Thoughts on 1 Sam 21 &22 – David building up his military forces

Different people read Bible Stories differently. That was my thought on last Sunday Sermon.

You can read the passage here: BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: 1 sam 21-22

The whole passage is about David building up his forces and military strength and not about surviving difficult times. In building up his forces, he also made two mistakes.

David, being a captain in Saul’s army knows what it takes to build up military strength. You need:
(1) Food and weapons
(2) Allies
(3) Troops
(4) Counselors & advisors (in army term is called General Staffs – S2, S3, )

Introduction
After fleeing from Saul alone, we see that in 1 Samuel 21, David had a few young men with him when he came to the Priest Ahimelech. So there is actually a time lapse between 1Sam 20 and 1Sam 21 for him to gather a small group of people

(1) Food & Weapons (1 Sam 21:1-9)
Why did David go to the Priest at Nob?

David purpose of running to the Priest was to get help for food and weapons, and maybe to inquire from God his direction (1Sam 22;15). The Bible texts tell us that David asked Ahimelech for food and was offered consecrated bread (but only a few). He also asked for weapons and was given the sword of Goliath.

It was likely that David went to the Priest because he had left the sword of Goliath there. After killing Goliath, he kept the sword (1Sam 17:58). So at some point in time, he must have gone to the priest and put the sword there.

After getting the food and weapon, David fled to Gath that same day.

Mistake #1: There was a spy at Nob watching him. He didn’t arrest the spy and later David admitted his mistakes (1 Sam 22:22). He, however, learnt from this mistake, that in any military campaign, do not leave any remnant to leak out your secret (1Sam 27:11,12)

(2) Allies (1 Sam 10:15)
Why, of all places did David go to Gath, the hometown of Goliath whom he killed when he was a youth? What was David thinking about?

Perhaps he thinks that the Philistine are the enemies of Saul and since David is now also an enemies of Saul, King Achish may accept him as his ally. That prove to be a mistake when the Philistine soldiers remember that David has killed ten thousands (1Sam 21:11).

Mistake #2: Seek out wrong ally. To save his life, he had to pretend to be mad. It is not about allaying the fear or insecurity of King Achish. However, this mistake build him up and later, he come back to be an ally with King Achish. (1Sam 27)

(3) Troops (1 Sam 22:1-5)
David now gathered about 400 people to be with him, a very sizeable troop for battle. Remember that Gideon only needed 300 people to fight the Midianite, (Judges 7:8) and Abraham had only 318 warriors to fight the 4 kings (Gen 14:14).

David went to Moab and left his parents safely there. It is likely that Jesse being a grandson of Ruth, a Moabite woman still has relatives in Moab. By putting his parents in safe hands, David is now ready for offensive…

...but not quite, he still need …

(4) Counselor and Advisor (1 Sam 22:6-23)
In ancient time, prophet and priest usually act as counselors and advisors to the king. That is why in our chess set, the bishops are positioned next to the king and queen.

David got his counselor and advisor through Prophet Gad (1Sam 22:5) and Priest Abiathar (1Sam 22:23)


With his military strength fully equipped, 1Sam 23 shows us that David is now ready to be on the offensive.


2 things I learn from these passages:

(1) Learn from my mistakes and that will make me stronger, like King David.

(2) In life and as a church, we need to build up our resources:
1. Skills (= weapon),
2. Friends / fellowship (= ally),
3. Co-workers / ministry partners (= troops),
4. Mentors (= counselors & advisors)

This is what I find different from the Sunday Sermon.