Commentary - 1 Samuel 26:6-12

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we find one of the clearest demonstrations of David's character, a character being shaped and tested by the providence of God. Saul, the sitting king, is in full rebellion against God, and David, the anointed king-in-waiting, is on the run. But here, in the dead of night, the roles are providentially reversed. Saul is not the hunter, but the helpless prey. David is not the hunted, but the one holding all the cards. The central issue is not one of opportunity, but one of piety. Abishai sees an open door from God, a divine delivery service. David sees the anointed of Yahweh, and refuses to lift his hand against the office, even when the man in that office is corrupt. This is a profound lesson in patience, faith, and understanding the difference between God's clear commands and our interpretation of His providence. David shows himself to be a man after God's own heart, not by seizing power, but by entrusting himself to the God who gives it.

This is not simply a story about David's personal virtue. It is a typological picture of Christ. David, the true king, has every opportunity to destroy his enemy, but he refrains, choosing instead the path of faith and waiting on God's timing. He takes the spear and the water jug, symbols of Saul's power and life, but leaves the man himself to God's judgment. This restraint in the face of temptation, this refusal to take a shortcut to the throne, is a powerful foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus, who would not call down legions of angels to save Himself, but trusted His Father's plan, even to the cross. David's actions here are a living parable of the principle that the kingdom is not to be seized by carnal means, but received as a gift from God in His perfect time.

Outline

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 6 Then David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”

David is not a lone wolf. He is a leader of men, and he consults with his lieutenants. Notice his courage. He is not asking who will lead a charge, but simply who will go down with him on a reconnaissance mission into the heart of the enemy camp. This is not recklessness, but a calculated risk born of faith. He has been living in God's hand for months, and he knows that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will, even if that looks like the center of Saul's army. Ahimelech the Hittite is mentioned, a foreigner, showing that David's band was a mixed multitude, a picture of the future ingathering of the Gentiles. But it is Abishai, the son of Zeruiah and Joab's brother, who steps up. The sons of Zeruiah were known for their fierce, and sometimes rash, loyalty. Abishai's immediate reply, "I will go down with you," is commendable for its courage, but as we will see, his zeal is not yet tempered with wisdom.

v. 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him.

The scene is set with deliberate detail. It is night, the time for stealth, but also the time for evil. Yet here, the one walking in righteousness is the one moving through the darkness. Saul is not just sleeping; he is in the "circle of the camp," the place of presumed maximum security. His spear, the symbol of his royal authority and military power, is stuck in the ground right at his head. He is surrounded by his general, Abner, and the rest of his army. From a purely human standpoint, he could not be safer. But when God decides to make a man vulnerable, no amount of human protection matters. The entire army is oblivious. This is a picture of the false security of the wicked. They build their barricades and trust in their weapons, but God holds their very breath in His hands.

v. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has surrendered your enemy into your hand; so now, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.”

Abishai interprets the providence as permission. This is a constant temptation for the man of faith. "God has surrendered your enemy into your hand." He even frames it in pious, theological language. He sees the opportunity and immediately baptizes it as the will of God. This is pragmatism masquerading as piety. He is so certain that he promises a clean, efficient job. One stroke. No need for a second. He wants to be the instrument of God's "obvious" will. But Abishai confuses an opportunity to sin with an opportunity from God. God certainly arranged this scenario, but He did not arrange it for the purpose of Saul's assassination. He arranged it for the testing and proving of David's character.

v. 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the anointed of Yahweh and be without guilt?”

Here is the heart of the matter. David's response is immediate and absolute. "Do not destroy him." He doesn't debate the strategic advantages. He doesn't question whether God provided the opportunity. He goes straight to the principle, to the written law of God. The question is not "Can we get away with it?" but "Is it lawful?" Saul is the anointed of Yahweh. The office is sacred, even if the man is corrupt. To strike Saul would be to strike the one whom God had publicly and officially set in place. It would be an act of rebellion not just against a man, but against the God who established the office of the king. David understood that ends do not justify means. A kingdom seized by assassinating God's anointed, however wicked, would be a kingdom built on a foundation of rebellion. David would not be a king like Saul, or a king like the nations. He would wait for God.

v. 10 David also said, “As Yahweh lives, surely Yahweh will smite him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.”

