he was upon a secret expedition, by the order of Saul, which none were to know of, no, not his own servants, and that was the reason why he came to him alone; which was a downright lie, and was aggravated by its being told only for the sake of getting a little food; and especially told to an high priest, and at the tabernacle of God, and when he was come to inquire of the Lord there; and was attended with a dreadful consequence, the slaughter of the Lord's priests there, which afterwards lay heavy on David's mind, Sa1 22:22 ; and is the very sin he is thought to refer to in Psa 119:28 . This shows the weakness of the best of men, when left to themselves; David who as much hated lying as any man did, fell into it himself: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place; to such a place, of such an one, not naming place nor person, that they might not be known; so the Targum calls it a place hidden and kept; and that David had some servants, though not now with him, who ate of the shewbread, appears from Mat 12:3 ; whom Jonathan might send after him, to a place agreed on and appointed between them; so that this might be true.