Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.’
1 Samuel 24:10
This is a turning point in the story of David’s rise to the throne in Israel. It is also an interesting and amusing episode illustrating the length of God’s sovereignty as God literally uses a bathroom break to bring out the best in David’s character. It changes Saul’s relationship with David.
King Saul had been hunting David and happened to come to the very cave where David and his men were safely hidden, not because he was such an expert tracker, but sheerly by the coincidental providence of God. As Saul enters the daylight portion of the cave to take care of nature’s call, (and the third grade boy in me who first heard this story in Sunday School still giggles imagining this in all its most amusing aspects) David stealthily cuts off a corner of Saul’s discarded robe as it lay away from the king who was undoubtedly busily concentrating on royal duties at hand.
David’s men had whispered to him to end Saul’s life at that moment, but David would not. In fact, he was instead struck with guilt over his little escapade of robe cutting. David would honor God’s covenant rather than advance himself by His own shrewdness.
And that faith gave him courage to tell Saul what he had done in sparing the king’s life during a vulnerable moment. His rationale is that he would obey God (Saul was the LORD’s anointed choice as king) and the king (in that order of importance) in order to honor and obey the Lord. Character led David to take no selfish shortcuts. And God was glorified by this kind of obedient faith.
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