David doesn't just forbid the action; he provides the righteous alternative, which is faith in the active justice of God. He binds his reasoning with an oath, "As Yahweh lives." This is not a matter of opinion for him. He then lays out the three ways God might remove Saul from the picture. First, Yahweh Himself might strike him down directly, perhaps with a sickness or some other calamity. Second, his appointed day will come and he will die of natural causes, as all men do. Third, he will fall in battle. David's point is that Saul's removal is God's business. Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord. David is content to leave it in God's hands and in God's timing. This is true faith. It's not just believing God can do something; it's trusting Him to do it His way, without our sinful "help."

v. 11 Yahweh forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the anointed of Yahweh; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.”

David repeats the principle for emphasis. "Yahweh forbid." This is a visceral, holy revulsion at the thought of such a sin. He is not just making a calculated political decision; his conscience, informed by the fear of God, recoils from the act. But he doesn't leave empty-handed. He instructs Abishai to take the spear and the water jug. This is a brilliant move. He is not taking Saul's life, but he is taking the evidence of his visit. The spear is the symbol of Saul's power to kill, and the jug of water is a symbol of his life, his sustenance. David is demonstrating, in a powerful, symbolic way, that he could have taken Saul's life and his kingdom, but he chose not to. He is making a statement, not just to Saul, but to all of Israel, about the kind of king he will be, one who respects God's law above his own ambition.

v. 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.

The mission is accomplished in utter silence and invisibility. The reason is stated plainly: "a sound sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them." God was the one who opened the door for David to enter the camp, and God was the one who held it open for him to leave. This was not a lucky break. It was not superior stealth. It was a direct, supernatural intervention of God. The Lord who delivered Saul into David's hand was the same Lord who prevented David from sinning with that hand. He orchestrates the entire event, from start to finish, not to enthrone David through murder, but to display the righteous heart of His chosen king and to heap coals of shame upon the head of the rebellious one. The whole affair is a testament to the meticulous, sovereign providence of God in the affairs of men.

Application

The central lesson here is about the relationship between God's providence and God's commands. Abishai saw a wide open door of providence and assumed it was a command to walk through it. David saw the same open door, but he measured it against the clear command of God not to touch His anointed. We are often tempted in the same way. An opportunity presents itself, in business, in relationships, in church politics, and it looks for all the world like God's hand. But if taking that opportunity requires us to bend a biblical principle, to cut a corner, to engage in deceit, or to usurp authority, then it is not an opportunity from God but a temptation from the devil. Our task is to obey what God has revealed in His word, and to let Him handle the outcomes. God does not need our sinful shortcuts to accomplish His holy purposes.

Furthermore, David's patience is a profound challenge to our modern lust for immediacy. He was the anointed king, and yet he was content to live in caves and run for his life, waiting for God to give him the throne in a righteous way. We want success now. We want vindication now. We want the promotion now. David teaches us to entrust our future, our vindication, and our very lives to God. He knew that a throne seized prematurely through sin would be a cursed throne. A blessing snatched out of God's timing becomes a curse. We must learn to wait on the Lord. His timing is perfect, and the fruit that ripens slowly under His sovereign care is always the sweetest.

Finally, we must see Christ in this. David is a type of the Lord Jesus. He had every right and every power to destroy His enemies. When He was on the cross, He could have called ten thousand angels. But He did not stretch out His hand against those who were crucifying Him. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. David spared the life of the man who was trying to kill him. Christ prayed, "Father, forgive them," for the men who were actually killing Him. David's actions here are a faint echo of the glorious, enemy-loving, God-trusting grace that we see perfectly displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ. By refusing to kill Saul, David showed what kind of king he would be. By refusing to save Himself, Jesus showed that He was the King of a kingdom that is not of this world, a kingdom entered not by the power of the spear, but by the power of the cross.