“Avishai said to David, ‘God has handed your enemy over to you today; so now, please, let me pin him to the ground with just one stroke of the spear. I won’t strike him a second time.'”-1 Samuel 26:8
In verse 8, we can see Avishai was chomping at the bit to finish Saul off.
He begs David to let him use Saul’s spear and then he’ll finish him off in one stroke.
There won’t be a need for a second stroke.
However, David won’t let Avishai touch Saul.
David says:
“Don’t destroy him!
Nobody can raise his hand
against Adonai’s anointed
without becoming guilty!”
See, from David’s perspective, Saul was still the king of Israel…
That it would be a great offense against God to kill the Lord’s anointed.
Of course, if God directly kills him Himself…
Or if Saul dies while on the battlefield…
Well, that’s a different matter altogether.
But David had already decided in his heart he would not kill Saul.
Possibly David remembered what had happened to the rude and insolent Naval…
How God had slain him for him.
So he was much more confident to surrender the matter to the Lord.
When David tells Avishai “Don’t destroy him.”
The original Hebrew here is interesting.
It is AL TASHITEHU.
It has a different nuance than to “kill.”
It means “to mar” or “to mutilate”.
The same Hebrew can also be found in the following verses:
“Don’t round your hair at the temples
or mar the edges of your beard.”
-Leviticus 19:27
Or…
“Here is what Adonai says:
‘As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes,
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still some good in it,’
so I will do likewise for the sake of my servants,
and not destroy them all.”
-Isaiah 65:8
So why would David use this particular form of expression?
This is rooted in the belief that to kill a king in a disgraceful (a way that would disfigure him) is a shameful thing that just wasn’t done.
Of course, if David took matters into his own hands, and killed Saul, the sin of “blood guilt” (murder) would’ve been hanging over his head.
But if he took things a step further, and killed the king in a manner unbecoming of his royalty, that would be piling one sin on top of another according to the customs of those days.
Keep in mind that in ancient times, kings were viewed as having a higher status than mere mortals.
They were viewed as deities in some cases…like Pharaoh or Caesar was.
So they were given all kinds of special treatment even in their deaths.
Alrighty, let’s switch over to the takeaway.
David was given a second chance to kill his enemy and he didn’t take it.
If you were in David’s situation, would you have been able to do what he did?
Honestly, I dunno if I would’ve been able to.
I’d probably be like…
“God has given me another opportunity to slaughter my enemy.
I definitely shouldn’t pass this second chance up.”
Yet David was still ABLE TO STICK TO HIS PRINCIPLES although the temptation to break them was great.
Incredible!
Would you have been able to do it?
You’re in dire need of money and you come across a wallet filled with a couple hundred dollar bills lying on the street.
Would you return it to its proper owner?
Or would you say something stupid like “God has provided for me in my time of need”?
And then proceed to steal all of the cash by NOT returning the wallet to its rightful owner.
That’s why it’s so important to study the Scripture regularly…
Not only so you become well familiar with God’s commands…
But so you thoroughly understand the PRINCIPLES behind those commands…
And be able to act as David did in his times of temptation.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
-2 Timothy 3:15
David told Avner “You deserve to die.”
I compare this to the head of SS who deserved to die for letting some jerk rip off Trump’s ear. He resigned. Avner could have resigned.
Sure. I feel ya 🤣
Saul had gone beyond redemption as Judas did after taking that bite.
Following. Keep em coming @Richoka. My prayers are with you.