Desperate Times Call for Desperate Mercy - 1 Samuel 21:1-9

As you all know, my family has reentered the baby world. One of the things about reentering the baby world is that you remember a lot of things that you had forgotten: like dealing with diapers, bottles, and swaddles.

One of the main things that I had forgotten was just how jarring a crying baby can be. Thankfully, we’re not dealing with colic or anything like that, but she is a baby and babies cry. And a crying baby is highly effective. The longer a baby cries the more desperate you become.

But more often than not, when a baby cries she’s hungry, and any loving parent will always provide their hungry child with food.

And I think we read something very similar in 1 Samuel 21. David was hungry and defenseless and the Lord mercifully provided for him. It’s in God’s character to show his people mercy.

The prominent English Puritan and theologian, Thomas Watson, wrote in his work, A Body of Divinity,

“When the prodigal son came home the father was glad, and made a feast to express his joy; so, God rejoices when a poor sinner comes in, and lays hold of his mercy. What an encouragement to believe in God! He is a God of pardons. Mercy pleases him.”

And just as the Lord mercifully provided for David, He mercifully provides for you and me. We’re reminded of three things in our passage: first, Christ meets us in our desperation with mercy (vv. 1–3); second, Christ pours out His mercy upon us (vv. 4–6); and lastly, Christ mercifully equips us for the future (vv. 7–9).

It’s been several weeks since we were in 1 Samuel. But the last time we were in 1 Samuel, Jonathan, King Saul’s son and David’s best friend, officially confirmed that Saul wanted to murder David. It wasn’t like David was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Saul had an outburst that just so happened to be directed at David. No, Jonathan learned that his father had a burning hatred for David and would go to just about any length to kill him.

In 1 Samuel 20, Jonathan broke this awful news to David which created a serious problem for David: where would he go? Obviously, he can’t return to Saul’s court. Saul probably has men staking out David’s house, and of course, and if he returned to his family in Bethlehem he’d be putting them in danger too. And of course, to make matters worse David has no supplies. He doesn’t have any food. He doesn’t have any weapons. He’s completely helpless.

Christ Meets Us in Our Desperation (vv. 1-3)

Where would you turn in that particular situation? Where would you go? At some point or another, we’ve all felt desperate. Desperate for change. Desperate for success. Desperate for help. Desperate to get a baby to stop crying.

It’s worth noting that in David’s desperation he goes to Nob, which was where the Tabernacle was located at that point in Israel’s history. Not only was it where worship took place, but it was the place where the presence of the Lord dwelt.

And so when David arrived at the Tabernacle, the High Priest Ahimelech was shocked and confused to see him there by himself. Normally, David would have a whole army of men with him. And there’s even debate over whether or not David is alone here. Because Ahimelech asks him about his men, and there are a few other passages that seem to indicate that David wasn’t alone, but whether or not David was all alone is besides the point.

What’s important for us to see in these first three verses is the cover story he gives to Ahimelech. David told in verse 2, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place.”

David told Ahimelech that Saul had sent him on a secret mission. It was so secret he couldn’t tell him anything about it – which of course, simply wasn’t true. David is just making this up! And in David’s mind, there might even be a rational explanation. He thinks that if he lies to Ahimelech, it will protect him. Because if Saul found out that Ahimelech helped David then his life would have certainly been in danger too!

I think that David thought he was protecting Ahimelech, however, as we’ll see next week Ahimelech’s life would be in danger despite David’s fake cover story. Doeg the Edomite will tell Saul about David and Ahimelech which will ultimately cost him and 84 other priests their lives.

David would have been better off simply telling Ahimelech the truth. At least that way, Ahimelech would have known the danger that David was putting him in.

In case you needed a reminder that David was a sinner, here’s exhibit A.

But it is a good reminder of the complexity of the Christian life. How often are we presented with situations in life where the best course of action isn’t crystal clear? Life is messy and confusing and so often a decision we believe to be right turns out to be wrong.

Undoubtedly, David believed lying to Ahimelech was the best way to protect him, but of course, that decision proved to be wrong. So wrong in fact it cost innocent people their lives.

I think we could easily say that David didn’t go about this situation in the right way. That’s one of the privileges of reading this account – we can do a little bit of armchair quarterbacking.

And because David didn’t approach this situation in the best manner, wouldn’t you expect the Lord to not provide for him? Wouldn’t God have been well within his rights to refuse to provide for him based upon his actions?

