1 Samuel 24

1 Samuel 24

Imagine for a moment that you were David, a man who was being chased by the king of Israel. You have been promised the throne after the current king is dead, but you may be wondering if that day will ever come. As you are hiding in a cave, hoping that he will not find you, you see him walking in so that he could go to the bathroom. He does not notice you or your men hiding in the cave, and you are actually close enough to kill him. What would you do?


David found himself in this situation 1 Samuel 24. His men encouraged him to go ahead and kill Saul, thinking that God had given him this opportunity to get rid of his greatest enemy. David even went as far as to cut a piece of Saul’s robe, but then he withdrew himself. Although he knew that God had removed His blessing from Saul and Saul’s family would not remain on the throne, David also knew that Saul had been chosen by God. This was the man that God had set up as the first king of Israel, and it was not his place to end Saul’s life. He knew that he had to continue to be patient trusting that God would take care of Saul when the time came. The human side of David (and the human side of any of us) would probably have been to kill Saul and take the throne. But David understood the importance of waiting for God’s timing. God has a plan, and He knows what He is doing. We have to trust that God is in control and allow Him to use us. Instead of doing things on our own, we must daily turn to God and seek His direction in our lives. Things may not work out as quickly as we would like, but our ways are not His ways.

Once Saul had left the cave, David followed him and made himself vulnerable. Again, do you think we would be willing to walk out to the one who is trying to kill us? It would have been easier and possibly safer to stay in the cave until Saul left. But David wanted to set things right with Saul and confess that he had thoughts of murder. He pointed to Saul’s robe and explained what had happened in the cave, but told Saul that he knew that he could never kill him. Afterwards, Saul felt shame for what he had done to David. He recognized his sin and saw where he had gone wrong. It also became clear to him that God had truly chosen David to be the next king of Israel, and he conceded to that fact. But at the same time, he also worried about his children. He was afraid that they would be cut off from Israel and would suffer after his death. So he asked David to look after them and protect them. What Saul did not know was that David had already made this promise with Jonathan, Saul’s son. David promised Saul that he would look after his children, and they went away peacefully.

In the end, it all worked out well for Saul and David, at least for now. Because of David’s courage to stand up for what was right, he was able to set a good example for his men. He was also able to set things right with Saul, and Saul grew out of this situation. God used David’s faithfulness to touch the lives of others. In the same way, when we obey God and do what is right, we become a positive example to others. God is able to use us so that others can come to know Him and bring glory to Him. Our struggles with sin will be a daily battle, and we will find ourselves right beside temptation, but by looking to God for guidance, we can overcome those temptations and choose to obey His word. It is a daily battle, but our strength comes from God, and He is the one who can ultimately give us the victory.

Matt