David Spares Saul's Life a 2nd Time

When David and Abishai sneek into Saul's camp while everyone is sleeping, Abishai wants to kill Saul. Abishai had not learned the difficult lesson of exercising magnanimity toward an enemy. Saul had started an intertribal feud between Benjamin and Judah, and Abishai evidently concluded that such an action called for retaliation. Saul had thrown his spear at David, but had missed. Now, according to Abishai's judgment, it was David's turn, and as his bodyguard, Abishai was offering to act on behalf of his uncle.

David exercised independent thought. He was above taking any living man as his criterion for conduct. He had developed his philosophy of life, not from tradition, but from the principles laid down in divine revelation. Among the precepts of the Mosaic law, with which David had familiarized himself, was the following: "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people" (Ex. 22:28, RSV). David possessed keen spiritual discernment and understood this law to prohibit such action against the king as Abishai advocated.

David's spiritual interpretation of the Mosaic regulations was far advanced over that of the Jewish leaders in Christ's day, who tried to maintain the letter of the law while violating its spirit! David was content to leave all in God's hands, and in no way try to prescribe the course for God to follow. He gladly laid all his plans at the Master's feet, to await patiently the unfolding of the mysterious workings of God.