Ep. 80. 1 Samuel 21-22 | David and Doeg

EPISODE 80

DAVID AND DOEG: 1 SAMUEL 21-22

When David goes to Ahimelech, the priest, he asks for something to eat and ultimately ends up eating the holy bread. The priests set out the bread of the presence every morning before the Lord. Each morning, the new bread would replace the day-old bread and the older bread was given to the priests as part of their portion. David had no right to eat this bread. Jesus tells us as much in Matthew.

Jesus uses this story to reshape how the Pharisees saw the Sabbath. When Jesus' disciples picked heads of grain on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were outraged. Jesus asks, "Have you not heard how David ate the bread that was not lawful for him to eat or how the priests who work on the Sabbath do not profane the Sabbath?" Jesus indicates that it was not "lawful" for David to eat the bread of the presence, but the prevailing attitude of the Jews was that David was spotless. The Jewish understanding was, rightly, that the Messiah would come from the line of David. Jesus is basically saying, "You want to condemn my followers for eating a few pieces of grain on the Sabbath, but you don't condemn David for eating the bread designated only for the priests?" He points out their misunderstanding of the Sabbath and their hypocrisy when he lands on the truth that it is lawful "to do good on the Sabbath."

When David was there with Ahimelech, we also met Doeg the Edomite. Remember, the Edomites are the descendants of Esau. Doeg, at the command of Saul, killed all the priests in Nob. Only Abiathar escaped. This is part of God's judgment on the house of Eli from 1 Samuel 2. Eli was the father of Phinehas, the father of Ichabod (who was born the day the Philistines captured the Ark), the father of Ahitub, the father of Ahimelech (who fed David the showbread and gave him the sword of Goliath), the father of Abiathar (the only priest to escape the wrath of Saul).

After this, David fled to Gath but feigned lunacy and also wrote the 34th Psalm. In your Bible, at the end of 1 Samuel 21, make a note for yourself to read Psalm 34.

David wrote the 52nd Psalm in response to the wickedness of Doeg so you will want to be sure to read it at the conclusion of 1 Samuel 22. It is very helpful to read these Psalms in concert with their corresponding narratives. It is interesting to see the "enemies" David is referring to as real people rather than faceless forces of evil.

ADDITIONAL READING: Psalm 52; Psalm 34; 1 Samuel 2:33; Matthew 12:1-8