STUDIES IN SAMUEL No. 35

1 Sam. 26:1-25

January 7, 2001

Text Comment

Having been away from this text for a month now, we need to review a bit to get our bearings. Chapter 26 gives us the third in a series of three scenes in which David is given opportunity to take vengeance on his enemies. We said last time that there is a progression here. In the first instance, in chapter 24, when Saul comes alone into the cave where David and his men are hiding, David does take a certain measure of vengeance. In a highly symbolic act he cut off the corner of the hem of Saul's robe, the robe being the sign of Saul's kingship and cutting it a sign of rebellion. After doing that, however, David was conscience stricken. He exposed himself to great risk by calling after Saul after Saul had left the cave, but Saul, most remarkably, was conscience stricken himself and withdrew and permitted David safe retreat.

In this next scene, in chapter 25, David, overcome by wrath and a sense of offended righteousness, intended to wreck terrible vengeance on Nabal and his household, but was dissuaded by the argument of Nabal's wife, Abigail. In that second scene we were given to see what David would be capable of if left to himself. And, what is more, when the Lord kills Nabal himself a few days later, David learned again that God would protect him when he trusted in him. If he withholds vengeance for righteousness' sake, God will act on his behalf.

We pointed out that that point was made directly by the narrator who connects the lesson of chapter 25 with David having learned it in chapter 26. You can see it by comparing the statement in 25:38 - where we read that "the Lord struck Nabal and he died" - with David's statement here in 26:10 - where David says of Saul that "the Lord himself will strike him." It is an important lesson and the progression of these three scenes show David learning it.

In the final scene, in chapter 26, David once again has the opportunity to kill Saul, who once more is threatening his life, but shows no inclination to exact vengeance himself, readily leaving the matter to God. Clearly there has been a development in David's character and in his faith through the three scenes. [R.P. Gordon, "David's Rise and Saul's Demise: Narrative Analogy in 1 Samuel 24-26," Tyndale Bulletin 31 (1980) 37-64]

Remember we said that the evaluative viewpoint in the narration of these chapters is Abigail's statement, in 25:28, to the effect that the messianic king must rise to the throne a righteous man.

v.1 This is the second time the Ziphites have ratted on David (23:19). Remember Psalm 54 is a prayer that David prayed in the face of this betrayal.

v.2 This is the same fighting unit he used before; cf. 24:2.

v. 5 In chapter 24, in the cave, Saul fell under David's power, as it were by accident. Here, however, David arranges it, going boldly into Saul's camp. He is no mere man on the run. His courage is obvious. He shows his spiritual strength and faith so clearly that even Saul will recognize it. It appears that Saul did not take the precaution of posting sentries. After all, he had no fear that David would attack him. This was an entirely one-sided chase. However, we will learn in v. 12 that, even if he had, they would have been sleeping too! [Gordon, 187-188]

v.6 Abishai was David's nephew, the son of his sister Zeruiah. Assuming that Zeruiah was older than David, perhaps quite a bit older - remember, David was the youngest of eight sons - it is quite possible that the three brothers were older than their uncle. Abishai and Asahel, were impetuous and violent men, Joab was cunning and calculating as well as violent. They would prove a problem for David later. But Abishai was the kind of man you would want next to you if you found yourself among your enemies in the dark of night.

v.8 "Abishai verbalizes the temptation...and offers to do David's dirty work for him." He uses words very like those used by David's men in the cave in chapter 24. [Gordon, 188] And he offers to do it with vengeance. One thrust. In other words, he'll do it so hard the first time he won't have to strike twice. Abishai was the sort of man who would have taken pride in pinning Saul to the ground with a single thrust of his spear.

v.10 That is, the Lord will have to take care of Saul, in whatever way he chooses. Note the emphasis placed on Saul's being "the Lord's anointed;" twice in these three verses. But, what is clear is that David knows he cannot lift a hand against the Lord's anointed and remain righteous himself. That is the lesson he has now learned. He can leave his fortune and his ascent to the throne in God's hand and be content with God's way and God's time.

v.12 The water jar was a symbol of life in ancient Israel, the spear, obviously, a symbol of death. David takes both: he had Saul's life and death in his hands.

v.14 If you remember, after Saul's death, Saul's son, Ish-bosheth, was king. But he was a figurehead. The power behind the throne was the general, Abner.

v.15 Here the point is more direct. Even the redoubtable general could not check David's power over Saul.

v.17 Once again, as in chapter 24, Saul momentarily rises above the fog in his twisted mind to deal rationally with David and with his own situation. He calls out in the same words he used in chapter 24. He thinks it is David, but, of course, it is dark so he cannot see.

