Saturday after the Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday

Scripture: 1 Samuel 24:1-22 (NKJV)

24:1 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

Even after Saul has sought to murder David—and murdered those who stood between the current and future kings, even throwing his spear at his own son—David spares Saul’s life.

David spares Saul’s life and then is troubled in his heart because he has harmed Saul’s garments in doing so! Saul is still, after all, “my master, the Lord’s anointed,” and David feels that even this has gone too far. He restrains his companions, keeping them from killing Saul, and then leaves the cave and confesses to Saul what he has done, as well as what he could have done. As St. Paul gave his admonition in Romans 13 concerning the Christian’s relationship to those in authority in the state while being under the rule of a particularly vicious and anti-Christian ruler, David teaches us to recognize where all authority comes from. As Jesus says to Pilate, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11).

Like Jonathan’s standing against his father’s wishes in 1 Samuel 19, this does not mean that we are not to seek wisdom and righteous conduct in rulers—and, within our context, to work and vote accordingly. Rather, it means that we are to receive those whom God places in authority through His chosen means (whether election or legitimate line of succession in a monarchy) as those whom God would have us pray for, advise when appropriate, and even remove if they stand against what is to govern their rule and service, whether in Church or in State.

We pray: O Lord, give us hearts that receive all things—even trials and suffering—not as the world intends, but as You intend, that we may trust in You for strength and glorify You always. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.