Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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 chosen men of Israel, to search there for David. Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.
Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.
David then asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, "Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?" "I'll go with you," said Abishai.
So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won't strike him twice."
But David said to Abishai, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives," he said, "the Lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go."
So David took the spear and water jug near Saul's head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.
1 Samuel 26:1-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Question: How many times would you forgive someone who continuously strives to do you wrong?
Most of us would maybe give a person one chance…but a second?
That’s the focus of our passage as we find Saul once again going after David.
Now we remember all about Saul and David. Saul had fallen out of favor with God because of his willing disobedience and in turn, God decided to choose another king to replace him. And who was that? None other than the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem…a shepherd boy named David…a man after God’s own heart. And after David had defeated the mighty Philistine warrior Goliath, he gained great acclaim from the people of Israel and drew the ire of a jealous Saul who wanted nothing short of killing David.
Now you’ll recall that Saul tried to spear David on two separate occasions, causing David to flee but Saul pursued him relentlessly. Things came to a hilt as Saul entered a cave to relieve himself, not knowing that David and his men were there. David had a perfect opportunity to eliminate his nemesis and was encouraged to do so by his men but he didn’t because he didn’t see it as the Lord’s will. In fact, David became conscience-stricken just because he had cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.
Well, outside of the cave, you’ll remember David confronts Saul, questioning why he was trying to kill him when he had done nothing wrong. He also shares with Saul that he had every chance to kill him in the cave but spared his life, showing him the piece robe he had cut off instead. His words had a transforming impact on Saul who seemed to turn from his ways and actually asked David for his mercy…and David took an oath to not harm Saul.
Well…Saul’s apparent change of heart didn’t last long because as Chapter 26 begins, we see him once again in pursuit of David after the Ziphites tell him that David was “hiding on the hill of Hakilah.” We read where Saul “went down to the Desert of Ziph with his three thousand chosen men of Israel to search there for David”, making his “camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah”. Meanwhile, David “stayed in the desert” and “sent out scouts” after learning that Saul had “followed him there” and those scouts confirmed that “Saul had definitely arrived”.
Armed with this information, scripture tells us that “David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped” and saw “Saul and Abner, …the commander of the army…lying inside the camp with the army encamped around.”
David wanted to go down into the camp but didn’t wish to go alone and so he “asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah” to go with him. Abishai said he would accompany David and together they “went to the army by night” and found “Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head”. Just as in the cave, Saul is in a vulnerable position to lose his life.
And also as in the cave, we see David tempted to have Saul killed…this time with Abishai asking David to allow him to end Saul’s life as he said:
“Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won't strike him twice."
This request would have been enticing for anyone. After all, Saul had been let off the hook once and yet still pursued David. Allowing Abishai to thrust his spear into Saul would end this once and for all.
But as we saw prior, David is no ordinary man. He wouldn’t allow his men to sway his judgment in the cave and he wasn’t going to allow Abishai to do so now in the camp. And so David told Abishai:
"Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives…the Lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go."
David places Saul’s fate in the hands of the One and only One who should judge…the Lord. David didn’t see it his place to carry out Saul’s execution or approve another to do it. This is because the Lord had not commanded David to do so. It wasn’t the Lord’s will for David to do it and so it wasn’t done. Instead, David was confident that Saul’s day would come…and come at the hands of the Lord who would strike him.
So David “took the spear and water jug” that were “near Saul's head” and left with Abishai, undetected by anyone in the camp because the “Lord had put them into a deep sleep.”
Back to my original question: How many chances do we give someone who has done us wrong?
The answer comes from another question: How many times does the Lord grant us another chance after we have done Him wrong? And that includes every sin we commit.
Yes…David showed Saul grace and mercy in this passage…grace and mercy again…grace and mercy for a second time. And he did so because it was the Lord’s will for him to do so…the Lord who defines mercy and grace…all because of His great love for all His children, even when they are failing and falling in their sinfulness.
In the end, David was a sinner just like Saul and we are going to definitely see how flawed he was. And as we deal with people in our own lives, let us always remember that we are no more perfect than those who treat us badly.
In the end translation, none of us deserve the Lord’s favor. He could have wiped us off the face of His creation a long time ago because of our stubborn desire to disobey His desires in exchange for our own. And yet, here we are. I’m writing this right now because of the Lord’s gift of grace and mercy…a gift of grace and mercy that He has given me again and again and again…a gift of grace and mercy that He expects me and all His children to extend to others as well.
Friends, none of us have the right to judge when it comes down to it. That privilege is left to the true Judge…the One who is Justice and Truth. David saw it that way…and we need to follow his lead. For the word of God from Romans instructs us:
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Romans 2:1
In other words, we’re all flawed…sinners who fall short of the Lord’s grace and mercy. And yet, He grants it to us…again and again and again. Thanks be to the Lord for great is His faithfulness…and His mercies are truly new every morning. (Lamentations 3:23). Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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