Showing mercy to the unmerciful is not just generous, it’s divine. Saul was our to kill David, David had the chance to kill Saul, join Dr. Marty Baker as he unpacks the rest of the story from 1 Samuel 24 as we continue in our sermon series Spiritual Snapshots in 1 Samuel.
At some time during the first three hours Jesus hung on the cross, Jesus sadly watched as the cold-hearted, ruthless Roman soldiers jokingly cast lots to determine who would receive His humble clothing as mementos of the day (John 19:18-27). With eyes of love, He looked at them and uttered these unforgettable words:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
He, who possessed the power to call twelve legions of angels to rescue Him from peril at any moment (Matt. 26:53) . . . mark this well, that is 67,200 powerful angelic beings . . ., chose to offer forgiveness toward those who wronged Him. Put differently, He showed mercy to those who didn’t deserve it.
Long before Jesus acted in this instructive fashion, David, who would serve as the type of the future messianic divine king from the tribe of Judah, was divinely placed in situations where God gave him a choice to show mercy when mistreated or to retaliate. Those pressure cooker episodes typically revolved around King Saul’s jealous, hateful actions. Whether it involved the king throwing a javelin at David to eliminate him as Israel’s future king, or hunting him down on an exposed mountainside in the Wilderness of Moan, God repeatedly tested the young warrior and future leader to see whether he would evidence godly or godly behavior when wronged.
David repeatedly passed the tests; however, in chapter 24, God placed him in an unbelievable situation designed to determine and solidify what kind of leader David was and would be. Would he be Christlike or carnal?
God will do the same in our lives. Sooner or later, you will encounter a King Saul, a person who will mistreat and oppose you for no good reason. They will spread lies about your character, seeking to defame you and sully your good name. And no matter what you say to them, nothing gets their attention and causes them to stop their relentless personal attacks. You will become emotionally tired, worried, and maybe even fearful during the onslaught. But, then, unexpectedly, a divinely ordained situation will arise where you will find yourself at a crossroads of what you should do with this person. Should you seize the opportunity and deal with them definitively, or should you, like Jesus, choose the higher road and show mercy? The answer is clear as to what you should decide, but it is not always easy when faced with an emotionally charged predicament.
Enter David. What happened to him when he fled from the Wilderness of Maon to the cave-pocked region of the Dead Sea called En-gedi is most instructive for us as we face off against our version of King Saul.
So, let’s get to it. In the first historical panel, the divinely inspired author introduces us to what I’d call . . .
The Predicament
Here is how it developed:
1 Now it came about when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” (1 Sam. 24)
Obviously, King Saul and his forces successfully pushed the Philistines out of Israelite territory; however, it only took one report of a spy to cause him to be back on David’s trail. Where was David now? En-gedi, which is translated as “spring of the young goats,” is an oasis located in a steep, cave-laden canyon just a few miles west of the northern tip of the Dead Sea. Since this God-forsaken, trackless desert region is some 1,400 feet below sea level, you can imagine how hot it can get. And since the Dead Sea is just that, dead, because it is 33% saltier than the ocean, it has no aquatic life, and the water is not potable. This made En-gedi, therefore, an excellent place for David and his men to hide from King Saul. They had food because there were (and are) all kinds of critters in this place, and water was plentiful as it cascaded thousands of feet down the gorge towards the Dead Sea.
Ibex, or wild mountain goats, were (and are) everywhere. Here is a picture of one I took as I hiked up this gorge years ago. They are cute, and I’m sure they taste like, wait for it, chicken. Here is another little critter that lives in the area. I don’t know what it is, but it is cute (and maybe tasty). Walking up this gorge is also not for the fainthearted. Here is a shot of our group heading toward the top waterfall area. It’s a steep, somewhat dangerous, and hot climb. As you can see, caves are everywhere. They line the walls of the gorge. The first time you travel here, you immediately understand why David moved his 600 soldiers here. What commanding officer wouldn’t want food, water, and easily defensible forboding terrain for his soldiers? Check out the water dancing over the rocks in this dry, barren area.
