1 Samuel 27: Sneaking In and Out

After another near encounter with Saul, David comes to realize he can’t play this hide and seek game anymore. Eventually, Saul will catch up to David and kill him. So David decides to run away from Saul by heading into Philistia and living with the Philistines. So Saul has all his men pack up their families and their possessions and move to Gath. David’s plan works. Sure enough, when Saul hears David moved to Gath, Saul quits his pursuit.

At this point the reader has to pause and ask “Why?” Why does David move to Philistia, after killing so many Philistines (especially Gath, the home of Goliath)? Wasn’t it wrong for David to leave his home country to live in the enemy’s territory? And what about Saul? Why did Saul stop pursuing? Really, it’s common sense. In common sense terms, David made the right decision to leave the nation of Israeland go to the Philistine country. A king only has jurisdiction in his own country. Only in rare circumstances, with permission, could a king go into a foreign nation after his adversary, but that would never happen when the two nations were enemies. David knew that and took advantage of it. Saul could only hunt David down while David was in Israel. Once David left Israel and entered Philistia, Saul could not follow him into Philistia. There was no way that King Achish would help Saul get David because Achish saw Saul as his enemy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Achish went by the old adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” and thus decided to house David in his land. Saul must have already realized too that he could not pursue David into a foreign land. But it’s not like it’s going to bother Saul. Saul probably saw David only as a threat to his throne while David was in Israel. Now with David out of Israel, Saul believes there is no way for David to get the throne of Israel. So Saul ceases his search.

While David has moved into the land of Philistia, he’s not willing to fully integrate his life and his men’s lives into the Philistine society and Philistine culture. He boldly asks King Achish for a plot of land or some kind of territory for him and his men and their families to be separate from everyone else. David uses the guise of servants like himself living separate from a royal family, like Achish’s family. Achish likes the sound of David being his servant, so he grants David a whole town, called Ziklag. Ziklag is another town that borders Philistia and Israel. It’s about 15 miles northwest of Beersheba, the southern-most point of Israel. The author makes a note that this city has been in the hands of the kings of Judah since David received it. This side note makes two statements. First, it shows that this book was written during the days of the Divide Kingdoms of Israeland Judah because it separates the kings of Judahfrom the kings of Israel. Second, this verse demonstrates that even when David is in Philistia, he’s already gaining territory for the nation of Israel. David stays in this town for 1 year and 4 months.

So what’s a man to do while living in a foreign town for 1 year and 4 months? Invade foreign people groups of course! Verse 8 explains that the area between Egyptand Shur was occupied by 3 different people groups: the Amalekites, the Geshurites and the Girzites. The fact the author needs to explain this demonstrates a late date where the audience would not have known of these people groups, or at least would not know that these people were in that region. David’s method was simple. David would take his men to their land, kill all the men and women, and take the animals and the clothes. Then David would return to Ziklag. It’s key that David is killing all the men and women. Saul was commanded by the Lord to do the same thing. Saul failed, keeping people alive, but David succeeded.

Obviously King Achish knows David is raiding, for David keeps bringing back animals and clothes. What Achish does not know is where David is raiding or who David is raiding. Achish asks David, but all David gives is the generic answer, “Against the Negev of the [people’s name].” This explains why David killed everyone: so no one could rep ort back to Achish who David is really killing and why. King Achish has no reason to doubt David, so he believes David. His thinking: If David keeps attacking the Negev, he’ll only be seen poorly by the Israelites. According to Achish, it only helps the Philistines and hurts the Israelites.

I am going to continue to 1 Samuel 28:1,2 because I believe these two verses fit better with 1 Samuel 27than 1 Samuel 28. The transition is much more smooth when those 2 verses are added to 1 Samuel 27. King Achish probably wants to attack because he believes that David has weakened Israel with all the attacks in Negev. But he still needs one more piece. So Achish requests that David fight with the Philistines against Israel. David replies by saying, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.” Does this mean that David, the one the Lord anointed as King of Israel, will fight God’s people in Israel? Some scholars would say yes, that’s exactly what David had in mind. Other scholars disagree, claiming David is using word play and irony here. While Achish might interpret it as a “Yes,” what David means is, “You will see for yourself what your servant can do…when I turn on you in battle.” I have to stick more with the second interpretation.

