And David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host; and Saul lay within the wagon-defence, and the people were encamped round about him.
David's scouts have confirmed that Saul is hunting him again. Instead of retreating, David walks toward the army that is looking for him. From a distance he studies the camp: the king lying inside it, Abner at his side, three thousand men ringed around them. The whole chapter turns on what David will do with what he sees.
David is the man being hunted. Yet he is the one who closes the distance:
How striking is the quiet confidence of faith! God gave the hunted man a sense of security, and that gave him the courage to draw near his pursuer.
David had been in this position before, at En-gedi. This time he goes looking. One commentator sets the two scenes side by side:
But when it comes to confidence in God, all of David's caution disappears. He advances with courage — the world would say "recklessly." He takes Abishai alone into the middle of three thousand enemies, and he goes to seek out his enemy without fear. Faith that feeds on difficulties grows through meeting them. On the hill of Hachilah David goes towards Saul. That shows a greater faith than the cave of En-gedi, where Saul fell into David's hands without meaning to.
David does not rush the camp. He takes a position where he can study it:
David sent out spies to locate the exact position where Saul and his men would camp for the night (v. 4). He decides on a bold plan, but one in which he could depend on God for protection. He came with at least some of his men to an observation point. From there they could make out just where Saul was lying down to sleep among his men.
What he made out was a king lying inside the camp's defences, with his army in a ring of men around him.
The verse names Saul's commander. His name says of him what cannot be true of him:
Abner means "the father of Ner," while he is his son. The name turns the fact upside down. Ner means "lamp." It is the container of light, the symbol of joy, prosperity, and everything we naturally connect with the thought of light… But with men, pretension mostly carries the day. So "the father [or sustainer] of light" may well be Saul's ordinary commander-in-chief, if Jonathan or David do the real work. But here is the might of Saul.
So the might guarding Saul was a name larger than the man behind it. The circle of men around him looked like safety. It was not:
And now God's involvement is very plain. The sentries who should have kept watch while the king slept are themselves asleep. God in this way, as it were, prepared them for David's night visit. Led by the hand of God, David goes straight to the sleeping king in the boldness of faith. In this moment of triumph his dependence on God is tested, and it does not fail.
David's restraint rested on something Saul's conduct could not cancel:
Saul is on the edge of judgment. Yet to David he remains the Lord's anointed, as long as God has not given the final signal. For David to treat him in any way other than grace would be to deny his own character. That was all the more serious because he had received the Lord's approval at En-gedi.
Writers note that the restraint went further than David's own hand: "Not only will he not do the deed himself, but he will not allow it in another of his company."
- Informed. David sent spies first. He moved toward the camp only when he knew where Saul lay.
- Bold. Walking toward his pursuer took more faith than En-gedi did. Faith that feeds on difficulties grows by meeting them.
- Watching. From an observation point he saw the whole layout: Saul inside the camp, Abner beside him, the army in a ring around them.
- Restrained. He saw an opportunity, but grace was his character, not judgment. He would not strike the Lord's anointed, and he would not let anyone else do it either.
- Vindicated. The guards who should have watched slept. A king with three thousand men could not hold the man God was guiding.
And David spake and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
Saul is hunting David again with three thousand men. Instead of hiding deeper, David walks toward Saul's camp at night. He asks two of his men for one volunteer, and only one of them answers.
One writer contrasts David's usual caution with what he does here.
But when it is a matter of confidence in God, all of David's caution disappears. He advances boldly — the world would say "recklessly" — with Abishai alone into the middle of three thousand adversaries. He goes without fear to seek out his enemy. Faith that feeds on difficulties grows through meeting them. At the hill of Hachilah, David walks toward Saul. That shows greater faith than the cave of En-gedi, where Saul fell into David's hands by accident.
The verse names Ahimelech the Hittite before Abishai. He was not an Israelite, and he was not the only such man in David's ranks.
David the son of Jesse had many Gentiles in his army. There was Zelek the Ammonite, Uriah the Hittite, Jithmah the Moabite and Ahimelech the Hittite (1 Chron. 11:39, 41, 46; 1 Sam. 26:6). There were also six hundred Gittites (from Gath in Philistia) led by Ittai the Gittite (2 Sam. 15:18-22).
Abishai answers without delay. One writer follows him from that reply to the sleeping king's side.
Saul chased David for his life. One night he lay in a trench with his people camped around him. David asked, "Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp?" Abishai answered at once, "I will go down with you." When he stood with David by the sleeping king, he wanted to strike him to the ground right away, saying, "I will not strike him twice." But David checked his haste. He added, "Who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?" Abishai listened to that word, and it kept him back from this sin, though he thought God had delivered David's enemy into his hand. We may be tested in the same way today, but the word of the Lord will keep us.
One writer sees a trap hidden inside Abishai's loyalty.
