --> 00:27:27,060 Trying to go my way is only going to bring me guilt. 627 00:27:27,060 --> 00:27:28,900 It's only going to bring me pain. 628 00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:31,100 It's only going to bring me separation from God. 629 00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:32,900 And he says, taste and see. 630 00:27:32,900 --> 00:27:37,859 The Lord is good, blessed, happy, content is the man that trusteth 631 00:27:37,859 --> 00:27:38,340 in him. 632 00:27:38,420 --> 00:27:43,340 Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them 633 00:27:43,340 --> 00:27:44,420 that fear him. 634 00:27:44,820 --> 00:27:48,060 So there's actually this unique comparison between the fear 635 00:27:48,060 --> 00:27:49,620 of man and the fear of God. 636 00:27:50,540 --> 00:27:53,780 So as Christians, we're supposed to have fear, but we're 637 00:27:53,780 --> 00:27:55,020 supposed to fear the right things. 638 00:27:55,980 --> 00:27:57,180 What's the proper fear? 639 00:27:57,180 --> 00:28:01,540 The proper fear is knowing who God is, what he has done, what he 640 00:28:01,540 --> 00:28:02,540 is capable of. 641 00:28:02,780 --> 00:28:05,939 And where we stand in that equation, where we stand in that 642 00:28:05,939 --> 00:28:09,340 equation with God is that he is all powerful and God has every 643 00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:10,740 right to condemn us. 644 00:28:10,740 --> 00:28:12,540 God has every right to crush us. 645 00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:15,740 God has every right to judge us, but yet in his grace he does. 646 00:28:15,740 --> 00:28:19,490 And therefore there's that understanding that we as believers 647 00:28:19,490 --> 00:28:20,770 have received this wonderful grace. 648 00:28:20,770 --> 00:28:24,970 And so the fear of God is not a fear of condemnation or a fear 649 00:28:24,970 --> 00:28:29,370 of judgment or a fear of pain, but it's a healthy awe and respect 650 00:28:29,370 --> 00:28:33,490 of who he is and what he has done and what he is capable of and 651 00:28:33,490 --> 00:28:35,050 what he is doing in our lives. 652 00:28:35,450 --> 00:28:40,810 And so he says that it's the fear of God, for there is no want 653 00:28:40,810 --> 00:28:42,010 for them that fear him. 654 00:28:43,060 --> 00:28:46,580 Now, those that fear man, fear Saul. 655 00:28:47,140 --> 00:28:50,620 Fear, you know, Goliath, fear whatever, you know, whatever we might 656 00:28:50,620 --> 00:28:53,500 be fearing in our lives that does not bring us satisfaction, that 657 00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:54,900 only brings us more paranoia. 658 00:28:54,900 --> 00:28:56,020 It only brings more fear. 659 00:28:56,020 --> 00:28:57,940 That fear brings more fear. 660 00:28:57,940 --> 00:29:01,980 And so David says the only way to get out of the fear is by not 661 00:29:01,980 --> 00:29:04,700 fearing that thing that we're afraid of, but having the fear of 662 00:29:04,700 --> 00:29:07,580 God and allowing him to do those things in our life that we 663 00:29:07,580 --> 00:29:07,860 need. 664 00:29:08,180 --> 00:29:08,540 Verse 10. 665 00:29:08,540 --> 00:29:11,700 He says, the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they 666 00:29:11,700 --> 00:29:14,660 that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. 667 00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:17,820 Says even the young lions have fear. 668 00:29:17,820 --> 00:29:18,140 They. 669 00:29:18,140 --> 00:29:19,780 They need things, they're hungry. 670 00:29:20,100 --> 00:29:23,140 But it's those who seek after the Lord that don't need anything, 671 00:29:23,140 --> 00:29:24,660 because they have everything in him. 672 00:29:24,740 --> 00:29:26,380 Come, ye children, hearken unto me. 673 00:29:26,380 --> 00:29:28,420 I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 674 00:29:28,740 --> 00:29:33,060 So what we see is that David learns the lesson of the importance 675 00:29:33,060 --> 00:29:33,940 of fearing God. 676 00:29:33,940 --> 00:29:35,990 He there's always a point in our life where we need to learn that 677 00:29:35,990 --> 00:29:36,510 lesson. 