1 Samuel 24 commentary

God delivered Saul into David's hand. It was an opportunity given to David to exercise faith and patience. He had a promise of the kingdom, but no command to slay the king. He reasons strongly, both with himself and with his men, against doing Saul any hurt. Sin is a thing which it becomes us to startle at, and to resist temptations thereto. He not only would not do this bad thing himself, but he would not suffer those about him to do it. Thus he rendered good for evil, to him from whom he received evil for good; and was herein an example to all who are called Christians, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.

David was falsely charged with seeking Saul's hurt; he shows Saul that God's providence had given him opportunity to do it. And it was upon a good principle that he refused to do it. He declares his fixed resolution never to be his own avenger. If men wrong us, God will right us, at farthest, in the judgment of the great day.

Saul speaks as quite overcome with David's kindness. Many mourn for their sins, who do not truly repent of them; weep bitterly for them, yet continue in love and in league with them. Now God made good to David that word on which he had caused him to hope, that he would bring forth his righteousness as the light, Ps 37:6. Those who take care to keep a good conscience, may leave it to God to secure them the credit of it. Sooner or later, God will force even those who are of the synagogue of Satan to know and to own those whom he has loved. They parted in peace. Saul went home convinced, but not converted; ashamed of his envy to David, yet retaining in his breast that root of bitterness; vexed that when at last he had found David, he could not find in his heart to destroy him, as he had designed. Malice often seems dead when it is only asleep, and will revive with double force. Yet, whether the Lord bind men's hands, or affect their hearts, so that they do not hurt us, the deliverance is equally from him; it is an evidence of his love, and an earnest of our salvation, and should make us thankful.

CHAPTER 24

1Sa 24:1-7. David in a Cave at Engedi Cuts Off Saul's Skirt, but Spares His Life.

2. Saul ... went ... to seek David ... upon the rocks of the wild goats--Nothing but the blind infatuation of fiendish rage could have led the king to pursue his outlawed son-in-law among those craggy and perpendicular precipices, where were inaccessible hiding places. The large force he took with him seemed to give him every prospect of success. But the overruling providence of God frustrated all his vigilance.

3. he came to the sheepcotes--most probably in the upper ridge of Wady Chareitun. There a large cave--I am quite disposed to say the cave--lies hardly five minutes to the east of the village ruin, on the south side of the wady. It is high upon the side of the calcareous rock, and it has undergone no change since David's time. The same narrow natural vaulting at the entrance; the same huge natural chamber in the rock, probably the place where Saul lay down to rest in the heat of the day; the same side vaults, too, where David and his men were concealed. There, accustomed to the obscurity of the cavern, they saw Saul enter, while, blinded by the glare of the light outside, he saw nothing of him whom he so bitterly persecuted.

4-7. the men of David said ... Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand--God had never made any promise of delivering Saul into David's hand; but, from the general and repeated promises of the kingdom to him, they concluded that the king's death was to be effected by taking advantage of some such opportunity as the present. David steadily opposed the urgent instigations of his followers to put an end to his and their troubles by the death of their persecutor (a revengeful heart would have followed their advice, but David rather wished to overcome evil with good, and heap coals of fire upon his head); he, however, cut off a fragment from the skirt of the royal robe. It is easy to imagine how this dialogue could be carried on and David's approach to the king's person could have been effected without arousing suspicion. The bustle and noise of Saul's military men and their beasts, the number of cells or divisions in these immense caverns (and some of them far interior) being enveloped in darkness, while every movement could be seen at the cave's mouth--the probability that the garment David cut from might have been a loose or upper cloak lying on the ground, and that Saul might have been asleep--these facts and presumptions will be sufficient to account for the incidents detailed.

1Sa 24:8-15. He Urges Thereby His Innocency.

8-15. David also arose ... and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul--The closeness of the precipitous cliffs, though divided by deep wadies, and the transparent purity of the air enable a person standing on one rock to hear distinctly the words uttered by a speaker standing on another (Jud 9:7). The expostulation of David, followed by the visible tokens he furnished of his cherishing no evil design against either the person or the government of the king, even when he had the monarch in his power, smote the heart of Saul in a moment and disarmed him of his fell purpose of revenge. He owned the justice of what David said, acknowledged his own guilt, and begged kindness to his house. He seems to have been naturally susceptible of strong, and, as in this instance, of good and grateful impressions. The improvement of his temper, indeed, was but transient--his language that of a man overwhelmed by the force of impetuous emotions and constrained to admire the conduct, and esteem the character, of one whom he hated and dreaded. But God overruled it for ensuring the present escape of David. Consider his language and behavior. This language--"a dead dog," "a flea," terms by which, like Eastern people, he strongly expressed a sense of his lowliness and the entire committal of his cause to Him who alone is the judge of human actions, and to whom vengeance belongs, his steady repulse of the vindictive counsels of his followers; the relentings of heart which he felt even for the apparent indignity he had done to the person of the Lord's anointed; and the respectful homage he paid the jealous tyrant who had set a price on his head--evince the magnanimity of a great and good man, and strikingly illustrate the spirit and energy of his prayer "when he was in the cave" (Psa 142:1).

Saul was returned - It is very probable that it was only a small marauding party that had made an excursion in the Israelitish borders, and this invasion was soon suppressed.

Rocks of the wild goats - The original (צורי היעלים tsurey haiyeelim) is variously understood. The Vulgate makes a paraphrase: Super abruptissimas petras quae solis ibicibus perviae sunt; "On the most precipitous rocks over which the ibexes alone can travel." The Targum: the caverns of the rocks. The Septuagint make the original a proper name; for out of צרוי היעלים tsurey haiyeelim, they make Σαδδαιεμ Saddaiem, and in some copies Αειαμειν Aeiamein, which are evidently corruptions of the Hebrew.

The sheep-cotes - Caves in the rocks, in which it is common, even to the present time, for shepherds and their flocks to lodge. According to Strabo there are caverns in Syria, one of which is capable of containing four thousand men: Ὡν ἑν και τετρακισχιλιους ανθρωπους δεξασθαι δυναμενον; lib. xvi. p. 1096. Edit. 1707.

