Saul Relieves Himself
by Eric Engelmann
All content © 2023 Static Force, LLC
When are we?
During the reign of King Saul while he tries unsuccessfully to kill David.
Where are we?
The wilderness near En-gedi. South by south-east of Jerusalem on the western shores of the Dead Sea.
Why are we here now?
The Lord had Saul anointed as king. That “gift and calling from God” has not and will not be revoked. The Lord later had David anointed while King Saul was still alive. This has created a clumsy situation where David has to run for his life and depend on God.
Saul has been chasing David – trying to kill him. David has been chased into some rocky terrain and needs to find a way out of a tough position. David and his men are fast, quiet and sneaky.
Scripture
1 Sam 24
Listen for the words “rock” and “cave”.
Verse 1: When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave, 4 so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “As the Lord is my witness, I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”
Verse 7 With these words David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.
-- 1 Sam 24:1-7
That's the end of the passage.
Today's Unpaid Plug:
An old book by John Hercus with two titles. Eventually titled "Out of the Miry Clay", it was first titled “David”. It has some points about David's life I really didn't think of.
By Way of Comparison
Saul hunted David who was near the west shore of the Dead Sea.
Pharaoh hunted Israelites who were at the western shore of the Red Sea.
In the Future
David will move to Ziklag in Philistia. That book by John Hercus points out that in Ziklag, David won’t be tempted to kill Saul himself.
In contrast to Pharaoh, who died in the Red Sea armed and ready to attack Israelites -- King Saul will eventually die in a war.
In contrast to Moses who used a spiritual weapon -- not of this world, David won't use any weapon against Saul. He'll allow Saul to experience other consequences
Further in the future, Jesus will seek a kingdom that is not of this world. He will have supporters tell Him that they will help him establish a kingdom using degenerate methods.
Jesus will have to restrain them, ignore them, and hide himself from them. Jesus will also have to restrain and hide from others who want to kill Him ahead of time.
Further in the future,the Holy Spirit will remind Jesus' followers that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, and to patiently wait while rulers like Pharaoh and Saul reign.
All content © 2023 Static Force, LLC