When Evil Prevails: Trusting God in a Broken World - 1 Samuel 22:6-23
The massacre of the priests in Israel by Saul is one of the most disturbing passages in all of Scripture. It’s the kind of story that makes us stop and ask, “How could something like this happen? What is going on here?” Sadly, this kind of evil is not isolated to Saul’s reign—it’s a tragic thread woven throughout human history.
We see it in Exodus 1, when Pharaoh, fearing the growing strength of the Israelites, ordered the murder of all Hebrew baby boys. And again in Matthew 2, when King Herod, desperate to protect his throne, commanded the slaughter of infant boys in Bethlehem in a futile attempt to kill the true King—Jesus.
There are also more modern examples of massacres as well: on Saint Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, thousands of protestant French Huguenots were killed by Catholics in Paris and across France in a wave of religious violence.
In 1770 there was the Boston Massacre. British soldiers fired into a crowd of American colonists who had been taunting them. Five colonists were killed, including Crispus Attucks, who is often considered the first casualty of the American Revolution.
Of course, the Holocaust would fit under the massacre label as well.
All that to say, massacres have been a sad reality of the world we live in. But what makes the massacre of the priests so disturbing is that he killed women and children as well, for absolutely no reason. Saul’s massacre of the priests was nothing short of pure evil.
The existence of evil is a sad reality of the world we live in. Evil has always existed, and will always exist until the Lord comes again. And of course, evil is the result of the fall. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden they unleashed sin into our world. And when sin is fully embraced, loved, and nurtured while God is rejected it can often grow into something quite evil.
Which is exactly what we see happening in the life of Saul. Saul continually rejected the Lord and embraced his sin. In many ways that’s the grave warning we’re supposed to receive from 1 Samuel – the more you give yourself over to sin, the further you run from God, the more things tend to spiral out of control. In Saul’s case the more he gave himself over to sin, the more heinous his actions became. We find ourselves at the apex of Saul’s wickedness when he unjustly murdered the priests in Israel along with their families.
If you were living at this particular moment in time, it would be easy to believe that wickedness had gained the upper hand over goodness, righteousness, and holiness.
In fact, you might even be led to believe that God had pulled his presence from his people.
But I think we’ve all thought this sort of thing before. Because at some point, I’m sure you have looked out at the world and thought that injustice, wickedness, and evil will prevail over what is good, and it’s in those moments we ask ourselves, where is God?
But the truth is, God is not indifferent, distant, or passive about the injustice and evil that takes place in this world. God’s justice may not be immediate, but it is inevitable. He will work out all things for his glory and our good. This passage reminds us that first, that the wicked will expose their own hearts (vv. 6-10), secondly, although the righteous may suffer there is always hope (vv. 11-19), and lastly, we must remember that the refuge we long for is found in Christ alone (vv. 20-23).
The Wicked Expose Their Own Hearts (vv. 6-10)
Our passage begins with Saul subjecting everyone to his pity party while he clings to his trusty spear.
Look at what Saul said beginning in verse 7:
“Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.”
He starts his pity party by reminding his top leaders everything that he’s done for them. He’s given them an amazing life that includes things like fields and vineyards, and power, but if David, the son of Jesse, comes into power, it’s all over for them. According to Saul, there’s absolutely no chance David will treat any of them well because they served Saul. So either they help Saul destroy David or David is going to destroy them.
Which is why they need to break their code of silence and tell Saul everything they know about David! No one told him about Jonathan and David’s covenant!
It really is quite the accusation that Saul levels in verses 7-8, because Saul assumes that everyone has information on David and is choosing to withhold it from him. He even said at the beginning of verse 8 that they’ve all conspired against him.
Saul makes it sound like it's a loyalty issue. If the men in his court were really loyal to him, then they needed to tell him everything they know about David.
But of course, there is something much more sinister going on: the political loyalty talk is really a mask for his murderous rage and paranoia. He thinks no one can see it, but really it’s on full display for anyone who’s paying attention.
Which is what happens for so many of us! We think we’re so good at hiding sin – that one will could ever figure it out, and the reality is, there is a chance that no one will ever figure it out, but God knows.
As I was reflecting on this passage, I was reminded of how popular it was at one point for people to use heavy chemicals as common household cleaners. You get the formaldehyde out to disinfect something, the ammonia to clean glass, and the lye to clean off your oven. Nevermind the fact that several of those strong chemicals that were once common household items are believed to be carcinogens, if you mixed the wrong two chemicals together it can potentially kill you.
