Magnanimity of David
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me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once,
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and I will not smite him the second time.” He waited for the word of
permission; but there fell upon his ear the whispered words: “Destroy
him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed,
and be guiltless? ... As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his
day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. 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. 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.” How easily
the Lord can weaken the strongest, remove prudence from the wisest,
and baffle the skill of the most watchful!
When David was at a safe distance from the camp he stood on the
top of a hill and cried with a loud voice to the people and to Abner,
saying, “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. 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. 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. And
he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for
what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand? Now therefore, I pray
thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant.” Again the
acknowledgment fell from the lips of the king, “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. And David answered and said, Behold the
king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.”
Although Saul had made the promise, “I will no more do thee harm,”
David did not place himself in his power.
The second instance of David’s respect for his sovereign’s life made
a still deeper impression upon the mind of Saul and brought from him
a more humble acknowledgment of his fault. He was astonished and
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subdued at the manifestation of such kindness. In parting from David,