1 Samuel 24--David Spares Saul's Life

1 Samuel 24
English Standard Version

David Spares Saul's Life
24  When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5 And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 6 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! 15 May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

​16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

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Saul was on the hunt for David and his men at the end of the last passage we read together and almost caught them and a messenger came to him to tell him that the Philistines had raided were attacking and the king and his army were needed to repel that attack, so David and his men escaped without harm.  Now Saul, having dispatched the Philistine raiders, has returned to the hunt for David and his men, having been informed that they are hiding in the wilderness of Engedi (a very desolate place next to the Dead Sea).

Saul took 3,000 chosen men (what we might call Special Forces) to join him on this hunt, and they started to hunt him around the area known as the Wildgoat's Rocks, and when they reached the sheepfolds that were there, Saul went into a nearby cave to relieve himself--for it was proper to go into a cave to do that so that no one would see your nakedness.  David and his men were in the same cave, but all the way in the back of it, so that their eyes were well-adjusted to the dark already, and they could see Saul, but since he just came out of the light and his eyes were not yet adjusted, he could not see them (and he had no expectation of them being there, so he wasn't looking for them either).  Saul was looking outward with his back to the back of the cave so that he could watch the entrance to make sure that no one came in on him from that direction, so David feeling like this was an opportunity that the LORD had given him to deal with Saul decided to sneak up on Saul while he was in the middle of relieving himself, but when he reached Saul he only cut off the corner of Saul's robe--just enough so that he had evidence that he was there and could have killed Saul if he wanted to, but that he chose to spare Saul's life.

The text records for us a discussion between David and his men as to if now was the time to kill Saul and take the kingdom by force (what David's men, who we should remember were all scoundrels who for the most part hated the king, wanted him to do), but David was convicted and felt guilty for what was a sinful act for him because he knew it was wrong for him to lay a hand on the LORD's anointed one (even if just to cut the corner of his robe), because David was to completely trust the LORD to take care of Saul in His way and time.  Though the announcement has been made that the LORD had rejected Saul as king, and the LORD privately brought Samuel to David's family to anoint David as king, the LORD would be the one that would need to depose Saul, because it is the LORD who established Saul in the first place.  David seemed to persuade his men with these words (even though they probably didn't like they, they likely agreed that it was not right to encourage David to violate his conscience in this matter).

Once Saul is some distance away, David leaves the cave with the piece of Saul's robe in hand and cries out to him saying, “My lord the king!.”  This would be an unusual greeting from the one whom you were trying to kill and who you were convinced was your enemy that was out to kill you.  David even bows himself in humility to show reverence and that he is serious about calling Saul his "lord" (lowercase, not uppercase).  David knows what Saul's men would be saying to him at this point--projecting what was in their own hearts saying that David must be up to some deception and this must be a trick to try to harm the king.  However, David rebuts that argument by confessing what just happened in the cave before Saul and all of his men so that they would all know that if David had intended to do harm to the king, Saul would have been dead and they would have been able to do nothing about it.  However, David's heart is still broken that he even cut a corner of Saul's robe off and he presents that as evidence that there is no intent in his heart to take the kingdom by force.  He is not out to do harm to the king, but has only been running and hiding because the king intended to harm him and all those close to him.

David's words strike Saul's heart and Saul realizes that while David is entrusting for the LORD to judge between them, Saul know the LORD has already done so and that Saul knows that his heart is wicked and that David's heart is righteous in this matter.  Therefore, Saul knows the kingdom will be taken from him and given to David and that David will be a good king for the LORD's people.  In this moment, Saul asks David to swear an oath to him that David will not seek to destroy all of Saul's family when the time comes for David's throne to be established, and David swears to this.  We may have already mentioned this, but David will actually take one of Saul's disabled relatives into his palace and treat him well like he was one of David's own sons.  This is an uncommon grace that Saul is asking for, but David has already shown uncommon grace to Saul and now asking for that grace to be extended to all those in his father's house so that they will not be blotted out from history.  With this guarantee, Saul and his men return home and David and his men return to their "home" in the strongholds, for they are not yet ready to go back until the LORD tells them that it is safe for them to return--that all those that sought to kill them are dead.