David’s compelling rationale for not killing Saul (though Saul wants to kill him) – 1st Samuel 26 & 27, Part 1

When my oldest son was in Kindergarten, he would come home reporting to us what movies other kids in his class were allowed to watch. My wife and I were astounded at those parents. How could they allow their kids to watch such movies with such intense themes? We were certainly not allowing our two boys to watch those movies until they were much older.

5 years passed and we had another son, then two years later we had a daughter. As our #3 and #4 children eventually went to Kindergarten, something changed. We allowed them, at that young age, to watch the very films we did not allow our older boys to watch at that age. We changed. We made a different decision. Have you ever done that? You make one decision in one situation, then you make the opposite decision in another similar situation.

As we continue studying the life of David, this week we will observe David making decisions that seem to be totally inconsistent. We’ll ask if David is being unethical. We’ll attempt to learn principles from the seemingly-conflicting stories in these chapters.

The historical context of 1st Samuel chapters 26 and 27 is that King Saul has been hunting David, trying to kill him.  Last we heard about Saul was in chapter 24, when Saul went into a cave to relieve himself, and it happened to be the very cave that David and his men were hiding in.  David could easily have killed Saul, but instead David sneakily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.  Then after Saul went back outside the cave, and was walking away, David appeared at the mouth of the cave and revealed that he had spared Saul’s life.  Saul starts weeping, and admits his sinful pursuit of David.  Saul responds that he knows David will be the next king, and he asks David to make an oath not to kill off Saul’s family when David becomes king. 

In that post I asked, “What just happened there?”  Did the two men make amends?  Is everything okay between them now?  No.  David and Saul and their armies go their separate ways.  Why?  David does not trust Saul.  David and his men travel south, where David almost commits a massive sin by slaughtering wealthy Nabal and his men, because Nabal wouldn’t give David and his men any food.  It was only the intervention of Nabal’s wife, Abigail, that David changed his evil course.  Soon after that, Nabal died, and Abigail became David’s wife. 

But has Saul given up the hunt for David?  Here’s what we read in 1^st Samuel 26, verses 1-4,

“The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, ‘Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?’ So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David. Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.”

Just like that the hunt is back on.  We don’t know how much time has passed since Saul’s confession at the cave, but when they get a tip, Saul and his 3000 men head right back out trying to find David and his 600 men.  The advantage David has is that it is very difficult for Saul to be sneaky with 3000 men.  So while David and his men are hiding in the wilderness, David’s scouts find Saul.  What happens next might sound very familiar.  Read 1st Samuel 26, verses 5-12,

Did you notice how incredibly similar this episode is to the cave story!  David has another opportunity to kill Saul.  This time, though, God put Saul and his men into a deep sleep.  It seems like God is arranging this situation so David can take Saul out and David fulfill his destiny to be king.  But just like the cave, David doesn’t see it that way.  David interprets God as giving him an opportunity to practice mercy toward Saul, so that Saul will see his wicked ways. 

You might think, “Why in the world does David give evil Saul a pass, twice now? But last week, David didn’t think twice about going after Nabal who wasn’t even trying to kill David?”  It sure seems like David should be taking these opportunities to kill Saul, and that he might have a solid case for believing that God arranged the opportunity.  At the cave, and now by the road, David’s men clearly think David should see this as God delivering Saul into David’s hands. 

But David views these opportunities differently.  To David there’s a big difference between Nabal and Saul.  Saul had something going for him that Nabal did not.  Saul was anointed by God.  Even though Saul has been behaving horribly for a long time now, David says, “I’m not going to touch him because Saul is God’s anointed.”  For David, that’s a done deal.  You do not touch the Lord’s anointed.  If God wants to do something about it, fine, God can easily do something about it.  But David will not.

That’s David point in verses 9-10.  If anyone harms the Lord’s anointed, in David’s opinion, that person is guilty.  Let God handle Saul.  God could strike the king down, or maybe the king will just grow old and die, or maybe the king will die in battle, presumably against other nations.  Apparently David did not see himself as in a battle with Saul. 

Thus David goes to extreme lengths to practice righteousness.  He has such deep trust in God to handle his oppressor.  Right in the middle of Saul’s encampment, David and Abishai sneak up and grab Saul’s spear and water jug, similarly to how David cut off part of Saul’s robe in the cave episode. And they leave undetected. 

What happens next starts out comical and becomes gravely serious very quickly. Check back to the next post to find out.

Photo by Daniel Hering on Unsplash