ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Falaite Tisema 24, 2021

The Lord forbid that I should do this thing

Ko Sihova ē ha‘aku ofi ke fai pehē ki hoku ‘eiki

 

1 Samiuela 24 (1 Samuel 24)

(v. 4-7) Pea lea ‘a e kau tangata ‘a Tēvita kiate ia; Vakai, ko e ‘aho ē na‘e folofola ai ‘a e ‘Eiki kiate koe, ‘o pehē, Ko eni, te u tuku ho fili ki ho nima, ke ke fa‘iteliha kiate ia, Pea tu‘u ‘a Tēvita, ‘o tu‘usi fufū ‘a e kapa ‘o e kofu tōtōlofa na‘e ‘ia Saula. Pea hili ‘ene fai pehē na‘e tautea ‘a Tēvita ‘e hono loto, koe‘uhi kuo ne tu‘usi ‘a e kapa‘i kofu ‘o Saula. Pea ne pehē ki he‘ene kau tangata, Ko Sihova ē ha‘aku ofi ke fai pehē ki hoku ‘eiki ko e pani ‘a Sihova, ke ala hoku nima ki ai, he ko e pani ia ‘a Sihova. Ko ia na‘e ta‘ofi ‘e Tēvita ‘ene kau tangata ‘aki ‘a e ngaahi lea ko ē, ‘o ‘ikai te ne tuku ke nau tu‘u kia Saula. Pea tu‘u atu ‘a Saula mei he ‘ana, ‘o ne fai hono fononga.

(v. 4-7) 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.” 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.

David Guzik :: Study Guide for 1 Samuel 24

The men of David said to him: David’s men were excited at the opportunity and believed it was a gift from God. They knew it was no coincidence that Saul came alone into that cave at that moment. They thought this was an opportunity from God to kill Saul.

Apparently, on some previous occasion God promised David, “Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.” They believed that this was the fulfillment of the promise and that David needed to seize the promise by faith and by the sword.

David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe: We can imagine David listening to this counsel from his men and with his sword creeping quickly towards Saul, covered by the darkness of the cave. David’s men are excited; their lives as fugitives are about to end, and they will soon be installed as friends and associates of the new King of Israel. But as David came close to Saul and put forth his sword he didn’t bring it crashing down on Saul’s neck or thrust it through his back. Instead he secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Some wonder how David could have done this without being detected. Saul may have laid his robe down in one part of the cave, and attended to his needs in another part, so David did not have to get right next to Saul to cut off a corner of his robe. Or, it may also be that there was enough noise and commotion from the thousands of men outside of the cave along with their horses that David was simply undetectable.

David decided to spare Saul because he knew that God’s promise said, “You will inherit the throne of Israel.” He knew that Saul was in the way of that promise. But he also knew it was disobedient of him to kill Saul, because God put Saul in a position of authority and it was God’s job to take care of Saul not David’s. David wanted the promise to be fulfilled but he refused to try and fulfill God’s promise through his own disobedience.

Sometimes when we have a promise from God we think we are justified in sinning to pursue that promise. This is always wrong. God will fulfill His promises, but He will do it His way, and do it righteously. Instead, we need to be like Abraham, who obeyed God even when it seemed to be at the expense of God’s promise, willing to sacrifice the son of promise (Genesis 22). Even more, we need to be like Jesus, who didn’t take Satan’s offer to “win back the world” at the expense of obedience (Luke 4:5-8).

In all this, we see that David knew not only how to wait on the Lord, but he also knew how to wait for the Lord. “We wait on the Lord by prayer and supplication, looking for the indication of his will; we wait for the Lord by patience and submission, looking for the interposition of his hand.” (Meyer) David was determined that when he sat on the throne of Israel it wouldn’t be because he got Saul out of the way but because God got Saul out of the way. He wanted God’s fingerprints on that work, not his own, and he wanted the clean conscience that comes from knowing it was God’s work.

We also see that David’s heart didn’t store up bitterness and anger towards Saul. Even as Saul made David’s life completely miserable, David kept taking it to the Lord, and he received the cleansing from the hurt and the bitterness and the anger that the Lord can give. If David stored up bitterness and anger towards Saul he probably wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation to kill him at what seemed to be a “risk free” opportunity.

David’s heart troubled him: This is a remarkably tender conscience in David. Many would only be troubled that they did not take the opportunity to kill Saul. David only cut off the corner of Saul’s robe, yet his heart troubled him. Why? Because the robe was a symbol of Saul’s royal authority, and David felt bad – rightly so, according to the heart of God – that he had done anything against Saul’s God appointed authority.

David expresses this when he said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed... seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” David knew better than anyone that Saul was a troubled and corrupt leader, yet it was in God’s power to take him away and David wouldn’t do what was only the Lord’s to do.

“It was a trifling matter, and yet it seemed dishonoring to God’s anointed king; and as such it hurt David to have done it. We sometimes in conversation and criticism cut off a piece of a man’s character, or influence for good, or standing in the esteem of others. Ought not our heart to smite us for such thoughtless conduct? Ought we not to make confession and reparation?” (Meyer)

So David restrained his servants with these words: David not only kept himself from taking vengeance upon Saul, he also restrained his servants. Many men in the same situation, would say, “Well, I won’t kill Saul now, but if one of my servants does, what can I do?” and therefore leave the door wide open for Saul to be killed. But David wouldn’t do that, and he restrained his servants.

With these words: These were the words of a humble, tender conscience before God. They were the words of a man who was convicted at merely cutting off a corner of Saul’s robe. When David’s servants saw his godliness and how he wanted to please God in everything, their hearts were restrained from doing any evil against Saul.