LESSON 6: David Who Did Not Take Reange

LESSON 6

DAVID WHO DID NOT TAKE REVENGE

Saul continued to be jealous of David. He hunted him and tried to kill him. David had raised his own armies and could have fought Saul, but he did not. He respected Saul as king. David trusted the Lord to know when it was time for him to become king.

King Saul was very jealous of David because the people loved David more than Saul. David knew that the king wanted to kill him, so he ran away and hid with his followers in a cave. King Saul took 3,000 men with him to track down and kill David. That’s how much he hated him! While King Saul and his army were marching through the land searching for David, the King went into a cave by himself to rest. It just happened to be the cave that David and his men were hiding in! David’s men could not believe their luck. They told David that it was his chance to kill the king before he killed him! But instead of killing Saul, David cut off a corner of the king’s robe when he wasn’t looking. And then he allowed Saul to walk out of the cave without being harmed. Saul did not even know his life had been in danger!

Once Saul was a distance away, David came out of the cave and called out to King Saul. When Saul turned around, David bowed down to him. He showed the king the corner of his robe that he had cut off and told him that he did not want to kill the king.

When Saul realised the innocence of David, Saul promised that he would not try to kill anymore. But after a while, Saul forgot the agreement and again tried to kill David.

Once David was hiding in the hills of Hachilah because of the fear of Saul. Saul and his men camped for rest on Hachilah where David was. During the night, David and one of his men, Abishai, snuck into Saul’s camp. At that point, David’s actions were truly admirable. David could easily have killed his tormentor. He did not, and he even prevented Abishai from doing so. David’s respect for God extended to Saul. David knew that as long as Saul was alive, Saul was God’s anointed and appointed king. It was up to God to remove Saul from the throne of Israel. David would trust God to keep His promise and not attempt to claim the throne himself.

David’s companions could not understand David’s willingness to respect a man whose actions earned him no respect. David’s loyalty to Saul may have confused David’s companions, but it probably gave them a greater respect for David’s integrity. David had the power to hurt Saul, but he chose to show mercy instead.

David told Abishai and the others to take the spear and water jug near King Saul’s head. Saul and his men continued to sleep because the Lord was causing them to have a deep sleep. After the group left the camp, they walked to the top of a nearby hill and called out to Saul and the leader of his army, Abner. David asked them where the spear and jug were, and they knew that David had been in the camp and had not killed them.

Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR49zLwr0oY

What do you learn from this story?

David got two golden opportunities to destroy Saul. Though he spared the life of Saul because he respected the Life of the anointed one of God. He was not ready to make use of the opportunity to take the life of one who sought to kill him.

Probably the hardest thing for us to do is to be kind to someone who treats us badly. It takes self-control to honor God by learning to “turn the other cheek.” In today’s story, David is being sought out by Saul, the king. Saul is jealous of David and plans to kill him. David, however, realizes that the King is anointed by God, and he must not harm Saul. Twice, David has the opportunity to kill Saul. However, both times David chooses to use self-control, sparing Saul’s life and honoring him as king.

We, too, have the opportunity to show self-control when dealing with others. By doing what is right instead of following our impulses, we honor God. We must approach all of our relationships with self-control and compassion just as David modeled in the story. After all, Jesus died for our sins in the ultimate show of mercy.

Get Connected and Discuss

• What does self-control mean?
• Have you ever been bullied? Describe how it made you feel. What did you want to do to the bully?
• How do you think God wants you to treat a bully? Does that take self-control?
• Name some other times when you have to show self-control.

Activity

Give each child a large Styrofoam cup. Challenge them to walk around the room while balancing it on their head or the back of their hand. Do not put water in it. They will have to walk carefully like David did in Saul’s camp.

Say, What would happen if you were walking with your water jug and someone made the cup fall or took it away from you? That would make you mad, right? Saul was mad at David because God picked David to be king. David could have hurt Saul while he was sleeping but he chose to forgive him instead. If someone does something mean to you, like knock your cup out of your hand you should always try to make peace and forgive them anyway. God wants us to love our enemies.