I Samuel 26:1-25
Good morning! Today we’re going
to continue our series on David: Walking Through and Stepping Up. The focus is David’s journey from a shepherd
boy to become the Lord’s anointed king of Israel. David went through a long journey which was both
spiritually and physically arduous.
Before we go into today’s passage, let’s look at a map to get a sense of
what has been happening to David.
As the map points out, David has eluded Saul. Saul is the first king of Israel. He is David’s commanding officer as well as
his father-in-law. And yet, Saul is
trying to capture David, wanting to destroy him. Why?
While Saul has done some good things, he has not been a good king. He has not been obedient to the Lord but
rather has been fearful of what people say and think. As a result of Saul’s disobedience, Samuel
explained, “The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and given it to a
neighbor of yours who is better than you.” (I Samuel 15:28) Ever since that time, Saul has been on the
lookout for that “neighbor.”
Saul didn’t always despise David, in fact I Samuel 16:21 says that Saul
liked David very much. That phrase can
also be translated that Saul loved David.
But Saul became angry when the people sang about David’s victory over
Goliath and his successes on the battlefield being greater than Saul’s. As David began to pull ahead in the “opinion
polls,” Saul feared that David would one day become king. (I Samuel 18:7-9)
Saul’s anger turned to fear because he recognized that the Lord was with
David but had departed from Saul himself. (I Samuel 18:12) So, Saul began a series of subversive tactics
against David. He first made David a
leader and sent him into battle to try and get rid of him through failure or
death on the battlefield. Then, he sent
him on more dangerous escapades to try and get the Philistines to eliminate
David.
In each circumstance, David behaved wisely, very wisely. God blessed David’s efforts and his plans
continually succeeded. David became more
and more well-known and well-liked, to Saul’s rising frustration, rage and
hatred. Considering this progression
quickly, it becomes evident that David is the embodiment of most, if not all,
of Saul’s failings.
Saul is often uncertain, while David is confident. Saul is often fearful, David is courageous. Saul vacillates back and forth when making a
decision, but David makes commitments and keeps them. Saul blames others when there is a failure; David
takes responsibility beyond normal expectation.
Saul is arrogant; David is humble.
Most importantly, David is devoted to the Lord. Saul … Saul is devoted to Saul.
In I Samuel 19, Saul gives up on quietly undermining David and gives a
command to Jonathan and others to kill David.
When confronted by Jonathan, Saul retracts this command and then swears
in the Lord’s name not to kill David. After
David wins yet another battle against the Philistines, Saul tries to kill David
himself for the second time. When he
fails, he then sends men to watch David’s house by night and kill him in
morning. Michal, David’s wife and
daughter of Saul, tells David about this trap and sets him on the run.
Let’s look now at the map.
1. David flees to Samuel in the nearby town of Ramah.
God intervenes in the situation by sending His Spirit on the men Saul
sends to capture David. When Saul goes
himself, God sends His Spirit on Saul and all these men are left prophesying,
led by the Spirit of God.
David asks Jonathan again why his father Saul is trying to kill
him. David is humble, leaving room in
case he has in fact done something wrong deserving punishment. David believes the best about Saul, even in
the face of Saul’s assaults against his life.
Jonathan tries to confirm that Saul doesn’t want to kill David, but
instead is berated by his father. In the
ensuing argument, Saul throws a spear at his own son.
2. After fleeing a second time from Gibeah, the city of Saul, David runs
to Nob where the priests live.
David engages in a bit of deception with Ahimelech the priest to cover
his trail primarily leaving Ahimelech in the dark about what’s really going on.
David flees from Nob to the Philistines where he is nearly captured
after they recognize him. He again
engages in some deception. This time he
acts like a lunatic in order to get away, and by God’s grace the Philistines
let him go.
3. David flees to a cave at Adullam.
It is at this time that people begin to join David including his family
as well as other followers some of ill-reputation.
4. David takes his parents to the country of Moab for their safety.
5.
David returns to Israel following God’s direction through the prophet
Gad.
Meanwhile, Saul is sulking and throwing out insults at his followers in
Gibeah. He finally incites a response
from Doeg, an Edomite who reveals that he had seen David at Nob. Not only that, Doeg saw that Ahimelech the
priest had helped David. Saul summons
Ahimelech and all the priests to Gibeah.