Saul went in to cover his feet - Perhaps this phrase signifies exactly what the Vulgate has rendered it, ut purparet ventrem. The Septuagint, the Targum, and the Arabic understand it in the same way. It is likely that, when he had performed this act of necessity, he lay down to repose himself, and it was while he was asleep that David cut off the skirt of his robe. It is strange that Saul was not aware that there might be men lying in wait in such a place; and the rabbins have invented a most curious conceit to account for Saul's security: "God, foreseeing that Saul would come to this cave, caused a spider to weave her web over the mouth of it, which, when Saul perceived, he took for granted that no person had lately been there, and consequently he entered it without suspicion." This may be literally true; and we know that even a spider in the hand of God may be the instrument of a great salvation. This is a Jewish tradition, and one of the most elegant and instructive in their whole collection.

David and his men remained in the sides of the cave - This is no hyperbole; we have not only the authority of Strabo as above mentioned, but we have the authority of the most accurate travelers, to attest the fact of the vast capacity of caves in the East.

Dr. Pococke observes: "Beyond the valley (of Tekoa) there is a very large grotto, which the Arabs call El Maamah, a hiding place; the high rocks on each side of the valley are almost perpendicular, and the way to the grotto is by a terrace formed in the rock, which is very narrow. There are two entrances into it; we went by the farthest, which leads by a narrow passage into a large grotto, the rock being supported by great natural pillars; the top of it rises in several parts like domes; the grotto is perfectly dry. There is a tradition that the people of the country, to the number of thirty thousand, retired into this grotto to avoid a bad air. This place is so strong that one would imagine it to be one of the strong holds of En-gedi, to which David and his men fled from Saul; and possibly it may be that very cave in which he cut off Saul's skirt, for David and his men might with great ease lie hid there and not be seen by him." - Pococke's Travels, vol. ii., part 1, p. 41.

And the men of David said - We know not to what promise of God the men of David refer; they perhaps meant no more than to say, "Behold, the Lord hath delivered thine enemy into thy land, now do to him as he wishes to do to thee."

Then David arose - Though I have a high opinion of the character of David, yet the circumstances of the case seem to indicate that he arose to take away the life of Saul, and that it was in reference to this that his heart smote him. It appears that he rose up immediately at the desire of his men to slay his inveterate enemy, and one whom he knew the Lord had rejected; but when about to do it he was prevented by the remonstrance of God in his conscience, and instead of cutting off his head, as he might have done, an act which the laws and usages of war would have justified, he contented himself with cutting off the skirt of his robe; and he did this only to show Saul how much he had been in his power.

The Lord's anointed - However unworthily Saul was now acting, he had been appointed to his high office by God himself, and he could only be removed by the authority which placed him on the throne. Even David, who knew he was appointed to reign in his stead, and whose life Saul had often sought to destroy, did not conceive that he had any right to take away his life; and he grounds the reasons of his forbearance on this - He is my master, I am his subject. He is the Lord's anointed, and therefore sacred as to his person in the Lord's sight. It is an awful thing to kill a king, even the most untoward, when he has once been constitutionally appointed to the throne. No experiment of this kind has ever succeeded; the Lord abhors king killing. Had David taken away the life of Saul at this time, he would, in the sight of God, have been a murderer.

Suffered them not to rise against Saul - As he could restrain them, it was his duty to do so; had he connived at their killing him, David would have been the murderer. In praying for the king we call God the only Ruler of princes, for this simple reason, that their authority is the highest among men, and next to that of God himself; hence he alone is above them. We find this sentiment well expressed by an elegant poet: -

Regum timendorum in proprios greges,

Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis.

Horace, Odar. lib. iii., Od. i., ver. 5.

Kings are supreme over their own subjects;

Jove is supreme over kings themselves.

The Lord judge between me and thee - Appeals of this kind to God are the common refuge of the poor and oppressed people. So also among the Hindoos: God will judge between us. Mother Kalee will judge. Sometimes this springs from a consciousness of innocence, and sometimes from a desire of revenge.

Wickedness proceeded from the wicked - This proverb may be thus understood: He that does a wicked act, gives proof thereby that he is a wicked man. From him who is wicked, wickedness will proceed; he who is wicked will add one iniquity to another. Had I conspired to dethrone thee, I should have taken thy life when it was in my power, and thus added wickedness to wickedness.

After a dead dog - A term used among the Hebrews to signify the most sovereign contempt; see 2Sam 16:9. One utterly incapable of making the least resistance against Saul, and the troops of Israel. The same idea is expressed in the term flea. The Targum properly expresses both thus: one who is weak, one who is contemptible.

The Lord therefore be judge - Let God determine who is guilty.

My son David? - David had called Saul his master, lord, and king. Saul accosts him here as his son, to show that he felt perfectly reconciled to him, and wished to receive him as formerly into his family.

If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? - Or rather, Will he send him in a good way? But Houbigant translates the whole clause thus: Si quis, inimicum suum reperiens, dimittit eum in viam bonam, redditur ei adomino sua merces; "If a man, finding his enemy, send him by a good way, the Lord will give him his reward." The words which are here put in italic, are not in the Hebrew text, but they are found, at least in the sense, in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, and seem necessary to complete the sense; therefore, adds Saul, the Lord will reward thee good for what thou hast done unto me.

I know well that thou shalt surely be king - Hebrew, Reigning, thou shalt reign. He knew this before; and yet he continued to pursue him with the most deadly hatred.

Swear now - Saul knew that an oath would bind David, though it was insufficient to bind himself; see 1Sam 19:6. He had sworn to his son Jonathan that David should not be slain; and yet sought by all means in his power to destroy him!

Saul went home - Confounded at a sense of his own baseness, and overwhelmed with a sense of David's generosity.

David and his men gat them up unto the hold - Went up to Mizpeh, according to the Syriac and Arabic. David could not trust Saul with his life; the utmost he could expect from him was that he should cease from persecuting him; but even this was too much to expect from a man of such a character as Saul. He was no longer under the Divine guidance; an evil spirit had full dominion over his soul. What God fills not, the devil will occupy.

Rocks - Which the wild goats used to delight in and climb over. These very rocks are exceeding steep, and full of precipices, and dangerous to travellers, as an eye - witness hath left upon record. And yet Saul was so transported with rage, as to venture himself and his army here, that he might take David, who, as he thought, would judge himself safe, and therefore be secure in such inaccessible places.

