Magnanimity of David
597
“In the Lord put I my trust:
How say ye to my soul,
Flee as a bird to your mountain?
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string,
That they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
If the foundations be destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s throne is in heaven:
His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men.
The Lord trieth the righteous:
But the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul
hateth.”
Psalm 11:1-5
.
The Ziphites, into whose wild regions David went from Keilah,
sent word to Saul in Gibeah that they knew where David was hiding,
and that they would guide the king to his retreat. But David, warned of
their intentions, changed his position, seeking refuge in the mountains
between Maon and the Dead Sea.
Again word was sent to Saul, “Behold, David is in the wilderness
of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel,
and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.”
David had only six hundred men in his company, while Saul advanced
against him with an army of three thousand. In a secluded cave the son
of Jesse and his men waited for the guidance of God as to what should
be done. As Saul was pressing his way up the mountains, he turned
aside, and entered, alone, the very cavern in which David and his band
were hidden. When David’s men saw this they urged their leader to
kill Saul. The fact that the king was now in their power was interpreted
by them as certain evidence that God Himself had delivered the enemy
into their hand, that they might destroy him. David was tempted to
take this view of the matter; but the voice of conscience spoke to him,
saying, “Touch not the anointed of the Lord.”
David’s men were still unwilling to leave Saul in peace, and they
reminded their commander of the words of God, “Behold, I will deliver
thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall
seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s