A dark evil day during David’s fugitive years – 1st Samuel 21 & 22, Part 4

David has been experiencing some good news while on the run as a fugitive, which we learned in the previous post. Just like that, though, things turn very dark. In 1st Samuel 22, verse 6, the narrative switches focus on David’s pursuer, King Saul.  We learn that Saul is raving made that David has not been located.  In verse 8 he accuses his men of conspiring against him, specifically because no one informed him of the secret pact that his son, Jonathan, made with David to become best friends. How could any of his men know about a secret pact? They couldn’t. Saul also suggests that David is plotting to ambush him.  None of it is true or realistic.  Saul is unhinged. 

As Saul is ranting in his delusional world, one man speaks up.  There’s always someone who wants to get on the bad guy’s good side, right?  Guess who?  Remember that guy who saw David at the temple in 1st Samuel chapter 21, verse 7? In that chapter, the narrator very briefly mentions that David was spotted getting help from Ahimelek the priest, and the story moves on. I mentioned it just as quickly in this post. Who spotted David?  Doeg, King Saul’s chief shepherd.  Now Doeg blurts out to Saul that the high priest helped David.  You can imagine that Doeg is filled with dark glory, having the full attention of the king.  The text tells us that Doeg is an Edomite, so not an Israelite. Perhaps life has been difficult for Doeg being a foreigner. I’m only speculating, but it could help us understand why Doeg might be extra-motivated to make a name for himself in the presence of the king.

The writer of the text doesn’t describe Saul’s emotions as he listens to Doeg, but we can guess that Doeg’s news made Saul shake with anger.  We know this because of what happens next.  Saul takes immediate action, requesting the priest who helped David, Ahimelek, and the men of his family, who were also priests, to come to Saul.  They arrive and Saul confronts them, blaming Ahimelek for conspiring with David’s rebellion.  Ahimelek tries to explain himself, but Saul ignores Ahimelek’s excuse, ordering Ahimelek and all his family be put to death. 

When Saul’s guards refuse to kill the Lords’ priests, Saul orders Doeg to do it, and Doeg does!  Doeg kills 85 priests, even traveling to their town, Nob, where the tabernacle was located, and he kills the men, women, children, infants, and animals.  It is horrid, as all mass murders are.  Raw evil. 

Somehow, one man escapes.  In verse 20, we read that one of the priest Ahimelek’s sons, Abiathar, flees to David, reporting the awful news about the slaughter.  David remembers seeing Doeg at the tabernacle, and David feels terrible, blaming himself for the tragedy.  David will eventually write Psalm 52 about Doeg’s evil.  David welcomes Abiathar to be safe with him and his men, and the chapter concludes there, in the wake of Saul’s insane genocide of the priests.

Let’s conclude this post with Psalm 52. As you read it, think about David remembering that awful day and evil of Doeg and Saul.

“Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying, ‘Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!’ But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.”

Photo by Rob Griffin on Unsplash