v.19 A figure of speech only, of course. He means that he has been driven away from the sanctuary and, even, out of Israel altogether. [Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible, 69]

v.21 Lit. "I have played the fool" which connects Saul's behavior with Nabal's.

v.23 It is worth noting, in our understanding of God's providence, that God is said to have delivered Saul into David's hands both when Saul made his way into the cave where David happened to be hiding and when David set out to enter Saul's camp.

v.24 It is clear by this time, of course, that David no longer trusts any of Saul's promises. Indeed, as we will learn in the next chapter, he has already decided to leave Israel for safer parts.

v.25 Like Balaam, who was hired to curse Israel, Saul can only bless God's chosen one. [Gordon, 190] This is the last exchange between David and Saul; the two men never meet again.

Now, what we have seen in these three chapters, to put it very simply, is David growing in his faith. He has become more obedient, to be sure, but that is simply a consequence of a growing faith. He has learned to trust the Lord, to leave his life and fortune and welfare in God's hands. He has learned that his acts are good only to the extent that they proceed from a spirit of trust in God, of confidence in his promise and provision, and only to the extent that they do not represent his own effort to shape his own destiny. We are being taught that faith is the bottom principle of true life and salvation. This is particularly important because it seems as if David is going to stumble at exactly that point in the very next chapter. In this way too it is becoming clear in the David story, as it was clear before in the Saul story, that the entire issue of life and certainly the entire issue of a Christian's life is faith. It is what we failed to find in Saul - he obeyed some of the time and disobeyed some of the time - but he never had a true faith in God. It is what we are finding in David - who likewise obeys some of the time and disobeys some of the time - but who has a true and living faith in his God. This entire history is a study in faith.

It has been thought by many Christians through the years that the Old Testament, while not without the message of faith in God, was more oriented to works, to obedience, than to faith. The earliest edition of the famous Schofield Reference Bible taught in its notes that justification was by works in the OT and is by faith in the NT. Obviously that was a gigantic error, given the clear teaching of the Apostle Paul in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 and was removed in subsequent editions of that influential Bible. But, still, it was taught that there was a works orientation in the OT that was abandoned when salvation history moved into the new epoch. We Reformed people are used to hearing criticism of the Schofield Reference Bible and its notes. But, it might surprise you to learn that there is abroad again in Reformed circles, the notion - supported also by a few writers in the Puritan period both in Britain and on the Continent - that the covenant at Sinai, the Mosaic covenant, and so the religion of Israel in the OT was a renewal of the covenant of works from Genesis 2. It did not replace the covenant of grace that had been made with Abraham, it simply overlaid it, the Abrahamic covenant continuing with its message of salvation by grace received by faith, but now weighed down with a covenant of works - of life and salvation not by faith but by obedience. These two covenants, with their two contrary principles of salvation, jostled with one another throughout Israel's history. The purpose of this overlay of works was, they say, to demonstrate the futility of works as a way of salvation and the advocates of this view argue that this is what Paul teaches about the Mosaic covenant in Galatians. This is broadly the view of the influential Reformed OT scholar, Meredith Kline.

In my view that is a horrible misunderstanding of the Old Testament. The Mosaic covenant, the covenant enacted by God with Israel in the exodus and at Mt. Sinai is the Abrahamic covenant of grace seeking from us a response of faith. In it the sinner is justified by faith not by works. It is only the covenant of grace, nothing but the covenant of grace. There is no covenant of works in it.

The fact is, there is as much works in the NT as there is in the OT and works have the same place in salvation in both testaments. The great difference and the only difference is that the law takes up much more space in the OT and, I think, that by itself has given people a mistaken view of relationship between faith and obedience in the OT. But, what is more, there is as much faith in the OT as there is in the NT, and it is always in the OT the chief thing, the principle thing, the definitive thing in man's response to God. And the narrative sections of the OT, such as this one in Samuel, confirm that point over and over again. So, of course, do the prophets.

Listen to two outstanding OT scholars describe the religion of the OT.

