David : Won’t Touch the Man God Picked

Eventually, even though David had never done anything bad to Saul but had only helped and respected and loved him, Saul started chasing David all around to try to kill him! More jealous yuckiness.

Saul chased David all over the mountains and deserts and caves trying to get him. But God protected David. Lots of warriors loved and respected David, so they joined him and helped keep him safe and strong.

But even when Saul was being nasty, David didn’t try to grab his turn or hurt Saul back. It was clear to David that God was in control of the situation.

One time Saul was chasing David up a mountain and Saul decided to go into a cave for a potty break and a little rest. What Saul didn’t know was that deep in the back of the cave David and his men were hiding.

Tip toe, tip toe. David crept up behind Saul. Soooo quietly. David pulled out his knife and cut off a little corner of the fabric of Saul’s robe. Even though Saul was jealously chasing down David to try to hurt him, David was NOT going to hurt Saul.

A few minutes later, Saul left the cave. David came out of the cave too and shouted to Saul from the mountain, “My King, Saul!”

Saul whirled around to see who was calling him, and David bowed down with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when people say, ‘David wants to hurt you’? See for yourself. Some of my men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them, ‘I will NOT hurt the king because he is the one God picked.’

“Look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I got very close to you and cut off the corner of your robe, but I didn’t hurt you. I haven’t done anything bad to you, but you are chasing me down trying to take my life.

“May God decide who is right — you or me. May God deal with you for the wrong things you’ve done to me, but my hand will not reach out to hurt you.

Saul was ashamed that he’d been thinking so badly of David. He called out to David, “Is that your voice, my son David?” He then started crying really loud. Saul said to David: “You are better than me; for you have rewarded me with good, but I have “rewarded” you with evil. May the Lord reward you with good for what you’ve done today. I know for sure that you will be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will become strong under your lead.”

After that, Saul left. But once the jealous thoughts came into his mind again later, he didn’t stop them. He let the thoughts stew and brew until he went right back to chasing David again.

Another time when Saul had stopped and camped for the night with all his soldiers, David found them. Saul and his soldiers were sound asleep.

David crept up beside Saul tip toe, tip toe… soooo quietly. David had one of his soldiers with him, and the soldier said, “God has given you this chance to kill your enemy. Let me kill him for you.” David scolded this soldier right away, “No way! We must not touch God’s anointed. Who could touch the king God picked and not be guilty and in deep trouble with God?! God will take care of Saul Himself. Now grab Saul’s water jug and spear and let’s get out of here!”

So they grabbed the water jug and spear and quietly slipped away.

Did you know?

There’s something we can learn from this, but there is a right way and a wrong way to apply it. David was showing us that whoever or whatever God has CHOSEN no mere man has the right to fight or oppose.

But I’m sad to say that I’ve actually heard religious leaders or preachers or pastors say, “Hey! I’m the one God picked to lead. So, that means you can’t say I’m wrong about anything. You should not touch me because I’m God’s anointed!”

Oooo! That’s a very wrong way to apply what David said. Many religious leaders in today’s world are people who cared about God, so maybe they volunteered to lead or maybe they had leadership skills so they were given titles like “pastor” or “preacher” or “priest.” But it’s important to know that there were no church buildings “way back when,” and no people with titles of “preacher” and “pastor.” So David wasn’t talking about people who were picked or picked themselves to lead God’s sheep. Being a leader of God’s Family is not something you can learn, or earn, or decide for yourself to be. Picking is God’s job.

Plus most people who would claim “I’m anointed” so “don’t touch God’s anointed” are probably NOT really picked by God. (You’ll see how David doesn’t try to protect himself or his pride in this way. He lets people tell him when he’s wrong.) People really picked by God are those who are soft to God. They’re people who draw other people closer to God and change people’s lives. So just keep your eyes out for THAT!

Once David was a safe distance away from Saul and his sleeping soldiers, David hollered down from the top of a nearby hill, “Yoo-hooo! Hey! You who are supposed to be guarding the king! Wake up sleepy heads! You’re not doing your job. Someone snuck into your camp to destroy your lord the king. This is not good. You deserve to die because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s chosen. Look around. Where is the king’s spear? And the jug of water that was by his head?”

David held up Saul’s spear and jug of water, and told Saul again that he was not trying to hurt him.

Two times David had a chance to hurt King Saul, but he didn’t do it. David was not going to hurt Saul back, no matter how mean Saul was. And David didn’t pout and fuss and gossip and slander and talk bad about Saul behind his back either. David knew it was not his job to try to “get back at” Saul.

Think about it…

So let’s look at this closely. David, Jonathan, Samuel and others kept showing Saul he was wrong along the way.

Samuel told King Saul we was wrong and that God had rejected him as king. And Samuel wouldn’t be Saul’s buddy anymore.

Jonathan also told King Saul he was wrong, but as his son, he still stayed respectful and obedient to Saul.

And twice David called Saul out (even in front of his own men), saying, “The Lord judge between us who is right and who is wrong.”

But, none of them tried to hurt Saul or oppose Saul or fight Saul or slander or gossip about Saul in any way. They just tried to be honest and help him see his sin, and then they went about their lives best they could. God had picked Saul to be king, so all those men waited on God to deal with the situation. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t try to help Saul in the meantime by pointing out his sin.

So after David showed Saul again that he was not trying to kill him, David gave Saul back his spear. David tried to reason with Saul and help him see how wrong he was, but David didn’t want to hurt Saul or take his stuff.

As you can see, David was very patient. But he knew that God’s Timing was Perfect, and he was going to wait for THAT, no matter what.

After all this, David took off again into hiding since there was no evidence Saul would stop his stewing and brewing.