678 00:29:36,670 --> 00:29:40,310 Sometimes God teaches us that, that hard lesson in the midst of 679 00:29:40,310 --> 00:29:40,910 our pride. 680 00:29:42,270 --> 00:29:45,030 David certainly deals with some level of pride by saying, you 681 00:29:45,030 --> 00:29:45,230 know what? 682 00:29:45,230 --> 00:29:46,430 I need to figure this out myself. 683 00:29:46,430 --> 00:29:48,030 I need to lie, I need to get out of this. 684 00:29:48,110 --> 00:29:50,710 I. I haven't done anything wrong, but I need to get out of this 685 00:29:50,710 --> 00:29:51,470 in my own way. 686 00:29:51,870 --> 00:29:53,990 And oftentimes things that we're going to face in our life are 687 00:29:53,990 --> 00:29:55,390 not brought about by our own doing. 688 00:29:55,390 --> 00:29:57,590 It's brought about by a circumstance that we're facing in 689 00:29:57,590 --> 00:29:58,830 our life that God has allowed. 690 00:29:58,910 --> 00:30:01,990 But yet he says we need to learn that lesson of fearing the 691 00:30:01,990 --> 00:30:02,350 Lord. 692 00:30:02,910 --> 00:30:03,510 Verse 12. 693 00:30:03,510 --> 00:30:06,830 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he 694 00:30:06,830 --> 00:30:07,710 may see good? 695 00:30:07,790 --> 00:30:10,830 Heap thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. 696 00:30:11,950 --> 00:30:12,350 He. 697 00:30:12,350 --> 00:30:16,350 He warns us here of what happens when fear comes in our life. 698 00:30:17,310 --> 00:30:20,830 We begin to speak evil things and we begin to speak guile, that 699 00:30:20,830 --> 00:30:21,430 word guile. 700 00:30:21,430 --> 00:30:23,870 There is deceit, lies. 701 00:30:24,830 --> 00:30:28,710 What happens when I fear is that I begin to think that my lies 702 00:30:28,710 --> 00:30:30,910 are justified and I try to cover myself. 703 00:30:31,530 --> 00:30:35,690 And I wish that I could say David stayed in this and never left 704 00:30:35,690 --> 00:30:36,610 this mindset. 705 00:30:36,610 --> 00:30:39,090 But we do know that there was other times in David's life where 706 00:30:39,090 --> 00:30:42,490 he tries to lie out of the situation because of fear, right? 707 00:30:42,490 --> 00:30:44,410 The whole classic story of Bathsheba. 708 00:30:44,490 --> 00:30:48,290 He goes into that with some level of fear. 709 00:30:48,290 --> 00:30:50,370 And in that fear he tries to figure out himself. 710 00:30:50,370 --> 00:30:51,770 And there's lies upon lies. 711 00:30:51,850 --> 00:30:55,530 And eventually God reveals that to him and to others around 712 00:30:55,530 --> 00:30:55,850 him. 713 00:30:56,330 --> 00:30:59,380 So he goes on to say in verse 14, depart from evil and do good. 714 00:30:59,380 --> 00:31:00,620 Seek peace and pursue it. 715 00:31:00,620 --> 00:31:03,380 The eyes of our Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open 716 00:31:03,380 --> 00:31:04,300 unto their cry. 717 00:31:04,300 --> 00:31:07,340 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut 718 00:31:07,340 --> 00:31:09,220 off the remembrance of them from the earth. 719 00:31:09,380 --> 00:31:12,180 And he goes on to talk about the righteous cry being heard. 720 00:31:12,499 --> 00:31:16,940 And eventually he ends this chapter with a statement. 721 00:31:16,940 --> 00:31:20,100 He says, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. 722 00:31:21,140 --> 00:31:23,980 And I hope that that's a lesson that we all can learn in our 723 00:31:23,980 --> 00:31:26,110 life because we all going to face pressure. 724 00:31:26,590 --> 00:31:29,150 We go back to First Samuel, chapter 21. 725 00:31:29,150 --> 00:31:30,430 What's David's pressure here? 726 00:31:30,430 --> 00:31:35,950 David's pressure is that the most powerful man in, in his known 727 00:31:35,950 --> 00:31:38,270 world is coming after him with everything. 