They come. Saul accuses Ahimelech
of conspiracy against the king. Ahimelech
responds truthfully that he knows nothing about this situation. He explains that seeing David come to inquire
of the Lord is no unusual thing. He
knows David’s good character and cannot imagine that there is anything
traitorous in David’s strange visit. In
contrast, it would seem that Saul was not often found inquiring of the Lord
with the priests at Nob. Saul has made
up his mind and then has all the priests and even their families put to
death. Perversely, Saul had been
unwilling to follow God’s commands to destroy the Amalekites, but then destroys
the entire town of Nob including people and animals, only Abiathar the son of
Ahimelech manages to escape to join David.
The arrival of Abiathar and his sad news emphasizes one of those
contrasts between David and Saul. David
takes responsibility for the death of the priests because he had seen Doeg at
Nob. David promises to protect and care
for Abiathar.
6.
David is informed that the Philistines are attacking the town of Keilah
near the forest of Hereth where he and his men are presently hiding.
David inquires of the Lord whether he should help Keilah, and God says
go and help. When David’s men question
this decision, David returns to the Lord and asks a second time. When God confirms again that David should go
to Keilah, they go. This highlights another
contrast between David and Saul. Saul tries
to follow what the people want or think.
David does listen to the people.
However, he seeks the Lord again, and then with God’s confirmation,
David moves forward. David is not
insensitive to his people, but he ultimately submits to God rather than
people. David saves Keilah from the
Philistines.
Saul hears that David is at Keilah and sends down an army to besiege
David and his men at Keilah. David
inquires of the Lord again, and God tells him it is time to leave Keilah.
7.
During this time David is hiding and moving through the Wilderness of
Ziph, Saul is seeking after David day after day. God protects David and does not allow Saul to
find him in spite of the fact that the people of the area try to help Saul by
revealing David’s location.
8. Saul pursues David into the Wilderness of Maon, and is closing in as
his men are on one side of a mountain ridge while David is on the other. At this critical moment, a messenger arrives
informing Saul that the Philistines have invaded the land, and Saul gives up
the pursuit to fight the Philistine invaders.
9.
David and his men take refuge at the Oasis of En Gedi. After Saul returns from chasing off the
Philistines and again with some information from the local peoples, he pursues David
in this region of En Gedi. No doubt the
news of what happened at Nob has shaken the people of Israel to their
core. No one wants to be mistaken for a
supporter of David.
In a passage which has quite a few similarities to today’s passage,
David has an encounter with Saul where Saul enters a cave where David and his
men are hiding. David refuses to kill
Saul while he has the chance. However,
David cuts off the corner of Saul’s robe.
David’s humility is still in plain sight as he regrets even this action
against Saul, the first king of Israel, the Lord’s anointed.
David confronts Saul after Saul has left the cave, letting him know
that he could have done Saul harm but has chosen not to, not because he is in
rebellion against Saul, but only because he is fleeing for his life. David humbles himself to Saul, bowing with
his face to the ground. Saul weeps at
David’s plea of innocence. Saul admits
that David is more righteous than he, but he doesn’t really confess his sin
only saying he has treated David badly.
Saul admits also that he knows David will one day be king.
That brings us to number 10.
David again has returned to the Wilderness of Ziph, and as we will see,
David will confront Saul yet again.
Let’s pray and jump into the passage.
Lord God, thank You for this series.
Help us to see the warnings in Saul’s life and the examples to follow in
David’s life. Guide each one of us, Your
people. I pray that You would help us to
follow You in humble obedience. In
Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Let’s begin with I Samuel 26:1:
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 select Israelite troops, to search
there for David. –I Samuel 26:1-2
As I mentioned earlier, it’s like déjà vu all over again … And we will
see that I Samuel 26 has similarities to both I Samuel 23 and I Samuel 24.
I Samuel 23:19 says this, “The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and
said, ‘Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill
of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? Now, Your
Majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible
for giving him into your hands.’ ” It’s practically the same then and now.
Jonathan shared on I Samuel 23 and referenced Psalm 54 which was written
during the time when the Ziphites told Saul where to find David:
“In that psalm, David relies on God to resolve the situation, not his
own strength. David anticipates God’s deliverance. David is confident that God will protect him
and deliver him from evil. David expresses
his thankfulness to God for His deliverance.
David’s thinking illustrates that God is the God of our circumstances
and that God is the Deliverer – God is our Deliverer from both sin and
oppression.”
Then in I Samuel 24, we read that Saul is pursuing David with 3000 men
just as in this verse. Perhaps this is
Saul’s standing army because I Samuel 26 tells of the same number of men with
Saul.
This is the last time that David will see Saul.