Do you see what happened in the story? In the beginning, David leaves Israel for Philistia. The reader might think that, by doing so, David has disobeyed God and sinned. But instead of jumping to that conclusion, we let the narrative help us determine whether are not David’s actions are good or sinful. The narrative would lean the decision towards the good. By moving to Philistia, David gets Saul off his back, and allows his men peace and safety. Because of the move, David can focus on invading and raiding the pagan people groups still in the Promise Land. But also remember that David and his men aren’t assimilating into the culture. David insists that his Israelite men and their families have their own separate town. This town will eventually become part of the territory of Judah. In all these ways, David is helping the kingdomof Israel grow, even when he’s not in the land of Israel. David sneaks into Israel to get rid of the foreign people groups, and he sneaks out to deceive the Philistines into peace. David helps Israel, both internally and externally. Although I think God might have appreciated David more if David would have lived by faith and stayed in the land, God took David’s positions and used that to bring blessing to both David and the whole land of Israel.

So Ithink a good application is God can use you wherever you are in life, even if you are sinning. I want to make clear this is no permission to sin. Rather, I’m saying that no one can get so far off the path of God’s will that he or she can never be used by God ever again. David could account for this. At sometimes it would seem like David trusted the Philistines more than God for safety. Yet God used the Philistines to provide David with the safety and the town of Ziklag so David could grow the kingdom of Israel. Perhaps you too have fallen away from God’s will in your life, and you are doing your own thing, depending on yourself rather than God. Take this time to call God back into guiding you through His will. I guarantee you the first thing God will do is get you back onto His will.

1 Samuel 26: Double Testimony

Upon reading 1 Samuel 26, Iwas unsure if I wanted to write a devotional commentary on 1 Samuel 26 because I didn’t feel like I had nothing new to add. The reason I felt like I had nothing new to add was because 1 Samuel 26reflects 1 Samuel 24to a great extent. 1 Samuel 26and 1 Samuel 24 are so similar it has led some scholars to even believe that 1 Samuel 26 is a re-telling of 1 Samuel 24. So is it? I’m going to briefly re-tell the story, putting in a few points. Then we’ll compare and contrast, and we’ll come to a conclusion.

Just like in 1 Samuel 23:19, Ziphites rat out David to Saul. This is quite the surprise. The Ziphites are from the tribe of Judah, just like David. You would think the Ziphites would be friends of David then. Instead, they side with Saul. Perhaps the Ziphites fear Saul as the king, so they submit to his every will. Maybe the Ziphites fear David and hope that King Saul’s force can get rid of him. Whatever the reason, the Ziphites keep a watchful eye. The minute David and his men are back in the Desert of Ziph, the Ziphites report it to Saul. Saul immediately heads to Desert of Ziph. The minute Saul the Desert of Ziph, David sends scouts to watch every moment.

After scouting David, David himself wants to go down to Saul’s camp to check it out. David doesn’t want to attract too much attention, so he only asks for one volunteer to come with him. The volunteer is Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, and the nephew of David (1 Chroincles 2:16). The two of them go at night. Since it is night, when the two men arrive, Saul’s entire camp is asleep, leading Saul wide open for a possible attack. Abishai tells David that God has delivered Saul into David’s hand yet again. Since God has done this a second, surely this must be God’s sign that Saul is indeed in David’s hands, to do as David pleases, and David should kill him. Well, that’s Abishai’s interpretation. David interprets the scene as God handing over Saul to David, but not in a violent matter. David believes that when the time comes for Saul to die, he will die in battle, in disease or in old age. Either way, it’s not going to be by the hand of David. Instead of killing David, David takes Saul’s water jug and the spear. The water jug and the spear have both practical meaning and symbolic meaning. The water jug obviously contained water for Saul to drink. In the hot Judean deserts, it’s easy to become dehydrated. Saul needed that water for hydration. By taking the water jug, Saul’s health was in David’s hands. The spear is a weapon used in battle to kill. It provides protection of life in battle. Spears also can be a sign of authority. When David takes away the spear, David removes Saul’s protection and authority. Saul’s protection and authority is now David’s hands. Truly the Lord has given over Saul into the hands of David! If anyone needs further proof, check out verse 12, which explains that David and Abishai were able to do this because the Lord himself put everyone in a deep sleep.

