‹ Back

1 Samuel 24:4 "And the men of David said to him, 'Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'"

 

Saul, who was pursuing David in order to kill him, had entered the cave where David and his men were hiding when David's men said this to him. In response, David stealthily cut off a piece of Saul's robe, but then felt guilty about it, saying "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed." (1 Samuel 24:6). So David and his men did nothing further to Saul, who left the cave unaware of David's proximity.

 

God lets us know things, sometimes personally, by clear messages, insights, or revelations; and sometimes more generally, as through the revelation of Scripture or Marian messages. If we are certain that the message is from God, we can be certain it is true. But just because we know it is true does not mean we know how it will come to pass, and it never means we should assume we are to bring it about by contradicting some law of God's.

 

David had a very close relationship with God. He knew he had been chosen to succeed Saul, and he knew God would see through what He had begun when Samuel anointed David. So it is perfectly understandable that David's men would assume Saul entering their cave was an opportunity from God for David to help God accomplish His plan. Plus, Saul was trying to kill David, so David would seem to be justified in killing Saul! But David knew God better than this. He knew it was wrong to lay hands on God's anointed for harm. Faced with this opportunity, then, and giving into it just enough to cut Saul's robe, David realized this was not the time nor the way that God intended for Saul to die. David knew how meaningful it was that Saul was God's anointed, His chosen first king of Israel. David knew his place, and he was patient, trusting that God would work things out without David having to violate God's commands.

 

We know what God's ultimate plan is, but we also see it being opposed on many fronts in this world. We may often feel righteous anger and want to stop the evil in its tracks if it is in our power to do so. But when doing so would be sinful on our part, we should take a page from David's book. When evil is cut down in the wrong time and manner, it only begets more evil. God alone knows the right time and means for evil's demise, and He knows what that looks like, which is often very different from how we see it (just look at how His Son defeated evil!).

 

Although God shows us the general outline of His plan, and sometimes more, we can never assume that we know enough to justify a wrong action in service of what we think God is doing.