David Spares Saul’s Life
24 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 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.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 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.” 7 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.
For David’s men, the caves on En-gedi were places of refuge. If you go to Israel, you can see these caves today. Some are large enough to fit thousands. David’s men thought that when Saul entered the cave where they were hiding, it was an opportunity to kill him. David had great respect for Saul even though he was trying to kill him. David respected the position that Saul held. David knew that one day he would be king, and this was not the right way to strike down Saul. This would set a precedence for him when he became king. God has placed government and its leaders in power. Some leaders are so bad that we do not understand why they are in leadership. We are experiencing this in our country. The leadership is poor, and we see such unfair and cruel things happening. The leadership makes decisions with spite and revenge. It has no regard for human life. It does not think through decisions as to the consequences it will have on the people of this country. It wants to cancel people, kill people, and ruin lives. It is dividing and degrading. It is difficult. What can we do? We have to remember as Christians that God gives authority. He is moving according to his plan. We must trust God and know that God is our highest authority, and we should not allow any leader to pressure us to violate God’s law. Put God first. Obey God. Pray for leaders. Be God’s remnant and be steadfast in your faith. Stand for what is right and do not allow anyone to force you to disobey God.
