Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah. 1 Samuel 26 The reproach of the enemy F. B. Meyer, B. A. Dr. Maclaren is specially emphatic in connecting Psalm 7 with this part of David's history, and indicates its value in helping us to understand the rapid vacillations is Saul's behaviour. 1. It is headed Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord. That is, it is an irregular ode; like a stream broken over a bed of rocks and stones, expressing by its uneven measure and sudden changes the emotion of its author. We have often to sing these Shiggaion metres; our songs are frequently broken with sighs and groans. — Happy are they who can find themes for singing to the Lord in every sad and bitter experience! 2. The title proceeds, concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. Who was this Cush? The word means black. It may possibly refer to the colour of the skin and hair, and been given as a familiar designation to some swarthy Benjamite. Some have supposed that it was David's title for Saul. Others have referred it to Shimei, the Benjamite, whose furious abuse of the king, in the hour of his calamity, elicited such plaintive resignation from him, such passionate resentment from Abishai. If the psalm be carefully examined, it will be found to hear a close resemblance to the words spoken by David, when Saul and he held the brief colloquy outside the cave at Engedi, and afterwards at the hill Hachilah. On comparison of psalm and narrative it seems more than likely that, Cush was one of Saul's intimate friends and constant companions, and that he was incessantly at work poisoning the king's mind with malignant and deliberate falsehoods about David. I. SEARCH YOUR HEART TO SEE IF THESE SLANDERS HAVE FOUNDATION IN FACT. Perhaps those quick, envious eyes have discerned weaknesses in your character, of which your closest friends are aware, but they have shrunk from telling you. II. IF THERE IS NO BASIS FOR THEM, REJOICE! How thankful we should be that God has kept us from being actually guilty of the things whereof we are accused! We might have clone them, and worse. III. TAKE SHELTER IN THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT OF GOD. We are his servants, and if He is satisfied with us, why should we break our hearts over what our fellow servants say? It is, after all, but a small matter with us to be judged of man's judgment. IV. ABJURE MORE COMPLETELY THE CARNAL LIFE. Why do we smart under these unkind and slanderous words, which are as baseless as uncharitable? Is it not because we set too high a value upon the favour and applause of men? V. LEAVE GOD TO VINDICATE YOUR GOOD NAME. ( F. B. Meyer, B. A. ) Saul lay sleeping within the trench. 1 Samuel 26:7 The danger of spiritual lethargy R. P. Buddicom, M. A. The circumstances of Saul, and the manner in which he was treated by David, may have a warning voice to unbelievers, careless, thoughtless, and slumbering in their sins. The King of Israel was bound to David by every tie of gratitude, as to the man who had saved his life and kingdom. Yet with all unthankfulness the most flagrant did he aim if possible to destroy him. With this unrighteous purpose, he had followed David into the wilderness of Ziph, and every malignant feeling was arrayed against the man after God's own heart. And what is the unbeliever's state in reference to God? Hath not the Most High visited him with providential and spiritual mercies? Look how eternal love is manifested, in that "Christ hath died for him, the just for the unjust, that He might bring him to God." What is the result? Hath this flow of goodness softened and melted him into deep repentance, adoring gratitude, and holy reconciliation? No; look how the offender is pursuing the Lord to dishonour Him — mark how the carnal mind is enmity against God. The lips, to which God hath given language, ere opened to blaspheme Him. The feet, to which He hath given motion, walk in the way of scorners. In prosecution of his unrighteous purpose, Saul had pitched in the hill of Hachilah, whither David and Abishai his sister's son followed him. And when they came, "behold Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and the spear stuck in the ground at his bolster; but Abner, the captain of his host, and the people lay round about him." His army, confident and well appointed, were at his bidding and hard at hand; he looked for no resistance, but expected soon and safely to possess and destroy his enemy, and he fell asleep in the fulness of security. In that warfare which the rebellious sinner wages with his offended Maker, how often doth self-confidence lull his soul to sleep in the trench! His heart is lulled to sleep by the deceitfulness of sin. The very forbearance he hath received serves to deepen his lethargy. Satan leads him blindfold into danger. Jonah slept in the storm; Samson slept in the lap of Delilah, while the Philistines were upon him; Sisera slept in the tent of Jael the Kenite; and thus doth the soul without Christ sleep amidst the terrors of impending wrath. A deep sleep had fallen upon Saul "from the Lord." O tremble, lest, while ye are wrapped up in this insensibility, an offended God should continue and deepen the spirit of slumber upon you in judgment. Saul slept securely, but he was in the power of his enemies. David had good reason to regard him as a foe; and how shall God regard you who depart from him? Abishai said unto David, "God hath delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day." Is your spiritual slumber so deep that ye cannot hear Satan express a similar desire? Doth he not long to put, forth his hand for a first and final stroke against your lives? ( R. P. Buddicom, M. A. ) Destroy him not. 1 Samuel 26:9 Vengeance left with him to whom it belongs C. Vince. Our attention has been called to the fact that the first great victory achieved by David was over his own spirit. As we pursue his history, we are glad to find that his first triumph of this noblest kind was not his last. His cruel and implacable foe, who had come out with three thousand armed men determined either to take him prisoner or to hunt him to death, was now entirely in his hands. It was a golden opportunity, and David made a golden use of it, for he refused to avenge himself, and suffered his deadly enemy to depart in peace. For three years he had lived the life of a fugitive, and in many ways and places had sought to shelter himself against the unrighteous and pitiless wrath of Saul. There were many things to enkindle his resentment and make forbearance towards Saul a most difficult virtue. Think of what be had lost, and what he had suffered! How strangely things combined together to make the worse appear the better course! The promise and the providence of God both seemed on the side of instant and complete vengeance! But David was versed in the Law of God: and in one of the earlier books of his incomplete, but precious, priceless Bible, he had read these commandments: "Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." ( Leviticus 19 -18.) David's generous forbearance touched the heart of Saul, disarmed him of his rage, melted him into tears, and constrained him to become a suppliant at the feet of the man for whose blood he had been thirsting. This second display of magnanimity on Da ( C. Vince. ) Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord and be guiltless? David's magnanimity W. Fleetwood. I. THE PERSONS HERE CONCERNED ARE SAUL AND DAVID AND THE STATE IN WHICH THE TEXT SHEWS US THESE TWO WAS THAT OF ENMITY. Consider, therefore, that the prince that was his captive now, and at his mercy had somewhile since descended so below himself, as to become the envier and detractor from his praise, was poorly jealous of the honours he had purchased, and tried to