ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 86- 1 Samuel 22-25 (Respecting Authority)
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"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." 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. 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.) 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. Now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him because he had cut Saul's robe. 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." (1 Samuel 24:1-6)
Saul described best what David did in sparing his life: "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. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely?" (1Samuel 24:18-19)
David explained the reason for his action in our text above by pointing to the fact that Saul was God's annointed king and authority over all Israel including David and his men and that David did not have the right to put matters in his own hands.
I do not wish to discuss the subject of submission versus rebellion against an evil government in this post. Obviously, there is a lot more to this than our text reveals and the Bible has more to say about obeying government authorities such as in Romans chapter 13. In this post, I only want to zero in on David's attitude towards the authority which God has put in place.
The text above was not the only time when David spared Saul's life. In chapter 26, David again spares the life of the king when he could have easily killed him when God put a deep sleep on Saul and his entire army during another expedition to hunt David. When urged by his companion, Abishai, to kill Saul, David answered:
'"Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?" David said furthermore, "As the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD's anointed.'" (1 Samuel 26:9b-11)
David believed that he would be sinning if he took revenge on Saul being that he was the Lord's annointed ruler. David also believed that God will be the one to kill Saul in His own time. This is a very important lesson for all of us to learn - God has called us as Christians to obey authority and leave justice in the hands of God.
Again, our focus in this short devotional is simply the attitude we need to have towards those in authority over us. We need to have the same submission to authority as David did towards Saul. As we shall learn in succeeding chapters, God honored David's attitude of submission by getting Saul killed in battle, thus sparing David blood on his hands. Furthermore, God honored David by making him king after Saul. Had David taken Saul's life, he would have had blood on his hands and his kingdom would not have been established right from the start. Who knows, David might not even have been king.
May all of us learn to respect authority and have an attitude of humility and submission to those whom God has appointed over us.
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