Scripture: 1 Samuel 24:1-22 (NKJV)
1 Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that
it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” 2
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 So he came to the
sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to
his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) 4 Then
the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you,
‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it
seems good to you.’” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s
robe.
5 Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut
Saul’s robe. 6 And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this
thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him,
seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” 7 So David restrained his servants with
these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from
the cave and went on his way. 8 David also arose afterward, went out of the
cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked
behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. 9 And
David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed
David seeks your harm’? 10 Look, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD
delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you.
But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my
lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the
corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe,
and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in
my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. 12
Let the LORD judge between you and me, and let the LORD avenge me on you. But
my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says,
‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14
After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A
flea? 15 Therefore let the LORD be judge, and judge between you and me, and see
and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”
16 So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul
said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and
wept. 17 Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have
rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. 18 And you have
shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the LORD delivered me
into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he
let him get away safely? Therefore may the LORD reward you with good for what
you have done to me this day. 20 And now I know indeed that you shall surely be
king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21
Therefore swear now 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 house.” 22 So
David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the
stronghold.
Devotion
The heart of David was troubled because he acted against the King of Israel by
cutting off a piece of his robe, even while David’s men had encouraged him to
cut not only fabric, but flesh. Yet, “The Lord forbid that I should do this
thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him,
seeing he is the anointed of the Lord,” David says.
Even when the one placed into office by the Lord proves himself wicked, as Saul
had done, we are to reason that there must be some benefit to this being the
case—even if the main benefit is suffering that leads us to repentance.
Whether a leader of our nation or the pastor of our congregation, there is a
purpose to his occupying the office that he does, even if he is faithless or
corrupt. When a civil leader does wrong it may well be that we and our fellow
citizens need both to learn and to educate so that his policies may not bring
further evil upon us, either correcting him or replacing him through the proper
means for so doing. For a pastor who is preaching or teaching contrary to God’s
Word, we must seek his repentance, and if he resists the Scriptures, then we
must protect Christ’s Flock from him, but we must do so with the same humility
as we see in David today.
Posted by The Reverend Jeffrey A. Ahonen on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran
Diocese of North America
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