UNROLL
The Rocks of the Wild Goats at En-gedi in early morning: sheer pale cliffs riddled with dark cave mouths, two ibex on a high ledge and a low stone sheepfold at the foot of the cliff beside a dusty road, under a calm, hazy sky over the Dead Sea.

The Book of

1 Samuel 24

The king who hunts him walks into his cave alone. “This is the day,” say David’s men.

22 verses≈ 5 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–7SamuelA boy who listened
  2. 8–15SaulA king like the nations
  3. 16–20David risesThe LORD looks at the heart
  4. 21–27David huntedThe anointed one waitsChapter 24
  5. 28–31Saul fallsEndor and Gilboa

David Spares Saul

After Saul had returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.”

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So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Afterward, David’s conscience was stricken because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”

1 Samuel 24:6

With these words David restrained his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went on his way.

Question

Quick question

Saul walked alone into the very cave where David and his men were hiding.

What did David take from Saul in the cave?

Morning on the steep rocky slope below the cave: Saul, very tall in his crimson cloak, has turned on the road below and looks back up, while David kneels with his face to the ground above him, one hand holding up a small strip of cloth.

After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed facedown in reverence

and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’

David
David

See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. Know and see that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life.

May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you, but my hand will never be against you. As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you.

Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?

May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.”

1 Samuel 24:15

Reflect

“May the LORD be our judge”

David had the chance, and his men’s encouragement, to settle things himself. Instead he said, “May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me.” Is there someone you want to pay back? Write down what it would look like to hand that case to the LORD and leave it with Him.

David’s Oath to Saul

On a dusty road at the foot of the En-gedi cliffs in morning light, Saul, a very tall man in a crimson cloak, stands with his head bowed and one hand over his eyes, weeping, his soldiers standing back in silence and David small on his knees high on the slope above.

When David had finished saying these things, Saul called back, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud

and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil. And you have declared this day how you have treated me well, for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go away unharmed? May the LORD reward you with good for what you have done for me this day.

0:29

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Now I know for sure that you will be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. So now, swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s house.”

So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Pray

Leave it with God

Thank God that vengeance belongs to Him and that He judges justly. Ask Him for a conscience as tender as David’s, quick to be troubled even by small wrongs. Pray for grace to bless those who have wronged you, and to wait for God’s time instead of grabbing for your own.

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1 Samuel 24

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A verse to carry with you

May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.

1 Samuel 24:15

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