David Spares Saul Again
1 Samuel chapter 26 resembles chapter 24, but it is clearly talking about a different event.
1 Samuel 26 NLT
26 Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.”
2 So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him down in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, 4 he sent out spies to verify the report of Saul’s arrival.
5 David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors. 6 “Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother.
“I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied. 7 So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.
8 “God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”
9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? 10 Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. 11 The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!”
12 So David took the spear and jug of water that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even waking up, because the Lord had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep.
13 David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a safe distance. 14 Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner, “Wake up, Abner!”
“Who is it?” Abner demanded.
15 “Well, Abner, you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone came to kill him? 16 This isn’t good at all! I swear by the Lord that you and your men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the Lord’s anointed! Look around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?”
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?”
And David replied, “Yes, my lord the king. 18 Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? 19 But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the Lord. For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the Lord’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ 20 Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”
21 Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”
22 “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. 24 Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”
25 And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home.
Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 26 NLT
David Spares Saul Again
26:1 Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.”
- David and his men, still hiding from Saul, moved back to the wilderness of Ziph.
The wilderness of Ziph with its hilly terrain, dotted with numerous caves, provided many good hiding places.
The Ziphites betrayed David to Saul for the second time.
Previously:
1 Samuel 23:19 NLT
19 But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him. “We know where David is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds of Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is in the southern part of Jeshimon.
The Ziphites do not want David staying in their territory.
2 So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him down in the wilderness of Ziph.
- Once again, despite his earlier remorse, Saul pursued David, hoping to kill him.
As far as we know, this is Saul’s final pursuit of David.
3 Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, 4 he sent out spies to verify the report of Saul’s arrival.
5 David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors.
In chapter 24 David was on the defensive. Here in chapter 26 David is more on the offensive.
6 “Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother.
“I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied.
Abishai was a son of David’s sister Zeruiah. Abishai was a skilled and faithful soldier.
Abishai and Joab were David’s nephews.
Joab later became David’s commander-in-chief.
Ahimelech was a Hittite. The Hittites lived in Canaan but were not driven out by the Israelites when they conquered the Promised Land.
David’s band of men included family members, Israelite men, and it even included men from other nations.
7 So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head.
Three times previous to this, Saul had used his spear to attack David. The spear was an instrument of death. The spear was also a symbol of Saul’s rule, similar to a scepter, a traditional sign of authority.
This traditional sign of authority still exists among some Bedouin Arabs today. (Dr. Constable)
1 Samuel 22:6 NLT
6 The news of his arrival in Judah soon reached Saul. At the time, the king was sitting beneath the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, holding his spear and surrounded by his officers.
Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.
David arrived at Saul’s camp during the night.
8 “God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”
9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? 10 Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. 11 The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed!
Once again David refused to harm the Lord’s anointed.
In David’s mind, it was up to God to decide when Saul would die.
But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!”
Saul’s spear was an instrument of death, or a symbol of Saul’s authority.
A jug of water represented a life-giving vessel.
12 So David took the spear and jug of water that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even waking up, because the Lord had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep.
- David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep. They took Saul’s spear and his jug of water and got away without anyone seeing them.
13 David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a safe distance. 14 Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner, “Wake up, Abner!”
“Who is it?” Abner demanded.
15 “Well, Abner, you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone came to kill him? 16 This isn’t good at all! I swear by the Lord that you and your men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the Lord’s anointed! Look around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?”
Abner was Saul’s cousin.
- David addressed Abner because he was responsible for leaving the Lord’s anointed unprotected.
David, rather than Saul’s bodyguard, Abner, was responsible for sparing Saul’s life.
Abner and his men deserved to die for their failure in duty.
17 Saul recognized David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?”
Again Saul calls David his son.
And David replied, “Yes, my lord the king.
This time, however, David does not address Saul as “father”.
At this point in time David, technically, was no longer Saul’s son-in-law.
18 Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? 19 But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the Lord.
- David questioned Saul’s motives for chasing him.
David was asking if Saul’s was acting in obedience to God or was he simply acting on his own.
If Saul’s actions were prompted by God, David was ready to ask God to forgive him for the wrong he had done.
If Saul was acting on his own, David felt that he and his men should be cursed by God.
For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the Lord’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’
20 Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord?
Saul’s actions had forced David to leave his home and live like a fugitive.
- To be expelled from the Lord’s land was to be separated from the Lord’s sanctuary.
Hosea 9:3 NLT
3 You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”
A flea is essentially harmless but annoying.
A partridge is a harmless bird that darts from one tree to another when pursued by a hunter, but tires rather quickly and then can be easily caught.
21 Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”
- Again Saul confesses that he has sinned. Saul states “I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”
Saul’s behavior was both foolish and ungodly.
“I have been a fool” is an accurate autobiography of Saul’s life.
There is no indication in scripture that Saul ever tried again to interfere with God’s plans for David.
22 “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it.
- David returns Saul’s spear symbolizing the fact that Saul still the King of Israel.
David does not return the water jug. (The life giving vessel.)
23 The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. 24 Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”
- Once again David stated that his trust was in the Lord, and the Lord would reward him for his loyalty.
David may have written Psalm 54 at this point in time.
25 And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.”
- Once again Saul recognized that David was destined to become the king of Israel.
This is the last recorded words of Saul to David.
Then David went away, and Saul returned home.
David moves into the territory of the Philistines. (1 Samuel 27:1)