728 00:31:39,550 --> 00:31:45,150 David could have very easily fallen into the trap of fear because 729 00:31:45,150 --> 00:31:46,390 he looked like there was no way out. 730 00:31:46,390 --> 00:31:49,870 I mean, remember, he was just with his best friend Jonathan, who 731 00:31:49,950 --> 00:31:51,750 in his mind was his greatest ally. 732 00:31:51,750 --> 00:31:54,230 And Jonathan basically comes out and says, there's nothing I can 733 00:31:54,230 --> 00:31:54,390 do. 734 00:31:54,390 --> 00:31:55,590 My dad's coming after you. 735 00:31:55,590 --> 00:31:56,390 You got to run. 736 00:31:56,390 --> 00:31:57,150 You got to go. 737 00:31:57,790 --> 00:32:00,310 And at this point in time, David has no one to turn to. 738 00:32:00,310 --> 00:32:03,750 He can't turn to anyone in his family because they're basically 739 00:32:03,750 --> 00:32:04,510 compromised. 740 00:32:04,990 --> 00:32:08,030 He can't turn to anybody else because he's going to get caught. 741 00:32:08,030 --> 00:32:12,110 So, so David has a real problem in front of him, that Saul 742 00:32:12,110 --> 00:32:13,110 is coming with everything. 743 00:32:13,110 --> 00:32:14,110 And what does David have? 744 00:32:14,110 --> 00:32:17,150 Well, at this point in materially speaking, David has nothing. 745 00:32:17,310 --> 00:32:22,000 He has no food, he has, has no water, he has no protection, he has 746 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:22,680 no weapon. 747 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:24,360 He has no place to lay his head. 748 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,080 David circumstantially has nothing. 749 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,160 But we know that he did have something in God. 750 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,920 And so the right answer, the biblical way to respond to this need 751 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,840 was for him to completely pour out to God and say, God, I need you 752 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:38,440 in this case. 753 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:40,240 But he, he goes to the right place. 754 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,360 He, he goes to a place of worship, but instead he comes with 755 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:44,840 a lie instead of a truth. 756 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:48,130 And in this lie, he is faced with more struggles. 757 00:32:48,130 --> 00:32:51,050 And you might be tempted to think, well, maybe his lie was a 758 00:32:51,050 --> 00:32:51,610 good lie. 759 00:32:52,410 --> 00:32:56,770 You know, have you ever been caught with that conundrum before? 760 00:32:56,770 --> 00:32:59,530 You, someone says, you know, you can go back in time and you're 761 00:32:59,530 --> 00:33:03,490 in Nazi Germany and you got, you know, Jews in your basement, 762 00:33:03,490 --> 00:33:04,650 and people knock at your door. 763 00:33:04,650 --> 00:33:05,690 You know, what are you going to say? 764 00:33:05,930 --> 00:33:06,930 You know, that's a tough one. 765 00:33:06,930 --> 00:33:09,770 I, I, I can't give you all the right ways that you should respond 766 00:33:09,770 --> 00:33:13,810 in every scenario because obviously, you know, every, every 767 00:33:13,810 --> 00:33:14,850 situation is different. 768 00:33:15,090 --> 00:33:17,890 But at the same time, we know the Bible says that a lie is a lie, 769 00:33:17,890 --> 00:33:19,330 and we had to be very careful with that. 770 00:33:19,730 --> 00:33:21,450 So, so what do we do with David here? 771 00:33:21,450 --> 00:33:24,570 Do we just look at him and say, well, we understand why David 772 00:33:24,570 --> 00:33:25,810 lied, so it's okay, he lied? 773 00:33:26,050 --> 00:33:27,850 Well, no, we understand why David lied. 774 00:33:27,850 --> 00:33:28,690 He was hungry. 775 00:33:28,850 --> 00:33:30,370 He wanted to find some food. 776 00:33:30,610 --> 00:33:33,090 He, he wanted to get out of this without anybody knowing. 777 00:33:33,090 --> 00:33:34,770 So he says, hey, I'm on a secret mission. 778 00:33:34,930 --> 00:33:36,130 Don't tell anybody. 