1 Samuel 21:1
“Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?”
The verse above seems so out of character for David. He came to the city of Nob and approached Ahimelech the priest to ask for food for he and his men. Ahimelech was an innocent bystander in the squabble going on between David and Saul. Ahimelech had not heard that David was running for his life. There were no news stations to report how Saul was trying to kill David. Ahimelech was a priest doing his job to the best of his ability.
When David approached Ahimelech, he asked David why he came alone. David responded by telling him he was doing some private business for the king. This was a lie! David then asked for something to eat, and Ahimelech gave him of the bread from the temple because David assured him that they had kept themselves from women for at least three days.
This story may not seem that important to you, but you must understand that honor was at stake in this story. David, who was normally an honorable man, acted in a dishonorable manner. Ahimelech was an honorable man who was trying to do right, but David was acting dishonorable when he lied about why he was there alone. It may not seem like much to most people, but that lie cost Ahimelech his life. Ahimelech did not deserve to die for helping David, for he didn’t do anything wrong. David was the one who lied. David was the one acting dishonorable. David was the one who should have lost his life. Yet, it was the dishonorable act of David that caused the honorable Ahimelech to die.
There will come a time in your life when your honor will be at stake. The test of a person’s character is determined by what they do at the time when their honor is at stake. When you must lie to get what you want, then that is dishonorable. You must always remember that lying will always hurt the honorable. Honor is doing what is right even when it means it will hurt you.
Moreover, doing the honorable thing is not always going to be the easiest thing to do. There are going to be times when being dishonorable will be easier. It is always easier to be dishonorable and cheat someone out of money when they won’t find out about it. It is always easier to be dishonorable and lie about a situation in your life when that situation could hurt your name and reputation. It is always easier to be dishonorable when nobody else will find out about your actions; however, you should always do the honorable thing. Being honorable may mean the truth will hurt you, but being honorable will give you a better name in the end. Being honorable may temporarily hurt you, but in the long run it will give you a name that people will respect.
Friend, what you do when you come face to face with honor or dishonor will determine what God can do with you in the near future. David’s dishonorable act caused a man to die and a nation to be divided for many years. I truly believe that God intended for a smooth transition between Saul and David, but because of David’s dishonorable act, God had to test him more before He could give him the kingdom. It is always be harder to be honorable, but being honorable always brings the greatest rewards. I encourage you to do the honorable thing at all times. Even when nobody else finds out what you did, do the right thing and God will make your honorable actions known.