Armed with precise intel of David’s whereabouts, Saul mustered his crack troops:
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. (1 Sam. 24)
Saul had the best soldiers the nation could provide, while David had a bunch of disenfranchised, oppressed, and downtrodden fighters. Saul also had David outnumbered five to one; hence, from a tactical perspective, it appeared that he finally had David cornered and on the proverbial ropes. There is irony here. Saul has 3,000 chosen soldiers in his jealous quest to eliminate the divinely chosen leader of Israel, David. I wonder how this will play out for the out-of-control king? Remember what I said in our last study: Nothing or no one will thwart the will of God Almighty.
At this juncture, the Scripture takes an interesting turn.
3 And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. (1 Sam. 24)
Ever wonder, when you are watching action movies, how the characters never stop to go to the bathroom? I have. Scripture, at least in this instance, is not afraid to tell you what King Saul was doing in the massive cave that day in the gorge of En-gedi. He had to go to the bathroom, so he ducked into a dark cave for some regal privacy. Only he was shockingly not alone, for David and many of his troops escaped the blistering desert heat by hiding in the back of this particular cave. Believe me, Saul’s presence was not by accident. God’s providence had placed him there as a test for David and his troops. How did his troops respond to this unbelievable, fortuitous opportunity? Read on and see:
4 And the men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.” (1 Sam. 24)
David’s men told him, “David, this is awesome. The Lord, who promised to give you victories over your enemies (1 Sam. 18:29; 19:17), has placed your main enemy right before you. So, do what you must to end this madness. Assassinate him.” In our day, we would be tempted to call this episode a golden opportunity. They literally had the opportunity to take out the vile, ruthless king with his proverbial pants down.
So, what did David do? He listened to his men.
4 Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly.
Slowly and with great stealth, he maneuvered over to the unsuspecting Saul, drew his sharp sword, and then just when his soldiers must have thought he’d sink the blade into the king’s back, David carefully cut off the edge of Saul’s royal robe and then made his way back to his dumbfounded, speechless men. I can’t help but pose a question here: If the roles had been reversed, how would Saul have reacted?
Before we move on, we must stop and address a question from this part of the story: How did David creep up on Saul in the quiet and dim darkness of a cave and do what he did? Well, the cave was far from quiet.
For one, the presence of sheepfolds is instructive. Typically, shepherds build small walls to keep their sheep in a protective environment. If a rapidly built wall was placed over the mouth of the cave, and the sheep were resting inside, then their very presence caused a lot of noise as they would be bleating in the darkness.
For another, a waterfall from several stories above flowed into this cave. When you stand in this cave today, you will notice stalactites on what’s left of what used to be the cave’s ceiling. You will also see stalactites on the now sun-drenched cave floor that fell years ago, probably from an earthquake. The beautiful waterfall still flows down the wall of what used to be the inside of the cave. Noise, therefore, filled the cave as the waterfall crashed on the rocks below and water flowed over rocks on its way down the jagged, steep gorge. So, it is no wonder Saul didn’t hear a thing.
Returning to his men, David experienced a moral, spiritual dilemma I label as . . .
The Problem
Verse 5 introduces us to the problem David faced when he faced off with his shocked troops:
5 And it came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the LORD 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.” (1 Sam. 24)
Even though Saul evidenced evil, vile, and unfounded behavior toward David, David realized that even though Samuel had anointed him as Israel’s next king to replace Saul, Saul was still God’s anointed king . . . and this reality called for his utter respect, not any form of disrespect. By cutting off a portion of the king’s royal robe, David was suggesting that he was rightfully tearing the kingdom away from the king (much like what occurred with Saul and Samuel at Gilgal, 1 Sam. 15:27-28); however, this was not his call to make at that moment. He realized once he returned to his men that whether wicked ol’ king Saul was in or out of office was not David’s call, but God’s and in God’s time. David must have also realized that if he felt free and justified to eliminate God’s anointed king, then what would keep a disgruntled person from doing the same thing to him when he became the next anointed leader? Nothing. So, out of complete respect for the political office, despite the nasty nature of the king, David confessed he had crossed a red line and he would never do that again.