Once David and Abishai are a safe distance from Saul’s camp, David calls out to Abner, the commander of Saul’s army. David mockingly taunts Abner, whose suppose to be one of the best soldiers in Israel, for leaving the king of Israel wide open for attack. In that mocking taunt, David also lays down judgment on Abner. David says Abner and his men deserve to be punished for leaving the king of Israel, the Lord’s anointed, exposed for attack. This connects well with verse 9. Not only are those who attack the Lord’s anointed guilty, but also those who allow the Lord’s anointed to be attacked.

From the yelling back and forth between David and Abner, Saul wakes up. Unlike Abner, who had to ask for the man’s identity, Saul immediately recognizes the man as David because of his voice alone. Once David acknowledges Saul’s recognition, David again asks Saul why Saul is pursuing David. David reasons someone or something must be antagonizing Saul to do so. If it’s God antagonizing Saul, then David proposes that the proper offerings would be made to repair and restore the relationship. If it’s any human being antagonizing Saul, David brings down a curse to that man/those men because of all the hardship such a person/people has brought upon David, his men, and his family.

When Saul realizes it’s David, and also realizes his water jug and spear are missing, he is amazed at the mercy and grace that has fallen over him. It leads King Saul to confess his sin again. Saul even calls himself a fool for erring greatly by trying to harm David. Saul begs for David to come back, but he doesn’t. No one can blame David for doing so. This scene has already happened before, and Saul didn’t change then. Instead, to show good measure, David returns the spear to Saul. Once again, consider the symbolism. David hands the protection and authority back to Saul. He does not keep the spear’s protection and authority for himself because he trusts and relies on God for protection and authority.

The stories do have remarkable similarities. Both stories have David in a desert. In both stories, David takes back some kind of evidence to prove how close he was to Saul. Both stories have someone interpreting Saul being wide open for attack as Saul in David’s hands. In both stories David refuses to act violently towards Saul. Both stories also have Saul confessing doing what is wrong and then proclaiming David to have a grand future. At the same times, the stories have differences. In chapter 24, David is in the Desert of En Gedi, while in chapter 26, David is in the Desert of Ziph. In chapter 24, David cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe, but in chapter 24, David takes the water jug and the spear In chapter 26, David purposely visits Saul, while in chapter 24, Saul ends up in the same cave as David by pure accident. Chapter 26 also adds Abner in the story. So are 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 the same story or different?

I believe these two stories are different. While they share similarities, their differences are too great to harmonize into one story. So why have 2 similar stories together? I like how the New Bible Commentary puts it: double testimony. David is given a second (some say third) test to see what he’ll do when Saul’s life is put in his hands. David resists the temptation to kill Saul, but does show Saul how close he was. That’s what makes David such a great king. Time after time, temptation after temptation, no matter how many times the good deal is thrown in David’s face, David can refuse, and he’ll always do the right thing. So a man after God’s heart is one who can refuse the temptation to sin, time after time.

1 Samuel 25: Vengeance is the Lord’s

In the last chapter, 1 Samuel 24, we concluded that the moral of the story is that a [wo]man after God’s heart is one who loves his enemies. Usually, when conversation about loving enemies comes up, the discussion focuses more on how to love your enemies instead of why we need to love our enemies. I believe there’s a couple chapters in the Bible that explains why. 1 Samuel 25 is one of those chapters.