"The Israelite finds himself placed, by birth and circumcision, in a circle well-pleasing to God. He has not to win for himself, by a sinlessness which the law nowhere requires of him, a relation to God void of reproach, or to merit salvation by earnest efforts of self-denial and deeds of high endeavor.... All that is required, and all that the 'righteous' among this people ever show, is in truth an active faith. To surrender himself wholly and unreservedly to the Redeemer of Israel as his God, to accept the salvation embodied in the covenant as his salvation, to acknowledge and love the ordinances of life revealed in it as the ordinances of redemption...all this is what makes a true Israelite." [H. Schultz, Old Testament Theology, ii, 34]

 

"When the prophets condemn Israel for unrighteousness the point is not that in one case there was a breach of this commandment and in another case a breach of another. The point is Israel's total failure vis-à-vis Jahweh. In what respect did she fail? Was it her disobedience to the law? No, the answer is always the same - what Israel failed to respond to was Jahweh's action in salvation. Israel's sin consisted in the fact that she had paid no heed to the way in which her God had led her, and had despised his gifts. Accordingly, it was not on the law, but on Jahweh's will to save, that Israel foundered. That is why the prophets placed no insistence on the need for human obedience as a prerequisite of God's salvation." [G. von Rad, Old Testament Theology, ii, 397]

Well, that is exactly right and that is exactly the message of Samuel and of the lives of these two men. One looked to the Lord for his life and help and the other did not. Neither of them was perfectly obedient. David will do, alas, some things that are perfectly terrible. But he trusted the Lord. He had faith. He turned from himself to God for his life and his salvation. Saul never did. And this is the message of the entire OT as it is the message of the entire Bible. I have commonplaced my Bible on the subject of faith as the essential instrument of justification and salvation at Nahum 1:7 - "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him..." - and I have a great many texts in the margin there and that listing is only a representative selection of a very large number of texts that could be enlisted to make the same point. And those texts are all summary statements. The point is made still more forcefully in the long stretches of OT narrative. Indeed, that is one of the great subjects of those narratives and a wise reader of them will always be asking himself or herself what does this have to teach me about faith in the Lord and how I should exercise that faith, or, better, what does this teach me about God and about Christ and why I should live my life trusting myself to their promises, their care, their provision, their faithfulness. That is what David has learned here - not so much a lesson about faith, as a lesson about the faithfulness of God and why he is right to trust himself to the Lord and leave his welfare in God's hands.

And that is as much the lesson of the OT as it is the lesson of the NT. The first 39 books of the Bible, just as the last 27, are designed to work faith in us, and by faith to work everything else in us that is good and right. The main thing the Scriptures are after in us is that we would be believers in the Lord and his Word. If you trust in the Lord you will do his will, not only because you love him but because you will know that it is the very best way to everything good and happy in your life. That is what David learned. He was safest from Saul when he looked to God for safety. He ran the greatest risk of screwing up his prospects when he acted as if his welfare depended upon himself. Or, as Tertullian put it long ago, safety in life can be found only if "faith, her sails filled by the Spirit of God, navigates..." [On Idolatry, xxiv]

Now you take this general lesson to heart. What is the great issue in your life and mine? It is the state, the condition, the strength of your faith. It is not the measure of your obedience, because that is determined by something else, viz. the strength of your faith. The greater your confidence in the Lord, the more sure you are of his promises, the more active your sense of his presence with you, the more obediently you will live. Increase your faith and you increase your obedience. Increase your faith and you also increase your peace and joy, because these come from the knowledge of the Lord's love and grace, his provision and his promises and your confidence in all of that, and all of that comes from faith. As the Puritan, Thomas Watson, put it, "faith is the master-wheel; it sets all the other graces running." (What's a master wheel? In an old watch, or very old factory).

It is important for us to see our lives in these terms, always to be examining our faith, always to be seeing our sins as failures of faith first and foremost, always to be straining to grow in faith, understanding that if our faith grows, everything else will grow with it. "Faith is the victory that overcomes the world." [1 Jn. 5:4]

And this is the lesson that our children must learn and learn well. What they must seek for themselves is true and stronger faith. When they are unkind to their brothers or sisters, it is their faith that has failed them. They did not, at that moment, really believe that the Lord was present, really believe that he would be displeased with such behavior, really believe that they would have to answer for it, really believe that he honors those who honor him, really believe that he loves them so much and has given so much for them that no sacrifice is too great to make for him - even giving in to your brother or sister! If they are discouraged about something that has happened to them or about something that has not happened, that too is a lack of faith and its remedy is trust in a God of infinite love and wisdom who has ordered our steps precisely as they ought to be ordered, strange as it may sometimes seem. Or if they are feeling too strongly the pull of the world and the desire to conform to it, that too is a weakness of faith, a failure to grasp all the Lord has said about the world and forsaking the world and the world to come. And so on regarding everything in our children's lives. It was a stronger faith that changed David's life and his behavior, not the other way round. And it will be faith and the exercise of faith that will change our children's lives.

Some of you may remember this from years ago. This is from the saintly Richard Cecil, one of the Great Awakening preachers of the 18th century Anglican church, friend of John Newton, George Whitefield, the Wesleys and others.

