WWUTT 334 David Spares Saul's Life?

When David had an opportunity to boast about his own kindness and mercy, he didn't take it. He gave all of the glory to God, who dealt bountifully with David, just as God deals bountifully with each one of us when we understand the text.

WWUTT Program Introduction

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. Well, we will not only finish up our study of 1 Peter by the end of the year, we'll also finish up our Old Testament study of 1 Samuel. So in 2017, we'll begin a study of 2 Peter in our New Testament study, and 2 Samuel in our Old Testament study.

David Spares Saul at En Gedi

For today, we're looking at 1 Samuel chapters 24, 25, 26, and 27. I'm going to get a little ambitious here and think that we can get through four chapters. So here's chapter 24. When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi.

Then Saul took 3 ,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the wild goat's rocks. Now this just kind of shows how paranoid Saul was that he had to take 3 ,000 men with him against David and his 600 men.

But we've seen how at every twist and turn, Saul has assumed that everybody has been conspiring with David against him. He slaughtered all of the priests at Nob and an entire community simply because Ahimelech fed David when he was hungry.

And so Saul thought that all the priests and everyone in that town was conspiring against Saul. So he had them all killed. And here it's a little overkill that he would take with him 3 ,000 men to pursue David in the wilderness.

Psalm 63 actually goes along with this. And David prays to the Lord. Oh, God, you are my God. Earnestly, I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory because your steadfast love is better than life. My lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live. In your name, I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food. And my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. When I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night, for you have been my help.

And in the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you. Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth. They shall be given over to the power of the sword.

They shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God. All who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped. And this turned out to be somewhat prophetic for David as well because this is the way that Saul would die.

He would perish by the sword, in fact, his own sword when the Philistines came upon him. We read about that in chapter 31, which is at the end of the book. We'll be reading that story next week. So back to 1 Samuel 24 and picking up in verse 3.

And Saul came to the sheepfolds, by the way, where there was a cave. And Saul went in to relieve himself, to use the John. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 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. And afterward, David's heart struck him because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 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 that he is the Lord's anointed.

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. Had to have been a pretty big cave because David and 600 men are there in the back of the cave and Saul doesn't even notice.

But you notice the conviction that David experiences in his heart just because he nicked off a corner of Saul's robe. And yet Saul has no fear of God or respect for his anointed, that he has recruited 3000 men to come after David and put him to death.

So in verse 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. And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to the words of men who say, Behold, David seeks you harm.

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.

See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the 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. May the Lord judge between me and you. May the Lord avenge me against you. But my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancient says, Out of the wicked comes wickedness, but my hand shall not be against you.

After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. 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.

So you see the humility that David has, even as he is addressing Saul here. He doesn't declare his own his own self as righteous. He doesn't say to Saul, I am better than you are. Rather, he appeals to the Lord.

He says, may the Lord judge between me and you. And yet in the previous chapter, Saul had said that that the Lord had delivered David over into his hand. So Saul thought that God was on his side and even boasted that God was on his side because he had this opportunity to kill David.

Yet David in his humility is saying, may the Lord, may the Lord judge between me and you. I am not going to lift my hand up to you. And so then in verse 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. And he said to David, you are more righteous than I for you have repaid me good. Whereas I have repaid you evil and you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me and that you did not kill me when the Lord put you or put me into your hands.

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. And now behold, I know that you shall surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.

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. And David swore this to Saul. And then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

And David is going to remain true to his vow here, as we'll see, continuing on with the story and the history of David here. So then at the start of chapter 25, we have the death of Samuel. Now, Samuel died and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.

And that's it for Samuel. He was the last judge in Israel. He was a prophet to King Saul. And as a matter of fact, Saul will still try to seek his counsel, even though Samuel is dead. We'll read that story coming up here in just a little bit.

Sandwiched in between chapter 24, where David spares Saul's life, and chapter 26, another account of David sparing Saul's life, we have an instance where David was not going to be so merciful to a man who offended him, but a woman named Abigail managed to keep David from blood guilt, acting unjustly against Nabal.

And we read that story here in chapter 25. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran, and there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich. He had 3 ,000 sheep and 1 ,000 goats.

He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now, the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife, Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved. He was a Calebite.

David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, so David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him.

Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time that they were in Carmel.

Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.

When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David's servants, Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters.

Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where? Now Nabal is being very derogatory here by referring to David as a son of Jesse.

It's an insult the way that he's saying it. And Saul actually referred to David the same way a couple of chapters ago. So going on from there to verse 12. So David's young men turned away and came back and told David everything that Nabal said.

And David said to his men, Every man strap on his sword. And every man strapped on his sword, and David also got his sword. And about 400 men went up after David, while 200 remained with the baggage. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.

Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm. We did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we were with them. They were a wall to us, both by night and by day. All the while we were with them, keeping the sheep.

Now therefore, know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house. And he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him. Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and 2 skins of wine and 5 sheep already prepared, and 5 sieves of parched grain and 100 clusters of raisins and 200 cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

And she said to her young men, Go on before me, behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband, Nabal. And as she rode on the donkey and came down under the cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. God, do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.

Now the interesting thing about that word for male is literally translated, one who urinates on a wall. So this is David's own derogatory term concerning the house of Nabal. Verse 23. When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.

She fell at his feet and said, On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow Nabal, for as his name is, so is he.

