1 Samuel 26:1-25

And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon? ² Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. ³ And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. ⁴ David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed. ⁵ And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him. ⁶ Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. ⁷ So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him. ⁸ Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time. ⁹ And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless? ¹⁰ David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. ¹¹ The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. ¹² So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them. ¹³ Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them: ¹⁴ And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king? ¹⁵ And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. ¹⁶ This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. ¹⁷ And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. ¹⁸ And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand? ¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods. ²⁰ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains. ²¹ Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. ²² And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. ²³ The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed. ²⁴ And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. ²⁵ Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

We use the phrase “the tip of the spear” as a euphemism to describe something or someone at the forefront of an effort or as essential to something’s success. This is because “the tip of the spear” is the most dangerous part of a spear. It is the sharp edge that penetrates and cuts. The spear of Saul is central to this entire chapter. Throughout his time as king, particularly when he was after David, we see Saul time and again grasping his spear or trying to use his spear to harm David on multiple occasions. Here, in chapter 26, the spear of Saul makes a major point, or rather three major “points” (or “tips”) regarding David and marks of faithfulness in David’s life. While Saul was “touched” by David’s sparing of his life, we find that David had good reason for not reconciling with Saul and joining his ranks again because Saul went right back to his old ways of hunting David down. In 1 Samuel 26, David was given another opportunity to take matters into his own hands with Saul and instead restrained himself. What do we learn from this? This time in David’s life was all about God making him into the king that He wanted him to be, a righteous and faithful king. With the spear of Saul as a marker for us, we are going to identify three marks of righteousness and faithfulness that are found in David’s actions here, in the person and work of Christ, and that we are called to follow in.

First, we learn that righteousness and faithfulness are marked by enduring patience. After his encounter with Nabal, we quickly return to where we were in 1 Samuel 23-24 with David on the run from Saul. Again, the Ziphites played a role in telling Saul where David was hiding, as they had done previously in 1 Samuel 23, and Saul went down to Hachilah in the wilderness of Ziph to find him. Saul’s sorrow and revelation about David in 1 Samuel 24 had obviously not changed his heart. He was still exhibiting the same murderous intention as before. While Saul and his men camped and slept, David and Abishai went down to their camp. When they arrived, they found Saul and his captain, Abner, asleep and they were defenseless. God had presented David another test. Would he take action and end his troubles or remain faithful to the Lord and His plan? Despite Abishai being convinced that God had given Saul into David’s hand and urging David to allow him to let him strike him, David refused. Instead, he and Abishai took Saul’s “spear and the cruse of water” and they were able to escape undetected by any of Saul’s men. It is one thing to wait on the Lord to fulfill His promises and accomplish His plan in a given situation in our lives. It is quite another for us to have to continue to wait on the Lord. While we may not have someone actively hunting us down or may not be waiting to be made king, there are times when circumstances push us to act outside of God’s revealed will. For instance: What about a troubled marriage where the wife has tried to submit to her husband, but the husband refuses to love her and honor his commitment? What does waiting look like? In general, it would require the wife to continue to faithfully submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22-23). What about dealing with a belligerent boss at work? It’s God’s will for us to continue to honor that authority in so far as it does not conflict with God’s authority in our lives (Ephesians 6:5-7). What is required to be righteous and faithful in those circumstances and so many others while we wait on God to work is patient endurance. The way we patiently endure is to do what we know God wants us to do and leave the rest to Him. Here, the spear of Saul served to show that David would continue to patiently wait on the Lord. The righteous and faithful person is not the one who walks above all their problems; it is the one who remains obedient through them. David remained patient, trusting, and obedient. We must too.

Next, we learn that righteousness and faithfulness are marked by uncompromised integrity. After taking Saul’s spear and water container, David went and stood on a hill opposite Saul and his camp and cried out to them. He directly addressed Abner, Saul’s captain, and pointed out that Abner deserved to die because he had failed to do his job of protecting the king. David pointed to the spear as evidence that he had been in the camp very close to Saul. The spear stood out as proof that David had not compromised his integrity in his dealings with Saul. It showed that he had continued to be faithful to God’s anointed king despite all the evil that King Saul had tried to do to him. When Saul heard David’s voice, he cried out to David and David reminded Saul of his innocence toward him. He pointed out to Saul that, regardless of what advice or false information Saul had received about David to perceive him as a threat, David had proved himself harmless (like “a flea” – v. 20) to Saul. The spear served as a reminder to Saul of David’s integrity and the lack of evil intentions he had toward Saul the king.  That same spear had been hurled at David on multiple occasions, yet David had handled that same spear righteously. It is a reminder to us that power and circumstances are never the problem; character is. The same spear that brought out evil in Saul, brought out righteousness in David. We can lose many things in the circumstances of life. David did. He lost his wife, Michael, his home, his position in Saul’s army, his friend Jonathan, etc., all for something he didn’t do. The world can take many things from us, but one thing that we cannot allow the world to take from us through circumstances is our character. Character is who we truly are. It is often defined as who we are when no one is looking. When all pretenses and facades are removed, who are we really? It is in those times where we are mistreated and have lost other things that we often find out. It is so important that we do not compromise our integrity or our character for anything. Let us walk with uncompromised integrity.

Lastly, we learn that righteousness and faithfulness are marked by expectant hope. Finally, we receive an admission of Saul that he had “sinned,” “played the fool,” and “erred exceedingly.” It was upon Saul’s confession that David returned his spear to him. This sixth mentioning of the spear in this passage marked out David returning the symbol of Saul’s power to him. It was David resigning that power to Saul until the time that God wanted to remove it from Saul and give it to him. David’s actions were based in an expectant hope in what God had promised. In verses 23-24 David mentioned “the Lord” four times and referred to Him as “Him” a fifth time. That means that the emphasis of David’s thinking was upon the Lord, what He had promised, and what He would do. Where we put our focus and trust will dictate our actions. If we truly trust in the Lord, then we will walk in His ways. If our trust is in ourselves, then we will inevitably feel the need to manipulate, act, and take matters into our own hands. Righteousness and faithfulness are always marked by an expectant hope that God will be faithful. While Saul would return home from pursuing David, his calloused heart was still hardened in sin and would lead him to do the unthinkable just a short while later in 1 Samuel 28. While Saul had twice realized the truth that he was rejected as king, that David had been righteous toward him, and that David was God’s next king, Saul still refused to humble himself before the Lord. The most dangerous thing you and I posses is truth that we have not obeyed. Saul refused to humble himself in light of the truth, but David placed his hope in the Lord and acted toward Saul accordingly. Where we place our hope guides how we live our lives. If you want to know where your hope is, look at your decisions, your priorities, and your actions. God is still God whether we see Him at work or not. Our responsibility is simply to trust in Him that He will be faithful. He always is.

Righteousness and faithfulness sum up the character of the life lived for the Lord. David’s interactions with Saul and his spear in 1 Samuel 26 serve to direct us forward to the truly righteous and faithful King, the Lord Jesus Christ. In His enduring patience, He endured the cross for our sakes (Hebrews 12:1-2). In His uncompromising integrity, He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). In His expectant hope, He “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:22-24). His character is displayed in all who follow Him as we are conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). It is only in a right relationship with Him that you and I are righteous and faithful. The spear is not in the hands of us, our circumstances, or any enemy we encounter. It is ultimately in His hand. Will you trust Him?