Abishai, David's companion, lays a snare for him here without even realizing it himself, and probably because of the very affection he feels for his master. Knowing that David will not avenge himself, Abishai offers to avenge him. Had this happened, David's character of grace as the rejected king would have been entirely compromised once again.
Abishai presses the offer as God's own doing.
Then his companion says to David, "God has given your enemy into your hand this day." No one knew better than Abishai that David was always unwilling to act against Saul. Who did not know the grace that filled his heart just recently? "Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear," he says, "and I will not strike him twice." And David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?" It is clear therefore that David has grown in the sense of the grace of God. Not only will he not do the deed himself, but he will not allow it in another of his company.
The man who volunteered here shows up again and again in David's story.
Son of David's sister Zeruiah, and brother of Joab. He was one of David's officers and served him many years. He accompanied David into Saul's camp while he slept. 1 Sam. 26:6-9. With Joab he killed Abner. 2 Sam. 3:30. In his zeal for David he asked permission to kill Shimei. 2 Sam. 16:9; 2 Sam. 19:21. In the rebellion of Absalom he commanded a third of David's army. 2 Sam. 18:2. He rescued David from Ishbi-benob the giant. 2 Sam. 21:17.
- The call. When confidence in God is at stake, David's caution vanishes. Faith grows by meeting difficulties, and Hachilah shows more faith than En-gedi did.
- The company. David asks two men — Ahimelech the Hittite, a foreigner, and Abishai, his own nephew. His following included men from outside Israel.
- The answer. Abishai replies at once, and that reply takes him into the middle of three thousand enemies.
- The check. Standing over Saul, the same willing man wants to strike. David stops him, and Abishai listens and holds back.
- The growth. David will not do the deed and will not allow it in another — evidence that he had grown in his sense of the grace of God.
And David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping within the wagon-defence, and his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him.
Saul is hunting David again, but tonight David walks into Saul's camp of three thousand men. He stands over the sleeping king with Saul's own spear in reach — and what he does next will test him.
Up to this point David had been the careful one. Trust in God changed that.
But when it is a matter of confidence in God, all of David's prudence disappears. He advances boldly — the world would say "recklessly." With Abishai alone he goes into the middle of three thousand opponents, and he fearlessly seeks out his enemy. Faith that feeds on difficulties grows through meeting them. The hill of Hachilah, where David goes towards Saul, witnesses to greater faith than the cave of En-gedi, where Saul fell into David's hands by accident.
Kelly sees the same calm in the hunted man:
How striking is the quiet confidence of faith! That sense of security from God gave the hunted man courage to draw near his pursuer.
Saul, Abner and the whole army lay unconscious while two men walked among them. The Hebrew word for their sleep shows it was no ordinary rest.
A deep sleep — tardemah. This term is never used of natural sleep. It is used of sleep that is either supernatural, sent for a special purpose (Gen. 2:21; Gen. 15:12; Job 4:13; Job 33:15), or spiritual, in God's governmental dealing with man (Prov. 19:15; Isa. 29:10). How easily can God deal with those opposed to His will! Here God paralysed the action of an army and let the man they were hunting walk about in their camp unnoticed and unharmed. He used no power of judgment at all — only a supernatural sleep falling on them.
But an opportunity is not the same thing as a permission. Commentators are careful about why God sent the sleep:
God had caused a deep sleep to fall on Saul and on all the camp. That might have given rise to the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. This was not so. God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. Grace is David's part; judgment is the Lord's.
The spear is not a stray detail. Saul had thrown this weapon at David before, and now it stands in the ground beside him.
They reach the camp and find it unguarded. Saul lies behind the camp's barricade, surrounded by his men, and all of them are in a deep sleep. The javelin which he had repeatedly thrown at David is stuck in the earth at his head, ready for anyone to grab in a moment. Would it not be fitting justice to kill him with the weapon Saul had aimed at David?
Abishai spoke as a friend who loved his master. That is what made his offer dangerous.
Abishai, David's companion, sets a trap for him here. He does not even realise it himself, and he probably does it out of the very affection he has for his master. Knowing that David will not avenge himself, Abishai offers to avenge him. Had this happened, it would have ruined the rejected king's character of grace once again. This is one of Satan's main aims with believers. He wants us to take our own interests in hand, to avenge ourselves, to demand our rights in this world. If he succeeds, he makes us fall from faith.
David's answer did not rest on how Saul had behaved.
Again David absolutely refuses to stain his hands with the blood of "the LORD's anointed." Who, he asks, could do this and be guiltless? This is a marked and beautiful trait in David's character: respect for God-given authority. Such respect does not look at the character of the man who holds the office. It looks at the position he occupies.
David left with two objects instead of a body. Both carried a message.
Instead of doing Saul any personal harm, they take away his spear and a vessel of water that was near his head. This is significant. The spear was his offensive weapon. So Saul had evidence that the Lord knew how to take away his power to do the damage he wanted to do. They took the vessel of water to remind him that God could also take away the refreshment he depended on.
