As Saul was pursuing David once again, he stopped in a cave. What he didn’t know was that David and his men were in the deepest part of the cave. David was able to cut off a corner of Saul’s robe without him knowing. When Saul left, David called after him. His argument was that if he were a wicked rebel, against the rule of Saul, then he would have killed Saul when he had the opportunity, but he’d chosen not to. The piece of Saul’s robe was proof to Saul that David was not his enemy. David also used the term, \u201cmy father,\u201d probably not simply out of respect, but as a reminder to the king that he was Saul’s son-in-law. Saul seemed to remember that and later gave David\u2019s wife, his daughter, to someone else. The Living Bible is clearer in verse 12 when it reads, \u201cPerhaps the Lord will kill you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you.\u201d You would think that would get any person’s attention, even a paranoid king like Saul.<\/p>\n
This event raises an interesting question for us. Is there anyone in our life who has hurt us or someone we love so much that in a moment of honesty, we might say, \u201cLord take them. I wish they were gone from my life.\u201d Maybe this is an unfair question, since probably everyone has at least one person in their life they wish didn’t exist. What is fascinating here is that David had a perfect opportunity to take care of his problem<\/em> but he refused to touch the “Lord’s anointed.\u201d It was even more tempting because David already had the anointing of God to be king, but he still refused to rush God’s timetable. Saul was God’s instrument to work on David’s life, using Saul to develop David’s character, integrity, and complete dependency upon God rather than self. Could it be that God has allowed such people into our lives for the same purposes? We must be careful to see God’s hand in both the positive and negative circumstance of our lives, as well as the difficult individuals who cross our paths every day.<\/p>\n “LORD, give us eyes to see You at work in us, even through everything that swirls around us today.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Samuel 24 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in the wilderness of En-gedi.\u00a0\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul\u2019s robe privily.\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass afterward, that David\u2019s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul\u2019s skirt.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And he said unto his men, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the\u00a0LORD\u2019Sanointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the anointed of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>way.\u00a0 8<\/sup>\u00a0David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. 9<\/sup>\u00a0And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men\u2019s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the\u00a0LORDhad delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and\u00a0some\u00a0<\/em>bade\u00a0me\u00a0<\/em>kill thee: but\u00a0mine eye\u00a0<\/em>spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u2019S\u00a0anointed.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that\u00a0there is\u00a0<\/em>neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0judge between me and thee, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.\u00a0 16<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said,\u00a0Is\u00a0<\/em>this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And he said to David, Thou\u00a0art\u00a0<\/em>more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.\u00a0\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the\u00a0LORD\u00a0reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0Swear now therefore unto me by the\u00a0LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father\u2019s house.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Saul was pursuing David once again, he stopped in a cave. What he didn’t know was that David and his men were in the deepest part of the cave. David was able to cut off a corner of Saul’s robe without him knowing. When Saul left, David called after him. His argument was that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6521"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16177,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521\/revisions\/16177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}