Saul said, Hear now, you son of Ahitub. He answered, Here I am, my lord.
God preserved one of Eli’s descendants even though 85 other priests died. This man fled to David, so from then on the priesthood was with David rather than Saul. David acknowledged that his deception of Ahimelech was responsible for the slaughter of the priests (1 Samuel 22:22; cf. 1 Samuel 21:2). David became the protector of the priesthood. The king-elect and the priest-elect now became fellow fugitives from Saul. Psalms 52 provides insight into how David felt during this incident.