- Sleep — God sent the sleep that fell on the camp, and the word for it is never used of natural rest. He paralysed an army without one blow.
- Shelter — God sent that sleep to protect David, not to permit revenge. Grace was David's part; judgment was the Lord's.
- Spear — Saul's own javelin stood ready at his head. That made the temptation easy, and it looked like fitting justice.
- Snare — Abishai's loyal offer was a trap. If someone else takes revenge for us, we lose our character of grace just the same.
- Sign — David walked away with a spear and a water jar. God can take from an enemy both his power to harm and his daily supply.
And Abishai said to David, God has delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day; and now let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the ground once, and I will not do it the second time.
David and Abishai stand over a sleeping Saul inside his own camp. His spear is stuck in the ground within reach, and Abishai offers to end years of pursuit with one blow. The question is not whether David could kill Saul. It is whether an open door is the same thing as God's command.
Abishai's plan was not thoughtless. The spear beside Saul was the one Saul had aimed at David, so killing him with it looked like justice.
Again Abishai urges David to rid himself of his enemy. He offers to use Saul's own weapon against him, and assures David that one blow would be enough — as it certainly would be. Would it not be fitting justice to kill him with the very weapon Saul had aimed at David? Would it not fulfil God's word that the pit a man digs he falls into himself?
The pressure did not come from an enemy. It came from a friend, and his loyalty is what made his advice dangerous.
Abishai, David's companion, lays a snare for him here without even realising it himself. He probably does it out of the very affection he feels for his master. Knowing that David will not avenge himself, Abishai offers to avenge him. If this had happened, the rejected king would have compromised his character of grace all over again. This is one of Satan's main aims with believers. If he can get us to take our own interests in hand, to avenge ourselves, to demand our rights in this world, he makes us fall from faith.
One writer sees the same mistaken love later in Peter.
They constantly erred, but their love seldom failed. They said in ignorance, when in the cave with Saul helpless, that the Lord had promised to give David's enemy into his hand. And so also Peter, "Far be it from you, Lord," he said, when Jesus spoke of suffering and death; and when they came to take Him, Peter, in the same misjudging but true love, in the spirit of Abishai, cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. Personal attachment to their Lord was there, however they failed in judgment.
Abishai reads the sleeping camp as God handing Saul over. The sleep was from God, but its purpose was not what Abishai assumed.
The deep sleep that God had caused to fall on Saul and on all the camp might have given birth to the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. This was not so. God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. God would keep him safe in view of the work of grace He would call him to do toward Saul. Grace is David's part; judgment is the Lord's.
This raises a wider caution about treating an opening as guidance.
No doubt our Lord may and does at times show His mind and point out our path by His providence. But we must be near enough to Him to read that providence correctly. If we are not, we may find that what people call "an opening of providence" turns out to be an opening by which we slip off the holy path of obedience.
David does not just refuse for himself. He forbids the deed altogether.
It is clear therefore that David has grown in the sense of the grace of God. Not only will he not do the deed himself, but he will not allow it in another of his company.
What guides him is not Saul's behaviour but Saul's position.
This is a marked and beautiful trait in David's character — respect for authority that God has set up. Such respect looks not at the character of the man who holds the office, but at the position he occupies. Meanwhile he reminds Abishai that God will one day remove Saul: by a stroke, or in the ordinary way, or perhaps in battle. This is enough for him. He will not take his case out of God's hands.
Most of us hold out for a while, then decide we have been patient long enough.
Often we fail where David triumphed. Men keep acting unrighteously. We act in grace once or twice, then that seems enough to us, and we think we are right to resist and protest against wrong. If we walk with God we will learn very quickly that by protesting we move out of His pathway. And if we act against what we know, Satan will quickly make us his prey.
- The hand offered — Abishai's plan is clever and personal: Saul's own spear, one blow, no second needed. The temptation arrives dressed as justice.
- The hand of a friend — love lays the snare, not malice; Satan's aim is to get us to take our own interests in hand.
- The hand misread — God sent the sleep, but He sent it to protect David, not to hand him a chance at revenge. An open door is not a command.
- The hand withheld — David honours the office, not the man, and lets no one else strike.
- The hand of God — David leaves his case with God; we fail when we decide we have shown grace long enough.
And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be guiltless?
David stands over a sleeping king, and his companion Abishai offers to end the long chase with one blow. David refuses, and his reason is a title — "the LORD's anointed" — behind a question with only one answer.
Saul and his whole camp lay asleep, and Abishai took that as God handing over an enemy. But God had His own reason for sending that sleep.
The deep sleep that God had caused to fall on Saul and on all the camp might have given birth to the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. This was not so. God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. God would save him in view of the work of grace He would call him to do toward Saul. Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord.