Went in - To sleep there: Saul being a military man, used to sleep with his soldiers upon the ground. And it is not improbable, that being weary with his eager and almost incessant pursuit, first of David, then of the Philistines, and now of David again, he both needed and desired some sleep, God also disposing him thereto, that David might have this eminent occasion to demonstrate his integrity to Saul, and to all Israel. Of the cave - For that there were vast caves in those parts is affirmed, not only by Josephus, but also by Heathen authors; Strabo writes of one which could receive four thousand men.

Behold, &c. - Not that God had said these words, or made any such promise; but they put this construction upon those promises which God had made to him, of delivering him from all his enemies, and carrying him through all difficulties to the throne. This promise they conceived put him under an obligation of taking all opportunities which God put into his hand for their accomplishment.

Mine eye - The eye is said to spare, because it affects the heart with pity, and moves a man to spare.

Will avenge - If thou persistest in thy injuries and cruel designs against me.

Wickedness, &c. - That is, wicked men will do wicked actions, among which this is one, to kill their sovereign lord and king; and therefore if I were so wicked a person as thy courtiers represent me, I should make no conscience of laying violent hands upon thee.

Thy voice - He knew his voice, though being at a great distance from him, he could not discern his face. Wept - From the sense of his sin against God, and his base carriage to David. He speaks as one quite overcome with David's kindness, and as one that relents at the sight of his own folly and ingratitude.

More righteous than I - He ingenuously acknowledges David's integrity, and his own iniquity.

The Lord reward thee - Because he thought himself not able to recompense so great a favour, he prays God to recompense it.

Unto the hold - Of En - gedi, ver.1, for having had by frequent experience of Saul's inconstancy, he would trust him no more.

2 Then 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 .

Which the wild Goats use to delight and climb into. These very Rocks are exceeding steep, and full of precipices, and dangerous to Travellers, as an eye-witness hath left upon Record. And yet Saul was so transported with Rage, as to venture himself and his Army here, that he might take David, who, as he thought, would judge himself safe, and therefore be secure in such inaccessible places.

Marginal references: Heb. the face of, &c.

3 And he came to the sheep coats by the way, where was a cave, and * Saul went in to cover his feet : and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave :

Which some think to have been Caves into which they used to drive their Sheep for shelter in tempestuous weather.

i. e. To ease his Belly, as this Phrase is thought to be used, Iudg. 3. 24. The reason whereof is, because the Eastern and some other Nations of old wore no Breeches, but loose and long Coats or Gowns, like those which Women with us wear; but shorter, whence their Feet and Legs were in a great part uncovered; and sometimes other parts, which also in Scripture are designed by the name of the Feet, (of which see on Gen. 49. 10. Deut. 28. 57. 2 King. 18. 27. Isa. 7. 20.) were exposed to view. But when they went to perform this office of Nature, which obliged them first to lift up their Garments, they afterwards disposed them so decently, that all those parts might be covered and kept out of the sight of others. But possibly the words may have another meaning, and it is not to be despised, that those ancient and venerable Interpreters, the Syriack and Arabick, Interpret this Place and Phrase quite otherwise, that Saul went in to sleep there: which was no uncouth thing to Saul, who being a Military Man, used to sleep with his Soldiers upon the bare Ground, as he did chap. 26. 7. And it is not improbable that Saul being exceeding weary with his eager and almost incessant pursuit first of David, then of the Philistines, and now of David again, both needed and desired some sleep, God also disposing him thereunto, that David might have this eminent occasion to demonstrate his integrity to Saul, and to all Israel; and, the season possibly being hot, he might chuse to sleep in the Cave, for the benefit of the shade. But all the question is, how it may appear that this is the meaning of this Phrase, and what is the reason and ground of it? To which many things may be said. First, That this Phrase is but twice used in Scripture, as far as I remember, here, and Iudg. 3. 24. and this sense may conveniently enough agree to both of them; nay, this sense may seem better to agree with that place, Iudg. 3. for that Summer Parlour, or Summer Chamber (for both seem to be the same place, and were apparently for the same use, v. 24, 25.) seems to be a place far more convenient for sleeping, than for easing of Nature. And the Servants long stay and waiting for their Lord, seems to imply that they judged him gone to sleep (which might take up a considerable time), rather than to that other work which requires but a little time. See my Notes on Iudg. 3. 24. Secondly, That there are many Hebrew Phrases, which do confessedly signify several things, albeit, the reason of such significations be now utterly unknown to us, though it was doubtless known to the ancient Hebrews. Nor need I instance in particulars, seeing it is so in all Languages, and particularly in the English Tongue at this day, in which the use of many Proverbs and Phrases is well understood, though the reason of them be now lost. Which if our modern Infidels, who scoff at some passages of Scripture, which they either do not, or will not understand, would consider, they would lose much of their sport. Thirdly, Although there be not that clear and full proof of this sense which some may require (though indeed it cannot be reasonably expected in a thing so ancient, and in a Phrase of so concise and narrow a Language as the Hebrew is, and in an expression so rarely used in Scripture), yet there are some intimations in Scripture which may seem to favour this Interpretation. For Persons composing themselves to sleep in this manner, are not onely Noted in the general to have been covered with a Mantle, as it is said of Sisera, Iudg. 4. 18, 19. but particularly they are said to have their Feet covered, as is expresly observed concerning Boaz when he lay down to sleep in the threshing-floor, Ruth 3. 4, 7. The reason whereof may possibly be this, That when they lay down to sleep in their Garments, they were secured as to the other parts of their Body, onely their Feet were open and visible; and therefore it was convenient to cover their Feet; partly, to prevent the inconveniencies of cold, (for which reason we here take special care to cover our Feet in such cases); and partly, for decencies sake, lest their Garments being loose and large below, should be disordered, and so their Nakedness should appear, as it happened to Noah. Gen. 9. 21. Compare Exod. 20. 26. And therefore it cannot seem strange or forced, if in this place Saul's covering of his Feet, design his composing himself to his rest. And if this be so, then the following difficulties of this History will appear to be plain and easie. For if Saul were fast asleep, which might easily be perceived by David and his Men within; then it is not strange that Saul neither heard David and his men talking of him, nor felt David when he came to cut off his lap.

For that there were vast Caves in those parts is affirmed not onely by Iosephus, but also by Heathen Authors; and Strabo in his 16th Book writes of one which could receive Four thousand men.

Marginal references: Psal. 57. title, and 142. title.

4 And the men of David said unto him , Behold, the day of which the LORD said 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 Sauls robe privily .