And that's actually what Nabal means. It means fool. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. Now then, my lord, as the lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the lord has restrained you from blood guilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.

And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant, for the lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.

If men rise up to pursue you and seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the lord your god. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

And when the lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.

And when the lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant. So notice here that David did not take matters into his own hands when Saul was right there for the slaying. And yet here when Nabal insulted David, he was ready to strap on his sword and go slaughter Nabal and all of his house just because Nabal had refused to feed him.

Though David had protected Nabal's property, Nabal was not responding in kindness. So David was thoughtful and considerate concerning Saul, but not toward David and or I'm sorry, Nabal. And so when Abigail comes out and appeals on behalf of the household, she's she's really kind of, you know, trying to save the lives of everybody in this home and not just her own.

She also appeals to David's conscience in such a way to say that if you slaughter this household, then then the blood of everybody who dies is going to be on your hands and you are going to feel guilt for that slaughter, that unjust slaughter while you reign as king over Israel.

So Abigail is not only acting in the interest of her home, but also in the interest of David. And David said to Abigail, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel who sent you this day to meet me. Blessed be your discretion and blessed be you who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from working salvation with my own hand.

For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.

Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice and I have granted your petition. David did not take matters into his own hands concerning Saul.

He was about to take matters into his own hands concerning Nabal, but Abigail convinced him otherwise. So David had a mind that was able to be changed because he was a humble man before the Lord, whereas Nabal was a fool and refused to have his mind changed.

Nobody could speak to him because of how hardheaded he was. So verse 36,. So Nabal apparently had some sort of a stroke and then 10 days later it took his life. Verse 39,. And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord.

And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel and both of them became his wives.

Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was at Galim. You see David giving credit to the Lord and his sovereignty for everything. He even says that his hand was stayed from striking down the home of Nabal because God is the one who acted.

God stayed David's hand. So he said there that the Lord has returned the evil on Nabal and on his own head. Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult that I received at the hand of Nabal and kept back his servant from wrongdoing.

David Spares Saul Again in the Camp

So the Lord prevented David from acting and David gives God all the glory. Chapter 26. Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, is not David hiding himself on the hill at Hilkala, which is on the east of Jeshamon?

So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hilkala, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshamon.

But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. Then David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped.

And David saw the place where Saul lay with Abner, the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment while the army was encamped around him. Then David said to Ahimelech, the Hittite, and to Joab's brother, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, who will go down with me into the camp of Saul?

And Abishai said, I will go down with you. So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head. And Abner and the army lay around him.

Then Abishai said to David, God has given your enemy into your hands this day. Now please let me pin him to the ground with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice. But David said to Abishai, do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?

And David said, as the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed.

But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go. So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

Once again, sovereignty of God acting in the situation. Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on top of the hill with a great space between them. And David called to the army and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying, Will you not answer, Abner?

Then Abner answered, Who are you and who calls to the king? And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord, the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king, your lord.

This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.

Saul recognized David's voice and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. And he said, Why does the Lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done?

What evil is on my hands? Now therefore let my lord, the king, hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering. But if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go serve other gods.

Now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains. Once again David referring to himself as being nothing.

Very humble of David in responding in this way. Then Saul said, I have sinned. Return my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and I have made a great mistake.

And David answered and said, Here is the spear, O king. Let one of the young men come over and take it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand this day, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed.

Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all my tribulation. Then Saul said to David, Blessed be you, my son David.

You will do many things and will succeed in them. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place. So once again you see that David here is not taking credit for himself. He is giving all the credit to the Lord.

And he is also exalting the Lord in such a way as to show Saul that the reason why David's life has been spared is not because Saul changed his mind. It's not because Saul did anything great or merciful, but it is because God was merciful toward David.

That's like David preaching about God before Saul. And this would be the conclusion of Saul's pursuit of David. So then chapter 27. And it is said, I read in one place that Psalm 16 goes along with this chapter.

Psalm 18 may possibly go along with David sparing the life of Saul there in chapter 26. But Psalm 18 is 50 verses long, and since I'm trying to polish off four chapters here, I'll suggest that you take a moment to read that sometime today.

David Among the Philistines

Chapter 27, a little bit shorter chapter here. Then David said in his heart, Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.

Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. So David arose and went over, he and the 600 men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maok, king of Gath.

And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household. And David with his two wives, Ahinom of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.

Then David said to Achish, If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?

So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Gerzites, and the Amalekites. For these were the inhabitants of the land from of old as far as shore to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.

When Achish asked, Where have you made a raid today? David would say, Against the Negev of Judah, or against the Negev of the Jeromelites, or against the Negev of the Kenites. And David would leave neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, thinking, Lest they should tell about us and say, So David has done.

Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. And Achish trusted David, thinking, He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel. Therefore he shall always be my servant.

And that's where we're going to conclude, and we'll finish off 1 Samuel next week. I want to finish here with Psalm 142. It's a shorter psalm, and one of the psalms that was written while David was fleeing from Saul into the cave.

So here is what we read in Psalm 142. With my voice I cry out to the Lord, With my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I tell my trouble before him. When my spirit faints within me, you know my way.

In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see, there is none who takes notice of me. No refuge remains to me. No one cares for my soul. I cry to you, O Lord. I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.

Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

Amen.

This is the protection of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find us on the web at www .utt .com.