Abishai offers to do the killing himself, so David's own hand stays clean.
"Now let me strike him," says he, "please, with the spear, pinning him to the ground at once, and I will not strike him a second time."... It is clear therefore that David has grown in the sense of the grace of God. Not only will he not do the deed himself, but he will not allow it in another of his company.
Abishai took the correction:
Abishai heeded the word and was kept back from this sin, though he thought God had delivered David's enemy into his hand. We may be tested today in a similar way, but the word of the Lord will preserve us.
By now Saul deserved nothing from David. Yet David's reason never touches Saul's conduct.
Again David refuses outright to stain his hands with the blood of "the Lord's anointed." Who could be guiltless, he says, who did this? This is a marked and beautiful trait in David's character: respect for authority that God has set up. Such respect looks not at the character of the man who holds the office, but at the position he occupies. Meanwhile he reminds Abishai that God will one day remove Saul. God may strike him, or his end may come in the ordinary way, or he may fall in battle. This is enough for him. He will not take his case out of God's hands.
David's question treats the act as guilt, however deserved the punishment looks. His refusal also ruined a plan that would have worked either way.
His follower advises the slaying of Saul. This would have been sin. He would not avenge himself. Saul might be a wicked man, but he was the LORD's anointed, and David would not take the matter into his own hands. "The LORD lives," he says, and that is enough for David... Faith committed it to God. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves." But see how plainly Satan's craft is defeated! Whether Saul killed David, or David killed Saul, either way would have suited Satan's purpose and hindered God's purpose.
The danger here came from a friend, not from Saul.
Saul is on the verge of judgment, yet to David he remains the Lord's anointed until God gives the final signal... Abishai, David's companion, sets a trap for him here without realising it himself. He probably does it out of the very love he has for his master. Knowing that David will not avenge himself, Abishai offers to avenge him. If that had happened, David's gracious character as the rejected king would have been completely compromised once again. This is one of Satan's main aims with believers. If he can get us to take our own interests in hand, to avenge ourselves, to demand our rights in this world, he makes us fall from faith... This principle stayed with David until just after Saul's death, when he had the man who claimed to have killed the king struck down, asking how he was not afraid to stretch out his hand to destroy the Lord's anointed (2 Samuel 1:14). So to his last breath Saul stayed untouchable for David, as the Lord's anointed.
- Opportunity. The sleep God sent over the camp protected David. It was not permission to strike. An open door is not a command to walk through it.
- Guilt. David treats killing Saul as sin, not overdue justice. His question — "who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?" — has only one answer.
- Office. David's reason ignores what Saul is like. It rests on the position Saul holds. Respect for authority looks at the office, not the man.
- Restraint. David has grown in grace, so he stops Abishai as well as himself. Abishai listens, and is kept from a sin he had called God's doing.
- Trust. God will strike Saul, or his day will come, or he will fall in battle. David leaves the timing to God and will not take his case out of His hands.
And David said, [As] Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will surely smite him; either his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish.
David is standing over the sleeping Saul, and his companion Abishai has just told him that God has handed the enemy over. David refuses, and his answer raises the question this verse turns on: who sets the time for judgment, you or God?
(Some writers quoted below use older wording, such as "Jehovah" where the ESV reads "the LORD.")
David's refusal does not start with an argument. It starts with the living God, and one writer shows why that was enough.
Saul might be a wicked man, but he was Jehovah's anointed, and David would not take the matter into his own hand. "Jehovah lives," he says, and that is enough for David. "Jehovah shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and perish." Would it not have been a lasting reproach that he had killed the king while he slept? Faith committed it to God.
David lists three ways Saul might die. Each one leaves the timing with God.
He assures Abishai that as surely as the Lord lives, they could depend on the Lord to remove Saul at His own time. It might be by a direct stroke from the Lord (as with Nabal), by an ordinary natural death, or by death in warfare.
Saul was already close to judgment. That did not make him fair game.
Saul, although on the verge of judgment, remains the Lord's anointed to David as long as God has not given the final signal.
Saul had hunted David for years. David's restraint has nothing to do with Saul's own character. One writer explains what David respects instead.
Again David absolutely refuses to stain his hands with the blood of "the Lord's anointed." Who, he asks, could do this and be guiltless? This is a marked and beautiful trait in David's character — respect for authority set up by God. Such respect looks not at the character of the man holding the office, but at the position he occupies. Meanwhile he reminds Abishai that God will one day remove him.
Abishai's offer sounds like loyalty. He knows David will not strike, so he offers to strike for him. One writer sees a trap in that offer.
Abishai, David's companion, sets a trap for him here without even realising it himself. He probably does it out of the very affection he has for his master. Knowing that David will not avenge himself, Abishai offers to avenge him. Had this happened, it would once again have completely ruined the rejected king's character of grace. This is one of Satan's main aims with believers. If he can get us to take our own interests in hand, to avenge ourselves, to demand our rights in this world, he makes us fall from faith.