blast the laurels he had gathered, at the expense oil so much painful boil and hazard; and 'tis no little share of grace and goodness that can restrain a young aspiring hero from taking vengeance on the maligners of his praise, and from removing all impediments in his pursuit of fame and glory. When men's lives are so apparently sought after, they usually lay all respects aside, and listen to the dictates of unruly Nature. He was a false, perfidious prince. Nothing affects a generous mind so sensibly as being cheated under shew of friendship; and treachery is never viler than when 'tis covered with the mask of godliness. But further, be was perjured. He had but lately taken a solemn oath before the Lord and Jonathan, David should not be slain. And when a prince has thus abandoned common honesty, broken the sacred cords that knit societies, and keep up governments and mutual correspondences, he is justly delivered into the hands of those whose innocence and good credulity he had imposed on, and abused almost to their destruction. Oh, what a mighty measure of God's grace must fill the heart of him that then could say, "The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed." There are some things besides our lives and persons, in which, if we are touched, we think ourselves extremely injured; and they are specially our friends, our fortunes and religion; and David was in every one of these affected more or less by Saul's implacable pursuit, and hunting after him. But notwithstanding all this, great as he was in court, great as he was in camp, and greater yet in favour of the people, he would not venture on the impious fact, still it was, "The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed." 'Tis surely with ambition, as with other passions, the imaginary joys are greater than the experienced and substantial ones: The hopes and expectations far exceed the pleasures of possession. Whatever cares belong to crowns, they lie concealed within their circles, and are more seldom seen than felt. But this temptation found no place with David, young, and gay, and vigorous as he was and even so near the crown, Ahab by conniving at Abishai's blow, he might have been in full and sure possession of it; yet he suffered not himself to be transported beyond the bounds of rigid honesty and loyalty, and still cries out, "The Lord forbid." Now, to conclude, and to complete this character, and lastly, to these great advantages of being son-in-law, a mighty man of valour, and accepted in the sight of all the people, of knowing Saul rejected, and himself designed for successor, the greatest yet of all advantages, and that is opportunity; that without which all others signify but little; and that with which alone men serve their turns, and make up the defects of all the rest; that pander to all sin, and fatal snare of virtue! That has ruined many thousand souls and betrayed them into most detestable commissions. Opportunity, that few have virtue, few have strength sufficient; to withstand, and of all opportunities, none are so strong, and work so powerfully upon the minds of men as those that look providential ones, and seem to come from God. Yet this was David's opportunity, and yet withstood. II. CONSIDER THE REASON DAVID GAVE FOR HIS REFUSAL OF ABISHAI'S AND THE SOLDIERS' PROFFER, "It is the Lord's anointed." The laws of God did certainly secure the lives of kings as well as other men's, if it did no more. The Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come, or he shall perish in the battle, that is, I leave him to God's disposal; let God, the Judge of all the earth, do with him as he pleases. And though we think the leaving wicked kings to God is the lightest and the kindest expression of nothing in the world that can be; yet we would quickly alter our opinions and be of David's mind, if we would give ourselves leave to consider: 1. That he hates injustice more. 2. That he is much more ready. 3. Much more able to punish it than we can be. ( W. Fleetwood. ) Then said Saul, I have sinned. 1 Samuel 26:21-25 Saul's second reconciliation J. Parker, D. D. When a man like Saul has wept, and spoken words so morally noble, it is but fair to credit him with sincerity and permanence. At the time of his reconciliation he meant every word he said. Yet in a brief period we find Saul going down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men to seek David, who had been reported as hiding himself in the hill of Hachilah. Then came the gush of emotion upon the part of Saul. The weapon which conquered him in the first instance conquered him also in the second. Forbearance was mightier than weapons of war. The sword has slain its countless thousands, but love holds the universe in sweet and glad captivity. I. It is proved that THE DEEPEST AND SINCEREST EMOTION MAY BE TRANSIENT IN ITS MORAL EFFECTS. We left Saul reconciled; we find him again in arms. There are two things which are often mistaken for Christian feeling. 1. Selfish gratitude for unexpected preservation. 2. Admiration of moral nobleness in others. See bow this is applicable to hearers of the Gospel. Men hear of Jesus Christ's sympathy, love, beneficence, etc. Feeling may be exhausted. "Past feeling." II. It is shown that SELF-CONTROL IS IN PROPORTION TO THE ESTIMATE FORMED OF THE DIVINE ELEMENT THAT IS IN MAN. How was it that David withheld his hand when Saul was delivered over to him as lawful prey? Human nature said, Strike; another voice said, Forbear! Twice David might have slain Saul, and twice he spared his life. We want to know the secret of this marvellous self-control. We find it pithily stated in the interview between Abishai and David. Abishai said, "Thine enemy." David said, "The Lord's anointed." Two different views of the same man! The one narrow, selfish, superficial; the other profound and true. So it is with every man: he is not to be measured merely by his personal relations to ourselves. Pray to see the highest and divinest aspect of every man's character. We shall thus be enabled: 1. To hope something even of the worst; and 2. to do something in the negative work of sparing, even where we cannot do anything in the positive work of reclaiming.Paul had respect even for a weak man, not because he was weak, but because Christ died for him. By taking the highest view of man, he was enabled to do many things for the sake of the Christ that was in him. "But when ye so sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ." III. It is shown how much better it is TO TRUST OUR INTERESTS TO THE WORKING OUT OF DIVINE LAWS THAN TO CARE FOR THEM WITH NARROWNESS OF SPIRIT. "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him," etc. Why fight with thy own poor weak fist? etc. Why prefer murder to Divine retribution? Why narrow down bureau life to a paltry duel? etc. The battle is not yours, but God's. Shall not God avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? IV. It is clearly shown that FLIGHT FROM DANGER IS PERFECTLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE HIGHEST COURAGE. David was never chargeable with cowardice, yet he escaped like an affrighted man. "If they persecute you in one city," etc. There is a time to fight (Goliath); there is a time to fly (Saul). The one was an uncircumcised Philistine, the other was the Lord's anointed. Understand that there are differences of conquest. David conquered Saul as surely as he conquered Goliath. God sees His own image in us. To recover it he sent His Son. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) I have played the fool. 1 Samuel 26:21 Playing the fool Marcus Rainsford. The greatest and most difficult problem which the Church of God has had to face in all ages, and has had to try and solve is this — how to prevent men and women playing the fool. Thank God all down history there have been those who were bold enough to put out a protest, who, in spite of tremendous difficulties, were bold enough to call upon the fools not to deal so foolishly, and to the wicked not to set up their horn. And, believe me, the protest is stiff required. In spite of all our advance, in spite of our free education, there is still a vast number of those who walk in the ways of folly. Education is not enough to prevent a man playing the fool. You find men gambling away fortunes honest men have made, and you find men who try to drown their sorrows in what is called the sparkling cup — forgetting all the time that they are drowning their souls in perdition. You have no right to charge at God's door the things that you ought to charge at the door of your own folly. It is always being done — the Lord this, and the Lord that; it is you. 1. The folly of banishing God from life. Well, now; I find in God's Word that, there are three very special forms of folly which He there points out. I don't know whether you have observed that Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are word for word the same; and in both there is this statement: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Literally in the Hebrew that is not just the idea of the writer. It is, "The fool hath said in his heart, No God" — that is, "No God for me." The folly here spoken of is a much more common folly — I mean the folly of the man that says, "I do not want God in my life, I do not want God in my home, I do not want God to rule and control in my heart." 2. The envious fool. Furthermore, you find another description of a foolish person in Psalm 73 — the foolishness that is envious at the prosperity of the wicked. It is an old problem. 3. The money-grubbing fool. Another definition of a fool that I must not omit tonight comes in connection with our Blessed Lord's ministry, and that is Luke 12 — "Thou fool!" What does it mean? Oh, it means that to put much emphasis on temporal things, and to neglect eternal things, and to set much value on things that pass away, and neglect the things that do not pass away, is the act of a fool. 4. The self-important fool. We dwell upon the special foolishness which attached to Saul, King of Israel. His foolishness lay in this, that he had an overweening estimate of his own importance. Saul was head and shoulders above his people, a pity for him, because it turned his head. Oh, it is a dreadful thing to be over-conscious of your own importance. God can do nothing with a man like that till He has brought him down. down, down, down. "He bringeth down the mighty from their seats, He exalteth the humble and meek." Then there was another great mistake Saul made, he fought against David. He knew that David was indeed the Lord's anointed; he knew that David ought to have the throne; he knew that David had been infinitely kind to him. But Saul determined, in the pride of his heart, to have David's life; there was a confederacy against him, the Lord's chosen. 5. God's remedy for folly. It would be sorry work to talk about the follies of men and women if one could not tell of a remedy. The fool requires two things. He requires a revelation of wisdom, to meet his folly; and he requires a revelation of power, to overcome his weakness. Is there such a revelation? Yes, here, and nowhere else than in that book. ( Marcus Rainsford. ) Playing the fool J. Thain Davidson, D. D. Now, if Saul's folly mainly consisted in yielding to the impulses of passion, and obeying the dictates not of duty but of a selfish heart, with no regard to the consequences, certainly he has no lack of successors. A few choice specimens have come under my personal notice. My album has some rare portraits: and the first I shall name is I. THE IDLER. If the world contains a genuine fool, it is the young man who wastes his time. Some things God gives often, others only once. Youth belongs to the latter category, and if it be thrown away is beyond recovery. Idleness is always demoralising. Almost all the moral havoc that is wrought amongst young men is effected after the office door is closed. Few men go wrong when they are busy at work. Tell me how a youth spends his evenings and his half-holidays, and I shall have a good idea of his character. The worst thing you can do of an evening is to do nothing. You may easily predict a man's future when you know how he spends his hours of leisure. The next portrait I have to present, is II. THE BUFFOON. There are many who seem incapable of a serious thought. They jest at everything. They live in an atmosphere of hilarity. They treat life as if it were a great joke. There is scarcely a trace of gravity or good sense in them. They are to society only what bells are to horses, making plenty of jingle, but not assisting to draw. It is a poor ambition this; the habitual jester is an empty fribble. Such men have no reverence in their nature. They have not a conception of the dignity of manhood. They have scarcely respect even for religion, and some profane quotation from Holy Writ is enough to set them in a roar. Let all such characters awaken within you a feeling of revulsion. Do not associate with them. Admissible they might be in a menagerie, but life is too serious to tolerate them. The next page of my album introduces to us: III. THE WORLDLING. The next on my list is: IV. THE SENSUALIST. I mean the man who is a slave to his baser passions and wallows in the mire of bestiality. The pure shrink from his touch; his breath blights every innocent thing. V. THE PERSISTENT UNBELIEVER. ( J. Thain Davidson, D. D. ) Playing the fool J. A. Miller. I. SAUL'S HISTORY JUSTIFIES THIS EXPRESSION, INASMUCH AS HIS PUBLIC LIFE WAS MARKED BY A CONTINUED ATTEMPT AT THOROUGH INDEPENDENCE OF GOD. Here is discoverable the great secret of Saul's downfall. This was his folly, here he erred. He made the attempt to get on without God. 1. This was folly — first, because it was subversive of all that reason and wisdom suggested. For the very being of a God is of itself a fact sufficiently indicative of the place which the creatures of that God should occupy. It was attempting to alter the relative positions of the Universal Sovereign and of His subjects — the relative position of the Great Proprietor of all and of those who are entirely at His disposal. The laws of nature, in regard to matter, allow no interference with them which would subvert the relative conditions of strength and weakness, independence and dependence, without such results as expose the folly of the attempt. Let the lighter materials, of which the superstructure may be safely built, be employed for the foundation, and let the heavy blocks — the solid masses — of which the foundation should consist, be used for the superstructure, and the builder will soon have to say, "I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly." Attempt to frame a raft of some substance whose specific gravity is greater than that of water, and the moment you launch it on the waves it will sink, and imminent peril will ensue, and you will just have been "playing the fool." Or come to nature's laws as regards moral beings — indulge a course of Action which subverts these. Let the rule be that the child's will shall take precedence of the parent's, the servant's of the master's, that superior and inferior should change places, and would not the results in families and households soon prove that all this was but "erring exceedingly?" And shall there be any success where man, dependent man, thus takes or attempts to take the place of independence? Can he rid himself of God, when, at the utmost stretch of self-will, he is asking, "Who is Lord over me?" 2. Besides, if it be against all reason to put our own will into the place of God's, it is not less against our interest