David Spared Saul’s Life – Unfair Game (1Samuel 24:1-15)

David Spared Saul’s Life – Unfair Game

 

1Samuel 24:1-15

 

Christians, living in the world, experience various types of trials. We are always faced with the temptations of worldly pleasures, riches, and luxuries. Daily worries are also tough. It is also challenging to keep faith and lead a peaceful life among non-believers. These trials are yet bearable. There is a trial quite unbearable to the believers. It is “the prosperity of the wicked.” I struggle to live a pure life before God but suffer many troubles and problems. on the contrary, those who live in their own way without fearing God are successful, prosperous, and free from worries. Seeing the prosperity of the wicked, we may have a doubt in mind. Psalm 73 expresses well this anguish of believers: “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” The Psalmist also laments: “This is what the wicked are like - always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.” (12-14)

 

The two main characters of today’s passage are David and King Saul. David was a God-fearing and very faithful man. David’s faithfulness is demonstrated clearly by how he, as a shepherd, took care of his sheep. David was a shepherd in charge of his father’s flock. one day, Prophet Samuel visited Bethlehem, David’s town, in order to anoint one of Jesse’s sons who was chosen by God as the new king of Israel. Jesse had eight sons, but only seven of them were presented to Samuel and David, the youngest, was not there. However, God did not choose any of the seven. Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Then, Jesse answered, “There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep in the field.” In those days, Samuel was like the “President” of Israel. All the villagers gathered to greet the VIP, and Jesse’s sons were officially invited to the special event. Indifferent to the exciting occasion, however, David, as usual, stayed alone in the field and took care of the flock. To him, nothing was more important than shepherding the sheep. Later, David came to play the harp before King Saul. Now, as the king’s vassal, David could have quit the old humble job of shepherding. However, 1Sameul 17:15 says, “but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.” Another day, His father Jesse sent David on an errand to see how the brothers were, who were fighting against the Philistines. Then, “Early in the morning, David left the flock with a shepherd,” loaded up and set out as Jesse had directed (1Samuel 17:20). In these ways, the Bible deliberately spotlights David’s faithfulness as a shepherd.

 

As seen above, David looked after the sheep under his care very sincerely. God chose and anointed David as “the shepherd of Israel.” David, all alone, confronted Philistine giant warrior Goliath, and saved Israel by killing the enemy. Seeing this, people praised David, but King Saul was jealous of David’s popularity and feared him, thinking that David would threaten his throne. After all, Saul chased after David to kill him and, as a result, David had to be a fugitive, fleeing here and there along with a small group of his followers. one day, Saul, hearing that David was in the Desert of En Gedi, took three thousand chosen men and set out to find David. At that time, David and his men hid themselves far back in a cave. Without knowing this, King Saul went into the cave to relieve himself and fell asleep there. For David, this was a golden opportunity to remove his enemy Saul. David’s men also encouraged him to kill Saul, saying that it was the day God gave to him for his revenge. Instead of killing Saul, however, David just cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. only for this, David was conscience-stricken and withdrew quickly, saying to his people, “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.” Not only saying so, David protected Saul so that his men would not hurt the king. If some of his men tried to kill Saul, he must have been put to death by David’s sword. In this way, David revered and protected Saul who was anointed by God as King of Israel although Saul tried to kill him with no reason.

 

King Saul and David make a striking contrast. Saul searched every corner of the land in order to find and kill David who was innocent and even loyal to him. He had many soldiers including the 3,000 chosen elite members, and also spies all over the country who reported the king of David’s whereabouts. In contrast, David was like a poor “wounded animal” pursued by hunters. Avoiding people’s eyes, he had to move at night and hide himself in caves all day. It would be difficult to get food for three meals. Even David called himself “a dead dog” or “a flea” (v. 14). However, David had another problem, which was much more serious that these external problems. It was his super-sensitive conscience. Saul did not have any guilty feeling even when doing such evil openly in broad daylight. If he had David in front, Saul would have penetrated his body with the spear without batting an eye. This was even unthinkable to David. In fact, it was 100% rightful for David to kill Saul who was so wicked to him. Nobody would blame David for raising the sword upon Saul. What is more, David had already been chosen and anointed as new King of Israel. With all these excuses, however, his super-sensitive conscience did not allow him to kill Saul. only when cutting off a corner of the king’s robe, David’s conscience felt burning in fire. When his supreme enemy was sleeping in front, David could not do anything against the enemy. Even he had to fight against his own men in order to project the enemy. This is truly an unbelievable situation.

