David Refuses to Kill Saul
v1 When Saul had finished fighting the Philistines he returned home. Someone told him that David was in the desert at En Gedi. v2 So Saul chose 3,000 of the best soldiers in Israel. They went to look for David and his men near Wild Goat Rocks.
v3 Saul came to the sheep pens that were close to the road. There was a cave near to these pens. Saul went into the cave to use the cave as a toilet. David and his men were sitting right at the back of this cave. v4 The men said to David, "This is the day that the Lord spoke about. The Lord said to you, “I will give your enemy to you. Then you can do to him whatever you think is right." David walked up behind Saul. David was so quiet that Saul did not hear him. David cut off a small piece of material from Saul’s royal coat.
v5 Later, David felt guilty that he had cut a piece of material off Saul’s coat. v6 David said to his men, "May the Lord stop me from doing anything wrong to my master, Saul. The Lord anointed him as king. I must never do anything to oppose Saul. The Lord has anointed him as king." v7 David spoke like this to stop his men. He did not let them attack Saul. Saul left the cave and continued on his journey.
Commentary
Saul’s war with the Philistines saved David’s life. But Saul did not stop chasing David. David had only 600 men. David had not trained them as soldiers. Saul had five times more men than David. All of Saul’s men were expert soldiers. But God was protecting David. David probably heard that Saul was coming to find him. So David and his men hid in a cave. There are very big caves in this part of the country. David and his 600 men could easily hide in these caves. They could talk and Saul could not hear them. David wrote Psalms 57 and 142 to describe his time in the cave.
Saul did not know that he had gone into his enemy’s cave. David’s men thought that David would kill Saul. The men reminded David of a promise from God (verse 4). The Bible does not record this promise anywhere else. We do not know when God said this to David. David knew that God had anointed Saul as king. David gave honor to Saul. Therefore, David would not hurt Saul in any way. He would not let his men hurt Saul. David knew that if he opposed Saul then he also opposed God.
Romans 13:1-3 tells us that only God can give authority to leaders. Although Samuel had anointed David as king, David trusted God. David did not make himself king. He waited for God’s right time. Saul wore the special royal coat. This showed that he was the king. David felt guilty after he cut the royal coat. Perhaps he considered that this was like attacking the king.
David Speaks to Saul
v8 Then David went out of the cave and shouted to Saul, "My master and king." Saul looked behind him. David went down onto his knees. He bent down so that his face was on the ground. v9 David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the people who say, “David wants to hurt you”?
v10 Today the Lord gave me power to hurt you in the cave. Some of my men wanted me to kill you. But I pitied you. I said, “I will not hurt my master because the Lord has anointed him as king." v11 Look, my father. I have a small piece of your coat. I cut this off the corner of your royal coat but I did not kill you. Please realize that I have not sinned against you. I will not hurt you. I have done nothing wrong to you. But you are chasing me so that you can kill me.
v12 The Lord will be the judge. He will decide which one of us has behaved in the wrong way. And may the Lord punish you because you have done wrong things to me. But I will not do anything to hurt you. v13 You know that people often say this, “Evil people do evil things.” But I am not opposing you. v14 Who have you come to fight? Who are you are chasing? Do you think that I am like a dead dog or a little insect? v15 The Lord will be the judge. He will decide which one of us has behaved in the wrong way. May the Lord see what I have done. May he show that I am right. And may he save me from you."
v16 When David stopped speaking Saul asked, "Is that really you, David my son?" Then Saul started to cry aloud. v17 Saul said, "You are a better man than I am. You have been good to me. But I have behaved in a bad way to you. v18 You have told me all the good things that you did to me. The Lord handed me over to you, but you did not kill me. v19 If a person finds his enemy he does not let him go away. He does not let him be safe. The Lord will reward you because you were good to me today. v20 Now I know that you will be the king of Israel. You will rule all the people in Israel. v21 Please promise the Lord that you will not kill all my children and their families. Make sure that people do not forget my family’s name."
v22 So David made this promise to Saul. Saul went home. But David and his men returned to the safe place.
Commentary
Saul left the cave. He was not aware of what had happened. David took a risk when he shouted to Saul. Saul and his men could have run back and caught David and his men. David respected Saul when he called him "my master and king." David gave Saul honor when he bent right down to the ground. David showed Saul the piece of material. David proved that many of Saul’s men had lied to him about David. David explained what had happened in the cave. This showed that David was not Saul’s enemy. David said that he was innocent. God is the judge. God will punish the guilty person. In verse 11, David calls Saul "my father." Actually, Saul was his father-in-law. David married Saul’s daughter Michal (18:27) so David was part of Saul’s family. Also, this greeting showed that David respected Saul as king.
In verse 14, David probably meant that he was not an important person. Therefore, Saul would not gain anything if he caught David. But David’s questions may also mean, "You think that I am not important. But do you know who I really am?" Verse 20 shows that Saul knew. He knew who David really was.
In verse 16, Saul replied to David and called him "my son." This time Saul did not insult David as "the son of Jesse" as he had done in 22:8. Saul could hardly believe that this really was David. Now Saul realized that David was not his enemy. Saul cried because he felt guilty. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies’. Saul had been David’s enemy. But David had been good to Saul.
In verse 20, Saul knew that David would become king after him. David was the man that Samuel spoke about. He said that he was better than Saul (15:28). Saul knew that his son Jonathan would not become king. But Saul also knew that a king from a different family usually killed the previous king’s family (20:14-15). The new king wanted his son and grandsons to be king after him. In verse 21 Saul said, "Please promise the Lord." Saul knew that David would keep his promise to the Lord. David made this promise and in the future, he kept it.
Although Saul seemed to care about David, David could not trust him. David and his men returned to the safe place. They did not go home with Saul.
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