Chapter 25 begins by mentioning the death of Samuel. The one verse seems thrown in there, as it seems to disrupt the flow between chapter 24 and the rest of chapter 25. Scholars disagree why the verse is thrown in there. It could simply be the order of chronological events, but there’s got to be something significant to need to mention it. Some scholars zone in on the phrase “all Israelassembled and mourned.” Even David might have traveled to Ramah, and he could even have been in the presence of Saul. Other scholars trace the verse back to chapter 24. In chapter 24, even Saul has admitted David is the next king of Israel. Now with all Israellooking forward to David as the king, Samuel’s role is done and can rest in peace. Even the Hebrew word that NIV translates “house” is uncertain. After all, who gets buried in their house? Other possible translations could be “tomb,” “mausoleum” or “cave.” “Cave” might be the best, as many people lived in caves. Thus, in that sense, it makes sense to say someone got buried in their home.

The supposed final resting place of Samuel

 

After the brief mention of Samuel’s death, the story focuses on another two characters: Nabal and Abigail, husband and wife. Opposites must have attracted for these two, for they could not be further apart in differences. Abigail is intelligent; Nabal’s name means fool, and his name reflects his personality. Abigail is beautiful; Nabal has an ugly personality, as he is mean and nasty in dealing with people. This couple lives near Carmel, which is near the Desertof Maon, or the Desert of Paran. This couple is also an upper class couple. Their faith is measure in the number of sheep and goats: 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep. All these pieces together set the scene for the story.

During the time of sheep shearing, David contacts Nabal via 10 messengers. First, David sends warm greetings and blessings to him and his household. Second, David tells Nabal that neither he nor his men harmed, stole, or even touched any of Nabal’s sheep or goats. In fact, David and his men protected them. This is a valuable service. Back in those days, it wasn’t common for traveling nomads and invading foreigners to take livestock as they pleased. Not only did David and his men not partake in that, but they also prevented anyone else, like the Philistines or the Amalekites, to partake in Nabal’s sheep or goats. Therefore, third, David asks for a favor. He requests that Nabal give them, “whatever you can find for them,” or simply put, whatever leftovers Nabal has that he does not want or need.

But that’s the problem with Nabal. Nabal is so greedy that he wants to keep everything for himself. He’s not giving handouts. Nobody gets hand outs, no matter what reason. At David’s message, Nabal gives a very negative and ridiculing reply. First, he questions, “Who is this David?” David is the most famous person of Judah, if not all of Israel. The rhetorical question shows not that Nabal doesn’t know David, but he knows David and thinks very little or nothing of him. Second, he asks, “Who is the Son of Jesse?” Calling David “the son of Jesse” is another belittling term, as we see Saul use it to refer to David in earlier chapters. Third, Nabal says, “Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.” It could be a reference that David was once a servant of Saul, but it has deeper symbolic meaning then that. Wealthy, upper-class Nabal is calling David a servant, a lower-class nobody. To Nabal, David is a beggar, begging as his living. In Nabal’s mind, there is no way he’s going to support a beggar lifestyle. To him, it’s illogical. Why give up his hard work and his men’s hard work to strangers that, in his mind, did not help?

In David’s mind, David and his men did help. They protected the flocks and the herdsmen. So David believes he fully deserves a payment. So David tells two-thirds of his men to strap up their swords. If Nabal won’t volunteer a gift, then David is going to take a gift by force.

Don’t worry. Remember, Nabal’s got another side of him: his wife Abigail. Once Nabal’s servants hear what David is going to do, they quickly rush a message to Abigal. They reaffirm all that what David says is true, and they even agree he deserves the reward. Abigail is quick to act. Abigail just doesn’t find leftovers in the house. Instead, she is bountiful in her gifts. She starts out to meet David, but she sends servants ahead just in case it’s too late.