Quest. How came it to pass that Saul did not hear the debates of David and his men? Ans. First, The greater noise of Saul's Men and Horses just by the Caves mouth, might easily drown the lesser. Secondly, There were in these large and capacious Caves, several cells or parts, whereof some were more inward and remote from the Caves mouth, in which they might freely converse and discourse, and yet neither be heard nor seen by Saul, though they could easily see him, and observe all his postures and actions, because he was in the mouth of the Cave. 3. Saul might be asleep, as hath been discoursed.

Not that either God said these words, or made any such particular promise, as some apprehend; but they put this construction upon those confessed and known promi[illegible: 1+ letters]es which God had made to him, of delivering him from all his Enemies, and carrying him through all hinderances and difficulties to the Throne and Kingdom: which promise they conceived put him under an Obligation of watching and taking all opportunities which God by his Providence should put into his hand for their accomplishment, whereof this was an eminent instance.

Qu. How could David do thus, and Saul not perceive it? Ans. First, This might be some loose and upper Garment, which Saul might then lay at some distance from him, as we oft do on the same occasion. Secondly, In those vast Caves there were divers particular Cells and Rooms which were distinct one from another, yet so as there were secret passages from one to another, as may be gathered from the relations of Historians and Travellers. At the mouth of one of these, Saul might lay his upper Garment: which David perceiving, and very well knowing all the Cells and Passages of that Cave, might go some secret way to it, and cut off a little part of it. Thirdly, The noise which David's motion might be supposed to make, was but small, and that he well knew would be perfectly drowned with the far greater noise of Saul's Army, which lay at the mouth of the Cave. Fourthly, The Heroical Actions of great Men in Scripture are not to be measured by common rules. And as divers of the Prophets and Saints of old were in some of their Actions, so David might be in this, moved to it by a secret and Divine impulse, which also gave him confidence of Gods assistance therein, and of the Success of his Enterprize. Fifthly, This difficulty doth perfectly vanish, if Saul was now asleep. And as no man can prove that he was not; so that he was, may seem probable from what is said on v. 3.

Marginal references: Heb. the robe which was Sauls.

5 And it came to pass afterwards, that Davids heart smote him, because he had cut off Sauls skirt .

Not onely because it was injurious, and reproachful, and dangerous to the King; but possibly because he had some secret thought of doing more to him, though he suppressed and overcame it; for he attempted this in pursuance of his Soldiers suggestion, v. 4. which if followed, would have carried him to further Action.

Marginal references: 2 Sa[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1 word] ▪

6 And he said unto his men , The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master the LORDS anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him , seeing he is the anointed of the LORD .

Either, First, Before he cut off Saul's lap. Or rather, Secondly, Afterwards, when he returned with Saul's lap in his hand, and his Soldiers were enraged that he had not killed him.

Which you persuade me to do, even cut off Saul.

Whom I must still own for my Sovereign Lord and King, to whom I owe Allegiance whilst he lives, although after his death the right of the Kingdom be mine.

To wit, to kill him. A Synecdochical expression. See Gen. 37. 22.

i. e. Anointed by God to the Kingdom; by which Unction his Person was made Sacred and Inviolable, and is so to be accounted by me, and you, and all his Subjects. And as God onely Exalted him, and God onely could pronounce a Sentence of Deprivation of his Kingdom against him; so it belongs to God onely to execute his own Sentence, and actually to Depose him.

7 So 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 his way.

Heb. cut, or clave, or divided, or cut them off. The word notes both the eagerness and violence of David's men in prosecuting their desire, and David's resoluteness in opposing them, as it were, by force. Wherein he shews great Piety, and Generosity, and Loyalty to Saul.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

9 ¶ And David said unto Saul, Wherefore hearest thou mens words , saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?

He prudently and modestly Translates the fault from Saul to his followers, and evil counsellors.

Marginal references: Psal▪ [illegible: 1 word] ▪

10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen, how that the LORD hath delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee, but mine eye spared thee, and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord, for he is the LORDS anointed.

Which words are easily understood both from the nature of the thing, and from the use of this Phrase in other Scriptures, as Deut. 7. 16. and 13. 8. The Eye is said to spare, because it affects the heart with pity, and moves a man to spare.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 13. 39. Psal. 16. 2.

11 Moreover, 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 there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand , and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.

So he calls him; partly, because he was his Father-inlaw; partly, in testimony of his respect a[illegible: 1+ letters]d subjection to him as to a Father; and partly, that by so amiable a compellation he might both insinuate himself into his favour, and mind him of that Duty which as a Father he owed to David.

I neither design mischief against thee with my heart, nor will I execute it with my hand, which my false accusers told thee I would do, i[illegible: 1+ letters] thou didst at any time fall into my hand.

12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee : but mine hand shall not be upon thee .

Or, will avenge me of thee, to wit, if thou dost persist in thy injurious and cruel designs against me.

I will not execute vengeance on thee, but will leave it wholly to God.

Marginal references: Or, will judge.

13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked : but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

i. e. Wicked men will do wicked actions, among which this is one, to kill their Sovereign Lord and King; as David implied above, v. 6. and more fully expresseth, chap. 26. 9. And therefore if I were so wicked and vile a Person as thy Courtiers represent me to thee, I should make no conscience of laying wicked and violent hands upon thee, but should assassinate thee when I had opportunity. Which because I have now neglected and refused to do, though moved to it by some of my wicked Soldiers; know therefore that I am not guilty of any wicked designs against thee, but am just and innocent towards thee. Or thus: wicked actions (such as they would have been if I had killed thee) proceed onely from the wicked, of which number I am none, and therefore my hand shall not be upon thee.

14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea .

After a worthless, contemptible, and impotent person, such as I am. Thou disparagest thy self in contending with such a Person; and even thy conquest of me will be inglorious and shameful.

Marginal references: Chap. 26. 20.

16 ¶ And it came to pass when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David ? And Saul lift up his voice, and wept .

He knew his voice, though being at a great distance from him, he could not discern his face.

Partly, from the sense of his sin against God, and of his wicked and base carriage to David, (for there are some such Temporary passions oft-times in Hypocrites and ungodly men) and principally from the remembrance of so great and so late a danger as he had now escaped; which commonly produceth grief and tears; as 2 Sam. 13. 36. Yet these may be tears of affection or tenderness (upon the sense of David's kindness) rather than of grief.