God put the whole camp to sleep. That could look like an open door. The same writer reads God's purpose the other way.
God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. God would save him in view of the work of grace He would call him to do toward Saul. Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord.
This is the second time Saul has been at David's mercy. What David forbids this time shows how far he has grown.
"So let me strike him, please," he says, "with the spear, right down to the ground at one stroke. I will not strike him twice." David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against Jehovah's anointed and be guiltless?" It is clear therefore that David has grown in the sense of the grace of God. Not only will he not do the deed himself, but he will not allow it in another of his company.
One writer sets David's answer beside the way the Lord Jesus met ill-treatment.
David had led a miserable, sorrowful life because of Saul. But when Abishai says, "God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day," he answers, "The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed." … So it was with the Lord Jesus. "When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed His cause to Him who judges righteously."
- The living Lord. David's oath is his whole argument — that the Lord lives is enough to settle the question of Saul's future.
- The Lord's time. A stroke, old age, or battle: David names three exits and claims none of them as his to open.
- The Lord's office. David respects the position God set up, not the character of the man filling it.
- The Lord's sleep. God sent the sleep to protect David and to keep him for a work of grace, not to hand him a sword.
- The Lord's portion. Grace belongs to David; judgment belongs to God. The Lord Jesus kept the same line when He committed His cause to Him who judges righteously.
Jehovah forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed! But now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
David and Abishai stand over a sleeping king. Saul's own spear is stuck in the ground beside his head, and one word from David would end years on the run — but he refuses, and his reason is not Saul's character but the One who anointed him.
David had every personal reason to strike. What held him back was a principle that took no account of what Saul had become.
Again David refuses outright to stain his hands with the blood of "the Lord's anointed." Who could be guiltless, he says, who did this? This is a clear and beautiful trait in David's character: respect for authority that God has set up. Such respect looks not at the character of the man who holds the office, but at the position he occupies.
David had already spared Saul once, at En-gedi. Only God could set the limit on this respect, and God had not yet moved.
Saul is on the edge of judgment, yet to David he remains the Lord's anointed until God gives the final signal. For David to treat him with anything other than grace would be to deny his own character — and all the more so, since the Lord had already approved him at En-gedi.
Abishai's offer sounds like loyalty. One writer calls it a trap, and a trap that reaches far beyond David.
Abishai, David's companion, sets a trap for him here without realizing it, and likely out of the very affection he has for his master. He knows David will not avenge himself, so he offers to avenge him (v. 8)… This is one of Satan's main aims with believers. He wants to get us to take our own interests in hand, to avenge ourselves, to demand our rights in this world. If he can, he makes us fall from faith.
The whole camp lay asleep. It could look like God handing the enemy over. One writer reads God's purpose in it differently.
The deep sleep God sent on Saul and on the whole camp could have suggested the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. It was not so. God sent this sleep to protect the one He loved, not to give him a chance to avenge himself… Grace is David's part; judgment is the Lord's.
David's restraint was not weakness. He left the whole matter with God, and more than his own conscience hung on it.
His follower advises killing Saul. This would have been sin. He would not avenge himself. Saul might be a wicked man, but he was the Lord's anointed, and David would not take the matter into his own hands… Would it not have been a lasting reproach that he had killed the king while he slept? Faith committed it to God. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves." But how clearly Satan's craft is defeated! Whether Saul killed David, or David killed Saul, either way would have suited Satan's purpose and hindered the purpose of God.
David takes two things instead of a life. One writer reads both as a message to Saul about what God could take from him.
Instead of doing Saul any personal harm, they take away his spear and a jar of water that was near his head. This matters. The spear was his weapon of attack. So Saul had proof that the Lord knew how to strip him of the power to do the harm he wanted to do. Taking the jar of water reminded him that God could also take away the refreshment he depended on.
Together the two objects left the pursuing king with nothing. One writer even hears a sting in the name David gives himself.
But is there not also a touch of sarcasm in David's words, "the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea"? For the "flea" had been in the king of Israel's camp and had taken away his spear and his jar of water — that is, his means of warfare and the necessities of life. In a word, Saul was powerless.
David's refusal was not approval of Saul. It came from where he had placed the whole question.
Did David sympathize with Saul's conduct and ways, or share his company, or feel personal affection for him? No… David leaves it to the One who put Saul on the throne to take him off it, in His own time and way. Meanwhile he was content to suffer, and to let Saul brand his name as evil.
- Anointed. God put Saul on the throne. So God alone takes him off it.
- Opportunity. The God-sent sleep guarded David. It was not permission to strike Saul.
- Advice. Abishai's offer to strike was a trap. Pressure to grab your own rights is a standard attack on faith.
- Proof. David took the spear and the water jar. Saul's weapon and his refreshment were God's to remove.