Saul made his camp beside
the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the
wilderness. –I Samuel 26:3
The picture shows the hills of the Wilderness of Ziph
rising up from the plain. It may be that
Saul stopped in a place like this to camp though likely much closer to the
ridge which rises up. It would make
sense to camp near the road to accommodate the movement of an army of 3000 men.
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. –I Samuel 26:4-5
David is cautious. He is
gathering information. He is ready to
take action. After getting the first
report, David goes himself to consider the situation. Likely David is in a higher vantage point
looking down on the camp.
Abner is Saul’s cousin, the son of Saul’s uncle Ner. Abner has been in that role since I Samuel
14:50. It is a common occurrence in
monarchies that relatives have high positions within the government. Saul’s uncle Ner may also have been the one
who questioned Saul about his encounter with Samuel when he had been anointed
king years before.
David then asked Ahimelek
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. –I Samuel 26:6-7
This is the only time that we hear of Ahimelek the Hittite, though
David has Hittites in his service including Uriah who was one of David’s mighty
men. Hittites were known to be
inhabitants of Canaan since the time of Genesis. They were to be either driven out or
destroyed during the time of the conquest, but it is evident that some remained
even in the service of Israel. I wanted
to point this out because God has mercy on those who come to Him. Think of Rahab of Jericho and Ruth from
Moab. These nations were not God’s chose
people, and yet both became ancestors of David and Jesus. God has mercy on those who come to Him
wherever they come from.
Abishai was a nephew of David’s, so we see that there is similarity in
the family connections within Saul and David’s followers. As David was the youngest son, it seems
likely that while Abishai may have been younger than David, he may not be much
younger.
Abishai’s response to David’s invitation reminds me of Jonathan’s armor
bearer way back from chapter 14. There
Jonathan made the outrageous proposal to climb a cliff directly into a
Philistine encampment where they would be totally outnumbered, at least ten to
one. The armor bearer replied to
Jonathan’s proposal that Jonathan should do all that was in his heart, “Go
ahead, I am with you heart and soul.”
This is the kind of responsiveness we should be mindful of in following
Jesus. Are we with him heart and soul?
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 the 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, or 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." –I
Samuel 26:8-11
Abishai voices the thought that the men had in the cave at En Gedi, “Let’s
kill Saul and get this over with.”
David, though, rebukes Abishai in the same way he rebuked the men in
the cave. David said then, “The Lord
forbid,” which I had taken generally as in “God keep me from sinning in this
way.” Based on verse 11 here, there is a
sense that David was thinking, “God told me not to lay a hand on the Lord’s
anointed.” We should give Abishai credit
for listening. He didn’t argue. We should be sensitive that our zeal to see
God’s plan move forward doesn’t overrun God’s kindness.
II Timothy 2:25 says that “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the
hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the
truth.” Our goal should not be to win an
argument; we are pointing people to Jesus.
David’s insight here regarding what could happen to Saul was likely
impacted by what had happened to Nabal in chapter 25. Nabal had been foolish and cruel, in ways
like Saul himself. When Nabal had flown
into a rage, his heart had stopped.
Then, after several days, Nabal died having been “stricken by the Lord.” It wasn’t David’s place to hurry God’s plan
along. David knew what to do. Wait on the Lord!
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. –I Samuel 26:12
Again, David takes these articles from Saul to prove that he had the
opportunity to bring harm to Saul, but he didn’t. Even this sleep in the camp was sent by the
Lord. No one wakes up, no one is even on
watch. This is the most uncommon thing
to happen in a military action.
Scandalous.
Then David crossed over to
the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a
wide space between them. He called out
to the army and to Abner son of Ner, "Aren't you going to answer me,
Abner?"
Abner replied, "Who are
you who calls to the king?"
David said, "You're a
man, aren't you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn't you guard your lord
the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. What you have done is not good. As surely as
the LORD lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your
master, the LORD's anointed. Look around you. Where are the king's spear and water
jug that were near his head?" –I Samuel 26:13-16
David wisely takes himself to a clear vantage point where his escape is
sure should any of Saul’s men move against him.
There is not much more to add to David’s assessment of the
situation. Abner and his men have
utterly failed at their mandate: to
protect the king.
In the cave, no one had realized that David and his men were
inside. That was somewhat of a failing
because there was probably a chance to detect that people had been moving
around near the mouth of the cave.