17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good , whereas I have rewarded thee evil .

For the Evil that I have designed and done to thee.

For thy good will to me.

19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away ? wherefore the LORD reward thee good, for that thou hast done unto me this day.

i. e. He will certainly destroy him. And therefore thou hast not dealt with me after the manner of men, but hast imitated the clemency of God in this act.

20 And now behold, I know well that thou shalt be surely king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.

Or, am convinced, not onely by the fame of Samuel's Anointing thee, but by Gods singular Providence watching over thee; and by that good Spirit, and those Great and Princely Vertues wherewith God hath endowed thee.

Marginal references: Chap 23. 17.

21 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me , and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my fathers house.

As Princes use to destroy their Competitors, and those that have any hopes of, or pretence to their Crown; and Saul had endeavoured to destroy David for the same reason, and therefore he feared a retaliation.

To wit, by cutting off my Seed. So it is the same thing repeated in other words, as is usual in Scripture.

22 And David sware unto Saul : and Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold .

Qu. How then could David destroy so many of Saul's Sons, 2 Sam. 21. 8? Ans. David could bind himself by his Oaths, but he could not bind God, to whose good pleasure all Promises, Vows, Oaths, must in all reason be submitted; and that was done by Gods command, and God was well pleased with it, 2 Sam. 21. 14. Nor is it to be supposed that David sware not to destroy any of them in case God should specially command it, or that should by miscarriage render themselves obnoxious to the Sword of Justice: but onely that he would not do it barely on his own private account, nor seek occasions of so doing.

To wit, of Engedi, v. 1. For having had so great and frequent experience of Saul's inconstancy, and malice, and perfidiousness, he would trust him no more.

1Sa 24:1-2

When Saul had returned from his march against the Philistines, and was informed of this, he set out thither with three thousand picked men to search for David and his men in the wild-goat rocks. The expression “rocks of the wild goats” is probably not a proper name for some particular rocks, but a general term applied to the rocks of that locality on account of the number of wild goats and chamois that were to be found in all that region, as mountain goats are still (Rob. Pal. ii. p. 204).

1Sa 24:3

When Saul came to the sheep-folds by the way, where there was a cave, he entered it to cover his feet, whilst David and his men sat behind in the cave. V. de Velde (R. ii. p. 74) supposes the place, where the sheep-folds by the roadside were, to have been the Wady Chareitun, on the south-west of the Frank mountain, and to the north-east of Tekoah, a very desolate and inaccessible valley. “Rocky, precipitous walls, which rise up one above another for many hundred feet, form the sides of this defile. Stone upon stone, and cliff above cliff, without any sign of being habitable, or of being capable of affording even a halting-place to anything but wild goats.” Near the ruins of the village of Chareitun, hardly five minutes’ walk to the east, there is a large cave or chamber in the rock, with a very narrow entrance entirely concealed by stones, and with many side vaults in which the deepest darkness reigns, at least to any one who has just entered the limestone vaults from the dazzling light of day. It may be argued in favour of the conjecture that this is the cave which Saul entered, and at the back of which David and his men were concealed, that this cave is on the road from Bethlehem to Ain-jidy, and one of the largest caves in that district, if not the largest of all, and that, according to Pococke (Beschr. des Morgenl. ii. p. 61), the Franks call it a labyrinth, the Arabs Elmaama, i.e., hiding-place, whilst the latter relate how at one time thirty thousand people hid themselves in it “to escape an evil wind,” in all probability the simoom. The only difficulty connected with this supposition is the distance from Ain-jidy, namely about four or five German miles (fifteen or twenty English), and the nearness of Tekoah, according to which it belongs to the desert of Tekoah rather than to that of Engedi. “To cover his feet” is a euphemism according to most of the ancient versions, as in Jdg 3:24, for performing the necessities of nature, as it is a custom in the East to cover the feet. It does not mean “to sleep,” as it is rendered in this passage in the Peschito, and also by Michaelis and others; for although what follows may seem to favour this, there is apparently no reason why any such euphemistic expression should have been chosen for sleep. “The sides of the cave:” i.e., the outermost or farthest sides.

1Sa 24:4

Then David’s men said to him, “See, this is the day of which Jehovah hath said to thee, Behold, I give thine enemy into thy hand, and do to him what seemeth good to thee.” Although these words might refer to some divine oracle which David had received through a prophet, Gad for example, what follows clearly shows that David had received no such oracle; and the meaning of his men was simply this, “Behold, to-day is the day when God is saying to thee:” that is to say, the speakers regarded the leadings of providence by which Saul had been brought into David’s power as a divine intimation to David himself to take this opportunity of slaying his deadly enemy, and called this intimation a word of Jehovah. David then rose, up, and cut off the edge of Saul’s cloak privily. Saul had probably laid the meil on one side, which rendered it possible for David to cut off a piece of it unobserved.

1Sa 24:5

But his heart smote him after he had done it; i.e., his conscience reproached him, because he regarded this as an injury done to the king himself.

1Sa 24:6

With all the greater firmness, therefore, did he repel the suggestions of his men: “Far be it to me from Jehovah (on Jehovah’s account: see at Jos 22:29), that (אם, a particle denoting an oath) I should do such a thing to my lord, the anointed of Jehovah, to stretch out my hand against him.” These words of David show clearly enough that no word of Jehovah had come to him to do as he liked with Saul.

1Sa 24:7

Thus he kept back his people with words (שׁסּע, verbis dilacere), and did not allow them to rise up against Saul, sc., to slay him.

1Sa 24:8-10

But when Saul had gone out of the cave, David went out, and called, “My lord king,” that when the king looked round he might expostulate with him, with the deepest reverence, but yet with earnest words, that should sharpen his conscience as to the unfounded nature of his suspicion and the injustice of his persecution. “Why dost thou hearken to words of men, who say, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have been that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into my hand in the cave, and they said (אמר, thought) to kill thee, and I spared thee:” lit. it (mine eye) spared thee (cf. Gen 45:20; Deu 7:16, etc., which show that עיני is to be supplied).

1Sa 24:11

To confirm what he said, he then showed him the lappet of his coat which he had cut off, and said, “My father, see.” In these words there is an expression of the childlike reverence and affection which David cherished towards the anointed of the Lord. “For that I cut off the lappet and did not kill thee, learn and see (from this) that (there is) not evil in my hand (i.e., that I do not go about for the purpose of injury and crime), and that I have not sinned against thee, as thou nevertheless layest wait for my soul to destroy it.”

