August 14,
2007
Rise up,
LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee
before thee. (Numbers 10: 35 KJV)
1 Samuel Chapter 24 Author: Unknown KJV
David
Spares Saul's Life
(1
Samuel 24:1-2 KJV) "And it came to
pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told
him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. {2}
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats."
David
was hopeful Saul had forgotten about him when he left in yesterday’s to go and
to fight the Philistines, but that is not the case. As soon as Saul gets through with the
Philistines he is back after David.
Unfortunately in this world when we think we have victory
over a situation it’s not before long that the same thing occurs again later or
something else comes up that we have to worry about. Saul went away for a time, but now he’s
back in David’s face once again. We
truly will never have total victory on this earth. Only those who belong to the Lord as
does David will when we have departed this earth and are present with the Lord
in heaven will we be free of the trials and tribulation. It goes without saying what the trials
and tribulations would be like for those who have chosen anything else other
than the Lord.
As we all trust in the Lord, as did David we are given the
grace to overcome our problems while we are on earth. While the problems may come we know we
can get through the challenges the sins of Adam ultimately puts before us
all. We that are saved are all
saved by our faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9
KJV) "For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {9}
Not of works, lest any man should boast." We cannot work
our way to heaven we must choose heaven through Jesus Christ because we are not
good enough to work our way there.
It is a gift of God Jesus paid the price. Satan will come against us again and
again because we are not his and because he wants to stop us from taking the
lost ones from him. Meanwhile those who do not choose Him seem to get along well
with their boats, motorcycles and other fun toys. Those toys are only temporal they will
eventually decay until there is nothing left. A person that belongs to the Lord puts
his stock into the things of heaven wherein lays his permanent rewards that do
not rust and decay.
Saul is
told David and his men are hiding in En Gadi. En Gadi is located in a canyon near the
Dead Sea. This canyon has a spring,
which makes a nice stream that flows through this canyon into the Dead Sea. You
can go there and see this canyon today. It is lush with vegetation and game, so
David and his now 600 men can live quite well. Also through out this canyon the walls
are lined with numerous caves.
Scouts could also keep a look out to any potential adversary coming into
the canyon such as the likes of Saul and his men.
(1
Samuel 24:3-4 KJV) "And he came to
the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover
his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. {4}
And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said
unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest
do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the
skirt of Saul's robe privily."
There were sheep
pens along the way indicating that this was indeed a very lush place in the
middle of the desert. The caves
were large enough to hold herds of sheep, thus David and his 600 men could
easily hide in one of them.
Saul had a
to go to the bathroom so his men respected his privacy and did not follow him
into one of the caves. Out of all
the caves in En Gadi, Saul chose the one David and his six hundred men were
in. David’s men were ecstatic for
surely the Lord brought Saul into their hands to dispose of the despot and David
could ascend to the throne. David
restrains his men. David refuses to
kill the Lords anointed. It was up
to the Lord to remove Saul, not David.
David
could have easily justified killing Saul.
He could have claimed self defense after all Saul was out to kill
him. He could have said that he was
promised the throne and God gave him this opportunity to kill Saul. Instead the Lord was testing David to
see if he would be obedient. Do
evil to accomplish good is disobedience and David through the grace of the Lord
recognizes this. We can see David
truly is after the heart of the Lord.
On the
other hand David decides to approach Saul secretly to cut off a piece of Saul’s
robe. It must have been quite noisy
with Saul’s men waiting on the outside, so Saul could not hear David in his
solitude.
David
cuts a corner off of Saul’s robe but even this troubles him.
(1
Samuel 24:5-7 KJV) "And it came to
pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's
skirt. {6} And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do
this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand
against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. {7} So David
stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against
Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way."
(1
Samuel 24:8-15 KJV) "David also
arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord
the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the
earth, and bowed himself. {9} And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest
thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? {10} Behold,
this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into
mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye
spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for
he is the LORD'S anointed. {11} Moreover, my father, see, yea, see
the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe,
and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor
transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest
my soul to take it. {12} The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD
avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. {13} As saith
the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine
hand shall not be upon thee. {14} After whom is the king of Israel come
out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. {15}
The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and
plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand."
