Today it was impressed upon me to read about David and how he spent so much time running from King Saul in fear of his life. After much reading and looking at Commentary notes, I had a “Duh” moment. This is what I think I should post about…
It happened twice that King Saul was delivered into the hands of David. David had chance after chance to kill Saul, but he spared his life. The first time was when Saul went into a cave to relieve himself . But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave…
“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the LORD is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.
But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. “The LORD knows I shouldn’t have done that to my lord the king.” he said to his men. “The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the LORD’S anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.” So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul. 1 Samuel 24: 4-7
The second time was…
So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.
“God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”
“No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the LORD’s anointed one?
Surely the LORD will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle.
The LORD forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!” 1 Samuel 26: 7-11
Why did David refuse to kill Saul? God had placed Saul in power and had not removed him (yet!). David didn’t want to run ahead of God’s timing. Wait a minute… Do we ever run in front of God… because of our patience maybe (“I Don’t Want to Create an Ishmael”)? Saul was the King of Israel, but the same situation applies to us; we have those in authority who are unfaithful, ungodly, or incompetent. We sometimes find it easy to criticize, badmouth or move against a leader oblivious to God’s hidden purposes and timing.
I think the biggest thing we need to learn about this is that the strongest moral decisions are the ones we make before temptation strikes. David determined in his heart to follow God. This carried over into his decision not to murder God’s anointed king, Saul, even when his men and the surrounding circumstances seemed to make it a great option. The thing that really stands out to me is that no matter what kind of council you get, even from close friends, we must always put God’s commands first.