779 00:33:36,690 --> 00:33:38,490 I'm on the mission of, of Saul. 780 00:33:38,490 --> 00:33:40,960 Because he didn't want, and and one could argue maybe he was 781 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:42,400 trying to protect the priest. 782 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:43,160 Maybe he was. 783 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,760 But again, the lie does not equal the right thing to do. 784 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:48,800 And we know that even in his lie. 785 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:49,720 So let's see. 786 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:51,040 David tries this lie. 787 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,960 And if the story was he got away with it, then biblically speaking, 788 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:57,200 we could say, well, look, why is it wrong for me to lie? 789 00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,160 But you see that he didn't even get away with it. 790 00:33:59,160 --> 00:33:59,800 Verse 7. 791 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,200 He tries to hide it and do eggs there. 792 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:02,760 So. 793 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:03,920 So the eyes of. 794 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:04,880 Of Saul were there. 795 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:05,520 And so we couldn't. 796 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:06,680 He didn't even get away with this. 797 00:34:07,050 --> 00:34:10,890 We know later on that this gets reported back to Saul, and Ahimelech 798 00:34:10,890 --> 00:34:12,650 is in big trouble because of what he did. 799 00:34:12,650 --> 00:34:14,850 And, and you guys know the rest of the story, or if you don't, 800 00:34:14,850 --> 00:34:15,930 we're going to talk about it soon. 801 00:34:16,410 --> 00:34:17,610 But he runs. 802 00:34:17,610 --> 00:34:18,010 So he. 803 00:34:18,010 --> 00:34:20,090 He's seen, and then he runs to Gath. 804 00:34:20,090 --> 00:34:22,250 And what we're going to see next week is that in Gath. 805 00:34:23,690 --> 00:34:24,050 Why. 806 00:34:24,050 --> 00:34:27,050 Why on earth would David run to the Philistines for help? 807 00:34:28,330 --> 00:34:28,810 Guess. 808 00:34:28,890 --> 00:34:29,210 He. 809 00:34:29,210 --> 00:34:30,810 He knows how bad the Philistines are. 810 00:34:30,810 --> 00:34:33,850 He just not too long ago slayed their champion. 811 00:34:34,210 --> 00:34:35,290 He knew that the. 812 00:34:35,290 --> 00:34:36,810 The Philistines were against God. 813 00:34:36,810 --> 00:34:39,970 But he goes and flees to Gath thinking that there's hope there. 814 00:34:39,970 --> 00:34:42,770 But eventually he gets there and he realizes that he's made a 815 00:34:42,770 --> 00:34:43,050 mistake. 816 00:34:43,050 --> 00:34:43,210 And. 817 00:34:43,210 --> 00:34:44,810 And we'll talk more about that next week. 818 00:34:44,810 --> 00:34:46,570 But what. 819 00:34:46,570 --> 00:34:49,690 What truly can we learn from this passage, at least this first 820 00:34:49,690 --> 00:34:55,330 part, is that when fear takes control, when. 821 00:34:55,330 --> 00:34:58,330 When fear guides us, we are going to do things that God does 822 00:34:58,330 --> 00:34:58,970 not want us to do. 823 00:34:58,970 --> 00:35:00,610 David has already been anointed king. 824 00:35:00,710 --> 00:35:01,990 He's already killed Goliath. 825 00:35:01,990 --> 00:35:04,310 He's already experienced God's miraculous protection. 826 00:35:04,630 --> 00:35:07,590 He's already been reminded of God's love for him. 827 00:35:07,590 --> 00:35:10,990 Through his friendship with Jonathan, he's heard God's promise 828 00:35:10,990 --> 00:35:11,790 over and over again. 829 00:35:11,790 --> 00:35:14,390 Yet David is still steeped in fear. 830 00:35:15,270 --> 00:35:18,550 And then his fear begins to affect his decisions. 831 00:35:18,550 --> 00:35:20,950 And that fear led to lies. 832 00:35:21,190 --> 00:35:23,430 It led to running away from the truth. 