David was a fugitive. He was on the run from King Saul, who was jealous and felt threatened by David’s great success as a warrior.

David fled to Nob, where he found Ahimelek the priest. The old priest was shocked to see David alone, without any troops around him. David did not know whom to trust because anyone could become a spy for Saul. So he lied to the priest, saying he was on a secret mission. David also asked for bread, or whatever food the priest might have on hand.

Ahimelek had holy bread that was offered to the Lord in worship. The bread had been replaced by fresh loaves, so it was available for the priests to eat. It was not supposed to be eaten by anyone else, but Ahimelek had nothing else, so he gave that to David.

Ahimelek became the giver, and David the receiver, of leftovers in the house of God. The priest also gave David the sword of Goliath, whom David had killed in the Valley of Elah (1 Samuel 17).

In the book Leap Over the Wall, Eugene Peterson wrote that David’s life wasn’t “an ideal life but an actual life. We imaginatively enter the [story] of David not to improve our morals but to deepen our own sense of human reality.” We all live at the crossroads of sin and grace.