It’s a good thing Abigail acted so quickly. Back at David’s camp, David’s really regretting his decision. He calls it useless. Here, it’s still unclear whether David made Nabal aware of the service he was providing. Either way, David sees it as a no brainer. Good things in exchange for good things; bad things in exchange for bad things. David believes Nabal has given him a bad thing for his good thing. So David decides to repay the bad thing with another bad thing. He’s threatening to kill all the adult men. Now there’s a textual problem here. The Masoretic text, an early Hebrew text, says “May God deal with David’s enemies ever so severely…” but the Septuagint, the Greek translation of Old Testament, says “May God deal with David ever so severely…” Scholars and translations alike disagree of which phrase to use. Most literal translations stick with the Masoretic text and translate it “May God deal with David’s enemies ever so severely…” They believe the Septuagint changed it to make it theologically understable, but changed the meaning. Dynamic equivalencies stick with the Septuagint and translate it “May God deal with David ever so severely…” They believe these later Hebrew texts changed it to make it seem like the vow came true. Personally, I would stick with the original Hebrew and literal translations. But either way, David seems to commit very little focus on what’s he saying or what the consequences could be.

When Abigail sees David on his way to attack her household, she is quick to act. In the longest speech by a female in the Old Testament (153 Hebrew words), Abigail gives her defense. First, she condemns her husband’s actions as foolish. Second, she declares herself as innocent because she was unaware of her husband’s dealings. Third, she blesses David with death to his enemies, making clear that Nabal is his enemy, not Abigail. Fourth, she asks for forgiveness, and it shows it with her plentiful gift. Fifth, Abigail gives a final blessing of her unyielding support of David as the next king of Israel.

Abigail’s prophet words do a number on David. David recognizes that Abigail is a message sent from God. Once again, we see the dynamic character in David. David was ready to act as God, making decisions on his own, not waiting for God’s answer. But just as he was about to, God intervened via Abigail. He came to realize what he was doing was wrong. After David confesses his wrong, he repents. He will not kill the adult males in Abigail’s household. He will wait for the Lord to act accordingly with justice.

Sure enough, God does act accordingly. God uses Abigail to pronounce judgment on Nabal. Abigail waits for the next morning, for Nabal is drunk after a feast. The feast and the drinking just goes to show Nabal is only concerned about using his wealth for his own pleasure, not caring about anyone else. In the morning, Abigail repeats her conversation with David prophetically. Upon hearing the words, the Hebrew text literally says, his “heart/soul died within him.” Some scholars take this to mean a heart attack, while other scholars understand this to be a stroke. Either could work because both make the body weaker. 10 days later, Nabal dies, most likely for another heart attack or stroke. While it might seem like a normal human disease, the Bible makes it clear it was an action of the Lord. Once David hears the news, he praises God, because he saw God at work. Not only has God prevented David from performing evil, but God has brought about the justice himself.

Now here’s the perfect place to insert the application. With the last chapter, chapter 24, I mentioned the application is that a [wo]man after God’s heart is one loves his enemies instead of seeking revenge. Chapter 25 answers that question. Actually, in the bigger picture of the whole Bible, 1 Samuel 25 is a real life case study of Romans 12:17-21. Let’s look at it.

Romans 12:17-21–

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I love this passage because it is rich in Old Testament Scripture. It shows that this application is one of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Most likely the Proverb quoted was after David’s life, but David definitely would have known Deuteronomy 32:35, which also says that it is the Lord’s to avenge and repay. Now David comes to know it in real life. Why should we love our enemies and not seek revenge on them? Because it’s God’s job, not ours. We as humans tend to think we’re good and we can do good things when we try to avenge an evil action. But the Bible reminds us that no one is perfectly good, and everyone is a sinner (Romans 3:10). So what we call to be justice ends up becoming revenge. Only God is perfectly good, so only he can truly bring justice, and his justice involves forgiveness and reconciliation. Even when we do get it right, it’s not our job to carry it out. God will carry out; we trust need to trust him for it. It’s not our job to judge, but it is our job to love. So I say, let us love everyone, and let God do the sorting. David finally understood it in 1 Samuel 25. If he would have carried out the judgment, he would have carried out the judgment too far. That wouldn’t have been justice; it would have been revenge. It would have been sin to David. God perfectly executed the judgment, sparing David for sin. That’s why David praised God, and that’s why we should praise God. A man after God’s heart allows room for God to avenge.

