Day 32: 1 Samuel 24:1–22

“Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Look and recognize that there is no evil or rebellion in me. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life” (v. 11).

We have already considered God’s unwavering devotion to prepare His children for His service. Now we will see some of the fruit of God’s preparation in David. In those caves, God chiseled character into the heart of His king.

Once again the mad Saul came after David, this time with three thousand men. David and his men were hiding in a cave when the king came in to relieve himself. David could easily have killed Saul, but instead he crept up and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.

Amazing! David resisted revenge after all Saul had done to him! After all the lives he had taken! David wasn’t even sure Saul had the sense to spare the life of his own son Jonathan or daughter Michal. In this strange circumstance David had an odd reaction to his own action. He became conscience-stricken for cutting the king’s robe. He said to his men,

“The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord” (1 Sam. 24:6).

In spite of all that Saul had done, David continued to have a tenacious belief that he must respect God’s anointed king. After Saul left the cave, David called to him from a safe distance. He offered the fact that he had just spared Saul’s life as proof of his loyalty.

David’s men must have thought he was crazy! David apparently chose to risk man’s disapproval over God’s, regardless of the consequences. David’s change of heart offers four evidences that he was greatly influenced by the Holy Spirit:

1. David’s conscience was immediately stricken. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:8). When the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, He uses the individual’s conscience as the striking ground for conviction. David evidenced the work of God by saying, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing” (v. 6). He was suddenly aware that his actions were displeasing to God. You and I may want to minimize David’s sin against Saul because Saul’s offense against David seems so much worse. We tend to view sin in relative terms. David’s standard for measuring sin was not the wickedness of Saul, but the holiness of God.

2. David met conviction with a change in behavior. The Holy Spirit always does His job, but we don’t always do ours! If we do not fully yield to the Spirit’s influence, we will often fight conviction. One sure measurement of our proximity to God, whether near or far, is the length of time between conviction and repentance. David responded to his Spirit-stricken conscience with an immediate change of behavior. His immediate response to conviction proves David was intimate with God at this point in his life. Remember, the same Holy Spirit who anointed David with His presence also dwells in New Testament believers. As we draw nearer to God, our sensitivity to conviction and our discernment of wrongdoing will increase. If we are filled by His Spirit, conviction will be met with a change in behavior.

3. David exercised great restraint. He must have been influenced by the Spirit. He had the perfect chance to get revenge and he didn’t take it! No one would have blamed him. He easily could have argued that his actions were in self-defense. Such a level of restraint could only have been supernatural! Second Thessalonians 2:6–7 refers to the restraining work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works restraint in us when we are tempted toward revenge; if we are fully yielded to the Spirit, we will obey. A moment’s revenge is not worth the cost of alienation from God, not even the revenge we’ve been waiting for and feel so justified to seize!

4. David respected God more than he desired revenge. Consider again David’s words in verse 6: “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed.” David withdrew from taking the life of Saul out of respect for God, not Saul. David’s incomparable respect for God kept him from making a tragic and costly mistake.

If you are willing to honor a person out of respect for God, you can be assured that God will honor you. Several times I’ve been required to honor a person out of honor to God. A very strange thing has happened almost every time I’ve been obedient to God in this area: He has restored my respect for the person I had come to resent. God is always faithful. The results of your obedience may differ, but the blessing of your obedience is guaranteed. No doubt the time will come when you will face a window of opportunity to get back at a person who has wronged you. The only way to get through a window God doesn’t open is to break it yourself. This is one window sure to leave you injured. Don’t do it. Let the Holy Spirit perform His restraining work. Someday you’ll be glad you did.