1 Sam 24 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
In the last lesson, Jonathan and David made a covenant, “because he loved him as his own soul” (1 Sam 18:3). But the passage also says, “Saul watched David from that day and forward” (1 Sam 18:9). Later Saul told his servants “that they should kill David” (1 Sam 19:1). From then on, David was on the run. Scripture says, “Saul sought him every day, but God didn’t deliver him into his hand” (1 Sam 23:14). In this lesson, things are turned around: Saul falls into David’s hands.
Saul came back from chasing the Philistines and was told that David was in the wilderness of En Gedi. (v. 1)
2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.
3He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were staying in the innermost parts of the cave.
4David’s men said to him, “Behold, the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly.
5Afterward, David’s heart struck him because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
6He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”
7So David checked his men with these words, and didn’t allow them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
8David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and showed respect.
9David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to men’s words, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’?
10Behold, today your eyes have seen how the LORD had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’
11Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe and didn’t kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.
12May the LORD judge between me and you, and may the LORD avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.
13As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness;’ but my hand will not be on you.
14Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
15May the LORD therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”
16It came to pass, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
17He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.
18You have declared today how you have dealt well with me, because when the LORD had delivered me up into your hand, you didn’t kill me.
19For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may the LORD reward you good for that which you have done to me today.
20Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
Saul asked David to swear that he would not cut off Saul’s descendants or destroy his family’s name. (v. 21)
22David swore to Saul. Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
The moment comes. Saul brings three thousand chosen men to hunt David (v. 2), and then walks alone into the very cave where David is hiding. David’s men say, “Behold, the day of which the LORD said to you” (v. 4). They quote words they say the LORD spoke. Those words cannot be found anywhere earlier in 1 Samuel.
A corner of a robe. David quietly cuts off the edge of Saul’s robe. The passage goes on: “Afterward, David’s heart struck him” (v. 5). He has not hurt Saul at all, yet that one cut troubles him.
Whoever anointed him can deal with him. “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed” (v. 6). David does not say Saul is in the right — Saul is trying to kill him. David has only one reason: the LORD anointed Saul, so removing him is the LORD’s business. Later, given another chance, David puts it even more plainly: “the LORD will strike him; or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and perish” (1 Sam 26:10).
Holding others back is part of it. “So David checked his men with these words, and didn’t allow them to rise against Saul” (v. 7). Not lifting a hand means not doing it yourself, and also not letting someone else do it for you.
Out of the cave, telling the truth. David does not stay hidden and silent. He goes out and calls, “My lord the king!” (v. 8). He holds up the piece of robe: “I cut off the skirt of your robe and didn’t kill you” (v. 11). He does not take revenge, but he does say what is true: “I have not sinned against you” (v. 11).
Leaving the judgment to God. David says, “May the LORD judge between me and you” (v. 12), and “my hand will not be on you” (v. 13). What he asks for is not Saul’s forgiveness. He asks God to judge, and to “deliver me out of your hand” (v. 15).
After the tears. Saul weeps aloud and says, “You are more righteous than I” (v. 17), and even “I know that you will surely be king” (v. 20). But the chapter ends very soberly: “Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold” (v. 22). David does not go back with Saul. And sure enough, Saul later comes after him again with “three thousand chosen men” (1 Sam 26:2).
Israel at that time had a king God had already rejected — Samuel had told Saul, “he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam 15:23). It also had David, already anointed but not yet king (1 Sam 16:13).
The throne God had promised David, David did not take with his own hands.
Not lifting a hand does not mean doing nothing. David told the truth, protected himself, and got out of danger. The one thing he would not do was take revenge in God’s place.
If you are in danger right now, get out first and get help first. David, too, got away from Saul.
This week: Think of someone who has hurt you, someone you badly want to get even with. This week, don’t fight over it. Instead, turn it into a one-line prayer: “May the LORD judge between me and you” (1 Sam 24:12).
Scripture: World English Bible.