to do so. Saul, indeed, attempted to do as well without God as with Him; but did he succeed? Did he get on as well without God as with Him? And did ever the history of a single individual justify the supposition that this was possible? It is only "the blessing of the Lord" which "maketh rich, and he added no sorrow with it." II. APPLICABLE AS THE SENTENCE WAS TO THE WHOLE RETROSPECT OF HIS HISTORY, IT WAS PREEMINENTLY APPROPRIATE TO THIS PORTION OF IT. In many respects he had thus erred; in one respect most especially and distressingly so. He was now addressing David, a man whom on every ground, he ought to have loved, for he was lovely in himself, and he had done Saul good service; and, moreover, he stood in very near relationship to him — the husband of his daughter, the bosom friend of his son. It is not difficult to gather the reasons of this verdict pronounced upon himself; and they demand our attention, because they expose to our view points of possible error in our own conduct. His folly and error consisted in treating a man as his enemy who was, in reality, his best friend. Have you ever, like Saul in reference to David, felt the risings of dislike to your friend, because, in some form or another, he seemed to stand in the way of your cherished plans and self-gratifying projects? Beware how you listen to the suggestions of the evil spirit. Saul's folly consisted, not simply in treating as an enemy the man who was really his best friend, but in attempting, by this very conduct towards David, to fly in the face of those Divine arrangements to which, however humiliating their character, he was bound, in meekness, to have submitted. God had assigned the kingdom to David: Saul was determined to keep it for himself and his family. It was the one purpose of Saul's life to defeat God's arrangement; and nothing promised so readily and directly to accomplish his object as the death of David, and this became, therefore, the one great point at which he aimed. Yet never does a man commit himself to a harder, and at the same time more fruitless, enterprise than when he fights against God's providential arrangements — when, for instance, God is evidently calling on him to give up some plan of his own — when God is requiring him to take a humbler level, and he will grasp tightly and hold tenaciously the position which everything combines to tell him is not for himself nor his family, but for another. "Their folly shall be made manifest to all men;" and not less shall it be felt by themselves. Submission, which they would not render voluntarily to One who has a just right to claim it, will be wrung out of them reluctantly by One against whom "none ever hardened himself and prospered." Saul, alas! admitted his error, but took no steps to turn his confession to practical advantage. Let us be careful against such a neglect. Let us proceed at once, by God's blessing, to act out our convictions. ( J. A. Miller. ) The folly of man G. Campbell Morgan, D. D. This is not the kind of thing a man would say if he gave himself time to think. It is not a statement made after preparation. Men do not speak in this wise after thought and preparation, and that fact makes the utterance the more valuable, for it is under such stress of circumstances that men often reveal the ever present, but habitually hidden, consciousness. It was so with Saul on this occasion. 1. This man was a man of good family and position in life. His father was Kish, "a mighty man of valour," and the marginal reading most strikingly catches the thought of the original word — "a mighty man of substance; a wealthy man." 2. Notice, also, that he was a man of splendid physique — a choice man is the word, a goodly man, a man standing head and shoulders above his fellows, handsome and strong. Let no man ever put any false value upon incompetency in the physical realm. Saul started with the magnificent capital of a strong physique. 3. Again, he was a man of simple life, living at home, interested in his father's affairs, by no means a prodigal. 4. He was, moreover, a man of modest disposition. 5. And then, once again, he was a man of courage, not the courage that vaunts itself, which is of the very essence of cowardice, not the courage that talks, but the courage that farms until his nation is insulted, and then strikes. Now, this is the man that says in the words of my text, "I have played the fool!"Notice Saul's opportunities. 1. He is the chosen of God; the choice is Divinely, definitely stated. He had opened before him a door, passing through which he should find the life — simple, and modest, and strong, and beautiful, that had been preparing in the past — put into a place of activity and of service, of which he had never dreamed. What scope for his powers in the kingly office! What chances to bless his fellow men! This was his opportunity. 2. Then notice another fact proving how great that opportunity was. He had the friendship of Samuel, a man of God, a seer, the leader of the people. 3. Then remember this also, in speaking of his opportunity. It is said of him that "there went with him a band of men whose hearts God had touched." This man with such glorious opportunities is the one who, coming near the end of life, surprised in a crisis, cries out, "I have played the fool!"This is not the story of a man who made final shipwreck in the early years of his life, or the story of a man who had no chance in life, who inherited forces that damned him, but the story of a man who seems to have had everything in his favour at the beginning — his own person and character were magnificent, his surroundings highly favoured and privileged, and yet this man came at last to say that he had played the fool. 1. I find the first point of that failure on the day when Samuel had come with the hosts of the people for the crowning of the man whom God had chosen to be king. Where was he? Hiding away. A man has no business to be modest when. God has anointed him for work. There is a modesty that is blasphemous. It is of the very essence of a self-centred life, and if God has anointed a man to be king, that man sins when he allows modesty to hold him back from the kingly office. What was it? Failure to follow God at all costs and against all inclinations. Here is the beginning of all the trouble that wrecked this man's character and life, that spoiled his opportunities, that drew from him that which was at once an awful confession and a wail of anguish. "Behold! I have played the fool!" 2. From that day pass over the years, and come to the day of impatient waiting at Gilgal. Samuel did not come, as he was expected, and Saul arrogated to himself the right to offer a sacrifice, an act that was not lawful to him. Underlying that act is the spirit of rebellion, the rebellion of a self-centred life. 3. Follow him still further, and notice the degeneration of character. The man who began by hiding away, and then became self-dependent, and then fell into disobedience and lying, now becomes rash, and takes an oath upon him which jeopardises the life of the fairest man in his kingdom, his own con Jonathan. 