Month: May 2025

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 101

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

 1 Samuel 22:1

Sometimes you have to leave where you live, especially if the life you’ve built isn’t true.  David left Gath, but he didn’t just leave Gath; he left the life he brought to Gath.  When we get tired of being fools, we can start being free.  Now those who loved David could come close to him.  It’s hard to come close to someone who won’t come clean.    But when you choose to live loved and free, not only will those who love you come close, but those who need love will come too.  Just think, David could have missed it all if he had stayed grounded in Gath with no life, no leadership, and no liberty to live the life God had for him.  Leave Gath!

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 100

Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? ¹⁵ Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

1 Samuel 21:14-15

The man here is David.  King Achish never uses his name and has no respect for his deeds.  Maybe the last step into insignificance is isolation.  Not only does David mean nothing to King Achish, but the king also doesn’t want David in his home.  This is what David wants, really, but it gives us a picture of what really happens when we run in fear rather than march in faith.  This is all about to change when David decides to leave Gath, and that’s what must happen; we must want to leave a life of fear and foolishness.  There’s a way out; we must choose it. 

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 99

David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹³ So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

1 Samuel 21:12-13 It does not take long to fall from dignity to disgrace.  We fall faster than we rise. Once David victoriously carried the head of Goliath of Gath, and now, he feared for his own head before the king of Gath.  Times change, but that is not the problem; we change from purity to pretending.  We start worrying about our own skin, listening to our own thoughts, and trying to fit in rather than stand out.  Deception is the key and the motive of someone running scared.  Listen and learn.  We quit on God, but God doesn’t quit on us.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 98

That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. ¹¹ But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 21:10-11

You’ll end up in strange places when you decide to run in fear.  One of the great joys of maturity and freedom is the ability to be who you want to be, do what you want to do, and go where you want to go.   The enemy uses the events of life to scare us and steal from us all those freedoms.  What changed?  David had lost his confidence in his relationship with God.  Be careful, titles and testimonies of victory can distract your focus from the truth.  The next thing is that we have to forget whose we are and who we are to fit in with what we are not.  In Christ, we don’t have to live this way.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 97

David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”  ⁹ The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”  David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

 1 Samuel 21:8-9

Losing a relationship can ruin your day, but don’t let it ruin your life.  Things happen and life changes; you can’t let loss lead your life.  The real motive for this little visit finally surfaces.  It was a relic from David’s past, the sword of Goliath.  Loss seems to have robbed him of his love and light-hearted attitude to life.  Loneliness can be scary.  Who do you turn to and who do you trust?  Had David forgotten how God delivered him from the lion and the bear?  It’s fatal to fall prey to our feelings and abandon our faith.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 96

Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.

1 Samuel 21:7

We never sin alone, and remember, judgment is built into creation.  We reap what we sow; the Bible says so.  Are you ready for the harvest or the result of your actions?  Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd, was there that day.  When you have enemies, you can’t have excuses.  No matter how bad the day or how difficult the circumstances are, stay strong.  Don’t start lying to yourself because you’ll start lying to others.   David started this whole thing by lying to himself, which was why he lied for Ahimelek.  Your enemy is waiting for your lie; don’t fear the truth.  You cannot walk in love and not live in the truth.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 95

“Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!”                                          1 Samuel 21:5

We are so tempted to tell a little white lie when we’re in a pinch.  A white lie is a lie you tell for a greater reason in your own mind.  It doesn’t matter because lying is like trying to avoid the next French fry.  One leads to another.  It’s hard to stop, and soon we’re lying again to cover the last lie.   Being on your own can be scary, and lying isn’t going to help you.  You are who you are, and you are where you are.  Keep it simple.  If you can’t admit the truth now, you will have to later.  David doesn’t, and Ahimelech will pay the price.  When we start lying to live, there is no respect for what is holy.  Trust God with the truth; He loves you! 

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 94

David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.

 1 Samuel 21:2

One of the most serious things about being alone or on your own is that, rather than trusting, we twist people into our narrative.  David lies to the priest, and it will cost the priest his life.  We never sin alone; it always affects others.  But in a place of isolation, there is no obstructions to our dark places.  We all need someone or some others in our lives.  It doesn’t matter how many trophies or treasures we’ve accumulated; by ourselves, we are most vulnerable to our enemy.  God’s hand is still on David, but David’s hand is not with anyone else.  That is a difficult and dangerous place.   Think about it!

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 93

David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

1 Samuel 21:1

What a great question!  Something is wrong if you find yourself all alone.  This doesn’t mean that David was in the wrong, but something was wrong because David was all alone.  Our enemy loves to get us all alone.  Satan tempted Jesus when He was all alone in the desert and on the cross.  Life is a dangerous place to be all alone.  Our friends can leave us alone if we choose to live wrongly.  It’s important to know the difference and know when we’re different.  David’s actions here will cost a man his life.  Ask the question, “Why are you alone?”   If you don’t know the answer, you won’t know the action to take next.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 92

Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town

1 Samuel 20:42

There comes a time when face-to-face friendships come to a transition.  We have to go.  It’s hard because of the connection we’ve created and enjoyed, and we will miss.  That’s how you measure a true friendship, by the hole it leaves in your heart.  The bigger the hole, the better the friendship, but life happens, and for whatever reason, be it careers, choice, or conflict, we need to be able to move on.  David left, and Jonathan went home, but they left with the other in their hearts.  These relationships are precious because they’re built on value and respect.  Value and respect only happen as we take a chance to trust someone who has value and respect for you and others.