{"id":1588,"date":"2025-03-14T18:18:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T18:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=1588"},"modified":"2025-03-14T18:18:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T18:18:34","slug":"24-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=1588","title":{"rendered":"24"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cNow it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, \u201cTake note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.\u201d Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.\u201d<\/em> (v1,2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evidently the battle with the Philistines was over, and, almost without taking breath, Saul resumes his search for David. He took 3,000 select men (not just any) and went after David. One would have thought that his mind would still be concerned with real enemies, but he is still obsessed with getting rid of David. It had only been a temporary distraction. One could have been forgiven for thinking that Saul would have been reminded of their great battle against the Philistines when David killed Goliath. Surely the memories would come flooding back. Also, the many other occasions when David had fought for him, even the recent occasion when David had fought the Philistines when they attacked Keilah whilst he was on the run. David\u2019s loyalty was overwhelming, but Saul ignored it and carried on with his own personal war against his most loyal supporter. No more so do we see this in this chapter. We must always be aware that the enemy rarely gives up and we must be prayerful and on our guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The En Gedi canyon runs westward from the Dead Sea. One can still see the good-sized creek flowing down the canyon, making En Gedi, with its waterfalls and vegetation seem more like a tropical paradise than the middle of the desert. There are also numerous caves which provided hiding places for David and his men, also with good viewpoints and plenty of water and wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saul came to the sheepfolds and went into a cave to attend the call of nature(v3). David and his men were in there hiding. What an opportunity for David! His men are excited – \u201cThis is the day of which The LORD said to you, \u201cBehold I will deliver your enemy into your hand,<\/em> <\/strong>that you may do to him as it seems good to you.<\/em> \u201cHe\u2019s come right into your hands\u201d\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not told when The LORD had given him that message and his men believed that this was his opportunity to bring this to pass (v4-7). We are never justified in going against God\u2019s law (sinning) to bring about God\u2019s promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must trust Him to bring it about. David knew how to wait God\u2019s timing and so must we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They recognized that God had delivered Saul into David\u2019s hands and encouraged him do his worst. He must have almost got carried away, but he restrained himself. David cut off the corner of Saul\u2019s robe (v4). I guess he had taken it off and left it somewhere while he did whatever he was doing there. Even this troubled David. It was as if he had killed Saul \u2013 he had dared to raise his hand against The LORD\u2019s anointed and it troubled him, even though he had only cut off the corner of his robe (v5).  David is described as \u2018a man after God\u2019s own heart\u2019. He knew right from wrong and what he had done still troubled him. He restrained his men from assaulting Saul and Saul left the cave still not knowing what had taken place.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David followed Saul outside (v8) and bowed down to him, and called out to him, \u201cMy lord the king\u201d. It was very risky to reveal himself to Saul and his men, Saul could easily have killed him on the spot, but he revered the king despite Saul\u2019s evil plots against him, he was still loyal and recognized him as king, and said, (my paraphrase v9-15) \u201cWhy do you listen to the words of men who say that I seek to do you harm. Look! Today I could have killed you \u2013 The LORD brought you into my hands, but I spared you because you are The LORD\u2019s anointed, and I will not lift my hand against you. See I have the corner of your robe which I have cut off just now. I have been that close but didn\u2019t kill you. I wish you no harm, yet you seek to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David placed his future in God\u2019s hands, he sought no revenge and was content for God to be his judge. He had a clear conscience. (v12-15)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saul often appears to be self-righteous, hypocritical, sorry and condescending. He said, \u201cIs that your voice, my son David?<\/em> And he wept. He went on \u201cYou are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil\u2026. And now I know that you shall surely be king.\u201d  <\/em>(v16-20)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seemed to be a turning point in Saul\u2019s life. I\u2019m not sure that there was a total truce, but seemed to give up his war against David by recognizing that David would be the next king (v21). Saul went to his home, but David and his men went to the strongholds in En Gedi. Saul did not take David to his palace or even send him back to his own home, which one would have expected if indeed Saul had been genuine in his words of penitence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe David no longer had a home because of Saul \u2013 in 22:1 we read that his brothers and all his father\u2019s house had come to join his band. If he was genuine, why didn\u2019t he restore David and his family to their home? We shall see that Saul\u2019s tears were \u2018crocodile tears\u2019. He said all the right things but after all, he had been in a corner with his back to the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David was happy to make the promise regarding Saul\u2019s family, after all he and Jonathan were like brothers, and we shall see that kept his promise, but I don\u2019t think he trusted Saul for one moment. Saul asked David to promise to preserve his descendants, and David did so (v21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person may repent and claim to confess their sin, but it must lead to a changed heart, and their actions must accord with the same. Let us pray that it will be definite and not just some passing emotion. There must be true repentance otherwise it will not last. There must be compete obedience to God. We may not have the ability to look into a person\u2019s heart like God can, but the Bible says that we can know a person by the fruit they produce in their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNow it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, \u201cTake note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.\u201d Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.\u201d (v1,2). Evidently the battle with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-samuel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n24 - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=1588\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"24 - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cNow it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, \u201cTake note! 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