David also reasoned with his dumbfounded soldiers that they, too, would not be permitted to kill the king either. I’m sure some of them wanted to, but David argued against this.
7 And David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way. (1 Sam. 24)
The Hebrew word for “persuaded” is shissah (שִׁסַּע ). The NIV correctly translates this as “sharply rebuked,” for the word literally means to tear something to pieces. Holladay’s Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT tells us this much:
piel: pf. שִׁסַּע; impf. וַיְשַׁסַּע, sf. וַיְשַׁסְּעֵהוּ; inf. שַׁסַּע: — 1. w. acc. & b®, tear s.thg (but not separate) Lv 117; — 2. w. acc. tear in pieces Ju 146; 1S 248, sugg. ‘scold,’ but prob.: disperse. (pg 379)
Why do we mention this lexical nuance? We introduce it because it means David had a heated discussion with his men. They wanted him to kill Saul, and he didn’t because of the reasons stated, and that was hard for them to swallow. But, being men of character and loyalty, they accepted David’s reasoning and submitted to his leadership.
Years ago, I received some incriminating and viable intel about a powerful, very wealthy, and vindictive man (i.e., troublemaker, church dragon) who attended my church. He had caused me much emotional trauma over the years, and several people left the church because of his opposition to my leadership. Believe me, when I received this data, I wanted to silence his vile mouth with it, but I just couldn’t for I would have been acting in a vengeful fashion, which is reserved for the Lord (NAS Hebrews 10:30 “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people’). So, I turned him over to the Lord, and the Lord, in due time, dealt with him. Oh, how I wanted to divulge what I knew about this sanctimonious Pharisee, but my motive would have been tainted; thus, I remained quiet.
What will you do when God places you at a crossroads like this with someone who has it out for you? David made the right decision regarding what he told his men, but he knew that was not enough. So, he did the unimaginable. He stepped out of the darkness of the cave into the sunlight and exposed his position to his enemy, Saul . . . , who, as you will remember, outnumbered his men five to one.
The Presentation
David’s action here is jaw-dropping:
8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
What a bold, but risky move, yet David did it anyway because he knew it was the right thing to do. What will you do in your situation as you face off against a Saul type? Mark well how David spoke to Saul. His language is endearing: “My lord the king.” What a statement. He could have said, “Hey, loser, Saul.” But he didn’t. He used respectful language and bowed to show even more respect.
What David did next is also instructive for us as we deal with Saul-types in our lives. Even though reasoning with Saul hadn’t worked to this point, David didn’t give up on the approach . . . and neither should you. Even though a Saul-type is controlled by their misguided emotions, coupled with erroneous information about you, it is the facts that the Spirit of God can potentially use to change their thinking (or wake them up spiritually). Note how David built his defense to debunk Saul’s notion that was all about usurping the kingdom for himself on his terms:
9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’? 10 “Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 “Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. (1 Sam. 24)
His argument is airtight. The facts show that Saul was champing at the proverbial bit to kill David when he didn’t have any grounds to do so. While everyone in Saul’s world validated his belief that David was out to get him and his kingdom, it just wasn’t true. The fact that he just cut off a small piece of his robe while he went to the bathroom, instead of stabbing him to death, validates David’s absolute innocence.
David then went to a higher power to verify the veracity of his heart:
12 “May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. (1 Sam. 24)
David knew that one day God would judge each person, and at that time, David would be vindicated (Ecc. 12:13-14; 1 Chron. 16:33; Psalm 96:13; Prov. 17:3). I’ve arrived at this point before when dealing with Saul-types. After struggling with their evil antics, you eventually get to where you think, “I know in my heart I am not guilty of what they say about me. I know that the Lord will reveal the truth on judgment day, and I’m ready for that time because I’ve done things above board.”