But of course, that’s not what happens. The Lord mercifully meets David, a sinner, precisely where he was in his sin and desperation.

Which is true for all of us as well. I don’t know what your week looked like, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that at some point you probably sinned. At some point, you were dishonest, you did something you shouldn’t have, reacted to someone in an inappropriate way, was unkind to your family, etc.

And yet, here we all are, mercifully welcomed into the presence of the Lord. It reminds me of what the Psalmist says in Psalm 103: “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”

Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

We’re all sin-sick and desperate aren’t we? And it’s in the midst of our sin and desperation Christ meets with us.

Christ pours out His mercy (vv. 4-6)

But it’s not like Christ meets us in our desperation like a disapproving father. Christ pours out his mercy on those who call on his name in their time of desperation.

David went to the Tabernacle in order to retrieve food and weapons, which is really the central element of this passage. He was hungry. Who knows how long it had been since David’s last meal. He could probably smell the freshly baked bread of the Presence in the Tabernacle.

Understanding the significance of the bread of the Presence which is also referred to as showbread is central to understanding exactly what’s going on in this passage. It was the responsibility of the priests to put out twelve freshly baked loaves of bread, each loaf representing a tribe of Israel, and then to eat the old bread. It wasn’t community bread that was available to anyone who wanted it. Only the priests were supposed to eat the bread of the presence. Every Sabbath, they took down the old bread to put out the fresh bread and only the priests were allowed to eat the old bread.

So when David said to Ahimelech in verse 3, “Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” – he was putting Ahimelech in a tough spot.

Would Ahimelech be violating God’s law by giving the bread of the presence to someone who was not a priest? It also helps us understand why he asks David if they had “kept themselves from women?” Ahimelech is weighing what to do! He was trying to figure out if David had maintained some level of ceremonial cleanliness.

Of course, we know that Ahimelech gave David the bread. But it’s worth asking, was it the right thing to do? Was he allowed to do that? Again, David wasn’t a priest and the bread wasn’t intended for common use.

It’s always interesting to see how Old Testament passages are used in the New Testament. Interestingly enough, Jesus actually makes reference to David receiving the showbread from Ahimelech in Matthew 12.

In Matthew 12 Jesus and his disciples plucked off heads of grain and ate it as they passed through a field on the Sabbath day. And of course, the Pharisees saw them and accused them of breaking the Sabbath. Supposedly, when they plucked off the grain, they were reaping, and when they rubbed it together in their hands they were threshing it. So, according to the Pharisees, Jesus and his disciples were “working” on the Sabbath.

It was in response to that accusation that Jesus said,

“Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?”

The Pharisees expected rigid, unflinching adherence to God’s law. In the Pharisees’ legalistic theological framework, there were no exceptions. You either followed God’s law or you didn’t. But with that sort of fundamentalist, narrow-minded view of the law, they missed an incredibly important point: showing mercy never violates God’s law, rather, it fulfills it.

It’s central to God’s character to show mercy. And so, when you demonstrate compassion and mercy to someone in need you’re pleasing God. It’s why Jesus told the Pharisees that “God desires mercy, and not sacrifice.”

Ahimelech’s compassion on David is the perfect illustration for Jesus’ point. Ahimelech wasn’t bending, breaking, or ignoring God’s instructions when he gave David the bread of the Presence – he was actually doing exactly what he should have done – by showing compassion and mercy to a desperate, needy man.

There’s no bad or inappropriate time to show mercy. It’s always pleasing to God when you show mercy to someone in need.

Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that you should never discipline your children or allow others to walk all over you – because that’s the merciful thing to do. God certainly values accountability, discipline, and justice along with mercy – which isn’t a contradiction. Oftentimes, mercy when it’s properly understood includes those things.

Rather my point is when someone is desperate and needy and you show them undeserved kindness – that pleases God. It’s so counterintuitive to the society that we live in to help those who are in need. We live in a society that emphasizes doing what makes you happy, self-care, and achieving your own goals – we don’t have time to show undeserved kindness to anyone, because we’re too busy focusing on ourselves.

How many of us would have slammed the door in David’s face because it was too inconvenient to help him out?

Ahimelech could have refused to give David bread but instead he showed him undeserved kindness.

And of course, if you’re a Christian showing mercy should be natural because God has been so merciful to you. When Jesus died on the cross for your sins isn’t that the ultimate example of mercy?

