1 Samuel 26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless? Our attention has been called to the fact that the first great victory achieved by David was over his own spirit. As we pursue his history, we are glad to find that his first triumph of this noblest kind was not his last. His cruel and implacable foe, who had come out with three thousand armed men determined either to take him prisoner or to hunt him to death, was now entirely in his hands. It was a golden opportunity, and David made a golden use of it, for he refused to avenge himself, and suffered his deadly enemy to depart in peace. For three years he had lived the life of a fugitive, and in many ways and places had sought to shelter himself against the unrighteous and pitiless wrath of Saul. There were many things to enkindle his resentment and make forbearance towards Saul a most difficult virtue. Think of what be had lost, and what he had suffered! How strangely things combined together to make the worse appear the better course! The promise and the providence of God both seemed on the side of instant and complete vengeance! But David was versed in the Law of God: and in one of the earlier books of his incomplete, but precious, priceless Bible, he had read these commandments: "Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19-18.) David's generous forbearance touched the heart of Saul, disarmed him of his rage, melted him into tears, and constrained him to become a suppliant at the feet of the man for whose blood he had been thirsting. This second display of magnanimity on Da (C. Vince.) Parallel Verses KJV: And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless? |
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