4. Mark the process still further, and see him at last. In the early years he was himself among the prophets, speaking by the inspiration of the wind of God that passed across his soul. See him now creeping in the darkness of the night to the witch of Endor, asking for some occult subtle revelation of secrets because the light of day is blotted from his life. And the — What then? Suicide! You may call it anything you like, but if I ask a man to slay me, and because he refuses I fall upon my sword, what is it, if not suicide? What are the causes? First, as we have said, lack of loyalty to God. Life makes shipwreck of itself except when the hand of God is upon the helm; no matter how fair and glorious and beautiful the promise of morning, night will bring disaster and defeat, unless there is the loyal handing over of the will of man to the will of God. But mark how this works out in life; see how the man, when once his life is taken out of the Divine government and control, neglects his beat friends, Samuel, David, Jonathan; mark how he fails to understand the opportunity of his kingship. A man who seems only to have seen in kingship an opportunity for fighting and victory and possession, forgets the greater fact, that the king is to be shepherd also, to provide for his people, protecting them from harm, feeding and leading them like a flock.Let us in a few closing words gather up what seem to be the lessons of that life. 1. First, advantages do not ensure success. The fact of your family, the fact of your disposition, the fact of your physical power, the fact of your courage, all these things are to be valued, but none of them will ensure success. I pray you, do not undervalue the fact that your father believed in God and your mother prayed. The young man that undervalues such facts is already playing the fool, and unless he learns ere it be too late the infinite value of that possession, he will do so to the end of time. Your parents gave you no capital to start in life with, do I hear you tell your friend? It is not true; your father gave you an example of cleanness

Benson Commentary 1 Samuel 26:1 And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon? 1 Samuel 26:1-2 . Doth not David hide himself with us? — The number of men whom David supported would not allow him to continue long in the same place, and therefore he was often obliged to shift his quarters for subsistence. We now find him again in the wilderness of Ziph. How much time had elapsed between his marriage of Abigail and his going thither, we are not informed, nor is it easy to determine, but it is probable it was considerable. Then Saul arose — Probably he would have pursued David no more if these Ziphites had not thus excited him. 1 Samuel 26:2 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 1 Samuel 26:3 And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 1 Samuel 26:4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed. 1 Samuel 26:5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him. 1 Samuel 26:5 . David came to the place where Saul had pitched — Within sight of it; where he might observe how he lay. Saul lay in a trench — Hebrews ????? bammanggal, in the carriage, or rather, within the circle of the carriages, that he might be safe from any sudden attack. 1 Samuel 26:6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. 1 Samuel 26:6-7 . Ahimelech the Hittite — A valiant man of that nation, who was a proselyte to the Jewish religion; and not only followed David, but was always near to his person. Abishai — Brother to Joab, the son of Zeruiah, David’s sister. His father is not named, either because he was now dead, or because he was an obscure person. Abishai said, I will go — Either Ahimelech declined it, as too hazardous an enterprise; or Abishai, being a forward young man, offered himself while the other stood deliberating. David and Abishai came to the people by night — A bold attempt for two men to come into the midst of an army of three thousand chosen men. But it should be considered, 1st, That David had a particular assurance that God would preserve him to the kingdom; and, 2d, That he probably had a particular impression from God, exciting him to this work, and, possibly, God might reveal to him that he had cast them into this deep sleep, in order that David might have this second opportunity of manifesting his innocence toward Saul. 1 Samuel 26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him. 1 Samuel 26:8 Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time. 1 Samuel 26:8-9 . Now, therefore, let me smite him — Although David would not kill him himself, when he had the like opportunity, 1 Samuel 24:4 ; yet Abishai thought he might give him leave to do it; and he pledged himself to nail him to the ground with his spear at one thrust, so that he should make no noise by crying out. And David said, Destroy him not — Saul having been made king by God’s special appointment, David looked upon it as a high crime to offer any violence to him: as if he had said, Though he be a tyrant, yet he is our lord and king; and I, although designed king, am yet his subject; and therefore I cannot kill him without sin, nor will I consent that thou shouldst do it. 1 Samuel 26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless? 1 Samuel 26:10 David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. 1 Samuel 26:10-11 . The Lord shall smite him, &c. — David leaves it to the sovereign will and pleasure of God to put an end to Saul’s life when he saw best; either by a sudden stroke, or in the course of nature, or by causing him to fall in battle. Take the spear — Which will show where we have been, and what we could have done. And the cruise of water — Set there either for Saul to drink, if he were thirsty, or to wash himself, as was prescribed to the Israelites by the law, for many accidental pollutions. 1 Samuel 26:11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. 1 Samuel 26:12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it , nor knew it , neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them. 1 Samuel 26:13 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them: 1 Samuel 26:13-14 . And stood on the top of a hill — On such a rock or precipice that there was no coming to him but by taking a circuit round. So that it might be said, in respect of the way whereby only they could come to him, that he stood afar off, and that there was a great distance between them; and yet, though his person might thus be out of their reach, his voice might be distinctly heard, which in a clear air, and in the silence of the night, it might be at a considerable distance. David cried to the people — It is probable this was early in the morning. 1 Samuel 26:14 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? 1 Samuel 26:15 And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. 1 Samuel 26:15-17 . Wherefore hast thou not kept, &c. — Observed better military discipline for the preservation of the king’s person? There came one of the people — Into the king’s camp, and had a fair opportunity to destroy him. Because ye have not kept your master — Guarded him better from any danger. It is probable they despised David’s small forces, and, therefore, were so negligent. It is my voice, my lord, O king — He still acknowledges Saul’s authority, and the allegiance he owed him, though he had done him so many injuries. 1 Samuel 26:16 This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear is , and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. 1 Samuel 26:17 And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. 1 Samuel 26:18 And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand? 1 Samuel 26:19 Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods. 1 Samuel 26:19 . If the Lord hath stirred thee up against me — If he hath, by the evil spirit which he hath sent, or by his secret providence, directed thy rage against me for the punishment of thine or my sins; let him accept an offering — Let us offer up a sacrifice to him to appease his wrath against us. They have driven me — From the land which God hath given to his people for their inheritance, and where he hath established his presence and worship. Saying, Go, serve other gods — This was the language of their actions. For by driving him from God’s land, and the place of his worship, into foreign and idolatrous lands, they exposed him to the peril of being either insnared by their counsels or examples, or forced by their power to worship idols. 