"Children are very early capable of impression. I imprinted on my daughter the idea of faith, at a very early age. She was playing one day with a few beads, which seemed to delight her wonderfully. Her whole soul was absorbed in her beads. I said - "My dear, you have some pretty beads there." "Yes, papa!" "And you seem to be vastly pleased with them." "Yes, papa!" "Well, now throw them [in] the fire." The tears started into her eyes. She looked earnestly at me, as though she ought to have a reason for such a cruel sacrifice. "Well, my dear, do as you please. But you know I never told you to do anything which I did not think would be good for you." She looked at me a few moments longer, and then (summoning up all her fortitude, her breast heaving with the effort) she dashed them into the fire. "Well," said I, "there let them lie: you shall hear more about them another time; but say no more about them now." Some days after, I bought her a box full of larger beads and toys of the same kind. When I returned home, I opened the treasure and set it before her: she burst into tears of ecstasy. "Those, my child," said I, "are yours; because you believed me, when I told you it would be better for you to throw those two or three paltry beads behind the fire. Now that has brought you this treasure. But now, my dear, remember, as long as you live, what faith is. I did all this to teach you the meaning of faith. You threw your beads away when I told you, because you had faith in me that I never advised you but for your good. Put the same confidence in God. Believe everything that he says in his Word. Whether you understand it or not, have faith in him that he means your good." [The Thought of the Evangelical Leaders, 8]

Well, as with our children, so with ourselves. We would do better to think more and pray more over our believing the Lord and his Word than simply our obeying him. For if you get more faith, you'll get the obedience thrown in for free. Faith brings obedience after it like a low pressure system draws in the clouds.

But, how do we get more faith, how does faith grow? Well, the Lord sometimes takes matters in hand and proves himself to us whether we are looking for faith or not. He did that for David in chapter 25. But, by and large, in the Christian life, faith grows by exercise. That is what we see David doing in Chapter 26: exercising his faith, putting God's promise to him to the test, acting on it. You get more faith by believing more, as you get more love by loving more, more repentance by repenting more. Take the promises of God, perhaps the several that are most at issue in your life right now and in prayer before God and in your behavior every day believe them and act accordingly! You will be amazed at how active faith redirects your heart and life. But let me leave you with this piece of sage advice from a master of the Christian life, Charles Simeon of Cambridge. In answer to the question of a Christian whose soul had grown cold and dull and who sought its recovery, Simeon wrote:

"The general answer to this would be, 'be much in reading the Holy Scriptures and in heavenly meditations; be much in prayer to God through Christ; read the promises and rely upon them, and cast yourself entirely on Christ as able and willing to save you to the uttermost.' To that purpose I might speak at large; but yet I should say nothing which you do not already know. I will therefore...touch only on what may not have presented itself to your notice. There are two errors which are common to persons in your state: first, the using of means as though by the use of them they could prevail; and secondly, the not using of them because they have so long been used in vain. The error consists in putting the means too much in the place of Christ, and in expecting from exertion what is only gained by affiance. There is a passive state of mind, a lying like clay in the hands of the potter, and a casting yourself on Christ, content to sink if he will let you sink, and to be marred, if he choose to mar you. This willingness to be saved by him altogether from first to last, and in his own time and way, and this determination to trust in him though he slay you, and to praise him though he condemn you, is what you particularly want. There is another thing.... You are too much occupied in looking at yourself and too little in beholding the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by the former you are to be humbled; but it is by the latter that you are to be 'changed into the divine image.' You want a greater measure of holiness to warrant your confidence in the divine promises; when it is only by apprehending those promises that you can attain the holiness you are seeking after (2 Cor. vii.1]. You must learn to 'glory in your infirmities, that the power of Christ may be 'all in all.'" [Moule, Charles Simeon, 84]

Was this not David's approach here? Exertion, certainly; but all motivated by a confidence in God's faithfulness and God's promise. It was to God he was looking, even as he did this daring thing.

There is not a day that I don't have to be reminded of that! I work much more easily than I believe and that is why I work so poorly and so intermittently. That passive state of mind of which Simeon speaks is not the same as an inactive life, it is not quietism. David is quite active in this chapter, but his activity is all an expression of his looking to the Lord to direct and provide and save. That is a completely different kind of activity. Here is a challenge. Try in these coming days to keep track of how much and how hard you are actually believing in the Lord, and believing more and more, see how it changes you.

I close with Rabbi Duncan. "Believers live not on the first act of their faith, but on the continual act of their faith; because it is not faith they live on, but Christ." "We can no more live by yesterday's faith, than we can see by yesterday's light, or have our life supported by yesterday's food."