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.