by Bruce Hebel

More is written in the Bible about David than any other character in the Old Testament. A lot more. Abraham and Joseph both had 14 Old Testament chapters devoted to them, followed by Jacob with 11 and Elijah with 10. David, on the other hand, had 66 chapters in the Old Testament devoted to him with an additional 55 New Testament references. Twice David was referred to as “a man after God’s own heart.” I believe the reason David got so much ink in the Bible is because of his faith. However, in light of all of David’s audacious acts of faith, David’s greatest example of faith may have been something he did not do in 1 Samuel 24.

Faith is the confident and active understanding that God is love and, in His sovereignty, governs everything for His glory and our good. David began to live by faith as a young boy as he shepherded his family’s sheep. On separate occasions, a bear and a lion threatened the flock and David killed both of them with his bare hands. Quite a heroic conquest for young man! David understood full well who it was who actually won the battle. As he recounted the story to Saul in 1st Samuel 17:37, David said “the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear he will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

The history of David’s relationship with Saul prior to 1 Samuel 24 is well documented. Leadership in Israel had transitioned from the judges and the priests to Samuel the prophet. The people, unhappy with Samuel’s leadership, demanded a king from God. God gave them what they asked for by having Samuel anoint Saul as king. Saul arrogantly disobeyed God and God rejected him as king. God then chose David to be king and sent Samuel to anoint him as Saul’s successor. David later killed Goliath and the people loved him.

Saul was not impressed at all that his successor had been chosen and named. In fact he was so jealous that on a couple of occasions he threw a spear at David, trying to kill him. All of this was because of God’s disfavor of Saul and God’s favor of David. Things got so out of hand that Jonathan, the king’s son, defended and protected the future king. Because of Saul’s jealousy, David became a fugitive, running for his life.

Using his authority as king, Saul enlisted the Israeli army to apprehend his nemesis, who he had vowed to kill. His military intelligence officers were assigned the task of tracking David. Every time they got close, David’s counterintelligence warned him and he and his men would escape to another hiding place. Finally, they tracked David and his mighty men to the wilderness of Engedi where they were hiding in a cave. This is where the story gets interesting.

Saul, along with 300 special forces, was searching for David in front of a place called “The Rocks of the Wild Goats.” Saul entered a cave to answer the call of nature not knowing that David and his men were hiding in the back of that very same cave. (Really? Really. The text says, “he went in to relieve himself.” God really does have a sense of humor, doesn’t He!) With their voices low, for fear of being noticed, David’s men encouraged him to kill Saul. It made sense, didn’t it? To them it appeared that God had given David a special gift by delivering his enemy, in a very vulnerable position, to the very cave in which he was hiding. But David knew that wasn’t allowed. He needed to trust God. Killing Saul would be taking matters in his own hands, which is, by definition, the opposite of faith. I can imagine the conversation between David and his buddies:

“Hey David, this is gift wrapped for you. Take him out, you’ll become king and we can all go home to our families.”

“Guys, you know I can’t do that. He is the king, God’s anointed. I can’t just kill him.”

“Come on Boss, you’ve got to do something! At least cut off the corners of his robe. He needs to know we were here!”

Yielding to their pressure, David snuck up behind the king and cut off the end of his robe.

Immediately, David’s conscience confronted him. Now let’s be clear here, David was the innocent party. He was a loyal servant of his king. He didn’t ask to be anointed by Samuel. The only things David was guilty of were killing a giant and serving his king. Everyone, except the present king, knew that Saul was wrong about David. David’s mighty men clearly knew this. David had every right in the world to defend himself.

So why did David feel guilty about what he did? The answer is found in understanding the significance of the robe of the king. The “edge of his robe” included tassels on the corners of the robe called the tzizith. The tassels were of significant importance to a Jewish man, particularly a leader of Israel. The injunction for Israelites to use tassels is found in Deuteronomy 22:12, “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.” Numbers 15:38-41 adds, “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. And it shall be for you a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord Your God.”

To lay hands on the tzizith of another was a serious matter. In the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, one rabbi is quoted as saying, “What is the difference between cutting off the tzizith and the cutting off of the head?” In the ancient world, to seize a man by his tassels when making a petition displayed one’s deep earnestness and sealing a document “with one’s tassels” was equivalent to taking a solemn oath or employing a personal signet seal. David was well aware that, to the Jewish world, to tear someone’s tassel was tantamount to being cut off from God in whose honor the tassels were worn. While David had not actually taken Saul’s life, what he did would have brought great shame to the king. Yet more important than that, David knew he had dishonored God.

Whenever we take matters into our own hands we are acting in unbelief. Unbelief? Yes, unbelief. It is the subtle unbelief that says God needs my help in defending me. He is a little slow, distracted or incapable of doing what he promised so I’d better do something. In David’s case, God had anointed him as king and Saul was trying to kill him. If Saul succeeded, David would never be king. David’s act against the dignity of his enemy showed David was not fully trusting God. He trusted God enough not to kill Saul, but not enough not to harm Saul.

Whenever we take it upon ourselves to lash out at our enemies we are stepping into unbelief. Faith says, “I trust the fate of my enemy to God. I trust those who hurt me to God. I will leave any reaction to the Lord of my life. He can handle it just fine.” Although David lost sight of this momentarily, he quickly re-thought (repented) what he had done and confessed to his men. In verse 6 he says, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord and stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” Notice the phrase “because of the Lord.” He is the reason we don’t retaliate. He is the reason we don’t take our own revenge. He is the adjudicator of all of life. If He wants us to help, He will let us know. Otherwise, we refrain, because of the Lord. “Because of the Lord” Saul was able to finish his business and safely exit the cave.

Other passages in the Bible make it clear that taking matters into our own hands is not acting in faith:

…whatever is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:22)

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP COALS ON HIS HEAD.” (Romans 12:17-20)

Do not say, “I will repay evil;” wait for the Lord and He will save you. (Proverbs 20:22)

Do not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.” (Proverbs 24:29)

You have heard it said, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? (Matthew 5:43-47)

The rest of the I Samuel 24 passage shows David reaching out to Saul in an attempt to reconcile. He confessed his violation and appealed to his adversary for peace and reconciliation. From this point on, because of the Lord, David never raised his hand against Saul. He trusted in the confident and active understanding that God is love and, in His sovereignty, governs everything for His glory and our good, even when someone was trying to kill him. The same is true for us!