THERE IS NONE LIKE THAT--GIVE IT ME

1 Samuel 21:1-9 (KJV)

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?

And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Israel's first two kings:  David and Saul.

Saul was the first king but he disobeyed God so much that God anointed David king in Saul's sted.

Most have heard that Saul became jealous of David and began to try to kill him.

David didn't want to believe that Saul would do this.

In chapter 20 of 1 Samuel, Saul's own son has discovered for sure that Saul did plan to kill David.

In 1 Samuel 21, David began to flee for his life.

As a matter of fact, he will spend 14 years anointed the King of Israel by God but running for his life from Saul!

There are tons of lessons in the accounts of those years while David ran from Saul.

This passage is what especially interests me today.

I.  WHEN DAVID FLED, THE FIRST PLACE HE WENT WAS TO GOD’S PLACE.  

1 Samuel 21:1 (KJV)

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?

He will spend years running for his life but when trouble first hits, he ran to God!

I wonder how many times we take our burdens to God first?

Obviously we know that God expects us to do our part.

But usually we want to do God's part also.

Psalms is full of verses speaking of God as the One who protects.

Psalms 57:1 says,

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in thee:  yea in the shadow of they wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Psalm 77:2 says,

In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord.

Psalm 60:11-12 says,

Give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man, through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.

Psalm 91:1-2 says,

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress:  My God in Him will I trust.

All of these Psalms were written by this same David.

A man who, in his lifetime, had learned what trouble was.

He also learned that God was the only safe refuge in times of trouble.

We all need to have a more trusting relationship with God--in OR out of trouble.

For instance, when things go wrong, who or what do you trust?

When trouble strikes, do you trust your money?  Your parents?  Friends?

Or do you run to the Lord?

The Bible tells us to "cast all our cares upon Him, for He careth for you!"

II.  DAVID WENT TO NOB, THE CITY OF THE PRIESTS WITH SPECIFIC NEEDS.

It's good to come to God just to fellowship.

We should have a time when we come to God with praise in our hearts and no requests.

We should also learn to come to God with specific requests.

Of course David had requests of Ahimelech the Priest.

There were needs that David knew could be met through God's ministers so he took up his request to those priests.

First,

A. He wanted food.

1 Samuel 21:3 (KJV)

Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

I'll guarantee you something.  If you come to God's house and come prepared for it, God will feed you there.

When the Bible is preached and you are spiritually holy, God will fill  our spirit full!

Over and over again.

Preaching is likened to feeding people.

In Acts 20:28, Paul told the elders or Pastors of the Church of Ephesus to 

"take heed unto yourselves...to feed the Church of God."

In this case, David was responsible to feed some others also.

We aren't told who they are but we do know that he wanted to feed these men. 

He didn't bring them with him, probably for safety sake, but we who are leaders should consider it our responsibility to make sure those under us are spiritually fed.

Parents should make sure kids are in church by bringing them to church and staying there with them!

Secondly,

B. David also sought a weapon from the priest.

1 Samuel 21:8 (KJV)

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

We do receive a spiritual weapon when we come to church.

We learn to handle the Bible, which is called the sword of the spirit more accurately.

I still remember when I first started going to church how I embarrassed I was because I couldn't find the places the pastor was preaching from.

Now, because I kept going to church, and because I kept trying to find those passages I can work my way through the Bible pretty well.

I didn't learn it in college--I learned it in church!

In church you are taught Bible truths, Bible doctrines, Bible prophecy and Bible lessons.  

All of which help you to use God's "Sword of the Spirit" better!

David had a couple of special needs now that he was running for his life.

He went to the right place to get those needs met.

All of us face trouble sometimes.

We need to learn from David.

We need to learn to go to God's house when we are in trouble and to go to God's house for our spiritual food and weapons.

III.  NOW TO WHAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION TO THE PASSAGE.

1 Samuel 21:8-9 (KJV)

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

David asked for a spear, or a sword.

The priest said that the only weapon they had was the sword of Goliath that David used to kill Goliath. 

He said they had kept it wrapped in a cloth.

Notice what David said.

 "There is none like that, give it me!"

Man, here was a weapon to encourage him!

Here is a weapon that he had used in past victories.

Goliath had defied the armies of Israel but David fell the giant with a slingshot.

He ran up to the giant and used the giant's own sword to cut off his head.

