I
S A M U E L
CHAP. XXIV.
We
have hitherto had Saul seeking an opportunity to destroy David, and, to his
shame, he could never find it. In this chapter David had a fair opportunity to
destroy Saul, and, to his honour, he did not make use of it; and his sparing
Saul's life was as great an instance of God's grace in him as the preserving
of his own life was of God's providence over him. Observe, I. How maliciously
Saul sought David's life, ver. 1, 2. II. How generously David saved Saul's
life (when he had him at an advantage) and only cut off the skirt of his robe,
ver. 3-8. III. How pathetically he reasoned with Saul, upon this to bring him
to a better temper towards him, ver. 9-15. IV. The good impression this made
upon Saul for the present, ver. 16-22.
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David Spares Saul in the Cave.
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B. C. 1057.
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1
And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines,
that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of
Engedi. 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all
Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild
goats. 3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was
a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in
the sides of the cave. 4 And the men of David said unto him,
Behold the day of which the LORD said unto
thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do
to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the
skirt of Saul's robe privily. 5 And it came to pass afterward,
that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.
6 And he said unto his men, The LORD
forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's
anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the
anointed of the LORD. 7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and
suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and
went on his way. 8 David also arose afterward, and went out
of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul
looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed
himself.
Here, I. Saul renews his pursuit of David, v. 1, 2. No sooner had he
come home safely from chasing the Philistines, in which it should seem he had
good success, than he enquired after David to do him a mischief, and resolved
to have another thrust at him, as if he had been delivered to do all these
abominations, Jer. vii. 10. By the frequent incursions of the Philistines,
he might have seen how necessary it was to recall David from his banishment
and restore him to his place in the army again; but so far is he from doing
this that now more than ever he is exasperated against him, and, hearing that
he is in the wilderness of En-gedi, he draws out 3000 choice men, and
goes with them at his feet in pursuit of him upon the rocks of the wild
goats, where, one would think, David should not have been envied a
habitation nor Saul desirous of disturbing him; for what harm could he fear
from one who was no better accommodated? But it is not enough for Saul that
David is thus cooped up; he cannot be easy while he is alive.
II. Providence brings Saul alone into the same cave wherein David and his men
had hidden themselves, v. 3. In those countries there were very large
caves in the sides of the rocks or mountains, partly natural, but probably
much enlarged by art for the sheltering of sheep from the heat of the sun;
hence we read of places where the flocks did rest at noon (Cant. i. 7), and
this cave seems to be spoken of as one of the sheep-cotes. In the sides of
this cave David and his men remained, perhaps not all his men, the whole 600,
but only some few of his particular friends, the rest being disposed of in
similar retirements. Saul, passing by, turned in himself alone, not in search
of David (for, supposing him to be an aspiring ambitious man, he thought to
find him rather climbing with the wild goats upon the rocks than retiring with
the sheep into a cave), but thither he turned aside to cover his feet,
that is, to sleep awhile, it being a cool and quiet place, and very refreshing
in the heat of the day; probably he ordered his attendants to march before,
reserving only a very few to wait for him at the mouth of the cave. Some by
the covering of the feet understand the easing of nature, and think that this
was Saul's errand into the cave: but the former interpretation is more
probable.
III. David's servants stir him up to kill Saul now that he has so fair an
opportunity to do it, v. 4. They reminded him that this was the day
which he had long looked for, and of which God had spoken to him in general
when he was anointed to the kingdom, which should put a period to his troubles
and open the passage to his advancement. Saul now lay at his mercy, and it was
easy to imagine how little mercy he would find with Saul and therefore what
little reason he had to show mercy to him. "By all means" (say his
servants) "give him the fatal blow now." See how apt we are to
misunderstand, 1. The promises of God. God had assured David that he would
deliver him from Saul, and his men interpret this as a warrant to destroy
Saul. 2. The providences of God. Because it was now in his power to kill him,
they concluded he might lawfully do it.
IV. David cut off the skirt of his robe, but soon repented that he had
done this: His heart smote him for it (v. 5); though it did Saul
no real hurt, and served David for a proof that it was in his power to have
killed him (v. 11), yet, because it was an affront to Saul's royal
dignity, he wished he had not done it. Note, It is a good thing to have a
heart within us smiting us for sins that seem little; it is a sign that
conscience is awake and tender, and will be the means of preventing greater
sins.