This time though, the failing is even worse. The men didn’t even have an effective
watch. The penalty for such a failure
was death. In fact, even today during
war time, dereliction of duty like falling asleep on guard duty is still
punishable by death. In peace, the
penalty can be a dishonorable discharge, forfeit of all pay and allowances, and
prison time. It is hard to overemphasize
how unbelievable this situation is.
Saul’s army isn’t supposed to behave as though they’re out on a camping
trip.
When you think about this situation from David’s side, I am reminded of
Psalm 124:1-2, “If the Lord had not been on our side, all our enemies would
have swallowed us alive.” But with the
Lord on your side, who knows what could happen.
We saw at Ramah that Saul and his men prophesied. We saw at the cave near En Gedi that Saul
entered along right in front of David and all his men alone. Here, Saul’s men are struck with a sleep
which was so deep that no one even had a clue that David and Abishai were
walking unimpeded through their camp.
Please make sure you are on the Lord’s side!
Saul recognized David's
voice and said, "Is that your voice, David my son?"
David replied,
"Yes it is, my lord the king."
And he added, "Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done,
and what wrong am I guilty of? Now let
my lord the king listen to his servant's words. If the LORD has incited you
against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, people have done it,
may they be cursed before the LORD! They have driven me today from my share in
the LORD's inheritance and have said, 'Go, serve other gods.' Now do not let my blood fall to the ground
far from the presence of the LORD. The king of Israel has come out to look for
a flea--as one hunts a partridge in the mountains." –I Samuel 26:17-20
David’s humility shines forth again here. He doesn’t know of any way that he could be
regarded as guilty before the Lord. But
David makes allowance that Saul could be pursuing him according to God’s
will. David proposes that he would make
an offering to God if in some way he is guilty.
He then says that if it is other people who have incited the king, then
they should be under judgment from God.
Exodus mentions both the people (Exodus 34:9) and the land (Exodus
15:17) as the inheritance of the Lord.
David has been cut off from fellowship and from living in the land. David has been expelled to “Go, serve other
gods.” This was the same fear that the
Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh had when they crossed over to
the west side of the Jordan. They wanted
a memorial altar to prove that they had a share in the Lord.
David contrasts himself as a flea or a bird, not worthy of
pursuit. Making this statement also
implies that Saul is foolish to have pursued David. He’s not worth the trouble.
Then Saul said, "I have
sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today,
I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been
terribly wrong." –I Samuel 26:21
Saul confessed after the event in the cave that he was treating David
badly. Here, he confesses that he has
sinned, acted the fool, and been terribly wrong. Saul acknowledges that he has been unwise and
ungodly. Way back in I Samuel 13 (v.
13-14), Samuel had rebuked Saul for making an offering to God when Saul was not
allowed to do that. Samuel’s rebuke
begins, “You acted foolishly” and continues “You have not kept the command the
Lord your God gave you.” It seems that
those words were not forgotten by Saul.
Even though this repentance shows a step forward, has Saul truly
repented? Well, we have the luxury of
being able to read ahead, so we see what Saul is willing to do in the
future. However, we don’t have to go
that far to observe that Saul again has repented only because he has been
“caught.” He has repented because David
didn’t destroy him when he had the opportunity.
Saul even goes so far as to invite David to return with him. After the encounter at the cave, Saul did not
make such an offer, but only went home.
Based on all the occurrences up till now, it seems that David is wise
not to heed Saul’s invitation to come back.
How many broken promises does it take before you need to make different
decision? Jesus instructed us to forgive
others even seventy times seven, but we are not instructed to believe a lie.
Saul’s declaration about having been a fool along with David’s
acknowledgement that God would deal with Saul both harken back to last week’s
passage from I Samuel 25 about Nabal.
Nabal was an unrepentant fool who God dealt with.
"Here is the king's
spear," David answered. "Let one of your young men come over and get
it. The LORD rewards everyone for their
righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you into my hands today, but
I would not lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may
the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble." –I Samuel 26:22-24
Verse 23 includes the key promise of this passage. The Lord rewards everyone for their
righteousness and faithfulness.
Scripture holds many verses about rewards. Here are three from the New Testament:
The one who plants and the
one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to
their own labor. –I Corinthians 3:8
Serve wholeheartedly, as if
you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will
reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. –Ephesians
6:7-8
Whatever you do, work at it
with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you
know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the
Lord Christ you are serving. –Colossians 3:23-24
And here are just a few aspects about the rewards that the Lord
promises:
– children (Psalm 127:3); spiritual offspring (Mark 10:29-30)
– an inheritance (Acts 20:32) … word of grace… among the sanctified
– nothing in this life, our reward is with the Lord (Isaiah 49:4)
– the reward will be tremendous (Luke 9:16-19)
– not to be compared with earthly rewards (Daniel 5:17)
– comes to those who seek God (Hebrews 11:6, II Chronicles 15:1-7)
– a reward will be canceled if righteousness is done for others to see
(Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)
– Paul’s reward (I Corinthians 9:17) comes from voluntarily/freely preaching
the gospel
Look too at David’s last statement.
