Saul, Who Forgot to Be Thankful

From birth, people take an interest in other people and grow up forming relationships with them. As long as we live in the world we cannot help living among people, so we pray that we will meet people of good character. How long a relationship lasts and how deep the fellowship goes will differ depending on whether the other person is one who sacrifices themselves or one who only demands sacrifice from others. Human relationships last longer when people embrace, understand and share with one another in love. If someone demands one-sided sacrifice or tries only to meet their own needs, that relationship will not last long.

King Saul said to David that David was more righteous than he, for David had done good to him, whereas he had done evil to David. The Saul we know was jealous of David and tormented him without end, so this was surely a relationship hard to keep up for long. Of course, this does not mean that to keep a good relationship you must always give back one for every one you receive. Those who know how to be thankful when they receive love try to give back as much as they received, so such relationships can last a long time.

A relationship does not get better through one person’s effort. In relationships where people must keep meeting, such as husband and wife, parents and children, friends and siblings, and believers, discord will arise unless both sides make an effort. In the world, a calculating relationship can simply be dropped when feelings are hurt, but in a relationship that cannot be abandoned even when feelings are hurt, there will be greater difficulty unless both sides work to adjust to each other. The relationship between God and believers, too, can never grow close without effort. Of course, however hard we try, we cannot repay God’s love; yet if we always live with thankful hearts, we may be able to show a little of God’s love to the world.

Look at the relationship between Saul and David. Though David is being hunted by Saul, you see him always doing good to wicked Saul. Saul attacks David without mercy, but David, rather than fight back, kept out of his way. Saul is an earthly king who has everything, and David is being hunted by that king. Why, in that situation, does David not attack Saul? The answer is in Romans 12:19.

Romans 12:19

19Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”

The Lord said to leave revenge on our enemies to him, and that if our enemy is hungry we should feed him, and if he is thirsty give him a drink, and so cause him pain, as if heaping coals of fire on his head. This is the way not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. Though Jesus knew he would bear the cross, he preached the gospel without rest so that sinners would not fall into death. Only when we can see this love of Christ by faith do we see our own sin. When the eyes of your spirit open to see your own sin, you will weep, unable to bear the love of Jesus.

When we give love to someone, we must give, as Jesus did, a love too great to be borne; and when we receive, we must know how to be thankful for even a mustard seed’s worth of love. People with this kind of character and wisdom are the truly big-hearted. David did not attack Saul because he had seen and understood God’s love.

Saul kept pursuing David to kill him, though David did him good. When Saul heard that the Philistines had attacked Jerusalem, he went back, but once the Philistines left, he came back again to where David was hiding. This time he brought three thousand of Israel’s best chosen men to wipe out David and his six hundred soldiers at a stroke. Saul knew that David was hiding in En Gedi, and he had three thousand soldiers, so if Saul set his mind to it, David could die. So urgent was the situation that David offered an earnest prayer in Psalm 35:1-3.

Psalms 35:1-3

Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me. Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”

Rather than fight Saul himself, David prayed, leaving his enemy to God. Though he could easily have fought Saul, David is praying earnestly for God’s help. David was human too; how could he not want to deal with Saul himself? But believers who have met God need the wisdom to leave everything to God and to accept things as they are.

If David had been unable to master his anger and had killed Saul, how could he have served God with the guilt of murder on him, and how could he have held on to the throne of Israel, taken by force? God would not have protected a David who came to the throne by wicked means. David had to be patient and endure until God raised him up, so he always prayed to God, who warned him of danger in advance and gave him a way to escape. The experiences gained through this training of faith are what matured David.

In verse 3, Saul, who had come to catch David, went into a cave to cover his feet, and as it happened, David and his men were hiding in that cave. Here, “to cover his feet” means “to relieve himself.” Saul is now relieving himself, defenseless, in front of David and his six hundred men.

Seen with human eyes, the perfect chance had come to David. David’s men asked him whether this was not the very day of which Yahweh had said, “Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.” So it seems that God had told David beforehand that such a situation would arise. God had told him of it, and now Saul was right in front of him, defenseless. All David had to do was kill Saul and take the throne. But David only cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe, and did not sin.

In Psalm 35:4 David prayed earnestly that those who seek after his soul would be disappointed and brought to dishonor, and that those who plot his ruin would be turned back and confounded. The situation was that desperate, and yet he did not seize this chance. If David had only set his mind to it, there could be no better chance than this, killing Saul while he relieves himself. But far from killing Saul, David repented even of cutting off his robe. Unless we understand David, who repented before God merely for cutting the robe of Saul, the man trying to kill him, we cannot live a right life of faith.

God had told David that he would deliver Saul into his hand, and that David should do to him as it seemed good to him. By this God meant: realize what I [God] want from you [David], and even in a situation so ripe for revenge, judge well and act. If David killed Saul by human judgment, his enemy would disappear, but he would become God’s enemy; it was a great test. For believers, hardship is a test, but an opportunity like this is a test too.

God weighs your faith too. When he wants to entrust you with something greater, he gives you various problems to see the true heart, whether his child really loves him. People who do not know this heart of God, when given the circumstances to take revenge, or when they are in a situation where they could sin, act as they please without even asking God’s will. Such faith is not a faith God can use as his instrument. If, as you go through life, a chance should come to satisfy your greed or to take revenge, I hope you will think carefully, as David did. For though killing Saul would bring ease for the moment, God would never forgive David. I hope that you, who believe in and serve God, will now live like David. Only then will God lift you up high as you endure to overcome hardship by faith.