What’s so amazing to me about this passage is that you have a picture of the gospel right here in the imagery of the bread!

The bread of the Presence represented fellowship, communion, and relationship with the living God, which is why it was called the bread of the Presence… go figure!

And so think about what’s going on here: The holy bread that represented communion and fellowship with the living God was given to sustain and nourish a starving sinner!

Does that sound familiar?

Remember when Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.”

God has poured out his mercy by allowing undeserving sinners like you and me to feed upon the bread of life - Jesus Christ, who is the sustenance that nourishes and sustains your very soul. Amen?

There is no better picture of God’s mercy than what he has done for us in Jesus Christ, and Ahimelech’s compassion and mercy towards David is a small reflection of that glorious truth!

Christ equips us for the future (vv. 7-9)

Christ not only ministers to our hearts in the moment, but it also strengthens and equips us for the future.

I don’t dream very often, but I do have one recurring dream. And no, it’s not some sort of prophetic dream or anything like that, it’s actually much lamer than that. In my dream, I’m here at the American Legion on a Sunday, (I know that because all of you are in my dream too), we go through the entire worship service and it’s time for me to preach and I look at the pulpit and my Bible isn’t there, I have no notes, everything is empty. And in my dream I look out at you all and everyone appears to be on the edge of their seats eagerly awaiting to hear something from the Lord but all I have is a deer in the headlights look on my face.

Maybe I need to see a shrink, I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a lot to psychoanalyze there. But in all seriousness, I know what the dream is about – it’s about my fear of unpreparedness. I have a fear of being unprepared for something important. Hopefully, you can relate. I’m sure most of us have sat down for a test at some point in our lives only to realize that we were totally unprepared. It makes you feel completely vulnerable.

And I imagine that had to be how David felt. He felt totally unprepared for whatever lay ahead and completely vulnerable. After all, he had absolutely nothing. He had no food and no weapon. He really was exposed and vulnerable.

But not only does Ahimelech give David the showbread, but he also gives him a sword, but not just any sword. He gives him a very special sword, Goliath’s sword.

At first glance, you might think, well Ahimelech is simply giving David whatever weapon he has available, which just so happens to be Goliath’s sword. But David’s victory over Goliath wasn’t due to David’s skill or abilities, rather, David’s victory over Goliath was all about God’s deliverance. It wasn’t about what David did, it was about what God did through David.

Goliath’s sword was not only a useful weapon, but a physical reminder to David of God’s past deliverance. So often reminders of the past will give you hope for the future. If God could deliver David from the hand of Goliath, God could certainly deliver him from the hand of Saul.

Again the gospel does the same thing for you and me today. Because of Christ’s past victory on the cross, we can have certainty of his ultimate, future, and final victory.

Jesus referred to 1 Samuel 21 in Matthew 12, but David also referred to this experience in his life in Psalm 34.

He wrote, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). What’s remarkable is that David wrote those words while still on the run. He wasn’t delivered yet in a final sense. But he could already see God’s sustaining hand in his desperation. He wasn’t alone. The Lord was so near to him that he could taste him. Which is why he wrote in Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Not long ago, we shared simple suppers together—dinners in homes with conversation, laughter, and breaking bread. The goal was fellowship: that in sitting around the table, people would truly see each other, know each other, and be refreshed.

Isn’t that exactly what happens at the Lord’s Supper? The Lord of glory dines with his people at his Table. He offers us not just bread and wine, but His very presence.

As I spent time reflecting on 1 Samuel 21:1-9, I couldn’t get over just how seamlessly it ties into what we experience at the Lord’s Table. It’s at the Lord’s Table God meets us in our desperation. It’s at the Lord’s Table there we experience his grace and mercy anew. It’s at the Table the Lord equips us for the future.

The same Lord who fed David with the bread of presence now feeds His people with the bread of life. In John 6, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). The holy bread that sustained David was only a shadow of the true bread that sustains us now—Christ Himself.

Do you believe that you’re a desperate sinner who can only be saved through faith in Christ’s sin atoning sacrifice on the cross? Then Christ offers you himself.

So today, if you feel worn out by the burdens of life, if you’re walking through a season of desperation, know this: Christ meets you here. He offers mercy. He gives you Himself. He nourishes your soul for the road ahead.

May you taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen. Let’s pray together.