David’s Deadly Deceit

Read 1 Samuel 20-22
 
1 Samuel 21:1-3 David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. “Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?” 2 “The king has sent me on a private matter,” David said. “He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me. 3 Now, what is to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.”
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1 Samuel 22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You do it.” So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments.
 
DAVID and Saul sin. Is one worse than the other? First, we see David lying to Ahimelech to get food and a weapon. Because of his lie, Saul, in the second scripture, accused Ahimelech of helping David escape. Because his soldiers refused his evil order, Saul used Doeg, the Edomite – a non-Jew – to kill all the priests and their families.
    Do you ever think a little lie is really little and makes no difference? We do because it is our nature. Satan’s lie began mankind’s fall into deceiving God and one another. A lie was convenient for David to get what he wanted. Ahimelech didn’t need to know everything, did he? Could David have been thinking, “My life is certainly worth a little lie.” But then we see David’s fear for his life cost Ahimelech and hundreds of others their lives.
    It was Saul’s fear for his kingdom that caused him to order the senseless killing. The lie, “I must destroy David!” captivated Saul’s mind, indeed, his life. Yes, sin creeps from place to place. If left unchecked it infects the heart, mind and soul. And it affects person to person. The deceit extends to places you never intend. Whatever you do, good or bad, involves others. We are called to love one another. That means we are devoted to their good as we are devoted to the truth.
    So then, do you want to affect lives with deceit or with devotion?  
     
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.