2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand able young Israelites, to search there for David. 3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, 4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.
5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.
6 David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”
“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.
7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”
Questions to consider:
- How many people does Saul have with him?
- What does David do when he hears that Saul might be nearby?
- Who does David take with him into Saul's camp?
- What do they do there?
- Why does David refuse Abishai's suggestion?
Possibilities for prayer:
It's not hard to understand why David was described as a man after God's heart. Here, David once again has the opportunity to end the seemingly endless cat and mouse game that has been going on between him and Saul. He could kill Saul and take his place as king, making his life so much easier. But David refuses to do this because it is not in God's timing. Even though letting Saul live means that his own existence continues to be less than ideal, David takes the high road. Let's ask that God would be making us people who seek to do things in God's timing, and that we would resist the temptation to do things just because they seem like the easier option.
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