1 Samuel · chapter 26 of 31
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1 Samuel 26 tells how Saul again pursues David with three thousand men in the wilderness of Ziph. David and Abishai enter the camp at night and find Saul asleep, but David does not allow Abishai to kill him because he is the Lord's anointed. He takes the spear and the water jar and shows them to Saul from a distance, and Saul admits his wrong.
This chapter partly repeats 1 Samuel 24: Saul pursues David again after having admitted his guilt. It shows the persistence of Saul's hostility and the consistency of David, who again refuses to raise his hand against the Lord's anointed. It is another moment in which David leaves justice in God's hands.
The Ziphites go to Gibeah to tell Saul that David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah. Saul goes down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men and camps beside the road. David learns of it, sends out spies and confirms that Saul has come. Then he goes up with Abishai son of Zeruiah and they enter the camp at night. Saul is sleeping in the middle, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head, and Abner and the army sleep around him.
Abishai says God has given his enemy into his hand today and asks permission to pin him to the ground with one stroke. David answers that he must not kill him, for no one can raise his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless. He says the Lord will strike him, or his day will come, or he will die in battle, but the Lord forbid that he should raise his hand against the Lord's anointed. David takes the spear and the water jar at his head, and they go away. No one sees or knows, for a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them all.
David crosses over and from the top of the hill calls to Abner, asking why he did not guard his lord, for someone has come in to kill the king. Saul recognizes David's voice. David asks why he pursues him, what he has done, and says that if the Lord has stirred Saul against him, let him accept an offering; but if men have, let them be cursed, for they have driven him out from his share in the Lord's inheritance. Saul says he has sinned, that David should return as his son and that he will not harm him again, and he confesses that he has acted foolishly and has erred greatly.
David tells him to send one of his young men to fetch the spear. The Lord rewards each man for his righteousness and faithfulness, and as he has valued Saul's life today, he asks that the Lord value his. Saul blesses him and says David will surely do great things and prevail. Each goes back to his place.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David tells Abishai not to kill Saul, for no one can raise a hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless. David submits to the principle that God, not men, decides the end of the king.
David says the Lord forbid that he should raise his hand against the anointed, and asks only to take the spear and the water jar. The objects will be the proof that he could have killed him and did not.
Saul confesses that he has sinned, acted foolishly and erred greatly. It is a sincere statement in the moment, though later events show his heart has not changed.
David says the Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and faithfulness, because he would not stretch out his hand against the anointed. He entrusts his cause to the Lord instead of seeking his own advantage.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Abishai, son of Zeruiah. — 1 Samuel 26:6-7
Answer: In the ground, by his head. — 1 Samuel 26:7
Answer: Pin Saul to the ground with the spear in one stroke. — 1 Samuel 26:8
Answer: Because Saul was the Lord's anointed and no one could raise a hand against him without guilt. — 1 Samuel 26:9-11
Answer: The spear and the water jar that were at Saul's head. — 1 Samuel 26:12
Answer: Because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them all. — 1 Samuel 26:12
When someone wounds us unjustly and the chance to respond comes, the temptation is to believe that God has handed it to us. David shows another way: he recognizes that opportunity is not enough reason to act and that judgment belongs to the Lord. In a small group you can talk about relationships in which waiting on God is hard.
It is also worth noting that Saul repents in words but does not change. David does not rely on it and goes on his way. Forgiving does not mean putting ourselves at risk or ignoring what the other does, but renouncing revenge and entrusting the matter to God while acting with prudence.
1 Samuel 26 ends with a farewell that seems final: Saul returns to his place and David goes on his way. In chapter 27, however, David concludes that he is not safe in Judah and takes refuge among the Philistines.
Many scholars see in the two scenes a pattern that stresses David's character and the persistence of Saul's hostility. The differences show they are distinct episodes: here it is night, in the camp, and David takes the spear and the water jar.
The text says a deep sleep from the Lord fell on the camp. So the narrative shows that God himself protected David and Abishai as they moved among the guards, and that the opportunity was a test, not a sign that David should take revenge.