AFTER THE HONEYMOON

it seems that after his success, David would be in a great position with his future secure. This had not been the first experience that David had had with Saul. When he was a younger man, David had been called to play the harp for him.

1 Samuel 16:14-23

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil^[a] spirit from the Lord tormented him.

¹⁵ Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”

¹⁷ So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰ So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.

²¹ David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. ²² Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”

²³ Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Certainly after defeating Goliath, David had every expectation that his position would be getting better.

1 Samuel 18:20-30

20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased.

....

²⁶ When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law.

.....

Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

David, it seemed was on a straight path to being a King as he had been previously ordained to be (Ref Samuel)

²⁸ When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,

²⁹ Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.

...

1 Samuel 19

⁹ But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre,

¹⁰ Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

¹¹ Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.”

David realized that the honeymoon period was over and the reality of his present situation sank in.

The reality is that David had become so enraptured with the thought of being King that he had missed the many obvious markers that something was not right.

If you go back and re-read the entire scripture you will find that Saul had been practicing a deception with David all along.

David's life on the run began almost immediately and he had to get to safety and also to go to his advisor and friends.

2 Samuel 19

¹⁸ When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah

and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

..

David had run to Samuel because of their history together and because Samuel was a recognized man of God. Samuel no doubt talked again how God had chosen him to be King and that his destiny was in God's hands not in Saul's.

David also sought the counsel of a dear friend.

2 Samuel 20

1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked,

“What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”

² “Never!” Jonathan replied.

......

⁴¹ ...., David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground.

Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.

⁴² Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord,

saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’”

Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

A chance came for David to give paybacks to Saul.

1 Samuel 24 (NIV)

24 [a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told,

“David is in the Desert of En Gedi.”

² So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

³ He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there,

and Saul went in to relieve himself.

David and his men were far back in the cave.

⁴ The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said^[b] to you,

‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’”

The chance that we must give paybacks may be a real situation for us. It is such a natural reaction to strike back as they try to deal with the hurt and anger that they have.

We are tempted at all the ways that we can make life more difficult for either the company or for particular people at the company.

The reality is that the temptation will come upon us suddenly and if we are not prepared, we may make a response that we will regret.

David’s response was

Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.

⁶ He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing

to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him;

for he is the anointed of the Lord.”

⁷ With these words David sharply rebuked his men

and did not allow them to attack Saul.

And Saul left the cave and went his way.

It Is hard to believe that David was able to choose to act the way he did. There may be several perfectly valid reasons why David didn’t end it for Saul.

In the end, David had confidence in the Lord to make retribution.

11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand!

I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you.

See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion.

I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life.

12 May the Lord judge between you and me.

And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me,

but my hand will not touch you.

13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.

14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out?

Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?

15 May the Lord be our judge and decide between us.

May he consider my cause and uphold it;

may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”

¹⁵ May the Lord be our judge and decide between us.

May he consider my cause and uphold it;

may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”

The outcome for David was to bring an end to the conflict.

16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?”

And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said.

“You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly.

18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me;

the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me.

19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed?

May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today.

20 I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel

will be established in your hands.

21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants

or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home,

but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

David’s conflict with Saul was over. His tension with Saul remained until Saul’s death. But David did become King.