Deeper Reflection
THERE WAS NO EVIL or rebellion in David’s hands, nor had he sinned against Saul and yet Saul had been hunting for him to kill him (v.11). “Suffering unjustly” in “doing what is right” is our discipleship lot (1 Pet 2:19-20). How then are we to follow the Lord? Walk the reverse path. Instead of cursing his king, David honoured him as “my lord the king” (v.8). Instead of falling upon Saul in murderous attack, David fell upon the ground and “prostrated himself ” to the king (v.8). Do what is right. The key is “the LORD” (v.10). While recognising that “the LORD had handed” Saul to him, David knew that it wasn’t God’s will for him to kill “the LORD’s anointed”; for to touch, defile and attack the Lord’s anointed was to seek to defile, harm and remove the Lord from His rightful place.¹⁶ We do what is right by following God’s Word and submitting to His will. Seek to be reconciled. David sought reconciliation with Saul by presenting “eyewitness evidence”¹⁷: “this day your eyes have seen” (v.10). Divine Providence “had handed” Saul into David’s hand, but David’s response was “but I spared you” (v.10). Then David presented to Saul “material evidence”¹⁸ of the edge of Saul’s robe that he had cut, that he “did not kill” him when he had the opportunity (v.11). David appealed to Saul to “know and understand” his innocence (v.11). As God’s children, we are to “if possible…be at peace with all men” (Rom 12:18) as “peacemakers” (Matt 5:9).

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¹⁶ Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel, Focus on the Bible (Christian Focus, 2000), 247

¹⁷ Robert D. Bergen, 240

¹⁸ Robert D. Bergen, 240