- Outcome. Satan would have won either way — Saul killing David, or David killing Saul. David's refusal spoiled both.
And David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they went away, and no man saw [it], and none knew [it], and none awaked, for they were all asleep; for a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.
David walks into a sleeping army, takes the spear from beside the king's head, and walks out again — and no one stirs, because the sleep came from God. Two questions follow: what sleep can hold a whole army, and why would God put Saul in David's hands?
The word for this sleep is not the ordinary word for rest. One writer shows where else the Bible uses it, and what it did to Saul's camp.
The word here for a deep sleep is tardemah. It is never used of natural sleep. It is used of sleep that is supernatural, sent for a special purpose (Gen. 2:21; Gen. 15:12; Job 4:13; Job 33:15), or of sleep that is spiritual, in the way God governs and deals with man (Prov. 19:15; Isa. 29:10). How easily God can deal with those opposed to His will! Here God used no power in judgment. He only let a supernatural sleep fall on them. By that He paralysed the action of an army, and let the man they were hunting walk about in their camp unnoticed and unharmed.
A sleeping enemy looks like an invitation. One writer says what God sent the sleep for, and what He did not send it for.
The deep sleep that God caused to fall on Saul and on all the camp might have given birth to the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. It was not so. God sent this sleep to preserve His beloved, not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. God would save him in view of the work of grace He would call him to do toward Saul. Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord.
Not even the guards were awake. One writer follows David to the king's side, and says what either killing would have served.
The guards who should have kept watch while the king slept are asleep themselves. God prepared them, as it were, for David's night visit. Led by the hand of God, David goes straight to the sleeping king in the boldness of faith. In this moment of triumph his dependence on God is tested and not found wanting. His follower advises killing Saul. This would have been sin. He would not avenge himself. Saul might be a wicked man, but he was Jehovah's anointed, and David would not take the matter into his own hand... Would it not have been a lasting reproach that he had killed the king while he slept? Faith committed it to God... But how clearly the craft of Satan is defeated! Whether Saul killed David or David killed Saul, either way would have suited Satan's purpose. Either way would have hindered the purpose of God.
David leaves with two objects instead of a body. One writer explains what each one told Saul.
The spear was his offensive weapon. This gave Saul evidence that the Lord knew how to take away his power to do the damage he wanted to do. Taking the jar of water was meant to remind him that God could also take away the refreshment he depended on. The water speaks of the word of God: it was this alone that could keep Saul in his kingdom, though he did not recognise it.
The same two items turn David's own word for himself back on the king.
Is there not also a touch of sarcasm in David's words, "The king of Israel has come out to seek a flea"? For the "flea" had been in the king of Israel's camp and had taken away his spear and his jar of water — that is, his means of warfare and the necessities of life. In a word, Saul was powerless.
This rescue is a high point. What follows is not, and one writer sees a pattern in that.
We may notice that David's faith fails right after a clear intervention of God (1 Sam. 26:12). It is the same with Elijah (1 Kings 19). One would say that in our hearts faith exhausts itself by an unusual effort. Faith may carry us through the crisis. But the heart that held the faith is frightened by it. In Jesus we find a steadiness of perfection altogether divine.
- Sent — The sleep was not tiredness. The word used belongs to sleep God sends for a purpose, and by it He stopped an army without striking a blow.
- Preserved — God's aim in the sleep was to protect David, not to hand him a chance at revenge. Grace was David's part. Judgment belonged to the Lord.
- Spared — Killing the sleeping king would have been sin. Either man's death would have served Satan and blocked God's purpose.
- Stripped — The spear and the water jar carried a message. God could take away both Saul's weapon and his refreshment whenever He chose. The hunter was the powerless one.
- Shaken — The collapse came straight after the triumph. Faith can carry a man through the crisis and still leave his heart frightened. Only in Jesus is there perfect steadiness.
And David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off; a great space [being] between them.
David has just walked into a sleeping army, lifted the spear from beside Saul's head, and walked out again untouched. Now, instead of pressing his advantage, he crosses the valley, climbs a hill, and speaks from there — with the whole valley between him and the man hunting him.
The gap is not an accident of terrain. One writer reads it as a decision about how far David could trust Saul.
Now David goes far away from sleeping Saul and puts "a great space … between them" (v. 13). To have acted otherwise would have been blind confidence in man. Sometimes the world must see the distance that separates it from the children of God. If they do not distance themselves from the world they often support it in its illusion as to its condition.
The same man who now keeps his distance had just walked into the middle of three thousand armed men. The two things are not in tension.
But when it is a matter of confidence in God, all of David's caution disappears. He advances with courage — the world would say "recklessly." With Abishai alone, he goes into the middle of three thousand enemies, and without fear he sets out to find Saul. Faith that feeds on difficulties grows through meeting them. At the hill of Hachilah, David goes towards Saul. That is the witness of greater faith than the cave of En-gedi, where Saul fell into David's hands without knowing it.