V. He reasons strongly both with himself and with his servants against doing
Saul any hurt. 1. He reasons with himself (v. 6): The Lord forbid
that I should do this thing. Note, Sin is a thing which it becomes us to
startle at, and to resist the temptations to, not only with resolution, but
with a holy indignation. He considered Saul now, not as his enemy, and the
only person that stood in the way of his preferment (for then he would be
induced to hearken to the temptation), but as God's anointed (that is, the
person whom God had appointed to reign as long as he lived, and who, as such,
was under the particular protection of the divine law), and as his master, to
whom he was obliged to be faithful. Let servants and subjects learn hence to
be dutiful and loyal, whatever hardships are put upon them, 1 Pet. ii. 18. 2.
He reasons with his servants: He suffered them not to rise against Saul,
v. 7. He would not only not do this evil thing himself, but he would
not suffer those about him to do it. Thus did he render good for evil to him
from whom he had received evil for good, and was herein both a type of Christ,
who saved his persecutors, and an example to all Christians not to be overcome
of evil, but to overcome evil with good.
VI. He followed Saul out of the cave, and, though he would not take the
opportunity to slay him, yet he wisely took the opportunity, if possible, to
slay his enmity, by convincing him that he was not such a man as he took him
for. 1. Even in showing his head now he testified that he had an honourable
opinion of Saul. He had too much reason to believe that, let him say what he
would, Saul would immediately be the death of him as soon as he saw him, and
yet he bravely lays aside that jealousy, and thinks Saul so much a man of
sense as to hear his reasoning when he had so much to say in his own
vindication and such fresh and sensible proofs to give of his own integrity.
2. His behaviour was very respectful: He stooped with his face to the
earth, and bowed himself, giving honour to whom honour was due, and
teaching us to order ourselves lowly and reverently to all our superiors, even
to those that have been most injurious to us.
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David
Expostulates with Saul.
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B. C. 1057.
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9
And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold,
David seeketh thy hurt? 10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen
how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some
bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will
not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD's anointed. 11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the
skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and
killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor
transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou
huntest my soul to take it. 12 The LORD
judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me
of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13 As saith the
proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand
shall not be upon thee. 14 After whom is the king of Israel come
out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and
plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
We have here David's warm and pathetic speech to Saul, wherein he endeavours
to convince him that he did him a great deal of wrong in persecuting him thus
and to persuade him therefore to be reconciled.
I. He calls him father (v. 11), for he was not only, as king,
the father of his country, but he was, in particular, his father-in-law. From
a father one may expect compassion and a favourable opinion. For a prince to
seek the ruin of any of his good subjects is as unnatural as for a father to
seek the ruin of his own children.
II. He lays the blame of his rage against him upon his evil counsellors: Wherefore
hearest thou men's words? v. 9. It is a piece of respect due to
crowned heads, if they do amiss, to charge it upon those about them, who
either advised them to it or should have advised them against it. David had
reason enough to think that Saul persecuted him purely from his own envy and
malice, yet he courteously supposes that others put him on to do it, and made
him believe that David was his enemy and sought his hurt. Satan, the great
accuser of the brethren, has his agents in all places, and particularly in the
courts of those princes that encourage them and give ear to them, who make it
their business to represent the people of God as enemies to Caesar and hurtful
to kings and provinces, that, being thus dressed up in bear-skins, they may
"be baited."
III. He solemnly protests his own innocence, and that he is far from designing
any hurt or mischief to Saul: "There is neither evil nor transgression
in my hand, v. 11. I am not chargeable with any crime, nor
conscious of any guilt, and, had I a window in my breast, thou mightest
through it see the sincerity of my heart in this protestation: I have not
sinned against thee (however I have sinned against God), yet thou
huntest my soul," that is, "my life." Perhaps it was about
this time that David penned the seventh psalm, concerning the affair of Cush
the Benjamite (that is, Saul, as some think), wherein he thus appeals to God (v.
3-5): If there be iniquity in my hands, then let the enemy persecute my
soul and take it, putting in a parenthesis, with reference to the story of
this chapter, Yea, I have delivered him that without cause is my enemy.
IV. He produces undeniable evidence to prove the falsehood of the suggestion
upon which Saul's malice against him was grounded. David was charged with
seeking Saul's hurt: "See," says he, "yea, see the
skirt of thy robe, v. 11. Let this be a witness for me, and an
unexceptionable witness it is; had that been true of which I am accused, I
should now have had thy head in my hand and not the skirt of thy robe, for I
could as easily have cut off that as this." To corroborate this evidence
he shows him, 1. That God's providence had given him opportunity to do it: The
lord delivered thee, very surprisingly, to day into my hand, whence
many a one would have gathered an intimation that it was the will of God he
should now give the determining blow to him whose neck lay so fair for it.