We have something of a terrible mixture in our passage too. Saul’s murderous rage and paranoia gets mixed with Doeg the Edomite’s ambition and opportunism which creates a deadly combination.
Scripture goes out of its way to make sure we know that Doeg was an Edomite. The Edomites were enemies of the people of God. They were descendants from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. The point is simple and obvious: Doeg was not an Israelite, and he was willing to do whatever it took to gain favor with Saul.
Which is why in verse 9 he was willing to reveal everything that he saw in Nob. “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 10 and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
Saul was bloodthirsty and Doeg was a willing participant which is the groundwork for the atrocity against the priests in Nob.
But it’s important to pause and ask ourselves, where do evil acts and atrocities begin? Is it the act? Or does something take place before the act? It’s a chicken or the egg situation isn’t it?
If you’ve spent any time thinking about these things then you know the answer: Sin, wickedness, and evil begin in the heart.
Saul’s wickedness isn’t something that comes out of thin air. It’s a reflection of his heart. The blackness of Saul’s heart is exposed, despite his efforts to hide it.
Which is a helpful reminder for all of us this morning: everything will eventually come to light. Remember what Jesus said, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”
The things that we believe we’ve hidden so well, will one day be totally exposed. You might be able to fool men, but you cannot fool God. He will hold all of us accountable.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5, that all of us will “…appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
Those are intimidating words, aren’t they? You’re going to be judged for everything that you’ve done. But of course, Paul doesn’t leave us without hope.
Because later in that exact same chapter of 2 Corinthians 5 he tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
Not only does God see all that we’ve done, we will have to make an account for it. And so the question becomes will your sins and trespasses be held against you or will they be forgiven by the blood of Christ?
That’s the ultimate question for all of us this morning. All of our hearts are corrupted with sin, but do you look to Christ to stand before God on your behalf, or will you stand before him all alone?
The Righteous May Suffer, but Not Without Hope (vv. 11-19)
Saul wasn’t worried about his sin. He was utterly consumed with protecting his power and eliminating anything or anyone that he thought posed a threat to it.
When Doeg told him that he saw David with Ahimelech at the Tabernacle in Nob, Saul thought he was so close to David he could almost taste it.
And so he called Ahimelech to come before him and give an account of why he had supported David.
Did you catch all the accusations that Saul threw in Ahimlech’s face? According to Saul, Ahimelech had “conspired against him” by “inquiring of the Lord for David,” and giving him “provisions,” so that he could “lie in wait” to attack Saul.
It’s the ramblings of a mad man isn’t it?
But Ahimelech offers a powerful defense in verses 14-15:
“And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.”
The commentator Dale Ralph Davis summarized Ahimelech’s defense well. really well. Ahimelech asked Saul, “Doesn’t David have a high rank and fine reputation [in your] court? Isn’t [David] [your] son-in-law? Was my seeking [the Lord’s] direction for [David] some new twist? Haven’t I done that regularly?”
Ahimelech’s point was simple: I didn’t know what was going on – I just helped a man who was in need.
He simply did what he had done countless times before for David! What’s the problem here?
None of those points persuaded Saul, because he sentenced Ahimelech to death. But Saul didn’t just sentence Ahimelech to death, he sentenced all the priests to death in verse 17.
But no one wanted to carry out his command. Saul told the guard to “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord…” but no one did anything. We’re told at the end of verse 17, that “the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord.”
It was so painfully obvious to everyone how unjust Saul’s sentence was.
But of course, Doeg the Edomite was a willing participant. He carried out Saul’s orders and killed Ahimelech along with 84 other priests. 85 in total.
But the evil didn’t end there. Verse 19 says, “And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.”
Innocent lives were taken for absolutely no reason.
It was an incredibly dark day in Israel, but it was also a dark day for David as well, and we know this because he wrote Psalm 52 in response to the massacre of the priests.
The inscription of Psalm 52 says, “A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
One of the challenges of an atrocity is the feeling of helplessness. Because once evil has taken place you can’t undo it. The damage has been done. David can’t bring back the priests. What can he do? David does the only thing that he can do: he cries out to the Lord.
Psalm 52 is both a condemnation of the wicked and a declaration of confidence in God's justice.
All he can do is cast himself on the perfect justice of the Lord. David trusts and believes that our righteous, holy, God isn’t going to let wickedness and evil prevail.