It took
courage for David to go out and greet Saul. It took even more courage for David to
bow down before Saul because Saul could have very easily killed David. God protected us David just as he will
protect us.
This reminds me of
a joke, and maybe you have heard it before.
A man came into a
woman’s house to rob her. In her
defense she hollered out to him “Acts 2:38”. (Acts 2:38 KJV) "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
The
robber froze in his tracts and asked the lady to please call the police, which
she did.
The
police arrive and take the man away.
In questioning him the police asked how come he froze when the woman
hollered out the scripture verse “Acts 2:38”.
The man
said that he thought she had an ax and two 38s.
Quite often the
Lord protects us by confusing the enemy, but he is not limited to do it that
way. Here he changes Saul’s
heart.
David shows Saul
how close he came to death if David had chosen to kill him by presenting the
piece cut from his robe. David held
no malice toward Saul because Saul was God’s anointed.
Should we not kill
because David did not kill Saul?
Saul was an exception in David’s life for we know David killed
Goliath. David also hunted and
killed Philistines both when he was serving Saul and also after he fled from
Saul’s presence and later as king..
Is it wrong for us to kill Muslims?
What about the Japanese and Germans in WWII?
Jesus said we
should turn the other cheek.
When an enemy is so
wicked they want to destroy any other people and make them slaves to their
cause, it is necessary to fight back.
These enemies are Satan controlled.
If our country and its leaders would turn from their wicked ways God will
bless us and heal our land.
Likewise He would make sure we would win the evil war in the
Mideast. Instead He will use the
Muslims to bring us down because we are so sinful. When men of God fight, they
fight either out of defense or as in the case of the ancient Israelites they
were commanded by the Lord to defeat the people that were living in Canaan
because they were so perverted and evil.
The Lord was using His Israelite people to bring judgment upon the
Canaanites. Because the ancient
Israelites did not conquer all of the Canaanites the situation is so much worse
today. As the Lord commanded the
Israelites to kill all of them, men women and children, we need to obey the same
way and kill all of them. There is
no such thing as an innocent civilian Muslim if for no other reason than they
hide among the civilians.
Just as the ancient
Jews did not obey, neither will we, which the Lord knew, even before he created
the earth. This was all a part of
his plan so that we would choose to belong to him. God has uses the disobedience of man to
filter His people from among all of the evil ones and after 6,000 years it’s
almost time to end it all, to disperse with evil once and for all and to keep
the good for His will.
David tells Saul
that he has not wronged him in anyway, but he also points out to Saul that he is
hunting David down with the intent of killing him. He further tells Saul may the Lord judge
us both and the Lord will deal with you for what ever you have done, but David
will have no part in Saul’s judgment.
(1
Samuel 24:16-21 KJV) "And it came
to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul
said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and
wept. {17} And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I:
for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. {18}
And thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me:
forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me
not. {19} For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?
wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.
{20} And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that
the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. {21} Swear now
therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and
that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house."
Saul here has
changed because David did not kill him.
Saul then asks David to treat his descendants kindly when he eventually
becomes king. In those days, and it
is still carried on in Africa and the Mideast when a family loses the crown, the
new king would kill off the old family so there will not be any rivals for the
throne. David promises Saul that he
will indeed treat his descendants kindly, however the Lord takes care of that
himself. Everyone in Saul’s family
is killed except for Merab the eldest daughter, Micah David’s wife and
Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan. Both Merab and Micah are childless and
Jonathan’s son is a cripple.
(1
Samuel 24:22 KJV) "And David sware
unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the
hold."
David knew
that Saul’s change of mind was only temporary based on past experience. The Lord’s hand by this time is
completely or nearly completely removed from Saul and Saul is bent on evil. Saul will stay true to
form.
24 The LORD bless
thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his
face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up
his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall
put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless
them.
Numbers
6 KJV
Have
a blessed day
Lee
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