For Goodness' Sake

Prayer

Saul’s Life in David’s Hand

As usual, we’ll start with a brief recap, to make sure we’re all on the same page as we move into the next chapter in our journey through the story of 1 Samuel. We ended things last week with Saul having clearly moved into an all-out determination to kill David. This caused great grief between Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David. It was their deep friendship that was the focus of our teaching time last week. At the very end, we saw Jonathan and David part ways as David goes on the run. This morning, we’ll be making our way through 1 Samuel 21-24, focusing of the last of the chapters.

In 1 Samuel 21, David, now on the run, makes his way to the town of Nob, to a priest by the name of Ahimelek. And Ahimelek is scared - trembling - when David shows up, alone. It’s clear he knows the tension between Saul and David. But David lies, telling him that he’s on a secret mission from the king, but his men are meeting him in a different location - and this mission is so urgent he had to leave without gathering any supplies. So here he is in Nob seeking to get supplies from Ahimelek. Ahimelek doesn’t have food to offer, other than the consecrated bread - that is, the bread of the Presence which was placed on the altar in the tabernacle.

So Ahimelek gives him the bread from the previous day, as well as the only weapon he has, Goliath’s sword (which was clearly there as a trophy celebrating David’s victory). Get an ominous note in 1 Samuel 21:7 - Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.

In 1 Samuel 22, we learn that David starts bringing together a group of misfits, a ragtag army of sorts - his father and brothers join him, recognizing that their lives are in danger as well. And they weren’t the only ones, vs. 2 - All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

Meanwhile, we see the darkness that has enveloped Saul’s soul, sending him into greater evil. As he and his supporters gather to hunt David, he learns from Doeg the Edomite - his servant that was there in Nob - that David had received supplies from Ahimelek the Priest. So Saul sends for Ahimelek and all the men of his family, who were all priests as well.

Saul accuses Ahimelek of conspiracy against him by aiding his enemy, David. But Ahimelek protests - Why would he suspect that David was Saul’s enemy? David has been Saul’s faithful servant, he’s Saul’s son-in-law! And Ahimelek has helped him before, primarily by seeking God’s guidance for him. So why wouldn’t he help David in this situation?

But Saul doesn’t care - he’s so filled with malice and paranoia he orders that Ahimelek and his family be killed. But his own men won’t do it - which is so telling, here again they defy Saul’s command by refusing to raise a hand to strike the Lord’s priests. So Saul turns to Doeg, who is more than happy to do it. That day he slaughters 85 priests. The slaughter doesn’t stop there - they make their way to the town of Nob and destroy the entire town, killing the men and women, the children, all its livestock. Consider the bitter irony here - Saul had neglected to destroy Israel’s enemy, the Amalekites (that was the final act of disobedience that led to the Lord rejecting him as king), but here he has an entire Israelite town destroyed.

One of Ahimelek’s sons, Abiathar, manages to escape, and he joins up with David. Here we get an insight into David’s character as Abiathar tells him of the slaughter, 1 Samuel 22:22, Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family.” Unlike Saul, David takes responsibility for what happens here.

1 Samuel 23 covers David on the run - but it’s become much harder for him to hide. For one, he now has 400 men with him (that will grow to 600) - and second, now that people know what Saul did to the town of Nob, the priests and their families, destroying them entirely, they are rightfully afraid of what Saul will do to them if they aid David.

But the incident in this part of the story I want to focus on comes in 1 Samuel 24. Here David has made his way into the Desert of En Gedi, and Saul comes on the hunt for him with 3,000 men (so, they are significantly outnumbered). The desert that David and his men are hiding out in is a rugged area, rocky terrain, filled with caves. As Saul and his soldiers make their way into the area, Saul goes into one of the caves to “relieve himself”. It just so happens to be the cave that David and his men are hiding in, deep within.

Saul is completely vulnerable here, not to mention unnumbered. This is the perfect opportunity to kill Saul, for David to rid himself of the enemy that has been determined to kill him. Honestly, David would be completed justified in doing so. His men encourage him to do so, telling David that the Lord has given him into his hands. So David creeps up to Saul, readies his sword…and cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Then we get this, 1 Samuel 24:5-7 - Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

David doesn’t do it - he won’t raise his hand against Saul. He feels guilty for having even cut a piece of his robe off. As Saul leaves the cave, David comes out behind him, calling out to him. David reveals that the Lord had delivered him into his hands and yet David chose to spare his life. He wants Saul to know that he has no will will towards him, that he is not rebelling against Saul. Instead, it is Saul who has wronged him, by seeking to kill him even though he is innocent of wrongdoing.

Pay attention to this from David, 1 Samuel 24:12-13, May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you. We’ll come back to this.

Now Saul, at least in this moment, realizes his wrong, weeping as he acknowledges it to David, 1 Samuel 24:17-20, “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands.”

I want you to notice a few things that Saul is willing to admit here in his brief moment of humility: First, he acknowledges openly that David has been in the right, he’s been in the wrong: You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You were good, even though I was evil toward you. Second, and this is significant, he also recognizes that David indeed will be king. That’s what he’s been fighting to prevent, resisting, even though the Lord has clearly told him it will be so.

