When Refuge Fails
When things get hard, we all have places we run to. It there’s a storm, you have a storm shelter or a centralized room. If you have a difficult time in life, some people turn to something to numb the pain, whether substances or entertainment for distraction or whatever. Where you should turn to is God. That’s what we see in Psalm 52. This is a psalm of David written in the aftermath of something horribly traumatic. The explanation before the psalm tells us it was written after the events of 1 Samuel 21 and 22, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul that David had gone to the house of Ahimelech. And then what followed was a horrible, bloody massacre of a whole city of priests and their families. David probably wrote it from the cave of Adullam, right after learning what had happened.
So, let me tell you the story. If you walk back through 1 Samuel 21 and 22, you’ll see it plays out like a movie, seriously. Or at least like an episode in a tv series. David is running. Running for his life. Saul has turned on him completely. He goes to Nob, to the sanctuary, to Ahimelech the priest there. That’s the right place to go to, the house of the Lord! That should have been a place of refuge. Hear how Eugene Peterson explains it:
“David is on the run. He now knows for certain that King Saul’s intent to murder him has congealed into a hard, fixed purpose. Saul’s hatred is no longer a matter of black moods that will eventually pass. And his jealousy can no longer be treated as a personal matter that he can be expected to get over as David proves his loyalty. No, there’s now a price on David’s head. The killing of David has turned into a cause, a state policy to be implemented impersonally…
So now David runs. He runs without having a chance to pack his bags, without benefit of a plan, running for his life. And where does he run? He runs to Nob, where there’s a sanctuary and a priest.”[1]
But even there, something wasn’t right. Ahimelech comes out trembling to meet him. David is alone, and he knows it. So, David does whatever he can to try to survive, and in this case he lies. He tells Ahimelech he’s on a secret mission from the king. He’s manipulating the situation. He asks for bread and ends up taking the consecrated bread of the Presence, or the showbread, which was the holy bread that was for the priests.[2] Then he asks for a weapon and takes Goliath’s sword. Y’all, the very trophy of God’s past victory now becoming the thing he’s clinging to just to survive. David’s not at his strongest here. He’s desperate.
So, this is a man who’s always been the hero now suddenly finding himself in a situation where the only tool he has left is to lie. He knows it’s wrong, but he’s fearing for his life and trying to survive. And if that wasn’t enough, he leaves Nob and runs straight to Gath. Think about that. What city was Goliath from? Gath. He heads straight to the very people he once defeated with a sling and a stone. And of course they recognize him. 1 Samuel 21:11 says, “And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”
Oh no. They recognize him. What should David do? What would you do? He’s the great warrior! Ok, he’s got it. You know what he does? He pretends to be insane, to be crazy. He scratches on the doors. Lets spit run down his beard. He acts crazy and completely humiliates himself. All just to survive. Y’all, this isn’t a regal, kingly David or a champion warrior David. This is a broken David. He once held up the severed head of the giant champion of Gath as a boy. But this David looks nothing like that champion we met earlier in the valley of Elah.
And to top it all off, earlier in the sanctuary, a man named Doeg the Edomite, saw David eat the bread of presence and receive the sword of Goliath. He was there in the house of the Lord when David got there. And later, behind the scenes, while David is acting crazy, Doeg goes to Saul and tells him everything. And this makes Saul furious. He unleashes full on destruction. Saul turns Doeg’s report into a full on massacre and slaughters the priests and their families. A whole city of Nob is destroyed.
1 Samuel 22:16-19 – 16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.” 17 And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.
And when David hears about it, of course he’s distraught. He realizes his own actions played a part in what happened. Can you imagine the weight of that? And that weight is sitting right behind Psalm 52. David doesn’t start by trying to explain it all away or defend himself. He starts by confronting the evil head-on. And in doing so, he shows us four truths we need to remember when the places we run to for refuge fail us.
Evil may appear powerful, but it is ultimately empty. (Psalm 52:1–4)
David opens in verse 1 with a bold question: “Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?” He’s talking about Doeg here, you know. He calls him a “mighty man,” but it’s not a compliment. He’s being really sarcastic. Don’t you love that sarcasm is in the Bible? Jesus even got sarcastic with the Pharisees! “Haven’t you read…” Yeah they’ve read. They were supposed to have it memorized. When someone is boasting of evil, I think the least they deserve is a little sarcasm. David is showing us here that what looks like strength on the surface isn’t always actually strength. When he calls him mighty man, it’s like him saying, “Oh, you think you’re so big and bad, huh?” Jesus even used this passage to get sarcastic with the Pharisees.
Mark 2:25-27 – 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
You remember those bullies you used to grow up with that everyone was afraid of? David is the kid who knows that bullies are never as strong as they look. There’s always someone bigger and stronger, right? You know what you can say to bullies? “Just let me go get my dad.” And that’s what David does! In the second part of verse 1, he says, “The steadfast love of God endures all the day.”
Hear me, church. Doeg’s actions were real. The betrayal was real. The destruction was real. Evil is real! But even amidst evil and suffering, God’s love has not moved one inch. That contrast is the heartbeat of the entire psalm. And it’s the heartbeat of our entire lives and our entire existence. What is the loudest and the most in your face isn’t always what is true. Suffering and evil always feels loud when you’re in the middle of it. It controls your thoughts and your emotions. But we need to remember that God’s love stands outside of all of that, enduring. And that should refocus our thoughts and recenter our emotions. Because it’s setting our mind on the truth.[3]
David goes on to describes Doeg’s tongue, the use of his words, in verses 2-4: “2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.” Our words can set people’s whole worlds on fire, remember James tells us that in the New Testament.[4] Doeg’s use of words wasn’t careless sin. He chose his words. And those words led to death. That’s what makes being betrayed by somebody hurt so much, when somebody goes behind your back, connives and conspires behind your back, talks about you with intent to take you down behind your back. It’s not just that wrong happened. It’s that someone chose to do what they did, against you. They chose destruction against you. Maybe they didn’t even see it that way. But that’s what it was, and that’s what it brought.