So David is fearless about danger and cautious about trust. He will stand over a sleeping enemy, but he will not stand within his reach once the enemy wakes.
David left the camp holding two objects, not a corpse. One writer explains why God put the whole army to sleep.
God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself... Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord. But David takes a token, as he had taken one in the cave. The spear and the jar of water are two witnesses by which the events that had taken place are confirmed. The weapon that Saul had sought to use against David more than once is now found in David's hand... It is enough for David to take away the weapon Saul had used to try to harm him. This shows the king that David knew his weapons well, and that they had no power against him.
Shouting at three thousand soldiers from a nearby hill should have got David killed. Another writer asks why no one ran to seize him.
A public act of faith may be brilliant, and it may make people marvel. But God looks into the heart for the strength of faith — a place no human eye can reach... What an impressive scene is before the whole army! Suddenly woken from their sleep, they hear David talking to the king. Why not rush to take him? No. The power that held them in deep sleep when David entered the camp now holds them back. David and his companion stand on the hilltop, challenge the general, and mock him for his carelessness. Saul, at the head of three thousand men, admits he is beaten.
From that hill David calls down to Abner, Saul's army commander, about the king he failed to guard.
David speaks to Abner (vv. 13-16) with some irony. He shows him that a child of God has more interest and care for the world than those who claim to support, help, or defend it.
David's distance from Saul never becomes rebellion against Saul. One writer explains what gave the separation its ground, and what limited it.
He left Saul, and the kingdom, and his own destinies in the hands of God, sure that all would yet be well... the place of separation is the freest and the happiest. The Spirit of the Lord had left Saul. That gave faith its ground for separating from the man himself. At the same time, there was full subjection to his power as king of Israel... The separation and the subjection should both be complete.
The gap outlived the conversation:
But David does not return to Saul. The relationship was broken.
- Near. Trust in God took David into the middle of three thousand enemies. Hachilah showed greater faith than the cave at En-gedi.
- Spared. God sent the sleep to protect David, not to give him a chance at revenge. Grace was David's part; judgment was the Lord's.
- Apart. Crossing the valley refused blind confidence in man.
- Seen. Sometimes the world must see the distance. Without it, the believer's nearness confirms the world in its illusions about itself.
- Submitted. David kept away from Saul the man and stayed subject to Saul the king. Both were complete.
And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?
David has just walked into Saul's camp at night, taken the king's spear and water jug, and slipped out again. Now he shouts from a hilltop across the valley — not to Saul, but to Abner, the army commander who should have stopped him.
Before he speaks, he moves. One writer sees that gap as deliberate, not just practical:
Now David goes far away from sleeping Saul and puts "a great space … between them" (v. 13). To have acted otherwise would have been blind confidence in man. Sometimes the world must see the distance that separates it from the children of God. If they do not keep their distance from the world, they often help it stay deceived about its own condition.
David's first words go to the man responsible for the king's safety:
David called out to Saul's camp and addressed Abner, the captain of Saul's army (v.14). When Abner answered, David told him that, though he was a great man in Israel, he had failed to guard the king. Someone had got through their ranks and could easily have destroyed Saul.
Another writer notes the sting in David's words:
He taunts him — a man of courage, holding supreme authority — for leaving the king unprotected like this. He deserves to die for such neglect. There could be no doubt about the truth of David's charge, for the spear and the water were witnesses of it.
Abner's reply asks who dares shout at the king. He misses the point. The hunted man cared for Saul's life more than the king's own guard did:
David speaks to Abner with irony (vv. 13-16). He shows him that a child of God has more interest and care for the world than those who pretend to support, help, or defend it.
David can call out because he holds proof. The two things he took were not random:
The spear was his offensive weapon. So Saul had evidence that the Lord knew how to take away his power to do the damage he wanted to do. Taking the jug of water reminded him that God could also take away the refreshment he depended on. The water speaks of the word of God. This alone could keep Saul in his kingdom, though he did not recognize it. He would have to lose it before he realized how much he needed it.
Holding Saul's own weapon, David had the option to use it. He refused:
Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord. The weapon that Saul had tried more than once to use against David is now in David's hand. Would he use it against the Lord's anointed as he had once used Goliath's sword against this enemy of Israel? In no way. It is enough for David to take away the weapon Saul had used to try to harm him. That shows the king David knew all about his weapons, and that they were powerless against him.
A whole army slept through a break-in. One writer traces that to God, and finds the same pattern in the Gospels:
The deep sleep that fell on them also shows how God often makes His enemies dull and slow, so that they have no power at all to carry out their plans against the people of God. So it was in the history of our Lord, when the Jews were seeking His life… While He gave the water of life to all who were thirsty, He was also taking from these self-righteous Pharisees the weapon they wanted to use against Him — the Word they claimed to trust. So they were left without both the spear and the water, until the time came when they were allowed to strike.