When Saul had but a very small advantage against David he cried out, God
has delivered him into my hand (ch. xxiii. 7), and resolved to make
the best of that advantage; but David did not so. 2. That his counsellors and
those about him had earnestly besought him to do it: Some bade me kill
thee. He had blamed Saul for hearkening to men's words and justly;
"for," says he, "if I had done so, thou wouldest not have been
alive now." 3. That it was upon a good principle that he refused to do
it; not because Saul's attendants were at hand, who, it may be, would have
avenged his death; no, it was not by the fear of them, but by the fear of God,
that he was restrained from it. "He is my lord, and the Lord's anointed,
whom I ought to protect, and to whom I owe faith and allegiance, and therefore
I said, I will not touch a hair of his head." Such a happy command he had
of himself that his nature, in the midst of the greatest provocation, was not
suffered to rebel against his principles.
V. He declares it to be his fixed resolution never to be his own avenger:
"The Lord avenge me of thee, that is, deliver me out of thy hand;
but, whatever comes of it, my hand shall not be upon thee" (v.
12), and again (v. 13), for saith the proverb of the ancients,
Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked. The wisdom of the ancients is
transmitted to posterity by their proverbial sayings. Many such we receive by
tradition from our fathers; and the counsels of common persons are very much
directed by this, "As the old saying is." Here is one that was in
use in David's time: Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, that is, 1.
Men's own iniquity will ruin them at last, so some understand it. Forward
furious men will cut their own throats with their own knives. Give them rope
enough, and they will hang themselves. In this sense it comes in very fitly as
a reason why his hand should not be upon him. 2. Bad men will do bad
things; according as men's principles and dispositions are, so will their
actions be. This also agrees very well with the connexion. If David had been a
wicked man, as he was represented, he would have done this wicked thing; but
he durst not, because of the fear of God. Or thus: Whatever injuries bad men
do us (which we are not to wonder at; he that lies among thorns must expect to
be scratched), yet we must not return them; never render railing for railing.
Though wickedness proceed from the wicked, yet let it not therefore
proceed from us by way of retaliation. Though the dog bark at the sheep, the
sheep does not bark at the dog. See Isa. xxxii. 6-8.
VI. He endeavours to convince Saul that as it was a bad thing, so it was a
mean thing, for him to give chase to such an inconsiderable person as he was (v.
14): Whom does the king of Israel pursue with all this care and force? A
dead dog; a flea; one flea, so it is in the Hebrew. It is below so great a
king to enter the lists with one that is so unequal a match for him, one of
his own servants, bred a poor shepherd, now an exile, neither able nor willing
to make any resistance. To conquer him would not be to his honour, to attempt
it was his disparagement. If Saul would consult his own reputation, he would
slight such an enemy (supposing he were really his enemy) and would think
himself in no danger from him. David was so far from aspiring that he was, in
his own account, as a dead dog. Mephibosheth thus calls himself, 2 Sam. ix. 8.
This humble language would have wrought upon Saul if he had had any spark of
generosity in him. Satis est prostrasse leoni--Enough for the lion that he
has laid his victim low. What credit would it be to Saul to trample upon a
dead dog? What pleasure could it be to him to hunt a flea, a single flea,
which (as some have observed), if it be sought, is not easily found, if it be
found, is not easily caught, and, if it be caught, is a poor prize, especially
for a prince. Aquila non captat muscas--The eagle does not dart upon flies.
David thinks Saul had no more reason to fear him than to fear a flea-bite.
VII. He once and again appeals to God as the righteous Judge (v. 12 and
v. 15): The Lord judge between me and thee. Note, The justice of
God is the refuge and comfort of oppressed innocence. If men wrong us, God
will right us, at furthest, in the judgment of the great day. With him David
leaves his cause, and so rests satisfied, waiting his time to appear for him.
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Saul
Relents at David's Reproof.
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B. C. 1057.
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16
And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto
Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted
up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art
more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded
thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast
dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.
19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.
20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the
kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21 Swear now
therefore unto me by the LORD,
that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my
name out of my father's house. 22 And David sware unto Saul. And
Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.
