The Life of David: Loving Your Enemies (1 Samuel 24)

For many years, David has been one of my favorite Bible characters. He has become a friend to turn to, and his life has encouraged mine. I especially resonate with his earliest years; the ones spent preparing for his leadership role in Israel. Many of those years were spent on the run, and the sweet psalmist of Israel penned many of his best works during that chaotic time. Because the texts explaining his life are precious to me, I am going to write a series of articles on the early years of David's life (1 Samuel 16-2 Samuel 1), with some snapshots of his later years on the throne (2 Samuel 2-24) and I will release these teachings once per month. As always, thank you for reading and I pray God ministers to your heart as we inspect His word. You can find all articles here.

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Jesus taught hard, radical things. During his sermon on the mount, he said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” (Matthew 5:43).

It seems that, by the time of Christ, the religious leaders had taken the Old Testament command to ‘love your neighbor’ to mean one should also hate their enemy. Their teaching was, of course, a perversion of God’s word. Jesus corrected, and then addended their teaching. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). It would have been a difficult word had he merely said, “Love your neighbor and tolerate your enemies,” but Jesus went much further. His people, with His Spirit inside them, are to love their enemies, praying for them. But why? Jesus went on, “So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mattew 5:45). Why would we want to love our enemies? Because in so doing we are of like nature with our Father in heaven. He is indiscriminate in his love, pouring out rain on both the just and the unjust.

“God so loved the world,” we celebrate, so we ought to love the whole world (John 3:16). Jesus continued, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:46-47). Everyone, Jesus says, knows how to love those inside their group or camp. It is love outside your camp that is difficult, but also Godlike. It is his perfect nature we long to see manifested in our mortal flesh, so we “therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

In the episode before us, David will behave as his Father who is in heaven. He will love his enemy as God has loved his. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Paul wrote (Romans 5:8). “While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). God’s love came crashing upon a world at odds with, at enmity with, him. And in our story, David will behave like a son of that God. As a God-hearted man, David will love his enemy as God does. We are to learn from his example.

Resist the Natural Response (1 Samuel 24:1-4)

1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. (1 Samuel 24:1-4)

Saul, through with the Philistine distraction of our previous episode, returned to pursue David. Someone informed him of David’s whereabouts—he was hiding in the wilderness of Engedi. Quickly, Saul gathered “three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men” (1 Samuel 24:2). David’s six hundred distressed, indebted and bitter men were pursued by Saul’s three thousand chosen warriors. The odds were against David and God was with him, but so was the terrain. Engedi, near the Dead Sea, was filled with nooks and crannies and caves whereby David and his men could evade Saul.

Hundreds of caves litter Engedi and some of those caves had been carved out more deeply by local shepherds. These enlarged caves would serve their flocks as a source of respite from the merciless midday sun. Our story unfolds with David and his men hiding in one of these caves. As he pursued David, Saul needed relief (the Hebrew text means "to cover his feet"), so he entered into a nearby cave. We cannot consider it a coincidence, but God’s providence, that Saul entered into the one cave in which David and his men hid. Their eyes and ears, of course, had already adjusted to the darkness of the cave, but Saul’s had not. Blinded by the heat of the day, and with the deafening sound of three thousand soldiers echoing within the chamber, Saul did not realize that he was in the company of his sworn enemy. David’s men quietly rejoiced, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” (1 Samuel 24:4). David then arose and came upon Saul, stealthily, but instead of cutting off Saul's head, David cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Disappointment would have rushed through David’s men as they watched their leader return with only the corner of a garment. Their lives had been made miserable by one man, and that man was theirs for the taking. God, they felt, had provided David a golden opportunity. God had made a way where there was no way. But David could not bring himself to kill the king.

