1 Samuel Chapter 21
Is Lying to preserve life justifiable?
When David realized that Saul sought to kill him, he fled from Saul’s presence.
He first went to Nob, the home of the tabernacle and the priests at the time to seek for help. Ahimelech the priest was afraid when he met David who came to him alone. He expected David, being the captain of Saul’s army and as Saul’s son-in-law should have been accompanied by his soldiers. David being alone was a sign that something was amiss.
In trying to put Ahimelech at ease, David resorted to lying that he was under a secret business ordered by the king. David further asked Ahimelech for bread and weapon, two essential elements necessary for his survival. Ahimelech would have been even more suspicious of David for he seemed more like a fugitive than someone who was on a secret mission from the king. Subsequently, Ahimelech provided both the bread and a weapon to David.
Unfortunately for Ahimelech, his deed was later reported by Doeg the Edomite to Saul who took that to be a rebellious act on the part of the priest. As a result, 85 priests (Ahimelech included) and people of the city of Nob were killed by Doeg on Saul’s order.
Was David to blame for causing the death of so many innocent lives, not to mention the lives of faithful servants of God? Should we cut David some slack for his indiscretion as he was running for his own life?
One may argue that David was considerate for the well-being of Ahimelech when he concealed the truth from him because Ahimelech would then not be helping a fugitive knowingly and hence could not be faulted (ref 1 Sa 22:13-15).
As we look closer to the course of the event, Ahimelech had also sought for the counsel of the LORD when helping David and even Jesus quoted this event to the Jews that David and his men were not faulted for consuming the replaced holy bread (ref Mar 2:26). Not faulting David for consuming the holy bread may be attributed to the mercy and grace of God upon David because he was a man after God’s heart.
It however did not mean that God approved of David’s deception or concealment of the truth. Had David have more faith for God’s providence, he would have told Ahimelech the truth and Ahimelech would have been given a chance to decide whether to help David or not.
If Ahimelech was a loyal priest to God, he would still likely be helping David who was already pre-ordained as the future king. Then he and the priests would have died as faithful servants and martyrs in glory as opposed to being slain by the king whom they thought they were loyal to.
After Nob, David fled to the king of Gath Achish. It was not clear why of all places David chose to run to the home city of Goliath whom he has killed. He probably hoped Achish would accept him since he has been made a fugitive of Saul. He might also have hoped to join Achish to consolidate his own power base.
His plan was soon foiled when the servants of Achish recognized him and labeled him as the king of the land rather than a fugitive or defector. To escape his predicament, he again resorted to deception by pretending to be mad so that he would be driven out of Gath and not killed.
On both occasions, he managed to survive through his own guile instead of trusting God. But he couldn’t escape the feeling of guilt and remorse and eventually came to the realization that trusting in God was the only way for deliverance from his physical and spiritual distress.
“Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.” “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalm 34, A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech)
“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” “For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?” (Psalm 56, A Miktam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath)