Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Character
- Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person. It is hearing from God and obeying. It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.
This chapter is a great chapter into the heart of David. We know so much about his failings in his
later life. There is the Bathsheba
story. There is the rebellion story of
his own son, Absalom. David’s humanity
is quickly pointed out by many people – including myself.
So why does God call David a man after His own heart? David comes within an inch of Saul’s
life. What more is that this happens
when Saul is defenseless. He is
defenseless because he’s going to the bathroom and relieving himself. As such, he probably doesn’t have his normal
body guards there, either. After all,
who takes guards into a cave to go to the bathroom? No, you post guards at the entrance to the
cave and then go to the bathroom in private.
So Saul is truly defenseless here, prime for the picking had David
wanted to pluck away his life.
But what does David do?
David cuts off a piece of his cloak.
David gets close enough to prove he could have hurt Saul had he
wanted. But he doesn’t intend any harm
to Saul. David respects life – even the
lives of those who would desire to harm him.
I personally think that this is one of the most admirable traits of the
soon-to-be-king. David doesn’t intend
harm to Saul even though Saul would intend great harm to him. What is the character of God? The character of God is to love those who do
not deserve to know love. That’s the
David we see here, too, reflecting the character of his God.
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