Here we have,
I. Saul's penitent reply to David's speech. It was strange that he had
patience to hear him out, considering how outrageous he was against him, and
how cutting David's discourse was. But God restrained him and his men; and we
may suppose Saul struck with amazement at the singularity of the event, and
much more when he found how much he had lain at David's mercy. His heart must
have been harder than a stone if this had not affected him. 1. He melted into
tears, and we will not suppose them to have been counterfeit but real
expressions of his present concern at the sight of his own iniquity, so
plainly proved upon him. He speaks as one quite overcome with David's
kindness: Is this thy voice, my son David? And, as one that relented at
the thought of his own folly and ingratitude, he lifted up his voice and
wept, v. 16. Many mourn for their sins that do not truly repent of
them, weep bitterly for them, and yet continue in love and league with them.
2. He ingenuously acknowledges David's integrity and his own iniquity (v.
17): Thou art more righteous than I. Now God made good to David that
word on which he had caused him to hope, that he would bring forth his
righteousness as the light, Ps. xxxvii. 6. Those who take care to keep a
good conscience may leave it to God to secure them the credit of it. This fair
confession was enough to prove David innocent (even his enemy himself being
judge), but not enough to prove Saul himself a true penitent. He should have
said, Thou are righteous, but I am wicked; but the utmost he will own
is this: Thou art more righteous than I. Bad men will commonly go no
further than this in their confessions; they will own they are not so good as
some others are; there are those that are better than they, and more
righteous. He now owns himself under a mistake concerning David (v.
18): "Thou hast shown this day that thou art so far from seeking
my hurt that thou hast dealt well with me." We are too apt to
suspect others to be worse affected towards us then really they are, and than
perhaps they are proved to be; and when, afterwards, our mistake is
discovered, we should be forward to recall our suspicions, as Saul does here.
3. He prays God to recompense David for this his generous kindness to him. He
owns that David's sparing him, when he had him in his power, was an uncommon
and unparalleled instance of tenderness to an enemy; no man would have done
the like; and therefore, either because he thought himself not able to give
him a full recompence for so great a favour, or because he found himself not
inclined to give him any recompence at all, he turns him over to God for his
pay: The Lord reward thee good, v. 19. Poor beggars can do no
less than pray for their benefactors, and Saul did no more. 4. He prophesies
his advancement to the throne (v. 20): I know well that thou shalt
surely be king. He knew it before, by the promise Samuel had made him of
it compared with the excellent spirit that appeared in David, which highly
aggravated his sin and folly in persecuting him as he did; he had as much
reason to say concerning David as David concerning him, How can I put forth
my hand against the Lord's anointed? But now he knew it by the interest he
found David had in the people, the special providence of God in protecting
him, and the generous kingly spirit he had now given a proof of in sparing his
enemy. Now he knew it, that is, now that he was in a good temper he was
willing to own that he knew it and to submit to the conviction of it. Note,
Sooner or later, God will force even those that are of the synagogue of Satan
to know and own those that he has loved, and to worship before their feet; for
so is the promise, Rev. iii. 9. This acknowledgement which Saul made of
David's incontestable title to the crown was a great encouragement to David
himself and a support to his faith and hope. 5. He binds David with an oath
hereafter to show the same tenderness of his seed and of his name as he had
now shown of his person, v. 21. David had more reason to oblige Saul by
an oath that he would not destroy him, yet he insists not on that (if the laws
of justice and honour would not bind him, an oath would not), but Saul knew
David to be a conscientious man, and would think his interests safe if he
could get them secured by his oath. Saul by his disobedience had ruined his
own soul, and never took care by repentance to prevent that ruin, and yet is
very solicitous that his name might not be destroyed nor his seed cut off.
However, David swore unto him, v. 22. Though he might be
tempted, not only in revenge, but in prudence, to extirpate Saul's family, yet
he binds himself not to do it, knowing that God could and would establish the
kingdom to him and his, without the use of such bloody methods. This oath he
afterwards religiously observed; he supported Mephibosheth, and executed those
as traitors that slew Ishbosheth. The hanging up of seven of Saul's posterity,
to atone for the destruction of the Gibeonites, was God's appointment, not
David's act, and therefore not the violation of this oath.
II. Their parting in peace. 1. Saul, for the present, desisted from the
persecution. He went home convinced, but not converted; ashamed of his envy of
David, yet retaining in his breast that root of bitterness; vexed that, when
at last he had found David, he could not at that time find in his heart to
destroy him, as he had designed. God has many ways to tie the hands of
persecutors, when he does not turn their hearts. 2. David continued to shift
for his own safety. He knew Saul too well to trust him, and therefore got
him up into the hold. It is dangerous venturing upon the mercy of a
reconciled enemy. We read of those who believed in Christ, and yet he did
not commit himself to them because he knew all men. Those that like David
are innocent as doves must thus like him be wise as serpents.
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