1Sa 24:12-13

After he had proved to the king in this conclusive manner that he had no reason whatever for seeking his life, he invoked the Lord as judge between him and his adversary: “Jehovah will avenge me upon thee, but my hand will not be against thee. As the proverb of the ancients (הקּדמוני is used collectively) says, Evil proceedeth from the evil, but my hand shall not be upon thee.” The meaning is this: Only a wicked man could wish to avenge himself; I do not.

1Sa 24:14

And even if he should wish to attack the king, he did not possess the power. This thought introduces 1Sa 24:14 : “After whom is the king of Israel gone out? After whom dost thou pursue? A dead dog, a single flea.” By these similes David meant to describe himself as a perfectly harmless and insignificant man, of whom Saul had no occasion to be afraid, and whom the king of Israel ought to think it beneath his dignity to pursue. A dead dog cannot bite or hurt, and is an object about which a king ought not to trouble himself (cf. 2Sa 9:8 and 2Sa 16:9, where the idea of something contemptible is included). The point of comparison with a flea is the insignificance of such an animal (cf. 1Sa 26:20).

1Sa 24:15

As Saul had therefore no good ground for persecuting David, the latter could very calmly commit his cause to the Lord God, that He might decide it as judge, and deliver him out of the hand of Saul: “Let Him look at it, and conduct my cause,” etc.

1Sa 24:16-18

These words made an impression upon Saul. David’s conduct went to his heart, so that he wept aloud, and confessed to him: “Thou art more righteous than I, for thou hast shown me good, and I (have shown) thee evil; and thou hast given me a proof of this to-day.”

1Sa 24:19

“If a man meet with his enemy, will he send him (let him go) in peace?” This sentence is to be regarded as a question, which requires a negative reply, and expresses the thought: When a man meets with an enemy, he does not generally let him escape without injury. But thou hast acted very differently towards me. This thought is easily supplied from the context, and what follows attaches itself to this: “The Lord repay thee good for what thou hast done to me this day.”

1Sa 24:20-21

This wish was expressed in perfect sincerity. David’s behaviour towards him had conquered for the moment the evil demon of his heart, and completely altered his feelings. In this better state of mind he felt impelled even to give utterance to these words, “I know that thou wilt be king, and the sovereignty will have perpetuity in thy hand.” Saul could not prevent this conviction from forcing itself upon him, after his own rejection and the failure of all that he attempted against David; and it was this which drove him to persecute David whenever the evil spirit had the upper hand in his soul. But now that better feelings had arisen in his mind, he uttered it without envy, and merely asked David to promise on oath that he would not cut off his descendants after his death, and seek to exterminate his name from his father’s house. A name is exterminated when the whole of the descendants are destroyed, - a thing of frequent occurrence in the East in connection with a change of dynasties, and one which occurred again and again even in the kingdom of the ten tribes (vid., 1Ki 15:28., 1Sa 16:11.; 2 Kings 10).

1Sa 24:22

When David had sworn this, Saul returned home. But David remained upon the mountain heights, because he did not regard the passing change in Saul’s feelings as likely to continue. המּצוּדה (translated “the hold”) is used here to denote the mountainous part of the desert of Judah. It is different in 1Sa 22:5.

David Spares Saul in the Cave. (b. c. 1057.)

1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. 2 Then 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. 3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said 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's robe privily. 5 And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. 6 And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord 's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord . 7 So 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 his way. 8 David 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.

Here, I. Saul renews his pursuit of David, v. 1, 2. No sooner had he come home safely from chasing the Philistines, in which it should seem he had good success, than he enquired after David to do him a mischief, and resolved to have another thrust at him, as if he had been delivered to do all these abominations, Jer. vii. 10. By the frequent incursions of the Philistines, he might have seen how necessary it was to recall David from his banishment and restore him to his place in the army again; but so far is he from doing this that now more than ever he is exasperated against him, and, hearing that he is in the wilderness of En-gedi, he draws out 3000 choice men, and goes with them at his feet in pursuit of him upon the rocks of the wild goats, where, one would think, David should not have been envied a habitation nor Saul desirous of disturbing him; for what harm could he fear from one who was no better accommodated? But it is not enough for Saul that David is thus cooped up; he cannot be easy while he is alive.

II. Providence brings Saul alone into the same cave wherein David and his men had hidden themselves, v. 3. In those countries there were very large caves in the sides of the rocks or mountains, partly natural, but probably much enlarged by art for the sheltering of sheep from the heat of the sun; hence we read of places where the flocks did rest at noon (Cant. i. 7), and this cave seems to be spoken of as one of the sheep-cotes. In the sides of this cave David and his men remained, perhaps not all his men, the whole 600, but only some few of his particular friends, the rest being disposed of in similar retirements. Saul, passing by, turned in himself alone, not in search of David (for, supposing him to be an aspiring ambitious man, he thought to find him rather climbing with the wild goats upon the rocks than retiring with the sheep into a cave), but thither he turned aside to cover his feet, that is, to sleep awhile, it being a cool and quiet place, and very refreshing in the heat of the day; probably he ordered his attendants to march before, reserving only a very few to wait for him at the mouth of the cave. Some by the covering of the feet understand the easing of nature, and think that this was Saul's errand into the cave: but the former interpretation is more probable.

III. David's servants stir him up to kill Saul now that he has so fair an opportunity to do it, v. 4. They reminded him that this was the day which he had long looked for, and of which God had spoken to him in general when he was anointed to the kingdom, which should put a period to his troubles and open the passage to his advancement. Saul now lay at his mercy, and it was easy to imagine how little mercy he would find with Saul and therefore what little reason he had to show mercy to him. "By all means" (say his servants) "give him the fatal blow now." See how apt we are to misunderstand, 1. The promises of God. God had assured David that he would deliver him from Saul, and his men interpret this as a warrant to destroy Saul. 2. The providences of God. Because it was now in his power to kill him, they concluded he might lawfully do it.

IV. David cut off the skirt of his robe, but soon repented that he had done this: His heart smote him for it (v. 5); though it did Saul no real hurt, and served David for a proof that it was in his power to have killed him (v. 11), yet, because it was an affront to Saul's royal dignity, he wished he had not done it. Note, It is a good thing to have a heart within us smiting us for sins that seem little; it is a sign that conscience is awake and tender, and will be the means of preventing greater sins.

