Hi Jeff,<\/p>\n
Is a trick a sin? When reading I Samuel 21:1-9, can we say that David lied to Ahimelech or tricked him? In many cases in the book of First Samuel David used a trick to get himself out of trouble.<\/p>\n\t
“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 place’<\/em>” (I Samuel 21:2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
David’s statement to Ahimelech was an outright lie. It demonstrates that like every one of us, David was a flawed man. His intention was to do righteousness, but under pressure, he sometimes gave into sin. David later wrote: “My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word. Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously<\/em>” (Psalms 119:28-29). David acknowledges that he had a problem with lying, a problem he was determined to overcome.<\/p>\n
In this particular case, David’s fear didn’t allow him to trust in God’s protection as he was fleeing for his life. Perhaps he thought lying was excusable since he was saving the lives of his men and himself, but the result of his lies led to the death of many. “Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword<\/em>” (I Samuel 22:18-19). David came to realize that he was responsible for this destruction. “Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household” <\/em>” (I Samuel 22:22). What a burden to carry!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi Jeff, Is a trick a sin? When reading I Samuel 21:1-9, can we say that David lied to Ahimelech or tricked him? In many cases in the book of First Samuel David used a trick to get himself out of trouble. Answer: “David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[111,392],"class_list":["post-54753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-david","tag-lying"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17951,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-was-high-priest-when-david-ate-the-showbread-abiathar-or-ahimelech\/","url_meta":{"origin":54753,"position":0},"title":"Who was High Priest when David ate the showbread, Abiathar or Ahimelech?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please help me with this supposed contradiction? In Mark 2:23-26, Jesus talks about how David went into the house of God and ate the showbread \"in the days\/in the time\" of Abiathar the high priest. In 1 Samuel 21, it says that David came to Ahimelech, not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1992,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-money-be-used-from-the-church-treasury-to-do-good-for-non-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":54753,"position":1},"title":"Can money be used from the church treasury to do good for non-Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Comment: The following is taken from a list of questions sent to me by my request. The author is from a more liberally-minded group who is preparing lessons on the issues that separate some churches of Christ. He was interested in the other side's point of view and I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14676,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-david-a-young-man-when-he-killed-goliath-and-not-a-boy\/","url_meta":{"origin":54753,"position":2},"title":"Was David a young man when he killed Goliath and not a boy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In studying I Samuel 17:38-40, I am wondering if David is not a young boy as some stories depict him, but instead, he is a young man. Saul was the tallest man among the children of Israel and we see that he is now giving his armor to David\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47733,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-kill-davids-son-when-it-was-david-who-sinned\/","url_meta":{"origin":54753,"position":3},"title":"Why did God kill David’s son when it was David who sinned?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you please explain II Samuel 12:14? It seems that the child died because of what David did. But the Bible says that a child shall not die for the sins of the father. Thank you. Answer: \"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11863,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-saul-actually-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":54753,"position":4},"title":"How did Saul actually die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to know how Saul died. In I Samuel 31:4 the Scripture says that Saul fell upon his own sword and in verse 6 it says Saul, his three sons, and his armorbearer died that same day. Then in II Samuel 1:10. the Scripture says an Amalekite stood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36209,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happened-to-nathan-when-he-said-the-lord-accepted-davids-idea-to-build-a-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":54753,"position":5},"title":"What happened to Nathan when he said the Lord accepted David’s idea to build a temple?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard a preacher use II Samuel 7:1-17 to try and establish the fact that if God did not ask for something, then He didn't want it.\u00a0 I've even followed their example and used it in one of my own sermons on Bible authority.\u00a0 But I'm having some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}