 

In this fight between Saul and David, Saul is in the very advantageous position, and David is in adverse conditions. David is playing an unfair game. How did such a fight happen? It was because Saul was fighting “a lawless fight” while David was fighting “by law.” In David’s heart was the law given by God. It was “Do not lay your hand on the anointed of the Lord.” David feared the Lord and obeyed the law. For David, it was not easy at all to keep the law. He had to give up the golden chance to revenge himself on the enemy. Nobody knew when his miserable life like a pursed wild animal would end. It was also unbearable to see his men’s sufferings only for his “good-for-nothing” conscience. Despite all these troubles, however, David kept the law engraved in his conscience. Even a mouse, when driven into a corner, turns back and bites the cat. But David did not have even a mouse’s courage before God’s word. For him, it was better to be chased after by Saul like a dead dog than to violate God’s commandment. In this way, David had to fight a very unfair fight. This was because he feared God’s word more than he did Saul’s sword or even death.

 

David’s unfair fight is also the believers’ fight. Our lifelong fight is not for “competing with and defeating our enemies” but “for obeying God’s law.” We may compare this fight with a marathon race. Marathon is a long race running through a pre-defined course according to rules. In the race, running fast is important but a more important thing is staying in the course and keeping the rules. If one gets away from the course or trips another runner, he is disqualified. However good record he has made, the record is not acknowledged. A player who has failed to keep the rules has already lost the game. By killing Saul, David might take away the throne more easily and earlier. However, this was going against the law established by God. By David raised his sword and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe, he almost crossed the line drawn by God. His conscience was printed with God’s word as clearly as blood. With this conscience, when he stepped on the line drawn by God, he was frightened and stepped back quickly. And he kept his men away from the line. It could have been a great disaster. We can find a similar happening in the New Testament. In the night when Jesus was to be arrested, many people came with swords and clubs in order to capture Jesus. As they tried to grasp Jesus, Peter drew his sword and cut the right ear of one of them. Then Jesus hurriedly restored the man’s ear, and rather scolded Peter, saying, “Put your sword away!” Jesus added, “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” In order to save sinners, who were enemies against God, Jesus walked the way of sacrifice set by the Father. And it was the time of being crucified to fulfill God’s will completely. on the way, Peter, all of a sudden, drew the sword and began to fight. His behavior was not for the Lord but was very thoughtless, endangering the entire work of the Lord. David’s cutting off Saul’s robe and Peter’s cutting off a man’s right ear were both dangerous actions that could bring failure to the fight of keeping God’s law.

 

Then, what is the “law of God” that we should obey? Simply speaking, it is “the law of faith” and “the law of love.” That is, we believers should keep believing God and keep doing good to everybody. This is presented clearly in David’s word in verses 12, 13. “May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.” David believed that God is the Judge of Justice. It is only the Judge’s authority to judge and punish evil. In Romans 12:19, Apostle Paul says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” However unfair thing we have, we must trust God who is the living Judge and put it in His hand. What is more, David quotes the proverb, “From evildoers come evil deeds.” A man does evil not because of any other reason but because he is evildoer. David did not confront Saul’s evil with evil. Rather, he forgave and protected the king. He showed his goodness to the enemy. With regard to this, Paul also says, ““If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:20,21).

 

Faith and love is “two legs” that God the Father gave to us believers. We should be able to stand up and walk using only the two legs. only then, we are “spiritually matured adults.” When the wicked use every unlawful and unjust means to pursue and enjoy prosperity, it may be frustrating for us to play our “unfair game” that allows us to use only faith and love in the race. However, this fight is a fight whose victory has already been guaranteed, and ends up with winning the crown of eternal life. Thus, I pray that God may give use stronger legs of faith and love so that we continue “this unfair race” to the end.