And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David.
David has come back to Ziklag to find it burned, his family gone, and his own men talking of stoning him. Instead of chasing the raiders, he calls for the priest and the ephod — the ordinary way of asking God what to do.
The ephod was a garment, but what it held mattered more than the cloth.
David asks Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod. This was the garment the high priest wore over his robe. Inside the ephod was the breastplate holding the urim and thummim — twelve precious stones, each one standing for a tribe of Israel (Ex. 28:6-21). People used it to ask God questions. The twelve stones teach a vital truth. God answers only out of His love and care for ALL Israel. He never answers out of favouritism, as though taking one person's side over another. Saul could not use it properly, because he loved himself and not Israel.
The same twelve names shape how God's people should ask anything of Him now.
We too today must remember never to ask God for something that is inconsistent with the unity of the entire body of Christ, the Church. This would be sectarianism of which God can never approve.
David had not asked God anything for a long time.
"And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, 'Bring me the ephod.'" Can he not now ask the Lord? It had been a long time since he last did. He had been far from God. "And David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?'" And if David encourages himself in the Lord, the Lord certainly encourages David.
The loss itself was God's hand on a man who had drifted away.
The chastening hand of the Lord now rests heavily on wayward David, who had drifted away from Him... He had gone into an alliance with the enemies of God and His people, and now he finds that the Lord let the enemy touch his possessions. Through affliction, loss and sorrow the Lord spoke to David's heart... He sought the presence of the Lord. Once more he asked the Lord through Abiathar, who had the ephod. And here the Lord in His grace met His servant who had failed Him! There is no word of rebuke for the 16 months David had wandered away from the Lord. Instead the Lord assures His servant that he will recover all.
Any soldier would have set off after the raiders without a second thought. David asked first.
At once Abiathar and the ephod are what he turns to: "And David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I pursue this troop?'" Of course nature had already decided the matter. But the man of faith will not move just because nature tells him to. Faith asks when everything looks plain. It also finds a plain road when everything is confusing.
Saul asked God questions too, and heard nothing back.
The Lord has abandoned Saul. When Saul asks about the army of the Philistines, "the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets." Saul is left to himself. He finds that nothing can rescue him from the results of his sin, or master them. What can he turn to but the witch of Endor?... David, on the other hand, encouraged himself in the Lord his God. He recovers the plunder from the Amalekites and rescues his two wives. Nothing was missing, small or great, sons or daughters. David recovered all.
Sending for the ephod was one instance of something that runs right through David's life.
In the sheep pastures, fighting the lion and the bear, facing Goliath, in the wilderness of Judah, at Keilah, or at Ziklag (1 Sam. 30:6-7) — David is a dependent man, and so a strong man. Nothing pleases God more than this. Our walk is unsteady and we keep changing course because we lack this dependence... Our path only becomes complicated when we fail to turn to God before we decide.
No Christian has to send for a priest to get an answer.
The Christian has this guidance too, and in a far better way. The Jew had it in an outward form, since everything in Israel was outward by comparison. We have it within, by the Holy Spirit Himself. No one can pretend the Urim and Thummim were better. For those you had to go to the priest each time you needed an answer. Now One who knows all the truth lives in us always.
- Loss — God's own hand was in the disaster. David sends for the ephod only when the loss has done its work.
- Strength — first David encourages himself in the Lord. Then God answers him, with no word of rebuke for the months away.
- Ephod — the twelve stones stood for every tribe. God's answer could never favour one group over the rest.
- Question — nature had already decided to give chase. Faith asks anyway, even when the road looks plain.
- Recovery — Saul asked and heard nothing, so he turned to the witch of Endor. David asked, and recovered everything. Dependence made him strong.
And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake [them] and shalt certainly recover.
David comes home to Ziklag to find it burned, the families gone, and his own men ready to stone him. His first move is not a war council but a question to God — and the answer comes back larger than the question.
Asking for the ephod marks a return. One writer notes how long it had been since David last asked God anything.
"And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Please bring me the ephod." Can he not now inquire of the Lord? It was long since he had done so. He had been far from God… And if David encourages himself in the Lord, the Lord surely encourages David.
Another writer compares David here with the David of his strongest days. Depending on God had marked him then, and now he returns to it.
Samuel was the man of prayer and intercession. In the same way, David, in the time of his strength, was the dependent man who consulted and inquired of the Lord. He returns to this. The Lord who had refused to answer Saul answers David.
Of course he should chase the raiders. Anyone could see that. So why ask?
At once Abiathar and the ephod are what he turns to. Nature had, of course, already decided the question. But the man of faith will not move at the bidding of nature. Faith asks when everything seems plain, just as it finds a plain road when everything is confusing.
The way to God had never closed on David's side. The problem lies elsewhere.
The priest had accompanied David in all his wanderings, just as the believer can never lose, by his own acts, his place of access to God and the priestly intercession of our Lord. The way is always open for him to inquire of the Lord. God always has a mind for His children and knows what is best for them when they are at their wits' end. It is faith alone that will inquire of Him. As long as human effort might still accomplish something, the soul is not likely to turn to God. But here David inquires, and he meets with a most gracious response.
David does not guess at God's mind. He uses the means God had given, and the garment itself carries a lesson.
David asks Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod. This was the garment the high priest wore over his robe. In the ephod was the breastplate. It held the urim and thummim, the twelve precious stones, each one standing for a tribe of Israel. It was used for inquiring of God. The twelve stones stress a vital truth. God will answer only on the basis of His love and care for ALL Israel, not from any partisan viewpoint, as though He favoured one person over another. Saul could not rightly use it, for it was not Israel that he loved, but himself.
David asked two things out loud. Underneath them, one writer hears a third.
He recognises now the judgment of God. He must humbly appeal to God's deep compassion: Is it final? And how prompt and tender the answer is! Then at once he is a man of action again, the energetic and courageous leader of men.
Now set David beside Saul. Saul asked God and got no answer.
Saul forfeits all by disobedience and finally perishes; whereas David prospers in the school of adversity… and recovers everything from the enemy's hand.
One writer reads the whole scene as a picture. A city is stripped bare, its king turns to God, and God sends him after his enemies with a promise.
David comes to Ziklag and finds the city burned and everything taken away. His enemies have had their way and done whatever they liked… It is just a picture of what the world has done with Jesus… See what David does here. He turns to the Lord. And the Lord's answer is striking: "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue." It will be just the same with the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Ruin. Ziklag was burned and everything was gone. That loss is what drove David back to God.
- Return. He had not inquired of the Lord for a long time, yet the way was still open — the ephod and the priest were still with him.
- Ask. The road ahead was obvious, and he asked anyway. Faith asks when everything seems plain, instead of moving because nature says so.
- Answer. God had refused to answer Saul. He answered David at once, and He answered more than David asked: not just the chase, but the outcome.
- All. Saul forfeits everything and perishes; David recovers everything from the enemy's hand. One writer sees a picture there of Christ, rejected now, who will yet recover everything.