WEEK 4 ● Day 2

READ 1 SAMUEL 21

Let’s play a quick game. Is God more present at church than He is at . . .

home

Yes / No

work

Yes / No

the movie theater or gym

Yes / No

your favorite restaurant or hangout place

Yes / No

the mountains or beach

Yes / No

Of course not! God is everywhere. He’s as present within the walls of a church as anyplace you go throughout your day. Here’s what Psalm 139:7-12 tells us:

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?

to be out of your sight?

If I climb to the sky, you’re there!

If I go underground, you’re there!

If I flew on morning’s wings

to the far western horizon,

You’d find me in a minute —

you’re already there waiting!

Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!

At night I’m immersed in the light!”

It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;

night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

If this is true, then why do we walk inside our churches and expect to “feel” different? Why do we expect our prayers will be heard and answered more readily? Why are we so much more aware of God and His work in our lives (or our struggles) when we sit within the four walls of a church building?

1. Do you find yourself more in tune with God within the church walls than during the rest of your week? Why do you think that is?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even as we acknowledge that God is omnipresent —that He’s everywhere and can be worshiped from anywhere —we can live a very different story in our day-to-day lives, particularly if we are walking through painful circumstances. David (and the rest of the Israelites!) did this too.

Go ahead and open your Bible to 1 Samuel 21:7, where we learn that when David arrives in Nob, a man named Doeg the Edomite (Saul’s head shepherd) is also there, “detained before the LORD” (ESV).

2. Before you start digging, what do you think detained before the Lord means?

 

 

 

 

3. The word detain is the Hebrew word ‘atsar, which also translates to say: stayed, keep, retained. Hmm . . . that doesn’t really clear things up, so let’s dig into the Hebrew and see what before the Lord means. Head to the BLB and click on the Interlinear for this verse. You may already know that the word Yĕhovah
(יְהוָֹה, pronounced yeh-ho-vah) is a name for God, so let’s move on to the word before (paniym; פָּנִים, pronounced pah-neem).

4. According to your Interlinear, what does paniym (פָּנִים) mean?

 

 

 

 

 

 

History Lesson

When we dig into the word before (or פָּנִים; paniym), we learn that the presence/face/person of God was in this place. This is important, because while the Ark of the Covenant had at one time rested inside the beautiful Tabernacle these three men were visiting, it was no longer there. The Ark was designed to be a symbol of the presence of God living in the midst of His people —and yet He was still there when the Ark was not.

The wording in 1 Samuel 21:7 does not suggest that God forced Doeg the Edomite to stay in Nob but rather implies that he was detained, likely for one of several possible reasons:

Whatever the reason Doeg the Edomite was at the Tabernacle, one thing is certain: He saw David without his usual entourage of soldiers, speaking with the priest. Verse 1 tells us that Ahimelech also noticed that David was traveling alone and trembled at the sight.

5. Why was this detail of note to both men? Why would David being alone make Ahimelech nervous?

 

 

David had reached a high rank in Saul’s army and therefore rarely traveled alone. Whether he was on assignment from the king or on his own business, he would still have a group of men traveling with him. The fact that he didn’t was disconcerting to Ahimelech and Doeg. By now, the kingdom would have known about the king’s mood swings and how God had removed His blessing from Saul’s kingship. The priest knew something was wrong if David was traveling in a manner unsuitable to his ranking.[1] While it’s possible that David visited Nob because Ahimelech the priest was a safe person to go to, he may have also recognized this was more than just a little jealous spat with King Saul and wanted to see the Tabernacle one last time before heading into exile. But why didn’t David tell Ahimelech the truth of what was going on?

6. Why do you think David fled to the Tabernacle? Why might he have covered his tracks with a lie?

 

 

 

There have been so many times when I’ve had every intention of trusting God and then, in the middle of the circumstance, wimped out and relied on myself instead of on Him. Have you ever been there? Wouldn’t it be nice to know the consequences of our sins before taking that wrong step? We’d probably be less likely to continue forward if we knew the result of our lies and deception.

7. Why do you think God doesn’t stop us from making those mistakes? What would we miss out on?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We often hear that God won’t give us more than we can handle. Where did we get this idea? It’s certainly not in the Bible! (Really, it’s not . . . go ahead and check!) Of course God allows us to go through things that are too big or hard for us to handle. Why? Because He is God and He knows that even if we can’t do it, He can!

In the horror of being forced to run for his life, David forgot the need to hold on to God white-knuckled and know that it wasn’t in his own power but in His that things can be done. If we could do things ourselves, handle it all ourselves, how on earth would we ever realize we need God?

In fact, my sweet friend Lindsay Sherbondy has beautifully handlettered a canvas that says,

You are EXACTLY as STRONG as you think you are . . .

IT’S GOD that will surprise you.[2]

Spend some time meditating on these words and this concept. Take your fears and uncertainties to God:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amen.