They said to him, “This is your chance! The Lord has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to.”
This was indeed the fulfillment of God’s word to David! But to what end? What would you want to do? What would you do?
David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe without Saul’s knowing it. But then David’s conscience began to hurt, and he said to his men, “May the Lord keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the Lord chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the Lord!”
Marvelous. [This event makes me think of Bilbo where he spared Gollum’s life in the Lord of the Rings. 😊] It’s the Spirit in David which provided this discernement (Romans 12:2) – it’s not something that’s learned from reading a book (the Law). We need to learn to live life with an open hand (Romans 12:19).
So David convinced his men that they should not attack Saul.
Something that Saul was not able to do (1 Samuel 15:24). Where Saul failed (and where I have failed in the past), may I now forevermore succeed, Father.
Then David went out after him and called to him, “Your Majesty!” Saul turned around, and David bowed down to the ground in respect and said, “Why do you listen to people who say that I am trying to harm you?
A gracious way of deflecting responsibility in order to avoid accusing. Please help me to learn this skill, Lord.
“You can see for yourself that… Look… look… This should convince you that…”
No matter. Saul can only see, look and be convinced of what is in his own interests.
When David had finished speaking, Saul said, “Is that really you, David my son?” And he started crying. Then he said to David, “You are right, and I am wrong. You have been so good to me, while I have done such wrong to you! Today you have shown how good you are to me, because you did not kill me, even though the Lord put me in your power.
[This reminds me of the Israelites in the desert where obedience was at a premium when the glory of God was manifested before their eyes but quickly dissipated once faded from view.] Here, all that was hidden in Saul’s heart was exposed for all to see and that because David lived out God’s word to him (Hebrews 4:12). Please use me to do the same, Lord (Jeremiah 6:27).