David had given that sword to the house of God as a memorial and now it was offered to him again!

Matthew Henry's commentary says, "Let this be a lesson, when you give to God, expect God to some day give back to you again."

Offered this sword, David says, "There in none like that, give it me!"

This should be our attitude towards the things of God.

There is none like them, give them me!

A. There is none like this Old Time Religion, give that to me!

I don't want the new religions of today.

·  Buddhists

·  Bahai's

·  Muslims

·  Mormons

·  Jehovah's Witnesses

or any of the other new religions!

For that matter, I don't even want the new Christian denominations!

You know the Methodistsdidn't vote to become a church until the 1780's?

I don't think Christ waited that long to start His church.

Almost all of the denominations of today are only a few hundred years old or less.

Even the Catholic Churchdidn't start until 300 years after Christ's death!

I like being a Baptistbecause only Baptists have the distinction of having no founder other than Christ.

Christ was baptized byJohn the Baptist.

And, by the way, so were all of Christ's Apostles.

The Old Time Religion.

There is none like that, give it me!

B. Then there is the Lord  Jesus Christ.

There is none like Him, give Him to me!

I cannot for the life of me figure out why people would follow some Indian Guru over the Lord Jesus!

·  Only Christ met the prophecies of the Old Testament.

·  Only Christ was virgin born.

·  Only Christ lived a sinless life.

·  Only Christ died for the sins of mankind.

·  Only Christ rose from the dead.

·  Only Christ ascended up into heaven bodily and visibly before an audience.

Who in their right mind would trust Mohammed over Jesus Christ?

There is none like Him,  Give Him me!

C. The same thing is true of the Bible.

There is none like that, give it me!

If it's all right with you, I'll stick to the Bible.

Benny Hinn and Joel Osteen may prefer new special revelations from God over the Bible but I'm going to stick with the Bible.

There is none like that, give it to me.

Bible preaching has been winning souls and building churches for 2000 years.

I believe I will stay with it.

Hey, and while we are at it, 

D. There is none like the King James Version, give it me.

No version of the Bible has done so much good while being so hated as has the King James Bible.

It’s not the first translation of the Bible into English, but it was the las one that had even an inkling of the same holy desire.

Previous the the King James men were praying that the Bible would be translated into the common language so that even the plowboy could read the Bible for himself.

The Catholic Church hated the idea.

Their only way of controlling the spiritual thoughts of people was by being their only way to get to God.

They knew that if the common person could read what the Bible said for themselves they would see the wickedness of those churches and flee them.

A process of seven translations over decades was required to bring us to the Bible we hold in our hands tonight.

Men died to translate the Word of God into the English language.

Men, women and children died for possessing the Word of God in their own language.

When Tyndale was burned at the stake for his role in Translating the Word of God his dying prayer was, “Lord, Open the Eyes of the King of England.”

Less than a decade later King James authorized forty some men, experts in the languages and in the Bible, to make one carefully worked and accurate translation of the Bible.

It was immediately attacked by men known to be liberal, wicked and unbelieving.

And every translation of the Bible into the English language since the King James Version has been translated: 

·  not for accuracy but for money and 

·  not for the benefit of people but in opposition to the King James Version

There is none like the King James Version. Give it me.

E. Then there is Holy Spirit Power and I ask God

There is none like that, give it to me!

All kinds of churches have been started using all kinds of methods.

But I'd like the church I belong to to be built by God's Power, not man's.

We are all called to work hard in this life.

But we are also called to depend upon God's Holy Spirit to empower and bless the  work.

I'm not much interested in building a church without God's power.

F. There is nothing like genuine salvation.

Lord, give it to me!

Not only do I want to be assured that I am truly saved,

I want to be used of God to lead others to a genuine salvation!

I pray, "God, let me win souls!"

I don't want to be a soul winner for my own glory.

I want to be a soul winner for God's glory!

Conclusion

What a thought provoking statement David said as he considered Goliath's sword.

There is none like that, give it me!

Let's pray!

Christians:  What is your attitude towards the things of God?

Can you take 'em or leave 'em?

Or, do you honestly tell God, "there is none like them, give them me?"

Do you prefer God's house over pleasure?

Do you grab God's Book before all others?

Do you try to honor Jesus Christ?

Do you seek Holy Spirit Power?

Do you  plead for people to get saved?

There is none like that, give it me!