I think I often look for recognition from the person who I have helped,
or a confession from the person who has done us some wrong. Here though we see that David instead looks
to the Lord saying, “May the Lord value my life and deliver me.” That is key!
Look to the Lord, not to people.
Then Saul said to David,
"May you be blessed, David my son; you will do great things and surely
triumph." So David went on his way, and Saul returned home. –I Samuel
26:25
Saul makes a veiled reference here to his conviction that David will
become king in his place which he had already acknowledged at the cave.
I want to end the message today by thinking for a moment about true
repentance. Saul keeps making statements
to David and others that he has changed his mind or changed his ways, but time
and again, we see that nothing has really changed. Saul’s repentance is not true. It is a false repentance.
Maybe it is helpful to think about characteristics of a false
repentance are. Two types of false
repentance come to mind. The first is acting like you’re repenting when you
aren’t. As a parent, I have to confess
that I have facilitated this kind of false repentance. I imagine most parents and teachers have
found themselves making this sort of requirement. One child injures another in some way or
other, often not even physically. The
parent then tells the child they believe at fault to tell the other child that
they are sorry. Sometimes, this can
result in genuine repentance. However,
most kids learn pretty quickly that there is no correct answer except, “I’m
sorry.” It can become a sort of
fatalistic agreement. “All right, you
got me. Those are my teeth marks. I’m sorry.”
But that’s not true repentance.
Honestly, this is the kind of repentance that we see from Saul. It’s more of an “I’m sorry I got caught,”
than an “I’m truly sorry for the injury I’ve caused.” If there are terms or conditions on the “I’m
sorry,” then it’s often not genuine. For
example, we never see Saul express regret or sorrow over what he commanded to
happen to the priests at Nob.
Another false repentance is repenting of something you aren’t guilty of
(Job 34:31-37). Job’s friends were eager
for him to repent, but Job wasn’t guilty, at least not in the ways that his
so-called friends thought he was guilty.
For repentance to be genuine, there must be recognition and
understanding that we’ve actually done something wrong.
Why is repentance important? Isaiah 30:15 says it like this, “This is
what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest
is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have
none of it.’ ” Part of receiving God’s gift of salvation is repentance. We must turn away from pursuing things
contrary to God.
What is true repentance? This is
the explanation from Thayer's Lexicon of the Greek word translated repentance: “It is especially the change of mind of those
who have begun to abhor their errors and misdeeds, and have determined to enter
upon a better course of life, so that it embraces both a recognition of sin and
sorrow for it and hearty amendment, the tokens and effects of which are good
deeds.” In other words, we regret the
bad things we’ve done. We want a change
of direction. We then acknowledge the
wrong that we have done. We express
sorrow for what we have done. We embark
on a different course.
This is the problem at the end of both chapters 24 and 26. Saul makes a declaration, but then he just
goes back home. He doesn’t go anywhere
new. He just goes back to being
Saul. This would be our situation too if
all we did was turn from wrong choices without seeking God.
Paul shared the gospel in this most simple form, “I have declared to [everyone]
that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts
20:21)
True repentance is turning to God and therefore turning away from sin,
away from doing wrong things. Staying on
a new course is possible when we have faith in Jesus. Jesus is the one who gives us new life. He is the one who sustains us in following
Him and walking in the light rather than walking in darkness. Jesus is the one who says, “Your sins are
forgiven. Go and sin no more.” He is also the one goes with us on the way
enabling us to stay on a new course and not return to our old ways.
If you haven’t been walking in the light, I encourage you to come
freshly to Jesus. If you haven’t truly
repented, I would invite you to turn away from your sins, and believe in Jesus. If you have questions about these things, I
would encourage you to ask questions.
Right now, let’s take a moment and pray. I will give you a few moments to pray
silently. Then, I will close the prayer.
Lord God, help us to see the value of genuine repentance. Help us to rightly choose our path, Your path
for us each day. I pray for each person
here. May they walk in the light as you
are in the light. Thank You Lord Jesus
that You come into our lives forever the very moment we put our faith in
You. Thank You Jesus! Amen.
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