After chasing off the Philistines, 1 Samuel 23:28, Saul picked up where he left off in pursuit of David who was at En Gedi, 1 Samuel 24:1, which was an oasis some six-hundred feet in elevation above the western shore of the Dead Sea. In his pursuit of David with his three thousand men, Saul goes near the Crags of the Wild Goats, 1 Samuel 24:2.
When he gets to the sheep pens along the way, there’s a cave was there, and goes into a cave to ‘relive himself’, 1 Samuel 24:2, which as some commentators suggest could mean he went in to masturbate or more likely, he went in because he needed the toilet, Judges 3:24.
Notice that it was David’s men, who were at the back of the cave with David, 1 Samuel 24:3 / Psalms 67:1-7. They came to the conclusion that it was God who provided a way to kill Saul, 1 Samuel 24:4, but David himself didn’t believe that.
David then sneaks up to Saul and cuts off a corner of his robe, 1 Samuel 24:4, but it’s clear that David’s heart was bothering him. Even the cutting of a small corner of the clothing of God’s anointed king greatly affected David, 1 Samuel 24:5. This shows us how much respect David had for God and God’s anointed king.
David goes on to speak to his men, because they appear to be motivated by selfishness, 1 Samuel 24:6. On one side, if they killed Saul, they wouldn’t have to live on the run anymore, but David saw things differently, he knew that it would be better to live on the run than be guilty of killing God’s anointed king, 1 Samuel 24:6.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘However unworthily Saul was now acting, he had been appointed to his high office by God himself, and he could only be removed by the authority which placed him on the throne. Even David, who knew he was appointed to reign in his stead, and whose life Saul had often sought to destroy, did not conceive that he had any right to take away his life; and he grounds the reasons of his forbearance on this-He is my master, I am his subject. He is the Lord’s anointed, and therefore sacred as to his person in the Lord’s sight. It is an awful thing to kill a king, even the most untoward, when he has once been constitutionally appointed to the throne. No experiment of this kind has ever succeeded; the Lord abhors king killing. Had David taken away the life of Saul at this time, he would, in the sight of God, have been a murderer.’
David then rebukes his men because they appear to be motivated by selfishness and Saul leave the cave, 1 Samuel 24:7. David once again was showing wisdom and setting the example that he wanted not only his men to follow but all who would follow later when he became king. David would later write about this event in Psalm 57:1-11.
David’s respect for Saul is seen when he calls him ‘my lord the king’, 1 Samuel 24:8, and after Saul and David left the cave. Notice there’s even more respect for Saul when Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground, 1 Samuel 24:9. David asks Saul why does he listen when men say, David is bent on harming you’? 1 Samuel 24:9. David gives Saul the benefit of the doubt and assumes that he had been misinformed about David’s motives by those who wanted to remain in favour of Saul for their own selfish ends.
In other words, if Saul was killed, they would lose their prominent positions of power and wealth.
He tells him that he has seen with his own eyes how the LORD delivered him into David’s hands in the cave, 1 Samuel 24:10. David was honest enough to tells Saul that even some of his own men wanted David to kill him but he spared him and said, he will not lay his hand on his lord, because he is the LORD’s anointed, 1 Samuel 24:10 / 1 Samuel 24:6. Notice he calls Saul ‘father’ and then invites Saul to look at the piece of the robe he removed earlier from Saul, 1 Samuel 24:11.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 1 Samuel 24:11.
‘The respectful address of a junior and an inferior, 2 Kings 5:13 / 1 Samuel 24:16 / 1 Samuel 25:8.’
David tells him he has nothing in his hand to indicate that he is guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion and says he hasn’t wronged him, yet Saul is hunting him down to take his life, 1 Samuel 24:11. He tells Saul may the LORD judge between them both and may the LORD avenge the wrongs Saul have done to him, but David’s hand will not touch Saul, 1 Samuel 24:12.
David tells him an old saying, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ 1 Samuel 24:13, which basically means that people behave according to their character. David is saying that if he was that evil, then he would have killed Saul when he had the chance in the cave. Notice that David uses two metaphors, ‘a dead dog’ and ‘a flea’, 1 Samuel 24:14 / 2 Samuel 16:9. The dog and the flea are absolutely insignificant compared to David, the next king of Israel.
In other words, David is saying, doesn’t Saul have something more important to be getting on with than chasing a flea, which is a metaphor for David himself. Once again, David says he’s happy for God to judge them both and decide between them and may God consider David’s cause and uphold it and may God vindicate him by delivering him from Saul’s hand, 1 Samuel 24:15.
Saul, in his mental decline, doesn’t appear to recognise David until David speaks and when he did, he wept aloud, 1 Samuel 24:16. He’s obviously overwhelmed with the mercy which David has shown him, he appears to be in shock as he realises that the person he’s been trying to kill, could have easily killed him in the cave.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 1 Samuel 24:16.
‘David had called Saul his master, lord, and king. Saul accosts him here as his son, to show that he felt perfectly reconciled to him, and wished to receive him as formerly into his family.’
He tells David that he is more righteous than he is, 1 Samuel 24:17 / Genesis 38:26, which was very true. David was way more dignified than Saul was, 1 Samuel 24:17. He knew that David’s actions towards him were more righteous and just than his actions toward David, 1 Samuel 24:18. Saul says when a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward David well for the way he treated Saul today, 1 Samuel 24:19.
Saul, by this time, knew that David would become the next king of Israel, 1 Samuel 24:20, but there’s a possibility that Saul thought that Johnathon, his son, would take over his reign after his death, despite being told otherwise by Samuel, 1 Samuel 15:16-23. Saul wants David to swear to him that he will not cut off his descendants, 1 Samuel 24:21 / 1 Samuel 20:15. Cutting off the king’s descendants was to become common practice for Israel in the years ahead.
The reason was simple, the son of a king couldn’t presume to become the next king. David had no desire to do such a thing, and so, he promised Saul that he wouldn’t cut off his descendants, 1 Samuel 24:21. He could think about what he liked, but the truth was that God had already decided who was going to become Israel’s next king. David gave his oath to Saul who returns home and David goes to the stronghold of En Gedi, 1 Samuel 24:22, which was around seven-hundred feet below sea level, in the highlands of southern Judah.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Saul does not appear to have invited David to return to Gibeah, or to have given him any security of doing so with safety. David, with his intuitive sagacity, perceived that the softening of Saul’s feelings was only momentary, and that the situation remained unchanged.’