David backed this factual statement up with another:
13 “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. (1 Sam. 24)
This old maxim held in David’s dealings with Saul. Had David been wicked, he would have assassinated Saul; however, since he restrained himself, this, by definition, underscored his utter innocence. Because he was a righteous man, he then tacked on that he would never raise his hand in the future. What a great promise given to a man who didn’t deserve it. David had truly matured as a saint through the adversity he faced from Saul.
Being a skilled orator, David closed his argument with this:
14 “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? (1 Sam. 24)
Translated into our vernacular, David said, “Saul, why are you wasting all of your military resources trying to eliminate a nobody?” He closed his defense by returning to one of his main points:
15 “The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause, and deliver me from your hand.” (1 Sam. 24)
He underscored, again, that on judgment day before God’s throne, he knew he would be innocent. The implication is clear. David wanted Saul to consider whether his conscience would be clear before God, too? Probably not.
David no sooner presented his defense than the Spirit used his words to plough Saul’s hard heart. He did more than plough his heart; he pulverized Saul’s evil and highly unfounded thinking and actions.
The Pulverization
Saul could have instantly called for his 3,000 troops to come up the gorge and kill David and liquidate his men, but he didn’t because the factual nature of David’s argument momentarily got his attention:
16 Now it came about when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 And he said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. 18 “And you have declared today that you have done good to me, that the LORD delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the LORD therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.” (1 Sam. 24)
We call this a confession. Seeing the hem of his royal robe waving in the wind was irrefutable proof that David was innocent of any garbage Saul had cooked up in his messed-up mind. That’s why Saul became emotional. He just had a brush with death, but David had mercifully granted him life. What else could he do but admit that David was right and he was wrong. All of this logically, therefore, pointed to the fact that the kingdom of Israel truly did belong to someone like David. Based on this, Saul turned and asked for a divine blessing on David’s young, but troubled, life. Amazing. One episode in a cave completely changed Saul’s outlook . . . at that moment. Later, Saul would allow his false thinking to cause him to go after David again, but, at least for this brief moment, he had a spiritual moment where he realized the error of his ways. It’s too bad he didn’t humble himself before God and ask for the strength to live differently after this event.
Pragmatically, who knows what cave experience God will set up as you deal with your Saul. Be ready for it to happen, and then seize the moment to act in a godly fashion like David did. When the world would seek vengeance, you seek mercy, and then step back and watch God work.
Fearful that David would eliminate his lineage when he became king, Saul, who was in a position of power, humbled himself and asked David for further mercy:
21 “So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.” 22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. (1 Sam. 24)
Even though Saul’s sons were killed by people other than David, one disabled son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, did remain, and David did in the future make room for this young man at his royal table . . . just as he had promised his grandfather in the gorge that day. Of course, David did this because he was a man of absolute honor, integrity, and mercy.
And to think how all this occurred at the most unimaginable time. Such are the ways of God. Just when you are at your wits end in dealing with a person who has it out for you, is when God sets up a situation where you will be faced with a choice: Do I show them mercy, or do I seize the moment and get back at them (even if it seems justified)? I think you know what to do. Here is how Jesus put it years later:
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (Matt. 5:7)
Not long after I moved here, I received a phone call from a woman who was best friends with the church troublemaker I mentioned earlier. This particular woman was as mean-spirited as the man in question and had used vicious gossip to attack me, an innocent man (pastor), for years. After a few pleasantries, she, of all things, asked me for a favor. She said her daughter was headed here to attend a university, but didn’t know anyone. Her mother wanted to know if Liz and I would be there for her daughter if need be.
Suddenly, with one phone call, I found myself in a dark cave. As she spoke, all of the terrible things she had done to me over the years flooded my mind. When I heard her request, I can tell you what my carnal man thought. I can also tell you what the Spirit laid on me too: “Marty, you are at a crossroads in your spiritual growth. Will you show mercy to the unmerciful?” While difficult, I stepped out of the cave’s darkness and chose mercy.
What will you do at your crossroads? I hope you chose mercy. Why?
Showing mercy to the unmerciful reflects God’s character while also revering Him.
