Confronting an Oppressor

When Saul is some distance away, David follows him out of the cave and calls out to him. David refused to take matters into his own hands when Saul was in his power in the cave, but he does not shrink from confronting Saul with his sin. Using powerful words, David calls upon Saul to repent of his evil ways.

David addresses Saul very submissively—”My lord the king” (v. 8) and “my father” (v. 11)—and bows before him. Giving Saul a courteous benefit of the doubt, he asks why the king is listening to the bad counsel of those who suggest David wants to do him harm. Then David plays his trump card, presenting his “proof” that he has no ill intent toward Saul. He informs the king that “the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you.” But David declares that he rejected this counsel and spared Saul’s life because he is aware that Saul is God’s anointed king. He says he knows God put Saul on the throne, and he will not presume to undo what God has done. As proof of these claims, David then presents the bit of cloth he cut from the corner of Saul’s robe. Add it all up, David says, and Saul should realize that David has no evil intent toward him and has not sinned against him.

Still, despite his innocence, David says, Saul is hunting him to take his life. So David appeals his case to the highest court: the throne of God. He declares that he will let God judge between himself and Saul, and he is confident that God will find for him and will avenge him. But whether or not God rules in his favor, David declares, “My hand shall not be against you.” He repeats this declaration for emphasis, interspersing it with a proverb—”Wickedness proceeds from the wicked”—to show that his restraint proves he has no wicked intent, for if the intent were present, there would be wicked deeds.

Finally, David argues that Saul is chasing after an inconsiderable person, one with whom he need not be concerned: “A dead dog” or “a flea.” As Matthew Henry writes: “It is below so great a king to enter the lists with one that is so unequal a match for him, one of his own servants, bred a poor shepherd, now an exile, neither able nor willing to make any resistance. To conquer him would not be to his honor, to attempt it was his disparagement.”