1 Samuel 26:20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains. 1 Samuel 26:20 . Before the face of the Lord — The Lord seeing it, and being the avenger. Remember, if thou dost it, God, the judge of all men, observes and will call thee to account for it, though I will not avenge myself. Is come out to seek a flea — Is come out for a purpose beneath him, and not of importance enough to deserve his trouble. As when one doth hunt a partridge — The Hebrew word ??? , kore, does not seem to be rightly translated partridge here. Rabbi Salomon renders it cuculus, cuckow, so called from its crying. It certainly must be the name of a bird of no value for food, or any other use; and therefore the pursuing it on the mountains, through difficult places, was a useless and insignificant labour. 1 Samuel 26:21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. 1 Samuel 26:21 . Then said Saul, I have sinned — This second instance of David’s tenderness wrought more upon Saul than the former. He owns himself melted, and quite overcome by David’s kindness to him. My soul was precious in thine eyes — which I thought had been odious. He acknowledges he had done very ill to persecute him: I have acted against God’s law; I have sinned: and against my own interest; I have played the fool — In pursuing thee as an enemy, who wast, indeed, one of my best friends. And herein I have erred exceedingly — Have wronged both thee and myself. Nothing can be more full and ingenuous than this confession. God surely now touched his heart. And he promises to persecute him no more: nor does it appear that he ever attempted it afterward. 1 Samuel 26:22 And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. 1 Samuel 26:22-24 . Behold the king’s spear, &c. — He did not think it proper to put himself in Saul’s power by going and presenting it himself to him. The Lord render to every man his righteousness — In these words David shows the assurance he had that, however Saul dealt by him, the Lord would vindicate his cause on account of his integrity and righteous dealing. So let my life be much set by, &c. — He prays that God would spare his life as he had spared Saul’s, and show him similar mercy, and then he trusted that he should be delivered out of all his troubles. 1 Samuel 26:23 The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed. 1 Samuel 26:24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. 1 Samuel 26:25 Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things , and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place. 1 Samuel 26:25 . Blessed be thou, my son David — Saul perceived that it was in vain to contend any longer against David, whom he saw God intended for great things. And so strong was his conviction now of this, as well as of his own sin and folly, that he could not forbear blessing him, foretelling his success, applauding him, and condemning himself, even in the hearing of his own soldiers. And this, it seems, was their last interview. After this they saw each other no more. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 1 Samuel 26:1 And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon? CHAPTER XXXI. DAVID TWICE SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL. 1 Samuel 24:1-22 ; 1 Samuel 26:1-25 . THE invasion of the Philistines had freed David from the fear of Saul for a time, but only for a time. He knew full well that when the king of Israel had once repelled that invasion he would return to prosecute the object on which his heart was so much set. For a while he took refuge among the rocks of Engedi, that beautiful spot of which we have already spoken, and which has been embalmed in Holy Writ, as suggesting a fair image of the Beloved One - "My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi" ( Song of Solomon 1:14 ). The mountains here and throughout the hill country of Judea are mostly of limestone formation, abounding, like all such rocks, in caverns of large size, in which lateral chambers run off at an angle from the main cavity, admitting of course little or no light, but such that a person inside, while himself unseen, may see what goes on at the entrance to the cave. In the dark sides of such a cave, David and his men lay concealed when Saul was observed by him to enter and lie down, probably unattended, to enjoy the mid-day sleep which the heat of the climate often demands. We cannot fail to remark the singular providence that concealed from Saul at this time the position of David. He had good information of his movements in general; the treacherous spirit which was so prevalent, greatly aided him in this; but on the present occasion, he was evidently in ignorance of his situation. If only he had known, how easy it would have been for him with his three thousand chosen men to blockade the cave, and starve David and his followers into surrender! The entrance of the king being noticed by David's men, they urged their master to avail himself of the opportunity of getting rid of him which was now so providentially and unexpectedly presented to him. We can hardly think of a stronger temptation to do so than that under which David now lay. In the first place, there was the prospect of getting rid of the weary life he was leading, - more like the life of a wild beast hunted by its enemies, than of a man eager to do good to his fellows, with a keen relish for the pleasures of home and an extraordinary delight in the services of God's house. Then there was the prospect of wearing the crown and wielding the sceptre of Israel, - the splendours of a royal palace, and its golden opportunities of doing good. Further, there was the voice of his followers urging him to the deed, putting on it a sacred character by ascribing to it a Divine permission and appointment. And still further, there was the suddenness and unexpectedness of the opportunity. Nothing is more critical than a sudden opportunity of indulging an ardent passion; with scarcely a moment for deliberation, one is apt to be hurried blindly along, and at once to commit the deed. With all his noble nature, Robert the Bruce could not refrain from plunging his dagger into the heart of the treacherous Comyn, even in the convent of the Minorite friars. The discipline of David's spirit must at this time have been admirable. Not only did he restrain himself, but he restrained his followers too. He would neither strike his heartless enemy, nor suffer another to strike him. On the first of the two occasions of his sparing him - recorded in the twenty-fourth chapter - he might naturally believe that his forbearance would turn Saul's heart and end the unjust quarrel. On the second occasion of the same sort - recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter - he could have had no hope of the kind. It was a pure sense of duty that restrained him. He acted in utter contempt of what was personal and selfish, and in deepest reverence for what was holy and Divine. How different from the common spirit of the world! Young people, who are so ready to keep up a sense of wrong, and wait an opportunity of paying back your schoolfellows, study this example of David. Ye grown men, who could not get such-a-one to vote for you, or to support your claim in your controversy, and who vowed that you would never rest till you had driven him from the place, how does your spirit compare with that of David? Ye statesmen, who have received an affront from some barbarous people, utterly ignorant of your ways, and who forthwith issue your orders for your ships of war to scatter destruction among their miserable villages, terrifying, killing, mutilating, no matter how many of the wretches that have no arms to meet you in fair fight - think of the forbearance of David. And think too of many passages in