When Saul came out of the cave, unaware of the tremendous thing that had happened inside, David called out and stopped him. Then, after bowing, he asked Saul why he listened to people’s lies that David would kill him, and why he kept pursuing him. Showing Saul the edge of his robe, David said that he had had every chance to kill the king but had not, so the king should not listen to the lie that David would kill him.

And in verse 12 he said that Yahweh would judge between him and the king, and that though God might avenge him on the king, he swore he would not harm Saul with his own hand. David must have wanted to judge Saul himself, the man who was after his life. But because God was always at the center, he did not sin. In Psalm 35 David pleaded with God, saying that he had treated Saul as though he were a friend or a brother, but Saul was repaying good with evil and, like a thug, kept striking him and tearing at him without ceasing; so God should be the one to make Saul suffer shame and disgrace. With his enemy right before his eyes and still not killing him, David must have had a great deal on his mind. David, who had the chance to kill but did not, and Saul, who wanted to kill but was given no chance, were as different as could be. In this way, chances come from God. When we look at David, who is given chances without striving, and at Saul, who cannot seize a chance however hard he tries, we see how much it matters whom God walks with.

In verses 19-20, when Saul heard David ask why Saul was trying to kill him though he had not rebelled, Saul said that when a man finds his enemy, it is usual to kill him, and that he wished Yahweh would reward David good for the good he had done in not killing him. Then he said that he knew David would surely be king, and that Israel would be established in David’s hand, and he even begged David not to cut off his offspring before he went home. It was not that Saul did not know David was good. Precisely because he knew it, he was doing the absurd thing of trying to kill David so that he could not become king. Saul knows God’s will, and he even entrusts his offspring to David. From his words, it looks as though he will never trouble David again.

But in chapter 26 we meet Saul chasing David again. Saul had promised never to chase him again, yet he came with three thousand soldiers to catch David. Seeing that, we can tell that people never change. Unless people are born again through God’s word, their nature does not change. So although Saul told David that he knew David was good and entrusted his offspring to him, and seemed to have changed, he goes back to the place of evil and does the same thing again.

When Israel faced a great crisis, Saul received great help from David. To be frank, Saul can keep his throne now only because David risked his life to face Goliath. David won every battle and rescued Saul when he was tormented by an evil spirit; but once the nation was stable and Saul began to think he no longer needed David, David’s devotion became a burden to him instead. Forgetting the grace one has received, as Saul did, is itself the evidence that human beings are wicked.

We see that once people have their needs met, they cut off first those who helped them most, whether that is God or a person of faith. That is the evidence that human beings are sinners from birth. David helped Saul greatly when Saul was struggling and in trouble, but when the people praised David for his ten thousands, and the time came for Saul to share his power and ability, Saul tried to kill him. This is exactly where Saul’s folly lies. It was God who had placed David at his side, and it was God’s grace that he kept his throne through David; but the eyes of his spirit were too dim to see it, so once he had taken what he wanted, he tried to kill David.

But think it over carefully. If the nation was saved through David, a man of faith, then simply being with David was itself a great blessing to Saul. No one is more foolish than someone who takes a benefit, mistakes it for their own, and abandons God and the person of faith. The trouble is that all people have a heart like Saul’s. Saul, whose heart was shut tight by greed and jealousy, could not easily kill David however hard he tried. Even when he called out his army, David could not be seen, as if hidden in a fog. As long as God was protecting David, Saul would never be able to catch him. As long as God lives, Saul could never set Prince Jonathan on the throne. David understood this will of God and lived rightly, while Saul knew this will of God and still tried to push through his own will.

I felt so sorry for Saul. If he had had even a little wisdom, he would have made a man of faith like David his co-worker. Because God was with David, David had defeated Goliath, won every battle, and even driven out the evil spirit that had entered Saul. Saul chases after such a man to kill him, but the world is where God rules, so we must know that the wicked cannot harm God’s people. That is why I tell you that you must live with a good heart and good conduct. If you live to keep God’s word according to God’s will, evil spirits and evil people will never be able to harm you.

But foolish people, as soon as they escape a hard situation, easily abandon both God and the David who helped them. The peace they now enjoy is a blessing they received because of God and because someone prayed for them; yet they will never share it, and so their greed has kept them from seeing a wider world.

When you have received grace from God and from people of faith, I hope you will keep it in your heart and be faithful to God to death. Saul, who did not know how to be thankful, fell into the pit of destruction he had dug himself, and drove himself and all his sons to death. People who do not know grace end up meeting people like that themselves. What we have said and done comes back for us to hear, word for word, so we must not say and do whatever we like, as Saul did.

If God has helped you once, you must not forget that grace, for God has the power to help you ten times, a hundred times. You must not betray such a God, and if someone like David has devoted themselves to you, you must not lightly cast them off and turn against them.

May you be precious, always remembering the love that God and people of faith have shown you and knowing how to repay it. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 25:14-22

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he insulted them. 15But the men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, and we didn’t miss anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields. 16They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can’t speak to him.” 18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five seahs of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19She said to her young men, “Go on before me. Behold, I am coming after you.” But she didn’t tell her husband, Nabal. 20As she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good. 22God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.”