It’s like that friend who smiles to your face and then drives the knife in your back when you turn around. That’s what happens to David here, but he knows that evil doesn’t have the final or lasting word.
God’s judgment breaks down what evil builds. (Psalm 52:5–7)
In verse 5, he says, “But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.” That’s some strong language. And it’s meant to be. Doeg’s actions just took the lives of so many, and it seemed like he got away with it. But God will “break him down.” God will “uproot” him. You better believe it. God is a just judge, and everybody will stand before Him.[5]
In the moment it all is happening, it doesn’t look like evil is being broken down. It looks like it’s spreading. Saul is spiraling out of control. He’s not protecting people like he should. He’s destroying them. He’s destroying servants of God who are doing the work of God. Everything about the situation feels like evil is completely winning. But Psalm 52 steps back and says that what we see isn’t the full picture. David sees what both Saul and Doeg can’t see. He sees that what they are building won’t stand. Saul’s kingdom is already breaking down, even if he doesn’t realize it yet. And you know who will get the final word? Not Doeg. Not Saul. God.
David even says in verses 6-7 that the righteous will see it and learn from it. “6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!” That’s the root issue. We see it right there. It’s not just that Doeg did evil. It’s that he built his life without God as his refuge. And David knows that kind of life will always fall apart.
Psalm 52 reminds us that God’s judgment isn’t always right away, but it’s always right. It will always happen. That means we don’t have to carry the weight of making things right ourselves. We don’t have to fix what we can’t fix. We can entrust whatever situation we’re in to the God who sees everything fully and always does what is right.
God’s people are not sustained by their circumstances, but by the steadfast love of God. (Psalm 52:8)
Now David turns the corner and describes where his own life finds refuge in the middle of all this mess, even as he’s hiding away in a cave. He says in verse 8, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” Earlier he said Doeg is uprooted, but here he said he is like an olive tree. This analogy is powerful, y’all. An olive tree isn’t fragile. It’s not easily uprooted. It’s known for lasting and remaining when other things are long gone. And David says that’s what his life is like, not because his circumstances are good, but hear this, but because his roots are deep. True stability isn’t about what’s happening around you. It’s about what you’re rooted in.
When you look back at 1 Samuel 21, you realize just how important that statement really is. Nothing about David’s circumstances looks like a green olive tree. He’s afraid. He’s making weird decisions. He’s running from place to place. He lies. He takes Goliath’s sword. Then he runs to Gath and humiliates himself just to stay alive. From the outside, his life is unstable in every way. And yet when reflecting on it in Psalm 52, he doesn’t define himself by those moments. He defines himself by where his trust is. “I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” That word “steadfast love” is covenant language. It’s one of the most powerful words in all of the Bible. It’s hesed.[6]It’s the kind of love that doesn’t change with circumstances. David is saying that even when his actions were weird and inconsistent, God’s love wasn’t. Even when he was fearful, God wasn’t. Even when everything around him felt like it was falling apart, God’s love hadn’t moved an inch.
Faith responds to betrayal with trust rather than bitterness. (Psalm 52:8–9)
All this betrayal and evil could have caused David to become bitter. It causes a lot of people to. But David chooses differently. He tells us how he responds: In verses 8 and 9, I want you to see his “I wills.” “I will trust… I will thank you forever… I will wait for your name.” Those aren’t natural responses. Those are purposeful and chosen. He could have hardened his heart. But instead, he trusts, has gratitude, and is waiting. Whatever you’re going through right now, I want you to think about those three words. Trust. Thank. Wait. How can you intentionally practice those amidst what you’re going through?
It's neat how you see it play out in 1 Samuel 22. David goes to the cave of Adullam, and people begin to gather around him. Not strong people. But people who were themselves seeking refuge. And David becomes their leader. In the middle of his own instability, he begins to create stability for others. The man who was seeking refuge becomes a place of refuge. That doesn’t happen through bitterness and trying to get even. That only happens through trusting God, thanking Him for being with him, and waiting for God.
And y’all, that kind of response only comes from knowing who God is. Because when our places of refuge fail, you either harden your heart or you trust God. David trusts. And you can trust God, too.
We can trust in the steadfast love of God because Jesus provided everything necessary to be our refuge forever and ever.
This week is Palm Sunday, and as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, do you know what the crowds shouted to him? They shouted, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:10). They were looking for a king like David. Someone to ride in and fix everything. But Jesus came as something far greater. He came as the true King who would enter into every failure, every betrayal, every sin.
Jesus was betrayed by those closes to Him. He was handed over by His own disciple. He was rejected by the very people He came from and for. And yet, in all of that, He did exactly what Psalm 52 describes. He trusted the Father. He didn’t retaliate. He didn’t become bitter. He entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. And He is the ultimate refuge David could only point to.
On the cross, Jesus took the breaking that Doeg deserved. He took the judgment Saul deserved. And in His resurrection, He planted us like green olive trees. In Him alone we are sustained by a love that will never fail. And that love has a name. His name is Jesus. He is the King whose kingdom will never be shaken. And today, on Palm Sunday, He invites you to wave your branches, lay down your pride, and run to Him. Jesus is the greater David. He is the one who never fails as a place of refuge, forever and ever. And He is calling you today to come to Him.
[1] Eugene H. Peterson, Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 59-60.
[2] Leviticus 24:9; https://www.gotquestions.org/David-showbread.html
[3] Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
