Making the Wise Decision

“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. ⁵ And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. ⁶ 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.‘” 1 Samuel 24:4-6 (ESV)

The timing could not have been any better. David and his men where hiding in the inner portion of a cave and Saul came into the entrance of that exact cave to relieve himself. King Saul was in a most vulnerable situation and David could have easily killed him. Instead, David chose to simply cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. David told his men that he would not dare put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed.

After Saul left the cave unaware of David’s presence, David arose and went out of the cave to reveal himself to Saul and to feature the corner of the robe that he had cut off. Saul was deeply moved by David’s gracious act of mercy and reverence.

• “He said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. ¹⁸ 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.'” 1 Samuel 24:17-18 (ESV)

What life lesson do you draw from this power encounter? Perhaps we should learn to entrust ourselves and our future to the Lord’s care.

Chronological Bible Reading Plan: (Day 104:  1 Samuel 21-24 )

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell