The Signs of the Times
November 2, 1888
David Spares Saul
After the death of Samuel, David was left in peace for a few months. Saul did not pursue or trouble him, and the son of Jesse returned to the solitude of the Ziphites, thinking they would not now molest him since the king had desisted from following him. But the people knew too well the character of Saul to credit him with sincerity repenting of seeking David's life. These enemies of the son of Jesse hoped to be favored by informing the king of David's hiding-place. They told Saul that David was within their reach, and that they would do their utmost to put him into his power. ST November 2, 1888, par. 1
This intelligence aroused the demon of passion that had been slumbering in Saul's breast. He thought an opportunity was offered which should not be left unimproved. He summoned his men to arms, and once more led them out in pursuit of David. After the solemn covenant that Saul had made with David, the son of Jesse was not inclined to believe that the king would still seek his life. In company with a few of his men, he started out to see if indeed Saul was pursuing him again. David and his companions beheld the tents of the king and his attendants. They were unobserved; for the camp was quiet in slumber. David called upon his friends to go with him into the very midst of the foe. In answer to his question, “Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp?” Abishai promptly responded, “I will go down with thee.” ST November 2, 1888, par. 2
David and his attendant hastened into the shadows of the hills, and entered the encampment of the enemy. As they sought to ascertain the exact number of their foes, they came upon Saul sleeping, his spear stuck in the ground and a cruse of water at his bolster, while Abner and the people were slumbering on every side. Abishai raised his spear, and said to David, “God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.” The servant waited for the word of permission; but there fell upon his ear the whispered words: “Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? ... As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed; but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awakened; for they were all asleep; because a dead sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.” ST November 2, 1888, par. 3
How easily the Lord can weaken the strongest, remove prudence from the wisest, and baffle the skill of the most watchful. Then David went over to the other side, and when he was at a safe distance from the camp, he stood on the top of a hill, and cried with a loud voice to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Art thou not a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy Lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand? Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering; but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.” ST November 2, 1888, par. 4
David assured Saul that he would be glad to serve him as a servant; but without cause he was pursued as a rebel, and compelled to fly from him whom he would follow. He was cut off from the service of God, separated from the holy land, and driven away from his own people to live with strangers and idolaters. He presents the course of Saul in pursuing him as that of the king taking the flower of his army to seek a flea, or to hunt a partridge of the wilderness. ST November 2, 1888, par. 5
David urged that the real reasons of the king's enmity be searched out, and the controversy come to an end. He knew that it was jealously [jealousy] that prompted Saul to hunt him from place to place, until there was no security for him, not even in the rocky home of the goats. He declared that if the Lord had stirred Saul up against him to punish him for his sins, God would accept an offering from him. He would make peace with God. If it was wicked counselors that advised the king to take such cruel measures against an innocent man, let them be excluded from his presence as men accursed of God. ST November 2, 1888, par. 6
David pleaded for his life before the relentless Saul. Again the acknowledgment fell from the lips of the king, “I have sinned; return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day; behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.” Although Saul had made the promise, “I will no more do thee harm,” David did not place himself in his power. This second instance of David's respect for his life, made a still deeper impression upon the mind of Saul, and brought from his lips a more humble acknowledgment of his fault. He was subdued and astonished at the manifestation of David's mercy and kindness toward him. The son of Jesse might have deprived him of his life, but his soul had been precious in the eyes of him to whom he had thought he must be odious and abhorrent. ST November 2, 1888, par. 7
Saul had meant all that he had said, yet his relenting and confession came not from genuine repentance and conversion of heart. How many have acted in a similar manner. They have been enlightened by the Spirit of God in regard to the truth, but envy and jealousy and unholy ambition have been welcomed to the soul, and the light of truth has been permitted to grow dim. Men whom God has blessed, who have had new light, new purposes, and new hearts, who have meant to be sincere, have been placed in temptation, and by failing to resist the suggestions of Satan, they have allowed self-esteem, and desire for the highest place, to color all the thoughts and actions of their life. Light and darkness, good and evil, strive for the victory. Oh, that these souls might place themselves in right relation to God, and come into harmony with his law! Jealousy has found an entrance into their hearts, and has woven itself into their characters. Envy and jealousy are like two sisters who blend together in their workings. Envy will lead a man to desire some good which another possesses, and will urge him to use every means in his power to bring down and injure the character and reputation of one in whose place he desires to be. Falsehood, hearsays, and slanderous reports are circulated, and everything that can be made use of will be employed to place the envied man in an unfavorable light before the people. Jealousy leads a man to suspect another of seeking to deprive him of advantages and position. Saul had both envy and jealousy. ST November 2, 1888, par. 8