1 Samuel 24 All In Good Time

 

Introduction

As human beings we often want to take the easy way out (*show pictures).

As these pictures show, people will do anything for an easy life. Generally, in life we like to avoid any kind of difficulty at all costs.

It can be the same when it comes to following Jesus. We like all the benefits of belonging to God, but we don’t want the sacrifices which may be required of His People.

But the Bible doesn’t allow us the luxury of taking the easy way when it comes to being God’s People. All we have to do is look at the life of David to know that to be true.

David’s journey to become king of God’s People was long and difficult- there would be notaking the easy way out for David. We have seen this was especially trueas Saul’s murderous pursuit of David intensifies.

But then we come to Chapter 24, and it seems as if this is all going to change. That day, in a cave in Engedi, David has an opportunity to kill Saul and take his rightful place as God’s king. In Chapter 24, David could have taken the easy way out.

David, however, trusted God’s Word and followed God’s way- honouring God’s appointment of Saul and trusting in God’s timing. And so, we see David spares Saul’s life and speaks to Saul; and we hear Saul’s response.

 

As God’s People today we are to listen to this true story from God’s Word and understand our calling to trust in God’s Word and follow His Way- even when it will mean hardship. More than that, we are to remember our Lord Jesus who entrusted Himself to God’s perfect way so that we might know the blessing of His obedience.

So, let’s see, firstly, how… David Spares Saul

Our passage begins with Saul in a commanding position; in verse 1 we read:

After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.”

Saul had successfully dealt with the Philistine threat which had forced Saul to abandon his pursuit of David in the wilderness of Maon.

So, Saul had military power. He also had agents who could inform him of David’s whereabouts. After his narrow escape from Saul, David had gone to the Desert of Engedi.

With an army at his disposal and an up-to-date intel report, Saul wasted no time in resuming his murderous efforts. In verse 2 it is clear that Saul and his men have the upper hand. They had a 5 to 1 numerical advantage over David and his men. And while Saul could call on the nation’s best warriors, David had to rely upon a ragtag bunch of outcasts and misfits. If it came to it, this was not going to be a fair fight. But as we’re about to see, with God things are not always as they appear.

In verse 3 the story begins to get very detailed indeed. The writer decides to tell us about Saul popping into the cave to go to the toilet.

We may be surprised to hear a story in the Bible with a detail like this. But these things are necessary, even for kings, we just don’t normally hear about it.

The reason this particular royal bathroom break was interesting was because of the cave Saul happened to choose- the one with David and his men hiding in the back. Of all the caves in the Engedi region (and there were many), Saul chose to come into this one, alone and vulnerable.

Of course, the men hiding there were vulnerable too. If Saul had raised the alarm, there were 3,000 ‘special forces’ troops outside ready to make short work of David’s 600 rag-tag bunch.

It was a tense moment. Picture the scene: the army outside the cave, armed and dangerous; David and his men huddled nervously together in the back of the cave; and between them, a short distance into the cave, Saul with his trousers at his ankles.

It was also, in a way, the moment David’s men had been looking for. They had been hunted and fleeing from Saul for what seemed like forever. Now, Saul was in their hideout- disrobed and there for the taking. David’s men could hardly contain their delight.

In verse 4 we hear whispers from the darkness, deep inside the cave:

The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’”

Although God had said no such thing, the feelings of the men were understandable.

 

In the previous chapter God did say to David, ‘I will give the Philistines into your hand’- which is pretty close to ‘I will give your enemy into your hand.’. From the point of view of David’s men, there was not a lot of difference these days between Saul and the Philistines!

It is also true that Saul had branded David his ‘enemy’ (in Chapter 19). The men were only drawing the obvious conclusion that if David was Saul’s enemy, then Saul was David’s enemy. So, they assumed God’s promise applied to this enemy of David too.

Encouraged by his eager companions, David slowly crept up behind Saul without making a sound. Finally, he drew near, his band of followers collectively holding their breath. David hesitated. His men must have silently gasped, ‘Don’t hesitate, David, finish him off!’. David finally reached forward to act. But, instead of reaching for Saul, David took a corner of his royal robe lying on the ground and cut it off.

We, like David’s men, are left thinking: ‘Is that all? What an anticlimax! Just a corner of his robe!’. We can imagine their outraged disappointment. Here was an opportunity lost.

The risk David took, the skill and stealth involved, doesn’t seem to match the act that David performed in the end. It is a strange scene. It is supposed to make us pause and wonder what was going through David’s mind.

Now, we are not told what went through David’s mind before he did this, but we are told what he thought after the event. In verse 5 we see that David’s action caused him to feel overwhelmed with guilt.

On first reading, this seems a rather strange reaction. Firstly, if the roles had been reversed, we know what Saul would have done and how he would have felt afterwards. Secondly, we may be thinking, ‘David, what’s the big deal- all you did was cut a little bit off the man’s robe?’.

But there was more to it than a damaged garment. And David would have understood the great significance in what he had done.

David knew that the royal robe was symbol of Saul’s authority as Israel’s king. And so, to cut Saul’s royal robe meant David wassymbolically laying claim to the kingdom. David understood that in tearing Saul’s robe, he was in effect rebelling against God’s appointed king.

David knew that Saul was not on the throne by accident, but by the will of God. David, whatever his feelings about Saul personally, had a deep reverence for the office Saul held and understood that only God could take it from him.

And so, David was devastated that he had done such a thing; in verse 6 we read:

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.”

David understood that the kingdom, which would certainly be his one day, was not for him to take by his own power. The kingdom had been given to Saul by God (he is the anointed of the Lord), and it was up to God to take it from him, in His own time and in His own way. The kingdom could only properly come to David as God’s gift.

This was clearly very important to David. In verse 7 we read:

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.