I wish I could close here, but I bet you want an explanation of David marrying Abigail and Ahinoram after being married to Michal, especially if David is suppose to be a godly example. First, let’s look right at the text. The text says in verse 44 that Michal was handed to Paltiel in marriage. Obviously, this shows how much Saul hated David that he withdrew the promises of giving his daughter as a wife. Clearly to me, that means the King Saul divorced Michal from David (he’s the king, he can do that), making David a divorcee, allowing him to marry. Still, why de he take two wives? The New Bible Commentary says that just as Saul divorced David and Michal for political reasons, David is marrying women of big standing in Israel to make himself look politically good. Some commentaries have suggested that David is being Abigail’s kindsman-redeemer. Thus, the marriage is more of a “wife adoption.” It’s interesting that the author does not show God’s approval or disapproval. If anything, it looks like the author is saying this is part of God’s plan. The only way we can see if it is, we have to let it play out. So before we pronounce judgment, let’s see how it plays out.

1 Samuel 24: Loving Your Enemies

Have you ever wanted to seek revenge on someone? Have you ever wanted to get even? It would seem like our culture seems to approve of revenge, or at least accepts it. Think about it in the movies and TV shows you watch. You cheer when the nerds get revenge on the jocks, the boy gets revenge on his ex-girlfriend with a new girlfriend, etc.  Even if our culture says revenge is OK, what about the Bible? Does the Bible say revenge is OK? I believe the Bible does not approve or accept revenge. Naturally, the first verse that comes to mind is Matthew 5:44, but it would be nice to more have a “case study” or a real-life event in the Bible that backs this verse up. How much more powerful would it be if it came from the Old Testament, years before Jesus preached on this earth! Well, 1 Samuel 24 is here for that reason. 1 Samuel 24will be one of a few chapters in 1 Samuel that promotes loving your enemy. Now it wouldn’t surprise me if some of you reading know me well and you are thinking to yourself, “That’s eisegesis (reading one’s own beliefs into the text)! Your pushing your Anabaptist-Mennonite beliefs into this chapter!” If you are thinking that, I hope to show you by the end of the chapter, if the text is left to speak for itself, the text will preach loving your enemies. Therefore, I plan to teach this chapter using the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (T.I.S.) for my interpretation. Remember T.I.S. has God as the main character and looks at other parts of the Bible to make sure its interpretation is correct.

Chapter 24 picks up right where chapter 23 leaves the reader: with the setting. David is in the desert of En Gedi. En Gedi means “Spring of the [goat] kid.” Surrounded by the Judean Desert, En Gedi is an oasis in the desert. The surrounding Judean Desertmakes the air hot, but the waters in En Gedi are nice and cool. The source of this cool water is a spring, which trickles down in a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall leaves behind pools of water throughout the mountain. Even to this day, En Gedi is treated like a beach for the locals and the tourists alike. A spring, a waterfall and pools aren’t the only things at En Gedi. En Gedi has a lot of broom trees, not mentioned in 1 Samuel 24, but mentioned in other parts of the Bible, such as 1 Kings 19:4, Job 30:4, and Psalm 120:4. There are also a lot of wild goats, known locally as ibex, which live in the caves. It’s hard to go a day without seeing an ibex. I was fortunate enough to go to En Gedi while I was touring Israel. So throughout this devotional, I will put pictures of En Gedi in so you can see what it looks like and imagine the story happening there.

 

The En Gedi waterfall.

