1 Samuel 24: David spares Saul

Outline

• A misread providence
• A true vengeance
• A false repentance

Introduction

A heading we can write over the next three chapters is, ‘The Restraining Grace of God.’ In the next three chapters David doesn’t kill three times, Saul, Nabal and then Saul again. We have seen David learning to trust God when the tide is turned against him, when his chips are down, when he is the underdog and the persecuted one. But in this chapter we see a different sort of temptation. How do you react when you can fight back, when you can get the upper hand, when by sinning a little you can remove a problem? What does faith look like not when you are the persecuted but when the power to harm is in your hand? David has been trusting in God and enduring persecution while waiting for the promises of God, how do you continue to trust in God when an opportunity to get ahead by sinning comes along. David will be tested in that way as he has an opportunity to kill Saul in the cave. As we look at this chapter we want to note the misread providence interpreted by David’s men, giving place to God’s vengeance, and how real a false repentance can appear.