In 1 Samuel 26 we read that David was given yet another opportunity to kill Saul and yet again he refuses to take matters into his own hands. As Saul’s obsession with killing David serves to contrast David’s action here, so too does David’s choice to spare Saul compound the evil in Saul. It was an action that forced Saul to confront the shameful state of his own heart. This situation is reflective of the proverb which says: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21,22). There would have been no benefit to taking vengeance on Saul. There never is a benefit to being vengeful and bitter. Sure, if David killed Saul, he would have become king, but God was going to make him king anyway at the right time, when he was ready to bear this responsibility. If he seized the throne before his heart was made ready, he may well have become just like Saul and so shared his misery. If you do things God’s way, you can live in peace and assurance knowing that your path is blessed by God. Let God give you the right things in the right time. He knows best. Trust him.
Are you facing difficulties? Think about what the right thing to do is.
Read 1 Samuel 26