833 00:35:23,590 --> 00:35:25,710 He seeks refuge among his enemies. 834 00:35:25,710 --> 00:35:29,010 Eventually, he eventually is going to pretend to be insane. 835 00:35:29,650 --> 00:35:33,090 And yet we know that through all this, God does not abandon him. 836 00:35:33,570 --> 00:35:36,370 David's faith is imperfect, just like our faith is imperfect. 837 00:35:37,010 --> 00:35:40,610 We're reminded in the New Testament that even when we're faithless, 838 00:35:41,010 --> 00:35:42,210 God is faithful. 839 00:35:42,850 --> 00:35:46,650 God's faithfulness isn't predicated upon our faithfulness, 840 00:35:46,650 --> 00:35:48,370 because guess what? 841 00:35:48,370 --> 00:35:51,890 We all would fall short, and we would all lose that faith that 842 00:35:52,380 --> 00:35:53,500 God has given us. 843 00:35:53,500 --> 00:35:56,140 But really, it's the faith that God sustains in us. 844 00:35:56,140 --> 00:35:59,740 So David's faith is imperfect, but God's faithfulness is not. 845 00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:02,140 God's faithfulness is always perfect. 846 00:36:03,100 --> 00:36:08,459 And we're working through this book, First Samuel, and really, we 847 00:36:08,459 --> 00:36:11,340 all would probably think to some degree that David is the main 848 00:36:11,340 --> 00:36:13,900 character, and to some degree he is. 849 00:36:14,380 --> 00:36:20,540 But I want us to see not only David and Goliath and Saul and Jonathan 850 00:36:20,540 --> 00:36:24,460 and all these people, but ultimately the main player is always 851 00:36:24,460 --> 00:36:25,140 going to be God. 852 00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:26,900 Through this, we see God's faithfulness. 853 00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:30,460 God is the common strand of faithfulness through all of First 854 00:36:30,460 --> 00:36:31,900 Samuel and Second Samuel. 855 00:36:32,780 --> 00:36:33,140 So. 856 00:36:33,140 --> 00:36:36,380 So the showbread situation, you know, that. 857 00:36:36,380 --> 00:36:40,620 That's a difficult situation to talk about because I don't believe 858 00:36:40,700 --> 00:36:43,940 that later on Jesus is saying, well, you know what, just break the 859 00:36:43,940 --> 00:36:45,340 law because people are in. 860 00:36:45,690 --> 00:36:46,970 In need of things. 861 00:36:47,770 --> 00:36:52,170 But what I am seeing in this passage is that Jesus is putting 862 00:36:52,970 --> 00:36:58,210 the needs of a person over the rigid rules that are given to them 863 00:36:58,210 --> 00:36:59,370 in the Levitical law. 864 00:37:00,010 --> 00:37:04,250 Now, again, that's tough for me to reconcile in my brain. 865 00:37:05,050 --> 00:37:10,410 It's not that Jesus is commending David's deceitfulness. 866 00:37:11,140 --> 00:37:14,340 It's not even that Jesus is commending someone breaking the law. 867 00:37:14,660 --> 00:37:17,820 But I think what the message is, really is, even in the New Testament 868 00:37:17,820 --> 00:37:19,860 in context, is that, hey, you know what? 869 00:37:19,860 --> 00:37:22,540 All of us are in need of certain things in our life. 870 00:37:22,540 --> 00:37:26,300 All of us are coming to places in our life where we recognize a 871 00:37:26,300 --> 00:37:30,420 need in someone else's life, and we shouldn't be limited by the 872 00:37:30,420 --> 00:37:34,020 letter of the law, the rule of law, so that we can't help others 873 00:37:34,020 --> 00:37:34,420 in need. 874 00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:36,340 And that's what Jesus was saying in that passage. 875 00:37:36,340 --> 00:37:40,850 Because God desires the heart more than the sacrifice, because 876 00:37:40,850 --> 00:37:43,130 the sacrifice without the heart is just a sacrifice. 877 00:37:43,130 --> 00:37:44,050 It's an empty act. 878 00:37:44,450 --> 00:37:47,130 But ultimately God wants our heart, and if our heart's right, 879 00:37:47,130 --> 00:37:48,530 our sacrifice is going to be right. 