SortingBeans

David acknowledged Saul as God’s “anointed” (24:6)
This was the position that God appointed Saul for. David was not going to take matters into his own hands, for he knew that God had a reason/purpose in what was transpiring. The Bible records these words from David: “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish” (1 Sam. 26:10, ESV [my emphasis]). By David saying this, it reveals that he knows God is going to have His way, without the need of his human assistance. David had no desire to kill Saul, and the reader of this biblical text can quickly understand that “Saul is to David both king and protector”(Ackroyd, 1971, p. 188), as illustrated in 24:11 with the simple words of David, “my father”. In spite of David’s respective fear of Saul and Saul’s behavior toward David, he still showed respect and honor for the King whom he loved.

This biblical narrative paints a picture of what trying to operate without the council of the Spirit of God is like; when in fear, call on the Lord and He will direct your path. It is quite interesting, if one notices, that after God had removed His spirit from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14), not one time up until the time of his death (31:4) did Saul ask God to return His spirit to him. As God caused Saul to strip himself of his clothes and prophesy (19:24), God also strips the kingdom from him and hands it over to David (2 Sam. 2:7).

That Saul expended so much energy in hunting down David – unsuccessfully, I may add – it shows that when one gives into such evil desires, much like Saul’s jealousy of David, the consequences thereof can leave a person in such a stronghold of “bent” thinking that he can be completely side-tracked from the goals and purposes he had originally began with (assuming they were good from the start). Such is so with Saul in his pursuit of David; Saul got so “caught up” in wanting to kill David that he completely forgot about the security of his own land (1 Sam. 23:27-28). In this, it seems as though Saul was operating out of fear (1 Sam. 18:12, 29), in that he retaliated and attempted to put to death the very thing he is afraid of. On the other hand, even as David was motivated by fear into fleeing, he used his fear much more wisely than Saul. While “David [had] been shown handling his fear through clever, life-preserving measures, Saul [was] represented as capitulating to his fear . . . .” (Borgman, 2008, p. 72).

Conclusion
Let the reader now capture a great moral of this historical chase; As with Job, so with David: “For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me” (Job 23:25, ESV), therefore, do not fear, rather “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7, ESV).

Fear is not always bad. After all, it is the beginning of all wisdom (Ps. 111:10). It is what we do with that determines whether it is bad. Therefore, what kind of fear are you operating in and how is it impacting your life?

-Jonathan J.

Sources quoted:
-Ackroyd, P. R. (1971). The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible: The First Book of Samuel. London: Cambridge University Press Bently House.
-Borgman, P. (2008). David, Saul, and God. New York: Oxford University Press.