1 Samuel 22:6-23 | Food for Thought
1 Samuel 22:6-23
Food for Thought:
When You Don’t Get the Benefit of the Doubt. Saul learns that David and his folks had been found, and he loses it. Paranoia grips his heart, and he assumes that everyone is against him - vying for power, conspiring to get rid of him, and withholding the truth from him.
Have you ever learned about something after the fact and assumed people were leaving you out on purpose? What did you do? What as that like?
How does Saul turn this situation into something that’s all about himself?
Why isn’t there any benefit of the doubt? How would it have looked like if Saul did give his troops the benefit of the doubt?
Are you someone who easily gives the benefit of the doubt? Why or why not?
Did Doeg tell the truth or lie? Was it helpful to Saul or not? What did it stir Saul towards - love or hate?
What does Doeg’s example here tell us about the influence you can have on others? …the influence maybe you can’t have? What did Saul need to hear instead?
When You’re Accused for Being Faithful. Once Doeg the Edomite accuses Ahimelech the priest of conspiring with David, Saul immediately calls him to his court and accuses him of aiding his “enemy.” In reality, Ahimelech didn’t know anything about Saul’s beef with David and was simply doing his job, as he’d done a million times before. Regardless of Ahimelech’s innocence, Saul orders the priests to be killed.
Have you ever gotten in trouble for simply doing the right thing? What happened? How did you deal with that?
Have you ever gotten mad because someone was faithful / good to someone you didn’t like? What did that reveal about your heart?
What would make Saul think that the priests were all conspiring against him?
How do accusations reveal what the accuser sees - and how the accuser sees - more than anything else?
When Refusing to Do Evil is Scary. Despite direct orders from the king, none of Saul’s soldiers obey his order to kill the priests. Doeg, however, offers his services and slaughters not only the priests, but men, women, children, and animals.
Have you ever been put in a position of having to choose between obeying sinful orders or disobeying to remain faithful to Jesus? What did you do?
What could’ve happened to the soldiers who refused to listen to the king? What happened anyway even though they refused?
Is “just following orders” ever a reason to go along with something you know is unethical? Why or why not?
How are you taking responsibility for what you’re following - and who?
Taking Responsibility vs. Passing Blame. After one priest escapes with his life, he finds David. David responds by taking responsibility for what happened and giving him a promise to protect.
How does David’s response to what Saul did to the priests differ from Saul’s response to what the priests did for David? How does this reveal how David is seeing things compared to Saul?
In what way does David’s response remind you of Jesus?
How does Jesus’ promise to keep us safe and take responsibility for our sin free us up to taking responsibility for things in our own lives?
How can grace, the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the gospel empower us to give others - especially brothers and sisters in Christ - the benefit of the doubt?
How does knowing the story of the bible / redemptive history, remove you from being “the thing” that everything, everyone, every decision, etc. is all about? How is it freeing to remove yourself from feeling like you’re at the center of everyone else’s life?