V. He reasons strongly both with himself and with his servants against doing Saul any hurt. 1. He reasons with himself (v. 6): The Lord forbid that I should do this thing. Note, Sin is a thing which it becomes us to startle at, and to resist the temptations to, not only with resolution, but with a holy indignation. He considered Saul now, not as his enemy, and the only person that stood in the way of his preferment (for then he would be induced to hearken to the temptation), but as God's anointed (that is, the person whom God had appointed to reign as long as he lived, and who, as such, was under the particular protection of the divine law), and as his master, to whom he was obliged to be faithful. Let servants and subjects learn hence to be dutiful and loyal, whatever hardships are put upon them, 1 Pet. ii. 18. 2. He reasons with his servants: He suffered them not to rise against Saul, v. 7. He would not only not do this evil thing himself, but he would not suffer those about him to do it. Thus did he render good for evil to him from whom he had received evil for good, and was herein both a type of Christ, who saved his persecutors, and an example to all Christians not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.

VI. He followed Saul out of the cave, and, though he would not take the opportunity to slay him, yet he wisely took the opportunity, if possible, to slay his enmity, by convincing him that he was not such a man as he took him for. 1. Even in showing his head now he testified that he had an honourable opinion of Saul. He had too much reason to believe that, let him say what he would, Saul would immediately be the death of him as soon as he saw him, and yet he bravely lays aside that jealousy, and thinks Saul so much a man of sense as to hear his reasoning when he had so much to say in his own vindication and such fresh and sensible proofs to give of his own integrity. 2. His behaviour was very respectful: He stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself, giving honour to whom honour was due, and teaching us to order ourselves lowly and reverently to all our superiors, even to those that have been most injurious to us.

David Expostulates with Saul. (b. c. 1057.)

9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord 's anointed. 11 Moreover, 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 there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 12 The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. 15 The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

We have here David's warm and pathetic speech to Saul, wherein he endeavours to convince him that he did him a great deal of wrong in persecuting him thus and to persuade him therefore to be reconciled.

I. He calls him father (v. 11), for he was not only, as king, the father of his country, but he was, in particular, his father-in-law. From a father one may expect compassion and a favourable opinion. For a prince to seek the ruin of any of his good subjects is as unnatural as for a father to seek the ruin of his own children.

II. He lays the blame of his rage against him upon his evil counsellors: Wherefore hearest thou men's words? v. 9. It is a piece of respect due to crowned heads, if they do amiss, to charge it upon those about them, who either advised them to it or should have advised them against it. David had reason enough to think that Saul persecuted him purely from his own envy and malice, yet he courteously supposes that others put him on to do it, and made him believe that David was his enemy and sought his hurt. Satan, the great accuser of the brethren, has his agents in all places, and particularly in the courts of those princes that encourage them and give ear to them, who make it their business to represent the people of God as enemies to Caesar and hurtful to kings and provinces, that, being thus dressed up in bear-skins, they may "be baited."

III. He solemnly protests his own innocence, and that he is far from designing any hurt or mischief to Saul: "There is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, v. 11. I am not chargeable with any crime, nor conscious of any guilt, and, had I a window in my breast, thou mightest through it see the sincerity of my heart in this protestation: I have not sinned against thee (however I have sinned against God), yet thou huntest my soul," that is, "my life." Perhaps it was about this time that David penned the seventh psalm, concerning the affair of Cush the Benjamite (that is, Saul, as some think), wherein he thus appeals to God (v. 3-5): If there be iniquity in my hands, then let the enemy persecute my soul and take it, putting in a parenthesis, with reference to the story of this chapter, Yea, I have delivered him that without cause is my enemy.

IV. He produces undeniable evidence to prove the falsehood of the suggestion upon which Saul's malice against him was grounded. David was charged with seeking Saul's hurt: "See," says he, "yea, see the skirt of thy robe, v. 11. Let this be a witness for me, and an unexceptionable witness it is; had that been true of which I am accused, I should now have had thy head in my hand and not the skirt of thy robe, for I could as easily have cut off that as this." To corroborate this evidence he shows him, 1. That God's providence had given him opportunity to do it: The lord delivered thee, very surprisingly, to day into my hand, whence many a one would have gathered an intimation that it was the will of God he should now give the determining blow to him whose neck lay so fair for it. When Saul had but a very small advantage against David he cried out, God has delivered him into my hand (ch. xxiii. 7), and resolved to make the best of that advantage; but David did not so. 2. That his counsellors and those about him had earnestly besought him to do it: Some bade me kill thee. He had blamed Saul for hearkening to men's words and justly; "for," says he, "if I had done so, thou wouldest not have been alive now." 3. That it was upon a good principle that he refused to do it; not because Saul's attendants were at hand, who, it may be, would have avenged his death; no, it was not by the fear of them, but by the fear of God, that he was restrained from it. "He is my lord, and the Lord's anointed, whom I ought to protect, and to whom I owe faith and allegiance, and therefore I said, I will not touch a hair of his head." Such a happy command he had of himself that his nature, in the midst of the greatest provocation, was not suffered to rebel against his principles.

V. He declares it to be his fixed resolution never to be his own avenger: "The Lord avenge me of thee, that is, deliver me out of thy hand; but, whatever comes of it, my hand shall not be upon thee" (v. 12), and again (v. 13), for saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked. The wisdom of the ancients is transmitted to posterity by their proverbial sayings. Many such we receive by tradition from our fathers; and the counsels of common persons are very much directed by this, "As the old saying is." Here is one that was in use in David's time: Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, that is, 1. Men's own iniquity will ruin them at last, so some understand it. Forward furious men will cut their own throats with their own knives. Give them rope enough, and they will hang themselves. In this sense it comes in very fitly as a reason why his hand should not be upon him. 2. Bad men will do bad things; according as men's principles and dispositions are, so will their actions be. This also agrees very well with the connexion. If David had been a wicked man, as he was represented, he would have done this wicked thing; but he durst not, because of the fear of God. Or thus: Whatever injuries bad men do us (which we are not to wonder at; he that lies among thorns must expect to be scratched), yet we must not return them; never render railing for railing. Though wickedness proceed from the wicked, yet let it not therefore proceed from us by way of retaliation. Though the dog bark at the sheep, the sheep does not bark at the dog. See Isa. xxxii. 6-8.