David is hiding in En Gedi with 600 of his men. With a crowd so big, word eventually spreads, and it eventually reaches the ears of Saul. So Saul takes his own men, numbering 3,000, five times the amount, and heads out to search for David in En Gedi. Since En Gedi has so many caves, it makes sense to search them one by one, but it takes a while to do so. Eventually, nature calls for Saul. Literally, the Bible says in Hebrew that Saul “went to cover his feet.” This is a euphemism, which is switching out an offensive word or phrase for a nicer, less offensive one. The euphemism is a good one. When someone needs to go, the person squats, and the robe covers the feet. The only translation that keeps the phrase “cover his feet” is the King James Version. All the other translations replace it with a similar English euphemism. Saul went to relieve himself. Once again, it’s an accurate euphemism. A person does feel relieved afterwards. This euphemism is a better one than “go to the bathroom” as that phrase would insinuate an actual room, while Saul is going outside. (And yes, I just spent a whole paragraph talking about going to the bathroom/relieving oneself.)

 

The En Gedi waterfall.

Unknown to Saul, David and his men (at least some of them) are in the same cave, just farther back. David’s men get giddy. They say to David and each other, “This has to be it! The Lord promised that Saul would be in David’s hands. Today must be that day!” David’s men push David to kill Saul, but David doesn’t do it. Instead, he simply cuts off the corner of Saul’s robe. David does it so successfully that Saul does not even know what happened to him. As for why David merely cut off a piece of robe instead of killing Saul, it will become clear later on in the chapter.

 

A pool at En Gedi

Most people probably wouldn’t make a big deal of cutting off a corner of a garment. I bet David’s men didn’t make a big deal of it either. David, however, did make a big deal out of it. Literally, the Hebrews reads in 1 Samuel 24:5 “his heart smote him.” The NIV helps clear it up a bit better, saying that David was “conscience stricken.” The UBS Handbook on the First Book of Samuel says that phrase even fully doesn’t encompass what the original Hebrew phrase meant. It would translate it “he was sad in his heart” or “his heart felt sorrowful” because this conscious-strickenness is one that’s both intellectual and emotional. David quickly repents of his actions, declaring that even cutting off the robe’s corner was too much for him to do. David still recognizes Saul as the Lord’s anointed, the king over all of Israel, even after Samuel anointed him the next king of Israel. David is also concerned that he sent the wrong message to his men, who look up to him. David quickly rebukes anyone who even thinks of harming Saul. Saul then leaves, totally unaware of what happened to him.

Some of the pools of En Gedi, as seen from above

 

Shortly after Saul leaves, David calls back to Saul from the mouth of the cave. What surprise must have met Saul when Saul realizes that the man he’s hunting was in the cave with him the whole time! Then David waves around the cut corner in his hands. Even more surprise fell on Saul when he realizes how close David was to him. David wants Saul to not only to recognize how close David was to him, but David also wants Saul to recognize how close David was to killing him. David wants Saul to recognize this in order to prove to Saul that David himself is not a threat or danger to Saul. If David is not guilty of a wrongdoing against Saul, then Saul is guilty of a wrongdoing against David by pursuing him. Finally, David leaves it up to the Lord to be the judge. David’s request to God is the guilty be punished and the innocent be protected. But maybe David’s more concentrated on the protection of the innocent over the punishment of the guilty. David requests of Saul to stop pursuing him because David is innocent. Both Saul and David know Exodus 23:7, which says that killing an innocent person is a sin that God will not pardon (remember this is the Old Covenant, and that verse might be talking about a prosecutor or a judge who declares an innocent person guilty in court). By asking Saul to stop pursuing him, David is asking Saul to spare both David’s life and Saul’s own life. In the same manner, with the same caution, David will not kill Saul, but he will leave it up to the Lord.

There are many caves in En Gedi. Good hiding places. Maybe this is why David hid here from Saul

After a heart-felt moment from David, Saul responds with his own heart-wrenching moment. Hearing David’s voice alone leads Saul to tears. Saul knows what should have happened. Any time a person gets the chance to attack and kill his enemy, he does it! Saul knows that he would have. But David has let Saul go unharmed. David’s grace and mercy leads Saul to proclaim David as more righteous than him. It also leads Saul to confessing that his actions are bad and David’s are good. Saul finds himself blessing David and acknowledging David as the future king of Israel. With this acknowledgement, all Saul can do is ask David to be kind to his descendants and his family. It was a good request, for it was common practice in the Ancient Near East for new kings to kill the entire family of old kings. What I find interesting is that Saul does not ask David to spare his own life. For a split second, it seems like Saul is accepting the fate he deserves for his harsh treatment on David: his life. David grants Saul’s wish. He kind of has to. It’s very similar to the covenant David made with Jonathan.