It is here we must consider the words of David’s men: “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Their statement was wrong on two fronts. First, there is no record of God having ever said this to David about Saul. David would succeed Saul as king, that much was clear, but God had not given David a promise that David would be the one to take Saul’s life. Second, even if the implication from God was that David’s enemies would be delivered to David, Saul was not David’s enemy, for David did not see him as such. But these natural men looked with their natural eyes and saw what they wanted to see. But, instead of following their counsel, David resisted the natural response and instead did what was unnatural.

In loving our enemies, we must resist the natural response. It is not natural, after being struck on one cheek, to offer the other. It is not natural, after being sued for your tunic, to give your cloak also. It is not natural, after being forced to go one mile, to go a second. And it is not natural, after being targeted by a beggar or borrower, to give and lend (Matthew 5:39-42). But it is precisely the natural response Jesus calls us to move past. He draws us into a deeper, spiritual, and supernatural response. Our old self is to be put off, making way for the putting on of the new self, so we must consider ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).

When you are slandered, the natural response is to slander in return. When you are given the cold shoulder, the natural response is to respond in the same manner. When you are hated, the natural response is to also hate. But responses like these are shortsighted because they never lead to life. Our world is filled with the results of sloppy attempts at an eye-for-an-eye philosophy.

Division and entrenchment, rather than dialogue, hope, and salvation flow when the church responds to the world with the natural man. But if we could respond as Christ called us to, perhaps we would see the fruit of repentance more often. You see, we cannot do the eye-for-an-eye thing well, for we lack the self-restraint necessary to avenge ourselves accurately. We don’t want an eye-for-an-eye, but a whole-body-for-an-eye. When we feel slighted, we rage. When we feel cheated, we hate. When we feel hurt, we rebel. Christ has called us to resist the natural response. By his Spirit, we can.

Be Sensitive to Your Sin (1 Samuel 24:5-7)

5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. (1 Samuel 24:5-7)

During this season of his life, David’s conscience was sensitive to God. Though he had not killed Saul or even hurt him, David was cut to the heart that he had touched Saul’s robe. He couldn’t believe he had gone that far. To him, it seemed only another step or two to taking Saul’s life. If he could take a corner of Saul’s kingly garment, he felt capable of using the dagger to also take Saul’s kingdom and throne. With conviction and guilt filling his mind, David said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.” (1 Samuel 24:6). With those words, David became Saul’s intercessor as he whispered persuasive words to his men, not permitting them to attack Saul. Saul, not knowing the entire scene which had just unfolded behind him, “rose up and left the cave and went on his way” (1 Samuel 24:7).

At that moment in history, few people would have blamed David if he had slain Saul. He had the excuse of self-defense, for Saul had tried to kill him at least a dozen times. He had the excuse of divine anointing, for God had announced his succession plan to David, Saul and Samuel. He had the excuse of divine opportunity, for everyone could see it was no coincidence that Saul had entered David’s cave. Everyone in that cave, all of David’s men, would have rooted for him to take Saul’s life. It could have been quick and easy and justified, but it would have been wrong. David would have become the murderer of a defenseless king. He would not have been the great king we know and celebrate today, but just another in a long line of coup instigators who ascend to the throne via the flesh, rather than the Spirit.

But notice how David’s heart cut him. Notice how sensitive this man was to his sin. Saul’s sin was the greater sin. You might object, stating that all sin separates from God. You are right, but consider this question: which sin would you rather have committed against you? For David’s sin, Saul would have had to repair or replace a robe. For Saul’s sin, David and his men had to live as fugitives in desolation. The results of Saul’s sins were greater, at least at that moment, but David was still broken over his own sin. He did not sit and point the finger at Saul. He did not fixate on Saul’s sin. He did not justify his own sin in light of Saul’s. Instead, David searched his heart, found his own sin, and was grieved over it.

In grieving over his sin, David realized that he was capable of the same evil Saul was committing. The same madness and envy in Saul’s warped mind could have also been David’s. He was broken over this reality.