the New Testament that give the idea of another treatment and another species of victory: - "Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." The special consideration that held back the arm of David from killing Saul was that he was the Lord's anointed. He held the office of king by Divine appointment, - not merely as other kings may be regarded as holding it, but as God's lieutenant, called specially, and selected for the office. For David to remove him would be to interfere with the Divine prerogative. It would be so much the more inexcusable as God had many other ways of removing him, any one of which He might readily employ. "David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed." Let us briefly follow the narrative on each of the two occasions. First, when David saw Saul asleep at the entrance of the cave near Engedi, he crept towards him as he lay, and removed a loose piece of his garment. When Saul rose up and proceeded on his way, David boldly followed him, believing that after sparing the king's life he was safe from attack either from him or his people. His respectful salutation, drawing the king's attention, was followed by an act of profound obeisance. David then addressed Saul somewhat elaborately, his address being wholly directed to the point of disabusing the king's mind of the idea that he had any plot whatever against his life. His words were very respectful but at the same time bold. Taking advantage of the act of forbearance which had just occurred, he demanded of the king why he listened to men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt. He protested that for himself nothing would induce him to stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. That very day, he had had the chance, but he had forborne. His people had urged him, but he would not comply. There was the skirt of his garment which he had just cut off: it would have been as easy for him, when he did that, to plunge his sword into the heart of the king. Could there be a plainer proof that Saul was mistaken in supposing David to be actuated by murderous or other sinful feelings against him? And yet Saul hunted for his life to take it. Rising still higher, David appealed to the great Judge of all, and placed the quarrel in His hands. To vary the case, he quoted a proverb to the effect that only where there was wickedness in the heart could wickedness be found in the life. Then, with the easy play of a versatile mind, he put the case in a comical light: did it become the great king of Israel to bring his hosts after one so insignificant - "after a dead dog, after a flea"? Was ocean to be tossed into tempest "to waft a feather or to drown a straw"? Once more, and to sum up the whole case, he appealed solemnly to God, virtually invoking His blessing on whoever was innocent in this quarrel, and calling down His wrath and destruction on the party that was really guilty. The effect on Saul was prompt and striking. He was touched in his tenderest feelings by the singular generosity of his opponent. He broke down thoroughly, welcomed the dear voice of David, "lifted up his voice and wept." He confessed that he was wrong, that David had rewarded him good and he had rewarded David evil. David had given him that day a convincing proof of his integrity; though it seemed that the Lord had delivered him into his hand, he killed him not. He had reversed the principle on which men were accustomed to act when they came upon an enemy, and had him in their power. And all these acknowledgments of David's superior goodness Saul made, while knowing well and frankly owning that David should be the king, and that the kingdom should be established in his hand. One favour only Saul would beg of David in reference to that coming time - that he would not massacre his family, or destroy his name out of his father's house - a request which it was easy for David to comply with. Never would he dream of such a thing, however common it was in these Eastern kingdoms. David sware to Saul, and the two parted in peace. How glad David must have been that he acted as he did! Already his forbearance has had a full reward. It has drawn out the very best elements of Saul's soul; it has placed Saul in a light in which we can think of him with interest, and even admiration. How can this be the man that so meanly plotted for David's life when he sent him against the Philistines? that gave him his daughter to be his wife in order that he might have more opportunities to entangle him? that flung the murderous javelin at his head? that massacred the priests and destroyed their city simply because they had shown him kindness? Saul is indeed a riddle, all the more that this generous fit lasted but a very short time; and soon after, when the treacherous Ziphites undertook to betray David; Saul and his soldiers came again to the wilderness to destroy him. It has been thought by some, and with reason, that something more than the varying humour of Saul is necessary to account for his persistent efforts to kill David. And it is believed that a clue to this is supplied by expressions of which David made much use, and by certain references in the Psalms, which imply that to a great extent he was the victim of calumny, and of calumny of a very malignant and persistent kind. In the address on which we have commented David began by asking why Saul listened to men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy life? And in the address recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter ( 1 Samuel 26:19 ) David says very bitterly, "If they be the children of men that have stirred thee up against me, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods." Turning to the seventh Psalm, we find in it a vehement and passionate appeal to God in connection with the bitter and murderous fury of an enemy, who is said in the superscription to have been Gush the Benjamite. The fury of that man against David was extraordinary. Deliver me, O Lord, "lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces when there is none to deliver." It is plain that the form of calumny which this man indulged in was accusing David of "rewarding evil to him that was at peace with him," an accusation not only not true, but outrageously contrary to the truth, seeing he had "delivered him that without cause was his enemy." It is not unlikely therefore that at Saul's court David had an enemy who had the bitterest enmity to him, who never ceased to poison Saul's mind regarding him, who put facts in the most offensive light, and even after the first act of David's generosity to Saul not only continued, but continued more ferociously than ever to inflame Saul's mind, and urge him to get rid of this intolerable nuisance. What could have inspired Gush, or indeed any one, with such a hatred to David we cannot definitely say; much of it was due to that instinctive hatred of holy character which worldly men of strong will show in every age, and perhaps not a little to the apprehension that if David did ever come to the throne, many a wicked man, now fattening on the spoils of the kingdom through the favour of Saul, would be stript of his wealth and consigned to obscurity. It would seem, then, that had Saul been left alone he would have left David alone. It was the bitter and incessant plotting of David's enemies that stirred him up. Jealousy was only too active a feeling in his breast, and it was easy to work upon it, and fill him with the idea that, after all, David was a rebel and a traitor. These things David must have known; knowing them, he made allowance for them, and did not suffer his heart to become altogether cold to Saul. The kindly feelings which Saul expressed when he dismissed from his view all the calumnies with which he had been poisoned, and looked straight