 

Literally the text says that David tore his men apart with his words. They were utterly and completely wrong to think this was an ordinary conflict between men. With remarkable insight, David saw that God’s Will must be accomplished in God’s time and in God’s way.

It would have been very easy for David to allow the counsel of his followers and the circumstances in front of him to dictate his way forward. Indeed, David could have justified taking Saul’s life for various reasons.

David, however, realised he stood at a turning point in his life. God had promised him the throne. He could either take it by killing the Lord’s anointed or he could trust God’s timing and submit to God will. David understood that it was vitally important for his relationship with God and for his future as God’s servant that He follow God’s Way even if it would lead to a difficult path ahead.

And so, David submits to God’s will and follows the direction of God’s Word. The weight of God’s Word upon his conscience directs David’s actions.

David does not take the easy way out. Instead, he trusts that God will do what is best in His time and according to His purposes. He chooses the difficult path of obedience rather than the dark path of convenience.

Likewise, we must meditate upon God’s Word and submit to the authority of God’s Word above all else. ‘God says it, that settles it’ must be the way by which we live and act in every circumstance.

At times this will mean that life will be difficult. But we trust that we will only know God’s true blessing as we live in obedience to His Word and allow God’s truth to guide us in God’s will. We will only know God’s Way when it is His lamp that lights our path.

David spared Saul’s life in submission to God’s Word. And God’s Word directs what David did next…

David Speaks to Saul

Picture the scene in verse 8. Saul leaves the cave after relieving himself and is now on his way to join his men. Suddenly he hears: ‘My lord the king!’. And turning, he sees his archenemy standing outside the very cave that he had just used as a bathroom.

Saul stopped, turned around, and looked toward the voice. After his respectful greeting David added appropriate gestures- he bowed and paid homage. Then he began to speak. In verses 9 and 10 David essentially says, ‘Why are you taking bad advice from the wrong people?’. ‘You know, I was on the receiving end of bad advice just earlier today, but I rejected it, and you should have rejected it too. They told me to kill you. But I spared you.’.

From all that we know, David was being rather too generous to Saul. We have no evidence that anyone, other than Saul himself, was saying that David was seeking to harm Saul. Indeed, Saul had repeatedly been told the very opposite.

Of course, the fact that David was standing at the mouth of the cave was proof enough that only moments earlier he could have taken Saul by surprise. But David had further dramatic proof of his refusal to harm Saul, even though he had the opportunity. In verse 11 David shows Saul the piece of his robe he cut off instead of killing Saul.

David was holding the symbol of the kingdom in his hands. David was also holding the symbol of his innocence and his kindness toward Saul.

David had demonstrated that he would leave it to the Lord to deal with the differences between himself and Saul. In verse 12 David called on Saul to do the same.

The speech could have stopped there, but a great deal depended on this speech. So David pressed on; in verse 13 David makes a rather pointed comment:

As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.

The obvious implication of the proverb is that Saul had acted wickedly because he was wicked, but David skilfully applied the proverb positively to himself: if David was wicked (as Saul seemed to believe), he would have done the wicked thing- and killed the king.

In verse 14 David questioned Saul’s motivation for pursuing him; after all, David was no more a threat to Saul than a dead dog or a single flea. In verse 15 David concluded by calling on God to decide the matter, and he had no doubt about which side God would come down.

Again, David demonstrated that he would leave it to God to deal with the differences between himself and Saul. Instead of taking the easy way out, David did the harder thing- he trusted in God to deliver in His Way.

This was quite the speech! Indeed, it had to be because David’s life depended on the effect of these words on Saul.

And so, finally, we turn to… Saul’s Reply

David’s words, and the truth they communicated, hit Saul very hard. In verse 16 we hear Saul’s reply:

When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud.

Saul was obviously overcome with the shock of how close he had been to death. And, perhaps, he finally realised this righteous man would be king no matter what he did.

In verses 17 to 19 it is as though the shock of David’s speech was working its way through Saul’s consciousness. Every part of David’s speech was undeniably true. Saul’s walking out of that cave alive was overwhelming proof that David was not his enemy.

Then, in verse 20, Saul put into words what he must have known for a long time now: David would be king. We notice that this acknowledgment was not forced from Saul with a sword at his throat. Instead, it was provoked by David’s righteousness and mercy!

There remained only one more thing for Saul to say to David- in verse 21:

…Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

Saul simply wanted the same kind of promise from David that David made to Jonathan. In verse 22 David duly obliges. The episode concludes with Saul going home and David and his men going to the stronghold. What would happen next was anyone’s guess.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

All of us want the easy way out. The men in the cave wanted David to take the easy way to the throne by dispatching Saul in the cave. In David’s sparing Saul, we are called to trust in God’s timing and submit to His will.

Thinking of David, sparing Saul’s life and honouring God’s Way, points us ultimately to Jesus. How vital it was for our salvation that Jesus didn’t take the easy way out.

Indeed, we remember the episode in the wilderness, recorded in Matthew 4, where Satan comes to tempt Jesus. Satan wanted to tempt Jesus away from what the Father had called Him to do. Satan laid before Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’. In doing so, Satan offered the crown without the cross. This is always Satan’s false appeal to God’s People.

But we rejoice that Jesus knew that only by doing God’s work in God’s way would He truly receive God’s reward for Himself and His People. And so, Jesus trusted God’s Word, rejected Satan’s lies and achieved God’s purposes- and God’s People were blessed.

As God’s People we often want the crown without the cross- we want the blessings of God’s People without making the sacrifices required to live as God’s People. Instead, let us look to Jesus, the crucified and resurrected Christ, and pursue God’s Will in God’s Way in God’s strength. Let us commit to receive whatever blessings God has for us in His time and according to His most perfect will.