The last verse of 1 Samuel 24 ends the chapter in an interesting way. It states that Saul went home, but David returned to hiding. Let’s start with Saul. This verse seems to actually be further proof that Saul’s change of heart was legitimate. Saul did not kill David on the spot, nor give him a head start just to pursue him further. Instead, Saul went home, like it’s all over. It seems like Saul has stopped hunting David. David, on the other hand, does not go home. David goes back into hiding. It would seem like David doesn’t trust Saul. But you can’t blame him. Remember, Saul threw a spear twice at David, and David tried to go back like nothing happened. But after the third time, David gave up and left. David’s already made the mistake of hanging around Saul longer than he should have and outstaying his welcome. This time, even if it’s just to be on the cautious side, David is staying his distance.

Alright, now let’s get our T.I.S. thinking caps on. So first, let’s see what God does as the main character. While the narrator makes no description of God moving, the people within the story do notice it. First, David’s men state that God has given Saul into David’s hands by leaving Saul so vulnerable. Second, David mentions God a lot, and each mention reveals something about God. David reminds his men, as well as the reader, that God did indeed anoint Saul, so he should still be treated as God’s anointed one. Next, David repeats his men’s philosophy to Saul: Saul was left so vulnerable because God has given David Saul. Then, near the end of his speech, David declares God to be the one who judges and the one who avenges. That right there, as found in 1 Samuel 24:12, is the key verse for this chapter. That’s what the reader needs to learn about God in this chapter that God is the one who judges and the one who avenges, or punishes.

The judge and punisher is not to be man, and David is the example of that. Just as David’s men point out, God has delivered Saul into David’s hands and has left Saul wide open for attack. God allows David to do whatever he pleases with Saul. I think that David must have recognized that this must be a test from God. Will David take matters into his own hands, or will he surrender that to the Lord? Previously, as seen in 1 Samuel 21, the reader would expect David to take matters into his own hand. But now, David has changed, and God is molding him into the person God wants him to be. Here, we learn that a man after God’s heart does not take judging or seeking revenge into his own hands, but relies on God for justice.

Therefore, the reader is invited to do the same thing. The Christian who wants to sanctify his or her life will learn to love his or her enemies and do good to them. It could be anybody. It could be the co-worker who always blames you for the problems. It could be the classmate who picks on you and bullies you. It could be the former friend who made you look bad. It could be the terrorist in the Middle East who hates your country. It could be the politician from the political party you oppose who just got elected into office. It should even be the murderers, rapists and robbers, whether they have committed crimes directly against you or not. God asks us not to seek revenge against these people, for revenge shows hate, not love. Revenge is circular, going back and forth, but love can end that. So we need to love our enemies. C.S. Lewis had a lot of good ideas for loving your enemy in his book Mere Christianity. Lewis said that a good start to loving your enemies is to something kind for them, even if you don’t feel like it. The more you do those nice, kind things, the more the negatives feelings will go away and positive feelings will replace them. I couldn’t agree more. So if someone curses at you or calls you a name, give a compliment or two back. If someone wrongs you, or seeks revenge on you, do not seek revenge back. Instead, do something nice back. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is for Christians this is how Jesus taught us to live counter-culturally in Matthew 5:44-47. It’s easy to teach loving family and friends, but really, that makes Christians no different from non-Christians because non-Christians even do that. What makes Christians stick out and be salt of the earth and the light of the world is that we love everyone, including our enemies. And don’t worry if an injustice comes from loving you enemies. Remember that the Lord God is the one who judges and avenges, so we can trust in him to do so.

But this isn’t the last we’ve heard about loving our enemies. We’re going to get a similar message out of the next chapter. David will once again be faced with taking vengeance into his own hands. Will David make the right choice again?