David and his men have been on the run, fugitives being hunted by King Saul. But in the previous post we learned that God was protecting David, keeping Saul from finding him. Someone does find David, though. A friend shows up in 1st Samuel chapter 23, verses 16-18. David’s best friend Jonathan, Saul’s son, makes a risky journey to David to encourage David. Isn’t it interesting that Jonathan could find David, but Saul couldn’t? When a friend wanted to see David, God let him through.
Jonathan makes a prophetic comment about David that, at this moment in David’s life, seems very unlikely. Jonathan says that David will be king, and Jonathan, even though he is heir to the throne, will be second to David. They make a covenant between themselves, yet again. This is the third time we’ve observed them make a covenant, strengthening their friendship. Jonathan leaves, and never again in the account of 1st Samuel do the best friends see each other. Jonathan’s visit must have been deeply encouraging to David, and yet his situation remains precarious.
Saul is king, commanding a nationwide network of spies. Even though Jonathan likely kept David’s location secret, the people living near where David was hiding in the Desert of Ziph report to Saul on David’s whereabouts. In verses 19-26 we read that Saul heads out with the army to capture David. Verse 26 tells us that Saul and his men get extremely close to David, just on the opposite side of the mountain from David and his men. Saul is closing in.
At that very moment, though, a messenger shows up to Saul with news that the Philistines are raiding again (see verse 27). Saul cuts short his hunt of David to go attack the Philistines, and David is saved yet again. From there David and his men travel to the desert wastelands of En Gedi to hide.
The story continues in chapter 24, as Saul finishes warding off the Philistines, and resumes his pursuit of David. Yet again, people report to Saul on David’s location. Everywhere David goes, people are watching and tell Saul. That must have been so frustrating for David.
In 1st Samuel chapter 24, verses 1-3, we learn that Saul musters an army of 3000. Five times the size of David’s army. Saul and his armny arrive in the location where the informants told them to look for David. Saul needs to relieve himself and goes into a cave to do his business. Unbeknownst to Saul, he is relieving himself in the very cave where David and his men were hiding deep inside.
What happens next is classic. Saul is totally vulnerable. They didn’t wear pants back then, but we could say David has caught Saul with his pants down. David’s men cannot believe his good fortune. David’s men view this situation one way: they are certain God has given Saul over to David. God has kept his promises to David, and this is the moment when David will eliminate Saul and ascend to the throne just as God promised and anointed David. There is no other way of looking at it.
Except that David has another way of looking at it. In verse 4, David sneaks up and cuts off the corner of Saul’s robe. How Saul didn’t detect David, the text doesn’t say. Maybe Saul had taken off his robe and placed it where David could quietly cut off a corner without Saul having a clue.
David sneaks back to the men, while Saul finishes his business. As David reports what happened to his men, he has shocking perspective. Look at verses 5-7,
“David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.’ With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.”
David’s men might be really upset at David’s decision. David had an easy victory over Saul, and he didn’t take it. All he did was cut off a corner of Saul’s robe? And now David is mad at himself for even that? They might be wondering, “Maybe this David guy is not who we thought he was. Is he a coward? Is he having second thoughts? Let us at Saul! Let’s go take him down!”
Even if the men are wondering what has got into David, David is clearly still in command of the men. He tells them to hold back, and let Saul go. Maybe it was David’s rationale that helped convince the men. Let’s review David’s rationale in verse 6? He turns the men’s attention back to God. What is God’s will? What is God’s desire? Clearly David values God’s perspective. In this case, it’s very personal for David.
Notice how David describes Saul in verse 6, “The Lord’s anointed.” Twice he says refers to Saul as “the Lord’s anointed.” And David is right. The prophet Samuel had anointed Saul to be Israel’s king, because God had chosen Saul.
But who else is God’s anointed? David! David had been anointed by Samuel many months earlier, perhaps even years before this episode in the cave. David likely had a personal sense of respect for the Lord’s anointed because David himself is also the Lord’s anointed. The other men do not have the same perspective that David has because they are not anointed of the Lord.
Also, notice David’s decision-making process in these verses. Though the Urim and Thummim (see the previous post about them) are not involved in David’s choice to not harm Saul, David clearly considers the Lord. David respects God above all. God anointed Saul, and that means David will not harm the Lord’s anointed.
Personally, it does seem a bit much in my opinion that David is also upset about the fact that he cut off part of the robe. But I have to hand it to David. He is thorough in his commitment to the Lord.
Imagine the possible ease and freedom it might have allowed David if he killed Saul. After all, David was already anointed to be the next king. But David isn’t chasing the monarchy. David is chasing God’s heart. God’s heart is the basis for how David made decisions, not what might have helped his circumstances.
But how will King Saul respond? We’ll talk about that in the next post.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 