VI. He endeavours to convince Saul that as it was a bad thing, so it was a mean thing, for him to give chase to such an inconsiderable person as he was (v. 14): Whom does the king of Israel pursue with all this care and force? A dead dog; a flea; one flea, so it is in the Hebrew. It is below so great a king to enter the lists with one that is so unequal a match for him, one of his own servants, bred a poor shepherd, now an exile, neither able nor willing to make any resistance. To conquer him would not be to his honour, to attempt it was his disparagement. If Saul would consult his own reputation, he would slight such an enemy (supposing he were really his enemy) and would think himself in no danger from him. David was so far from aspiring that he was, in his own account, as a dead dog. Mephibosheth thus calls himself, 2 Sam. ix. 8. This humble language would have wrought upon Saul if he had had any spark of generosity in him. Satis est prostrasse leoni—Enough for the lion that he has laid his victim low. What credit would it be to Saul to trample upon a dead dog? What pleasure could it be to him to hunt a flea, a single flea, which (as some have observed), if it be sought, is not easily found, if it be found, is not easily caught, and, if it be caught, is a poor prize, especially for a prince. Aquila non captat muscas—The eagle does not dart upon flies. David thinks Saul had no more reason to fear him than to fear a flea-bite.

VII. He once and again appeals to God as the righteous Judge (v. 12 and v. 15): The Lord judge between me and thee. Note, The justice of God is the refuge and comfort of oppressed innocence. If men wrong us, God will right us, at furthest, in the judgment of the great day. With him David leaves his cause, and so rests satisfied, waiting his time to appear for him.

Saul Relents at David's Reproof. (b. c. 1057.)

16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21 Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord , that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. 22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

Here we have,

I. Saul's penitent reply to David's speech. It was strange that he had patience to hear him out, considering how outrageous he was against him, and how cutting David's discourse was. But God restrained him and his men; and we may suppose Saul struck with amazement at the singularity of the event, and much more when he found how much he had lain at David's mercy. His heart must have been harder than a stone if this had not affected him. 1. He melted into tears, and we will not suppose them to have been counterfeit but real expressions of his present concern at the sight of his own iniquity, so plainly proved upon him. He speaks as one quite overcome with David's kindness: Is this thy voice, my son David? And, as one that relented at the thought of his own folly and ingratitude, he lifted up his voice and wept, v. 16. Many mourn for their sins that do not truly repent of them, weep bitterly for them, and yet continue in love and league with them. 2. He ingenuously acknowledges David's integrity and his own iniquity (v. 17): Thou art more righteous than I. Now God made good to David that word on which he had caused him to hope, that he would bring forth his righteousness as the light, Ps. xxxvii. 6. Those who take care to keep a good conscience may leave it to God to secure them the credit of it. This fair confession was enough to prove David innocent (even his enemy himself being judge), but not enough to prove Saul himself a true penitent. He should have said, Thou are righteous, but I am wicked; but the utmost he will own is this: Thou art more righteous than I. Bad men will commonly go no further than this in their confessions; they will own they are not so good as some others are; there are those that are better than they, and more righteous. He now owns himself under a mistake concerning David (v. 18): "Thou hast shown this day that thou art so far from seeking my hurt that thou hast dealt well with me." We are too apt to suspect others to be worse affected towards us then really they are, and than perhaps they are proved to be; and when, afterwards, our mistake is discovered, we should be forward to recall our suspicions, as Saul does here. 3. He prays God to recompense David for this his generous kindness to him. He owns that David's sparing him, when he had him in his power, was an uncommon and unparalleled instance of tenderness to an enemy; no man would have done the like; and therefore, either because he thought himself not able to give him a full recompence for so great a favour, or because he found himself not inclined to give him any recompence at all, he turns him over to God for his pay: The Lord reward thee good, v. 19. Poor beggars can do no less than pray for their benefactors, and Saul did no more. 4. He prophesies his advancement to the throne (v. 20): I know well that thou shalt surely be king. He knew it before, by the promise Samuel had made him of it compared with the excellent spirit that appeared in David, which highly aggravated his sin and folly in persecuting him as he did; he had as much reason to say concerning David as David concerning him, How can I put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed? But now he knew it by the interest he found David had in the people, the special providence of God in protecting him, and the generous kingly spirit he had now given a proof of in sparing his enemy. Now he knew it, that is, now that he was in a good temper he was willing to own that he knew it and to submit to the conviction of it. Note, Sooner or later, God will force even those that are of the synagogue of Satan to know and own those that he has loved, and to worship before their feet; for so is the promise, Rev. iii. 9. This acknowledgement which Saul made of David's incontestable title to the crown was a great encouragement to David himself and a support to his faith and hope. 5. He binds David with an oath hereafter to show the same tenderness of his seed and of his name as he had now shown of his person, v. 21. David had more reason to oblige Saul by an oath that he would not destroy him, yet he insists not on that (if the laws of justice and honour would not bind him, an oath would not), but Saul knew David to be a conscientious man, and would think his interests safe if he could get them secured by his oath. Saul by his disobedience had ruined his own soul, and never took care by repentance to prevent that ruin, and yet is very solicitous that his name might not be destroyed nor his seed cut off. However, David swore unto him, v. 22. Though he might be tempted, not only in revenge, but in prudence, to extirpate Saul's family, yet he binds himself not to do it, knowing that God could and would establish the kingdom to him and his, without the use of such bloody methods. This oath he afterwards religiously observed; he supported Mephibosheth, and executed those as traitors that slew Ishbosheth. The hanging up of seven of Saul's posterity, to atone for the destruction of the Gibeonites, was God's appointment, not David's act, and therefore not the violation of this oath.

II. Their parting in peace. 1. Saul, for the present, desisted from the persecution. He went home convinced, but not converted; ashamed of his envy of David, yet retaining in his breast that root of bitterness; vexed that, when at last he had found David, he could not at that time find in his heart to destroy him, as he had designed. God has many ways to tie the hands of persecutors, when he does not turn their hearts. 2. David continued to shift for his own safety. He knew Saul too well to trust him, and therefore got him up into the hold. It is dangerous venturing upon the mercy of a reconciled enemy. We read of those who believed in Christ, and yet he did not commit himself to them because he knew all men. Those that like David are innocent as doves must thus like him be wise as serpents.