Spear & Jug - 1st Samuel 26

The whole incident with Nabal might have been widely known to the general public because we again see the people who live in Ziph going to Saul and telling him that they know where David is hiding. Even though Saul said he’s stop pursuing David because David spared his life, that was a lie and Saul is grateful to the Ziphites and take off with this 3,000 men to find David. Let’s note the size difference in parties, Saul’s 3,000 warriors against David’s 600 randoms. David hears that Saul is looking for him again and sends out spies to find out what’s going on. The spies find Saul and David takes his men and goes to where Saul is. I think it’s an interesting strategy that he went to Saul instead of retreating to somewhere safe. It makes sense if you know where your enemy is but they don’t know exactly where you are, definitely have the upper hand in that instance. They see Saul and his men laid out, it says “in the trench” and “trench” is cross-referenced to say barricade, I thought it was a field but this makes more sense. David makes a plan and asks who will go with him and a guy named Abishai said that he will go with him. TB says that the translation of this guy’s name means that he’s a close relative to David and that that’s how people operated then because family had your back as your interests were aligned.

David and Abishai sneak into Saul’s camp and find Saul asleep with his notorious spear stuck into the ground by his head and Abner and his men sleeping around him. Abishai says to David what the other guys said last time Saul fell into their hands, and probably what was true, to let him kill Saul. David again declines to kill Saul, saying, “destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” I think the contrast here is interesting, that this is the second time that David has spared Saul life when Saul was actively trying to kill him, but just in the chapter before this, he was rushing as fast as he could to kill Nabal’s whole clan. The difference that I can see is that David felt that Saul was special because he was chosen by God but Nabal and all Nabal’s family, David didn’t think that they were special. Maybe that’s a lesson to us, and me specifically, that just because *I* don’t think someone is important doesn’t mean that they aren’t and doesn’t mean that I can just treat them however I want. That’s a pretty important lesson to me today, that I needed.

Instead of having Saul killed, David instead decides to take his spear and his water jug. These two men sneaking around in an enemy camp looking for the king has familiar ties to what happens in the Book of Mormon when Teancum and his servant sneak into Amalekiah’s camp and kill him. Interestingly, verse 12 says that David and Abishai were able to sneak around like this because God Himself had caused a deep sleep to fall on Saul and his men. This can also be a call back to numerous times when God put their enemies to sleep in the Book of Mormon, like for Teancum, which is tough because when he does it the second time and kills Ammoron, the people wake up and Teancum is killed. Other times God put people to sleep in the Book of Mormon, when the people of Alma were escaping, other times during Moroni’s battles, etc. Just another battle strategy available to God for use in defeating those who oppose him.

So David takes Saul’s spear and water jug, then “stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space between them.” Instead of calling to Saul and waking him up, he calls to Abner, Saul’s general who is supposed to be protecting him. There’s a back and forth where David accuses Abner of being derelict in his duty and says that he is worthy of death due to his poor performance keeping Saul safe. He then asks Abner where Saul’s spear and water jug are. David must not like Abner personally. Saul recognizes David’s voice and asks if it’s David, which he answers that it is and asks why he is trying to kill him, “for what have I done? Or what evil is in mind hand?” David also interestingly says that Saul’s anger is because he’s offended God, then let them do a sacrifice together to make amends. David knows that Saul’s hatred of him has nothing to do with God or any offense he’s committed spiritually. It is interesting that he brings it up though and I wonder if it was to remind Saul of God in a way that didn’t come off as trying to curse him or anything like that.

When Saul realizes that David has his spear and his water jug, he realizes just how close he was to death… again, and that David spared his life… again. Saul does the whole song and dance about how wrong he was and that David can come home and he’ll never try to hurt him again. We all know that this is a lie and David does too because instead of joining Saul’s camp, he says for one of the young soldiers to come get the spear and water jug and ends the conversation acknowledging “so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.” David’s life and death is determined by God and God alone, which is another lesson to us.

David and Saul both go on their separate ways, and TB says that this is the last time Saul and David will ever see each other. Interesting.