Focus Chapters:
- 1 Samuel 23:13-29
- Psalms 54
- 1 Samuel 24-25
Standout Verse(s):
THE ACTION
1 Samuel 24:3-7 NLT
At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!
“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.
But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.
THE REACTION
1 Samuel 24:16-19 NLT
When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, “Is that really you, my son David?” Then he began to cry. And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the Lord reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today.
Observation (s):
- David faced peer pressure from his men when he got his first opportunity to kill Saul.
“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’”
- Despite the peer pressure and the test (God placing Saul in David’s grasp), David did not believe in doing evil to the one that God has anointed. He refrained from killing Saul and was bothered by his act of cutting Saul’s robe.
But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.
- David’s actions towards Saul provoked Saul’s guilt. This led to Saul, David’s enemy, acknowledging his wrong and asking God to bless him.
And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the Lord reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today.
Application:
Our first reaction, when our enemy is in our power, is to retaliate. This is especially true when we are surrounded by our peers who are boosting us. We feel like we have something to prove. Negative peer pressure is a dangerous thing, especially when we yield to it. David had two choices:
- Yield to his peers and kill Saul; the Lord’s anointed.
- Yield to his belief and spare Saul; refraining from touching the Lord’s anointed.
Despite Saul’s evil acts towards him and his peers and society that dictated that he render “an eye for an eye”, David chose to stick with his beliefs and passed God’s test. Even his small action of cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe pricked his conscience.
Quite interesting is Saul’s reaction. Saul had been hunting down and trying to kill David for a long period. When he realizes the gravity of the situation he was in and David’s righteous actions, his conscience is pricked. He acknowledges that David is more righteous than he is and asks the Lord to bless him. Can you imagine that? Your enemy asking the Lord to bless you?
We are equipped with a keen sense of spiritual right and wrong that impacts our actions in the physical realm. When we are guided by that compass, amazing things can happen. Don’t allow negative peer pressure to rob you of those amazing things.
