In the land of Israel was a little city called Nob. This city was the home of the priests who cared for the tabernacle of God. After the ark had been taken away from the tabernacle at Shiloh and stolen by the Philistines, and after Eli, the high priest, and his two wicked sons had died, the tabernacle was moved to Nob. The ark was not restored to the place in the tabernacle where God planned that it should be kept, still the priests were caring for the tabernacle every day just as faithfully as it had been cared for when the ark was there. A man named Ahimelech was now the high priest, and he wore the same breast-plate that Aaron, the first high priest, had worn.
One day Ahimelech was surprized to see David come hurrying toward the tabernacle. Hie wondered what this brave captain might want; for he knew that David had won many battles against the Philistines and he knew the people of Israel loved him. He knew, too, that David had married the King’s daughter and that now he belonged to the royal family of the kingdom of Israel. But he did not know that Saul hated David and wished to kill him. He did not know that David had left his home at Gibeah without taking a bite of food to eat and without even taking a weapon with which to protect himself in times of danger.
David was careful not to tell the high priest about his troubles. But he asked for bread, because he was hungry, and Ahimelech gave him five loaves that had been kept in the holy place of the tabernacle because he had no other to give. Then David asked for a sword, and Ahimelech said, “I have none here except the one which belonged to the giant Goliath, whom you killed.’ David was glad to take that one, for it was a great sword.
Ahimelech did not know that he was helping a man whom the King of Israel hated. But when he was talking with David, another man came near and heard their conversation. He saw David take Goliath’s sword and go away. This other man’s name was Doeg. Doeg was not an Israelite; but he lived in the land of Israel, and Saul had made him the chief over all the caretakers of the King’s cattle.
When David saw Doeg at the tabernacle he was afraid this man would go back to Saul and tell that David had been talking with the high priest. He knew Saul would send men to hunt all through the land of Israel to find him. Poor David! he did not know where to go to hide, so he hurried away toward the homeland of Saul’s enemies, the Philistines, and came to the city of Gath.
Achish was king of Gath at that time, and his servants knew David. They remembered how the women of Israel had rejoiced after David killed the giant, and how they had sung about David’s great victory. The Philistines wanted to keep him for a prisoner; and when David heard them talking he felt sorry that he had come to their city. He thought now that Achish would surely try to kill him, so he began to act as though he were a crazy man. Achish was afraid of him and quickly sent him away.
From Gath David went back into the land of Israel and came to a place known as the wilderness of Judah. Here he found a cave among the rocks, the cave of Adullam, and in this cave he lived for many days. When his friends heard about his hiding-place, they came to see him there. His parents, too, and his brothers left their home near Bethlehem and came to live with David in the cave. They were afraid of King Saul, and they also feared the Philistine soldiers who had come into the land and had captured the city of Bethlehem.
David’s father and mother were very old, and he felt sorry to see them driven away from their home with no( place to live except in a cave. So he took them to Moab, the land where his great-grandmother Ruth used to live among her own people. And he asked the king of that country to let them live there until he could find a better place for them. Then he went back again to Adullam.
Other men from the land of Israel kept coming to David until he had a little army of about four hundred. He became their captain, and they loved him very dearly. One time three of those men heard him say that he longed to have a drink of water from the old well near the gate of Bethlehem. There he used to draw water to drink when he was a shepherd-boy, and he remembered how good that water tasted. But David knew the Philistines now ruled the city and he knew it would be dangerous to go there to get a drink. He would not try to go. He would not send any one on such a dangerous errand.
These three men crept away through the shadows when evening came and hurried to Bethlehem. There near the gate they found the well, and they drew some water to carry back to give to their captain. They returned to the cave safely and brought the water to David. When David heard how they had risked their lives to try to please him, he knew they loved him very much indeed. But he said, “I can not drink this water; it is too precious. You have risked your lives to bring it to me, and now I will give poured it on the ground before the Lord as a precious gift.