880 00:37:48,930 --> 00:37:51,170 So it is a hard passage to deal with. 881 00:37:51,570 --> 00:37:55,330 Certainly we know that it would be a lot clearer if everything 882 00:37:55,330 --> 00:37:59,530 was laid out for us, you know, in footnotes to say, you know, this 883 00:37:59,530 --> 00:38:00,970 is what this means, and this is what this means. 884 00:38:00,970 --> 00:38:04,320 But what we can see in this passage is that ultimately the heart 885 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:06,920 of all of this is that Jesus wanted to. 886 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:07,320 To. 887 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:11,000 To us, for us to understand in the Book of Matthew and then Mark 888 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,760 and Luke, all of the different instances there in the Gospel of 889 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,480 this reference, that God wants us to treat people with respect and 890 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,640 dignity and give them the love and treat them as we would want to 891 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:22,200 be treated. 892 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,640 So the big Question was, was Ahimelech wrong for giving David 893 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:27,120 the bread? 894 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,200 I don't think he was, because I think he saw a need and he helped 895 00:38:30,370 --> 00:38:30,850 that need. 896 00:38:31,410 --> 00:38:33,210 Was David wrong for lying to him? 897 00:38:33,210 --> 00:38:33,730 Like, sure. 898 00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:37,890 Was Ahimelech wrong for not asking more questions? 899 00:38:38,210 --> 00:38:38,690 Maybe. 900 00:38:38,690 --> 00:38:40,690 But he saw a need and he helped the need. 901 00:38:41,330 --> 00:38:44,810 And I think that at the end of the day, that's the best explanation 902 00:38:44,810 --> 00:38:47,130 that we could have in this passage. 903 00:38:47,130 --> 00:38:48,930 But it's a difficult passage nonetheless. 904 00:38:49,410 --> 00:38:50,570 And David is. 905 00:38:50,570 --> 00:38:51,490 And so some. 906 00:38:51,490 --> 00:38:52,170 Some argue. 907 00:38:52,170 --> 00:38:53,570 Okay, the rest of this chapter. 908 00:38:54,530 --> 00:38:57,010 Is David wrong for what he's about to do in Gath? 909 00:38:57,010 --> 00:38:57,190 Why? 910 00:38:57,260 --> 00:38:58,700 But we'll talk about that next week. 911 00:38:59,580 --> 00:39:00,940 Basically, David is like. 912 00:39:00,940 --> 00:39:04,580 I'm not going to say he's the first actor, but he acts and he pretends 913 00:39:04,580 --> 00:39:05,180 like he's some. 914 00:39:05,180 --> 00:39:06,060 Someone that he's not. 915 00:39:07,180 --> 00:39:10,540 Some people argue that that was God working through him and giving 916 00:39:10,540 --> 00:39:11,300 him this way out. 917 00:39:11,300 --> 00:39:12,540 I don't know that for sure. 918 00:39:13,020 --> 00:39:15,660 But what we'll do is we'll study that passage next week, and 919 00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:18,860 we'll look more at David's flight to Gath and why he went there. 920 00:39:19,020 --> 00:39:20,780 Why would David go to the Philistines? 921 00:39:20,860 --> 00:39:25,750 Why would he look to someone that was not honoring God, who were 922 00:39:25,830 --> 00:39:26,630 pagans? 923 00:39:26,630 --> 00:39:28,070 Why would he go there for help? 924 00:39:28,310 --> 00:39:32,310 Well, I believe it is really wrapped up in the fear that he had 925 00:39:32,710 --> 00:39:36,670 and how fear can consume us and make us do things that we know 926 00:39:36,670 --> 00:39:37,430 we shouldn't do. 927 00:39:38,150 --> 00:39:40,470 So we'll talk more about that when we come back next week. 928 00:39:40,470 --> 00:39:44,870 But I do want to conclude the whole passage and. 929 00:39:45,030 --> 00:39:50,190 And we'll come back and then I'll pass off chapter 22 to Pastor 930 00:39:50,190 --> 00:39:55,900 Ethan and we can look more into First Samuel, chapter 22 over 931 00:39:55,900 --> 00:39:56,780 the next few weeks.