When loving our enemies, it is good for us to realize the possibilities of our own sin. As long as we fixate on the sin of others, we will forever be stuck. Once we become sensitive, however, to our own sin, a breakthrough can occur. We must fight for this tenderness. We must fight to stay sensitive to our the reality of the presence of sin in us. If we respond, when sinned against, with more sin, a downward spiral inevitably occurs. There is no hope for forgiveness and grace and cleansing if we return sin for sin, so we must be sensitive to what we have done, the flaws within us, the guilt we have in the offense.

Stay tender to your sin, dear believer! Once we become blinded by the sin we see in others, we fall prey to the temptation to see the speck in the eye of another, without seeing the plank in our own eye (Matthew 7:3-5). Jesus longs for us to remain sensitive to the capabilities within us. Saul’s sin was a full-grown monster, but David realized the seed of that same monster inside his own soul. “But for the grace of God, there go I,” David seems to have said to himself. We must have the same belief. Once we think of ourselves above sin, above the errors of those who have sinned against us, we have lost. We must continue to operate with a close inspection of the soul.

Humbly Pursue Reconciliation (1 Samuel 24:8-15)

8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! 15 May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” (1 Samuel 24:8-15)

Saul departed from the cave, but David’s heart remained broken. He had to seize the moment, he thought, so he exited the cave after Saul. “My lord the king!” he shouted. “Why do you listen to the word of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand.’” Waving the detached portion of Saul’s robe, David earnestly sought to be reconciled to his king and father-in-law.

That David did not remain in the cave is astounding. It does not take an advanced military mind to understand this was not a good fighting strategy. He, and his men, were defenseless there in the cave. By revealing his position, David had exposed him and his men to great danger. They were at the mercy of Saul. But it seemed worth it to David. He needed reconciliation with Saul, so he humbly spoke to the man. He bowed to Saul, paying homage to the king. He referred to Saul as his king, his lord, his father, and the anointed of the LORD. He referred to himself as a dead dog—worse, a flea! He even blamed Saul’s actions on the bad counsel of others (even though Saul’s madness clearly originated from within his own jealous heart). With great humility, David pursued reconciliation.

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). David knew this concept — that a harsh word would only stir up a man like Saul — so he spoke humbly and softly as he pursued reconciliation. But pursue reconciliation he did, risking everything in an attempt at unity. In so doing, David stands as a powerful example to every modern believer who needs to be reconciled to another. Perhaps you’ve already done all you can do to humbly fight for unity, but perhaps David’s life speaks to you of the greater risk God is asking of you. Perhaps he would nudge you towards coming out of your place of safety in an attempt — a humble one — at solidarity with the one you are at odds with.

Recognize God Is Shaping You (1 Samuel 24:10)

10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ (1 Samuel 24:10)

At this point, we must observe a title David used when referencing Saul. In the cave, to his men, David called Saul “the LORD’s anointed.” He repeated the title in his speech to Saul. This title is how David thought of Saul. He truly believed Saul to be the called, chosen, selected and specially prepared man of God for the king of Israel. Even though God had rejected Saul and, quite obviously, selected David. Even though Saul was clearly mad, and David was lucidly writing the Psalms of God. And even though Samuel only poured a small flask of oil on Saul, while pouring a horn of oil onto David. To David, Saul was the anointed of the LORD. While he sat on the throne, he was the chosen of the LORD. David would do nothing to take matters into his own hands. He would not remove Saul, for God had selected the man.

There is a powerful lesson here for the modern believer. That Saul had been a drain on David’s life is beyond question, but David still saw Saul as God’s man. Perhaps the annoying or trying or life-draining people in our lives are the very ones anointed by God to shape and mold our lives. Saul’s life drew out the character in David’s. It might be that the harshest and hardest people of your life are there to bring the glorious character of Christ to the surface of your character. The college professor who is militant against your faith might be anointed by God to develop your mind as you learn to better defend your Christianity, giving a reason for the hope within you (1 Peter 3:15). The boyfriend who pressures you to compromise your integrity might be anointed by God to solidify your integrity and resolve, helping you set a higher, and more godly, standard for living. The employer with unrealistic demands might be anointed by God to shape you for a future leadership role, one in which those under your charge are led well.

