“After David had finished speaking to Sha’ul, Sha’ul said, ‘Is that your voice, my son David?’ Then Sha’ul cried out and wept; and he said to David, ‘You are more righteous than I, because you have treated me well, while I have been treating you badly.”-1 Samuel 24:16-17
David’s words moved Saul’s heart.
Saul responded by saying…
“Is this your voice, my son David?”
Keep in mind that Saul calling David “son” came more from a place of higher authority than affection.
Though for sure, there was some affection involved.
Also, what about the tears that started flowing down Saul’s face?
Knowing what we know about his character, they were probably tears of self-sorrow as opposed to tears of repentance.
Nevertheless, what Saul said next was so theologically significant and prophetic I can only interpret this as God speaking through him in some sense.
Saul tells David that…
“You are more righteous than I…”
The Hebrew word for righteous here is TZADDIK or צדיק.
So why is Saul’s utterance and the use of the word TZADDIK here so important?
Let me explain.
First, this is the first time in the entire book of Samuel the term TZADDIK is used.
Isn’t that surprising?
I mean consider Samuel for a second.
During this period, he was the most admired and respected holy man among all the 12 tribes.
Samuel is almost on the same level as Moses in the New Testament!
Yet, isn’t it interesting the word TZADDIK isn’t applied to him even once in the Biblical books named after him?
Yet it is now being applied to David.
Why?
It’s because David foreshadows the future Messiah.
The fact that such words are coming from the mouth of the anti-king is astounding.
This is prophetic GOLD!
Of course, I doubt a Christian pastor on the planet would catch this.
But understand, the implications of what Saul uttered here is a real theological treasure.
See ya all next time!
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