The opening did not let David kill. It let him speak:
The same path is open to faith. At times, in a wonderful way, God seems to put His hand on the opposition that attacks His servants. He gives them the chance to give the kind of testimony that disarms the enemy for the time being.
- Distance first. David speaks only after putting "a great space" between himself and the camp. Sometimes the world has to see the gap before it will hear the voice.
- Opportunity, not licence. God's hand held the enemy still, and the opening it made was for testimony, not revenge.
- Evidence, not violence. The spear and the water jug proved the charge without a drop of blood. Saul's own weapon became a witness against him.
- Shame, not slaughter. David aims at Abner's failure to guard the king. The irony stings: the outcast valued Saul's life more than the king's own guard did.
- Grace held, judgment left. David gives up the sword and keeps only the voice. Grace is his part; the verdict on Saul he leaves with the Lord.
And David said to Abner, Art not thou a man? and who is like to thee in Israel? and why hast thou not guarded thy lord the king? for one of the people came in to destroy the king thy lord.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
This thing is not good which thou hast done. As Jehovah liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not guarded your master, Jehovah's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.
David has crept into Saul's camp at night and carried off the spear and water jar from beside the sleeping king's head. Now, from a safe hill, he rebukes Abner for slack guard duty — but why a rebuke, when the hunted man could have killed his hunter?
David's words are a formal accusation. The case is proved before Abner can answer:
Having moved to a safe distance, David now wakes the sleeping camp. He scolds Abner for his carelessness in letting the king lie without a guard. Abner is a man of courage with supreme authority, and yet he let the king lie unprotected. David taunts him with it. He deserves to die for such neglect. There could be no doubt that David's charge was true, for the spear and the water were witnesses of it.
The failure of the watch was real, and God's hand lay behind it:
The sentinels who should have watched while the king slept are themselves asleep. God prepared them, as it were, for David's night visit. Led by the hand of God, David goes straight to the sleeping king in the boldness of faith.
David tells Abner to look for two missing things. Each one says something about what Saul has lost:
Instead of doing Saul any personal harm, they take away his spear and a vessel of water that was near his head. This is significant. The spear was his offensive weapon. So Saul received evidence that the Lord knew how to take from him the ability to do the damage he wanted to do. Taking the vessel of water was a reminder that God could also take away the refreshment he depended on. The water speaks of the word of God: this alone could keep Saul in his kingdom, though he did not recognise it. He would have to lose it before realising how much he needed it.
David now held Saul's own weapon in his hand:
The weapon that Saul had sought to use against David more than once is now found in David's hand. Would he use it against the Lord's anointed as he had once used Goliath's sword against that enemy of Israel? In no way. It is enough for David to take away from Saul what he had used to try to harm him. That shows the king that David knew all about his weapons, and that they were powerless against him.
The deep sleep over the camp was God's doing. Its purpose was protection, not permission:
God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved, not to give him a chance to avenge himself. God would save him in view of the work of grace He would call him to do towards Saul. Grace is David's part; judgment is the Lord's.
Had David struck, the enemy of God's purpose would have gained either way:
Saul might be a wicked man, but he was the LORD's anointed, and David would not take the matter into his own hand. "As the LORD lives," he says, and that is enough for David... Would it not have been a lasting reproach that he had killed the king while he slept? Faith committed it to God. "Beloved, never avenge yourselves." But how plainly Satan's craft fails! If Saul had killed David, or David had killed Saul, either way would have suited Satan's purpose and hindered the purpose of God.
David calls Saul Abner's lord and God's anointed in the same breath. The title had nothing to do with approval of Saul's behaviour:
Whatever Israel in general may have thought, to David's faith Saul was always "the Lord's anointed," and deserved the deepest respect for it. So when Saul's life was in David's hand, once and again, David would not touch him... Did David sympathise with Saul's conduct and ways? Did he have fellowship with him, or personal affection for him? Certainly not. But... David leaves it to the One who put Saul on the throne to remove him in His own time and way. Meanwhile he was content to suffer, and to have his name treated as evil by Saul.
David cared for the king more than the king's own defenders did:
David speaks to Abner with irony. He shows him that a child of God has more interest and care for the world than those who pretend to support, help, or defend it.
- Guarded — Abner failed to guard "your lord, the LORD's anointed." The hunted man guarded the king better than the army did.
- Proved — the missing spear and water jar are the witnesses. Abner looks at the empty ground and cannot deny it.
- Stripped — the spear was Saul's weapon, the water his refreshment. God can take both from a man set on a wrong course.
- Restrained — God sent the deep sleep to preserve David, not to give him a chance for revenge. Grace was David's part, judgment the Lord's.
- Waiting — David left it to the One who put Saul on the throne to remove him. Meanwhile he was content to suffer.