211 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest ; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, "Why are you alone and no one with you?" 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest , "The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ' Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain e place .' 3 "Now therefore, what do you have on hand ? Give me five loaves of bread , or whatever can be found ." 4 The priest answered David and said , "There is no ordinary bread on hand , but there is consecrated bread ; if only the young men have kept themselves from women ." 5 David answered the priest and said to him, " Surely e women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy , though it was an ordinary journey ; how much e more e then today will their vessels be holy?" 6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord , in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away. 7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day , detained before the Lord ; and his name was Doeg the Edomite , the chief of Saul's shepherds .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 21:1-7
Commentary on 1 Samuel 21:1-9
(Read 1 Samuel 21:1-9)
David, in distress, fled to the tabernacle of God. It is great comfort in a day of trouble, that we have a God to go to, to whom we may open our cases, and from whom we may ask and expect direction. David told Ahimelech a gross untruth. What shall we say to this? The Scripture does not conceal it, and we dare not justify it; it was ill done, and proved of bad consequence; for it occasioned the death of the priests of the Lord. David thought upon it afterward with regret. David had great faith and courage, yet both failed him; he fell thus foully through fear and cowardice, and owing to the weakness of his faith. Had he trusted God aright, he would not have used such a sorry, sinful shift for his own preservation. It is written, not for us to do the like, no, not in the greatest straits, but for our warning. David asked of Ahimelech bread and a sword. Ahimelech supposed they might eat the shew-bread. The Son of David taught from it, that mercy is to be preferred to sacrifice; that ritual observances must give way to moral duties. Doeg set his foot as far within the tabernacle as David did. We little know with what hearts people come to the house of God, nor what use they will make of pretended devotion. If many come in simplicity of heart to serve their God, others come to observe their teachers and to prove accusers. Only God and the event can distinguish between a David and a Doeg, when both are in the tabernacle.