Let God Be the Judge (1 Samuel 24:12, 15)

12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.

“15 May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” (1 Samuel 24:12, 15)

Twice, in slightly different forms, David told Saul that God would have to be the judge between them. That judgment, David thought, would include God avenging David and pleading David’s cause, and then delivering David from Saul’s hand. David believed God would have to be the one to avenge him, plead his cause, and deliver him from Saul. David’s attitude was powerful, for he did not place his hope in Saul or himself, but in God. He did not think of himself as the one who had to deliver himself any longer. For him, God was his refuge and help in a time of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

When in trouble, we often think we must avenge ourselves. To take matters into our own hands is a natural response to trouble. We often believe if we do not do it, no one will. When in trouble, we often think we must plead our cause. If we do not speak up for ourselves, we think, no one will. When in trouble, we often think we must deliver ourselves. But David turned to God for all of it, believing he would be the one to intercede on his behalf. This attitude is certainly Christlike, for when Jesus “was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). David, like Christ, committed himself to God’s defense.

To follow David and Christ’s example is difficult for the human heart, but for the believer, it is a path filled with life. “Beloved,” Paul wrote, “never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19).

Clearly, this was not Paul’s way of dismantling human institutions, such as military powers, who would make it their aim to put down evil. In the next chapter of Romans he wrote, “he does not bear the sword in vain” (Romans 13:4). But when it comes to our personal vengeance, the believer is to trust God. Do you believe he can avenge you? Do you believe he will plead your cause? Do you believe he will deliver you? Lean on him!

Be Wise About What Is in Man (1 Samuel 24:16-22)

16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. (1 Samuel 24:16-22)

Our episode ends with the response of Saul. When David had finished speaking, Saul, recognizing the sweet sound of David’s voice, lifted up his voice and wept. Saul confessed David was more righteous than he was, for Saul had repaid David evil, unlike David, who repaid Saul good. He recognized how David had dealt well with Saul, rather than treating Saul as his enemy. Amazingly, Saul confessed, in Jonathan-like fashion, how David would “surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in (David’s) hand” (1 Samuel 24:20). He concluded his cry by making David swear kindness to Saul’s offspring, a covenant David swore to keep. It is a flowery speech, only a shadow of the eloquence of David’s, for it lacked any real repentance or meaning. Saul’s conviction, as we shall see, was temporary, the kind of worldly sorrow that lasts only for a moment.

There is evidence David knew the repentance of Saul was shallow, for when Saul returned home, David did not go with him. Instead, David and his men went up to the stronghold, perhaps in Adullum or deeper into Engedi. Though Saul claimed David was safe, David did not act like he was safe, but still was a man on the run. He was practical in the way in which he defended himself from the eventual attacks of Saul.

For all our talk of loving our enemies, we also ought to walk in wisdom. Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Militaries ought to defend their people. Fathers ought to defend their families. Churches ought to work to help those hurt by others. We ought to join Jesus in the fight against evil. And, in the midst of dealing with enemies, we ought to have the wisdom of Christ to know when we ought to remain guarded. David was willing to reconcile and love Saul, but that did not make him into a fool who would commit himself to Saul. Like Jesus, who after gaining some popularity, did not entrust himself to the people, “because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25).

Like David and Christ, we also ought to be wise. To love our enemies does not mean we walk into abuse, but out of it. We are not to let ourselves be taken advantage of. We are to do the work of reconciliation, but we are also to have practical wisdom about us.

The story of David is beautiful, for he did not do a bad thing in response to a bad thing. But Jesus’ story is more impressive because in exchange for a bad thing he did a very good thing, dying on the cross for his enemy. May His Spirit help us to become more and more as he is.