Which is why he wrote in Psalm 52:5, “God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.”
In other words, you may get away with wickedness now, but you’re not going to get away with it forever. God’s judgment may not be immediate, but it is inevitable. God will have the last word.
Which is a tension we see again and again in Scripture: the reality of suffering in a fallen world, and the assurance that God's purposes are never thwarted by evil. Jesus Himself warned us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Despair is not the Christian posture because our trust is not anchored in our circumstances, but in the unchanging character of God. When injustice strikes—when the wicked seem to prosper, when betrayal cuts deep, or when obedience leads to hardship—it is tempting to believe God is absent or indifferent. But Scripture reminds us not to look at the immediate outcomes, but to the eternal purposes and promises of God.
Suffering is not an exception to the Christian life—it is often the very path by which God deepens our dependence, strengthens our faith, and refines our hope.
We should expect suffering, we are never left without hope.
Even in the darkness of our passage there is a glimmer of hope isn’t there? In the midst of the destruction of the priests and their families, one priest escapes: Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son.
The Faithful Take Refuge in God Alone (vv. 20-23)
Abiathar survival was not accidental; it was providential. Abiathar fled to David, the Lord’s anointed, and found refuge in him like so many others.
David who was once alone now has 400 men with him, which includes both a prophet named Gad and now a priest. All the Old Testament avenues for communicating with God have left Saul and gone to David. You can see how God is moving the chess pieces and setting the stage for David.
But David was grieved and guilt-ridden over the murder of the priests and told Abiathar to, “Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”
David and Abiathar were both wounded by wickedness. But instead of falling into bitterness or despair, David anchored himself in the steadfast love of God.
David wrote in Psalm 52:8–9:
“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
I will thank you forever, because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.”
The “green olive tree” imagery is a picture of life, fruitfulness, and peace. Which is interesting given the circumstances, right? How can David speak of olive trees in a moment of such darkness?
It’s because God’s steadfast, covenant love is more stable than the chaos around him. In Psalm 52, David doesn’t pretend that evil doesn’t exist. He names it. He laments it. But he also reminds himself where true stability lies: not in palaces, not in plans, not in revenge, but in the covenant mercy of the Lord.
David had every reason to grow bitter, to despair, to believe that God had abandoned him. But that’s not what happened.
David found his refuge in the steadfast love of God.
Evil is a grievous part of life in a fallen world, and passages like 1 Samuel 22 force us to confront that reality head-on. Saul’s descent into madness and murder—his slaughter of innocent priests and their families—reminds us of just how far a heart hardened against God can go. It's disturbing. It should be. Sin, when loved and nurtured, does not stay tame. It grows, it corrupts, and it destroys.
For anyone watching these events unfold in real time, it might have looked like evil had won. The ones set apart to lead God's people in worship were dead. The tabernacle was defiled. The spiritual life of Israel seemed to be snuffed out.
And maybe you’ve had those moments too—when evil seemed to have the final word. When headlines, diagnoses, betrayals, or grief made it feel as if God had gone silent or abandoned the scene.
But this passage, painful as it is, tells a deeper story—a story of divine faithfulness even in the darkest cave or bloodiest battlefield.
Because even as the sword of Saul strikes down the innocent, God preserves a remnant. One priest, Abiathar, escapes. One man clings to David, the anointed king, and finds refuge. And that is not just coincidence—that’s God’s grace. It’s God saying, “I’m still here. My promises still stand. My plan has not failed.”
And that same truth holds for us today. Evil may roar. Injustice may seem to triumph. But God is not passive. He is not absent. He is preserving, refining, and fulfilling His purposes—even when we cannot yet see it.
Psalm 52 which are David’s reflections on these very events, do not end in despair or revenge, but with trust and worship. And that is our calling as the church—not to despair in the face of evil, but to trust in Jesus Christ, the one who has overcome it.
Like David, Jesus was also hunted, betrayed, and abandoned. And as he hung on the cross, it looked as if sin, wickedness, evil, and Satan himself had won the day, but it was through His suffering, He secured our everlasting refuge. He was not spared from injustice—He was nailed to it—so that we could be spared God’s judgment and sheltered in His mercy.
When evil seems to triumph, you and I can rest in this: God never loses track of His people. He preserves a remnant, protects their future, and brings them under the care of His anointed King—Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Amen. Let’s pray together.
