Join us for an inspiring exploration of both Old and New Testament teachings, as Alan J. Huth unpacks the narrative of David sparing Saul’s life. Through reflective journal entries, we examine the significance of making choices grounded in faith, even when they defy our survival instincts. Learn how biblical principles from David’s time apply to our present struggles, encouraging us to press on with God’s guidance and sovereignty at the forefront.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 01 :
Today we are in 1 Samuel chapter 24, David still on the run. Let’s listen in as our guest reader, Morgan Jackson, the Senior Vice President of Faith Comes by Hearing, reads 1 Samuel chapter 24.
SPEAKER 02 :
1 Samuel 24 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the wild goat’s rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds, by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed. So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. Afterward, David also arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, my lord, the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of men who say, behold, David seeks your harm? 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. See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand? For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you. May the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, Out of the wicked comes wickedness, but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog? After a flea? May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand. As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house. And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
SPEAKER 01 :
This chapter is so exciting that even in 1983, I had more than one line about it. I wrote, David spares Saul’s life, talks with Saul. David has chance to kill Saul and end flight, but won’t do it. David’s love for Saul. Saul ends pursuit of David. In 2002, I wrote Doing the Right Thing. Here, David has the chance to kill Saul, but he doesn’t do it. Did God give Saul into his hand? Open door. But David has a high principle not to take God’s anointed. Live right, regardless of circumstances, and God will reward. In 2007, after reading 1 Samuel 24, I wrote, David’s conscience bothered him, quoting verse 24, verse 5, reading the circumstances according to God’s sovereignty. Saul is right here. Kill him. The advice of the crowd. David, driven by God, not men, says, No, I will not stretch forth my hand against Saul because God anointed him king. Even though Saul is trying to kill me and the Lord has led him right here into my hands, there is a bigger picture, God’s sovereignty. David’s conscience bothered him because he was driven by God, not men. Praise the Lord. We need more of this today. Do I think like David? Do you think like David? Sometimes it’s just so hard to know what to do. Here it appears that God has given Saul into David’s own hand. He could kill him right here and end this crazy pursuit, this fleeing from Saul his whole life. Surely in David’s humanity, he wanted to do it. His band of men in the cave were going, kill him, kill him. But David walks by the beat of a different drummer. He walks by the heart of God, not the heart of men. Where are your eyes? Are they on the circumstances around you? Or are they on the sovereign will of God for you and those around you? David has a grasp of the bigger picture. Do you? Do I? He knew God had anointed Saul king, and it wasn’t his position to take him out of that role. We will see how this plays out in the final few chapters of 1 Samuel. God help me. Help me have a higher view of my own life, of my own circumstances. Help me have a view from your perspective. Keep me from taking matters into my own hands. Help me rely on you and your sovereignty in my life and in those around me. In your name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You know, sometimes life does not go the way we plan. We all face trials and tribulations. The question is, how do we handle those trials and tribulations? In Philippians 3, 12-14, Paul instructs us to go forward, to press on. The verse says, Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. What does it mean to press? Well, dictionary definitions include to push with steady force, to push ahead with eagerness. So my own thoughts on pressing are to fight, to keep going. Press means it won’t come easy. So how do we press on? Well, let’s consider a powerful example from Scripture. You know, I love the Bible, and I love the stories that build my faith so I can press on in various aspects of my life. This story is found in the book of Exodus. After the Jews had witnessed the ten plagues in Egypt, experienced that first Passover, and been led by God Himself as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, they find themselves camping in the desert. They hear the rumble of Egyptian chariots in the distance and they say, well, let’s pick up the story here instead of me talking about it. Exodus chapter 14 verse 10 says, And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, Because there was no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. So no, pressing on isn’t easy. It never is. It always appears easier to go back to Egypt, that’s the way it used to be, than to fight or to press on, to push with steady force and to push ahead with eagerness. Verses 13 and 14 say, And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Yes, friends, the Lord will fight for you too. As you press on, the Lord himself will fight for you. The story goes on in verses 19 through 20. And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that one did not come near the other all that night. The angel of God came between them. To one it was darkness. To the other it was light. So what do you see in the battle? Do you see God move between you and the enemy? Do you see darkness? Or do you see light as God fights for you as you press on? Exodus 14, 15 then says, And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Why do we cry out to God? Why do we sometimes keep praying when God has already shown himself glorious many times in our lives? Yet we freeze, we stand still, and we look back to Egypt. The story goes on in the scriptures. It says, Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Well, where is forward? It’s Canaan, the promised land. God has a plan. We’re in that plan. So go forward. Reach for your Canaan. Where is your forward? Philippians 1.6 says, Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. What have you started? Are you trying to do something for the Lord but feel stalled? He has begun a good work in you. Go forward. Go forward in the Word. Press on. Push with steady force and push ahead with eagerness. He told you He will fight for you. Go forward. Where were the Jews when all the plagues were badgering Egypt? They were in Goshen. And in Goshen, the Word of God says in Exodus 8, 22 and 23, And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a difference between my people and your people. Exodus 9, 26 says, Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. Exodus 11, 6-7 remind us, But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against a man or a beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. We must forget what lies behind, Egypt, and reach forward to what lies ahead, Canaan. But we must live in Goshen. As God’s people, we can be set apart from the plagues of the world. We must trust God to make a difference between my people and your people. We must pray it so. We must walk by faith and not what we see around us. We must be light, bright lights, as the world darkens around us. Forget what lies behind, but never, never, never forget your Bible. Read every day those great stories of old to build your faith so you can press on. Reach forward to what lies ahead. Go forward. Press on. Knowing in the midst of plagues, turmoil, crisis, there is a Goshen where God protects his own people. Go forward. He fights for you. 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