at David, made a deep impression on his rival, and the fruit of them appeared in that beautiful elegy on Saul and Jonathan, which must seem a piece of hypocrisy if the facts we have stated be not kept in view: “Saul and Jonathan were pleasant and lovely in their lives, and in their death they were not divided." In the second incident, recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter, when David again spared the life of Saul, not much more needs to be said. Some critics would hold it to be the same incident recorded by another hand in some earlier document consulted by the writer of 1 Samuel, containing certain variations such as might take place at the hand of a different historian. But let us observe the differences of the two chapters, (1) The scene is different; in the one case it is near Engedi, in the other in the wilderness, near the hill Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon. (2) The place where Saul was asleep is different; in the one case a cave; in the other case a camp, protected by a trench. (3) The trophy carried off by David was different; in the one case the skirt of his garment, in the other a spear and cruse of water. (4) The position of David when he made himself known was different; in the one case he went out of the cave and called after Saul; in the other he crossed a gully and spoke from the top of a crag. (5) His way of attracting attention was different; in the one case he spoke directly to Saul, in the other he rallied Abner, captain of the host, for failing to protect the person of the king. But we need not proceed further with this list of differences. Those we have adverted to are enough to repel the assertion that there were not two separate incidents of the same kind. And surely if the author was a mere compiler, using different documents, he might have known if the incidents were the same. If it be said that we cannot believe that two events so similar could have happened, that this is too improbable to be believed, we may answer by referring to similar cases in the Gospels, or even in common life. Suppose a historian of the American civil war to describe what took place at Bull Run. First he gives an account of a battle there between the northern and southern armies, some incidents of which he describes. By-and-bye he again speaks of a battle there, but the incidents he gives are quite different. Our modern critics would say it was all one event, but that the historian, having consulted two accounts, had clumsily written as if there had been two battles. We know that this fancy of criticism is baseless. In the American civil war there were two battles of Bull Run between the same contending parties at different times. So we may safely believe that there were two instances of David's forbearance to Saul, one in the neighbourhood of Engedi, the other in the neighbourhood of Ziph. And all that needs to be said further respecting the second act of forbearance by David is that it shines forth all the brighter because it was the second, and because it happened so soon after the other. We may see that David did not put much trust in Saul's profession the first time, for he did not disband his troop, but remained in the wilderness as before. It is quite possible that this displeased Saul. It is also possible that that inveterate false accuser of David from whom he suffered so much would make a great deal of this to Saul, and would represent to him strongly that if David really was the innocent man he claimed to be, after receiving the assurance he got from him he would have sent his followers to their homes, and returned in peace to his own. That he did nothing of the kind may have exasperated Saul, and induced him to change his policy, and again take steps to secure David, as before. Substantially, David's remonstrance with Saul on this second occasion was the same as on the first. But at this tune he gave proof of a power of sarcasm which he had not shown before. He rated Abner on the looseness of the watch he kept of his royal master, and adjudged him worthy of death for not making it impossible for anyone to come unobserved so near the king, and have him so completely in his power. The apology of Saul was substantially the same as before; but how could it have been different? The acknowledgment of what was to happen to David was hardly so ample as on the last occasion. David doubtless parted from Saul with the old conviction that kindness was not wanting in his personal feelings, but that the evil influences that were around him, and the fits of disorder to which his mind was subject, might change his spirit in a single hour from that of generous benediction to that of implacable jealousy. But now to draw to a close. We have adverted to that high reverence for God which was the means of restraining David from lifting up his hand against Saul, because he was the Lord's anointed. Let us now notice more particularly what an admirable spirit of self-restraint and patience David showed in being willing to bear all the risk and pain of a most distressing position, until it should please God to bring to him the hour of deliverance. The grace we specially commend is that of waiting for God's time. Alas! into how many sins, and even crimes, have men been betrayed through unwillingness to wait for God's time! A young man embarks in the pursuits of commerce; but the gains to be derived from ordinary business come in far too slowly for him; he makes haste to be rich, engages in gigantic speculation, plunges into frightful gambling, and in a few years brings ruin on himself and all connected with him. How many sharp and unhandsome transactions continually occur just because men are impatient, and wish to hurry on some consummation which their hearts are set on! Nay, have not murders often taken place just to hasten the removal of some who occupied places that others were eager to fill? And how often are evil things done by those who will not wait for the sanction of honourable marriage? But even where no act of crime has been committed, impatience of God's time may give rise to many an evil feeling that does not go beyond one's own breast. Many a son who will succeed to an inheritance on the death of his father, or of some other relative, is tempted to wish, more or less consciously, for an event the last to be desired by a filial heart. You may say, it is human nature; how could anyone help it? The example of David shows how one may help it. The heart that is profoundly impressed with the excellence of the Divine will, and the duty and privilege of loyally accepting all His arrangements, can never desire to anticipate that will in any matter, great or small. For how can any good come in the end from forcing forward arrangements out of the Divine order? If, for the moment, this brings any advantage in one direction, it is sure to be followed by far greater evils in another. Do we all realize the full import of our prayer when we say, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? Of one thing you may be very sure, there is no impatience in heaven for a speedier fulfillment of desirable events than the will of God has ordained. There is no desire to force on the wheels of Providence if they do not seem to be moving fast enough. So let it be with us. Let us fix it as a first principle in our minds, as an immovable rule of our lives, that as God knows best how to order His providence, so any interference with Him is rash and perilous, and wicked too; and with reference both to events which are not lawfully in our hands, and the time at which they are to happen, let us realize it as alike our duty and our interest to say to God, in the spirit of full and unreserved trust-"Not our will, but Thine be done." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.