Because of this, Saul breaks off the hunt (at least for the time being), and they part ways. Now next Sunday we’ll finish 1 Samuel, which - spoiler alert - ends with Saul’s demise.

Good for Evil

But here’s what I want to focus on this morning, David’s remarkable actions in his treatment of Saul. Let’s be clear, Saul deserved to be killed. He was acting in terribly evil ways. David would have absolutely been justified in doing it. So why didn’t he do it? Why did he show grace to Saul instead? And here’s where this is especially important for us, why are we encouraged to do the same? Let me give you some teachings from Jesus and Paul that clearly say exactly that:

Matthew 5:43-45 - You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Romans 12:17-21 - Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let’s be really honest here, this is incredibly difficult teaching. How can we even begin to do that, love our enemy, overcome evil with good? As always, we starts with our thinking - are we living by the narratives of Jesus, thinking the way he does - or by other narratives? Here’s where we get caught up, our natural tendency is to think when others wrong us - I should pay them back. They did me wrong. They were hurtful. They started all this. They deserve punishment (by the way, we don’t typically think this through in our minds, but it’s such a natural way for us to think, we just assume it). You’re a jerk to me, I’ll be a jerk back. You hurt me, I’ll hurt you. You don’t deserve better. You don’t deserve good.

Let me be clear - they don’t. Saul sure didn’t. That’s not the primary issue. But if we put our focus here, on making sure others get their just desserts, we’ll never be able to move into what Jesus wants from us, in us. Change our thinking, our hearts. Notice David’s mindset here - he never says Saul doesn’t deserve death because he’s been so wonderful (he hasn’t - he’s been absolutely terrible!). The reason David won’t kill him is because of what the Lord has done - the Lord has put his anointing on Saul. And David doesn’t want to go against the Lord.

Instead, David is willing to put Saul in the Lord’s hands. Let God be the one who judges, who brings the just punishment - as David himself says, “And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.” It’s what Paul teaches us in Romans - “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.”

Rather than take revenge in my own hands, I leave that person to the perfect justice of the Lord. If someone says a harsh word to us, we don’t respond in the same way. If someone talks bad about us, we don’t talk about about them, leave it to the Lord. If someone is driving behind me, gets right on my rear, I don’t intentionally slow down, as sorely tempted as I may be. Or give someone a dirty look if they cut me off.

Larger point is this - not about whether or not they deserve it. If our minds get stuck there, we’ll never be able to love even our enemies. Rather, it’s about who we are, what kind of people we are becoming, how we think, what’s in our hearts. It’s about moving into the good, the righteousness Jesus is calling us into.

That’s David’s point, “As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.” I won’t do this evil deed by killing you because I don’t want to be an evildoer. I want to be righteous, a person who does right, who lives in the Lord’s obedience. And giving in to this desire to avenge himself against Saul, no matter how justified that would be, would be moving his heart in the direction of evil.

Ephesians 5:21 - Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Then Paul goes on to talk about how husbands how to submit to their wives, wives to their husbands. Same thing with parents and their children, slaves and masters. But notice WHY we are to submit to one another - because we revere Jesus. Because we honor him, seek to obey him and want to become like him.

And this is a hugely important point - you don’t submit because your spouse deserves it (or your child, or parent, boss). In any given moment, they may very well not deserve it. They may be acting selfishly, stubbornly, even cruelly. Our primary motivation in this is because we want to be like Jesus. Hearts that genuinely love like Jesus. We want to be like Jesus in who we are as husbands, as wives, as parents, and so on. In other words, others might not deserve our good (and if we honest, we don’t deserve it from others), but Jesus most absolutely does. We do it for his sake.

The passage from Matthew 5, about loving our enemies, that comes as part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is all about becoming people who belong in the Kingdom of God. Jesus says this, which must have shocked the people hearing it, Matthew 5:20, For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says here that our righteousness, our right living, our true inner goodness, is to be more than that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Of course, in that day, they were the standard, zealous about following the law. But Jesus wants us to go so much deeper. Pharisees were rule followers, the letter of the law. But Jesus wants our hearts. Jesus’ whole point is that our hearts will become truly good. We would genuinely love others - all others.

Which is why it’s so important - as hard as it is - and it is hard - for us to be people who return good for evil. Who act like David did. Who love our enemies. So we become good, in all circumstances, especially in the hardest ones. Because when we do, our hearts are becoming like Jesus’.

Spiritual Direction - How you can engage in practices to move your heart toward becoming truly good, someone who loves their enemies, who can return good for evil.

Move out of the mindset that they deserve to be punished (so much harder when they have wronged us, when it’s personal). Pray for someone who has wronged you - give them over to the Lord, put them in his hands. Give up any claim to get them back (holding a grudge, talking bad about them…).

Put into practice returning good for evil this week, intentionally loving your enemy. Give a friendly wave to the person who cuts you off in traffic. Pray for those on the opposite political side. Show kindness to the neighbor who’s been rude to you.

Again, not because they deserve it. But because we want to be like Jesus, to love in the way he does.