May 29, Day 149 – When Tyrants Rule
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- May 29
- 3 min read
In our readings today, we come to the scene in which David flees from Saul to Nob and to Ahimelech the priest. David and his men are hungry, and he asks the priest for food, “but the priest answered David, ‘I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread” (verse 4). The consecrated bread points ahead to the true Bread of Life – our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the incident whereby our Lord justified His plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath (cf., Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; and Luke 6:1-5). As the Sabbath was made for man, man’s needs are thus greater than the Sabbath, so its ordinances may legitimately be set aside to meet man’s greater needs. While David is at Nob, we coincidentally meet up with the foreign traitor and scoundrel – Doeg, the Edomite. Not unlike Judas, Doeg is Saul’s “head shepherd” (verse 7). He will reappear in chapter 22 and in our later readings to make trouble for David. We are additionally intrigued by the level of Saul’s obsession with and hatred of David. Think of all the time, energy, resources, and lives wasted by this evil king who pursues his own son-in-law! Saul’s pure envy and sheer jealousy is amazing. In verses 12-15, we note God’s sense of humor by including some comic relief in His Holy Word when David – for fear of Achish, king of Gath – pretends to be insane. “Acting like a madman,” David pulls this stunt off so convincingly that Achish responds to his servants, “Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here?” (verse 15). We see an important lesson here – God even uses human lies and deceit to expose what’s in our own hearts. Then, in chapter 22, we see that David moves on to the cave of Adullam – and subsequently to Mizpah, – where he “gathers around him those who were in distress, in debt, and discontented” (verse 2). This helps us to understand that life under king Saul was not necessarily pleasant. Such is usually the case when tyrants rule. Doeg slays eighty-five men, and David senses his responsibility for this because he “knew that Doeg would tell Saul” about his location (verse 22). In chapter 23, we see that Saul’s collusions and pursuits of David continue to the Desert of Maon, but “Saul breaks off his pursuit in response to a message about Philistines raiding the land” (verses 27-28). Saul doesn’t realize that he is actually fighting against the God of the universe.
Today’s Proverbs – 13:10-19 – contain wise, practical counsel for us. “Pride breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in heeding good advice, listening to instruction, and regarding discipline” (verses 10-18). Good practices like saving money, respecting authority, and taking correction are a “fountain of life” that can turn us away from the “snares of death” (13:14). Interestingly, “prudent men act out of knowledge, but fools expose their own folly” (verse 16). We see this every day. Ignore discipline and you come soon to “poverty and shame” (verse18). “Fools detest turning from evil” (verse 19). This section simply teaches us that fools love to engage in evil deeds.
John 18:1-24 shows us the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, but we actually observe that Jesus – not the Jewish or Roman authorities – is the One Who is in full, active control of all these events. He is not passively being acted upon, but rather He is sovereign over it all. Three times, again, we see Jesus identifying with the Father in His use of the “I am” statements (cf., verses 5, 6, and 8). Jesus is taken to Annas (verse 13) where we see Peter’s first denial (verse 17). In verse 18, John writes, “It was cold,” which complements his earlier statement, “And it was night” (13:30), foreshadowing the collaboration of these extreme conditions – complete spiritual darkness and harsh cold – with the wicked treatments and opposition to God’s Son at His unlawful trial. In verses 19-24, we see that “one of the officials struck Jesus in the face” (verse 22) – simply because Jesus “spoke the truth” (verse 23).
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