Biblical scholars estimate that David fled from King Saul for at least eight years - possibly a whole decade.
At the end of I Samuel 23, Saul is vigorously pursuing David and his men with a fairly large contingent of soldiers. Saul has David's men outnumbered ten-to-one! David is desperately trying to escape around a mountain, and Saul is in hot pursuit on the other side of the mountain.
At this moment, a messenger arrives and reports to King Saul that the Philistines are attacking the land.
Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. [v.28]
Divine protection? Divine providence?
The very next chapter tells us that Saul resumes his pursuit of David.
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.
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. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. [24:2-5]
Is this also divine providence? David's men think it is! They encourage him to take Saul's life here and end this whole search and destroy effort. God has clearly given Saul into the hands of David!
But David has a different understanding of things than that of his men. David solemnly believes that it is against God's will to kill Saul:
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.” 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. [24:6-7]
David felt so strongly about this that it bothered him to have cut off the corner of Saul's robe! [See verse 5 above - underlined]
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Now, we could deliberate long and hard on the development of the conscience. It's clear that our parents play a significant role in developing this unmeasurable-but-real part of our mind. In my case, my Mom's voice can still speak to me about simple 'right and wrong' issues.
But, God also plays a role in this important facet of our development. The Holy Spirit plays a dominant part in developing our conscience and clarifying right and wrong from God's standards.
In David's case, he felt badly about the simple act of cutting a piece from King Saul's robe. This testifies that David's conscience was alive and well. The rightness or wrongness of the act is irrelevant; what is important is that David had a sensitivity to right and wrong.
When we allow Him, God will activate our conscience and develop it. He will do this through His Word, through the whisperings of His Holy Spirit, through the teaching and preaching we submit ourselves to, through prayer and meditation, and through fellowship and interaction with other godly people.
Our teaching about this journey is intended to bring us to a single destination—a place where self-giving love reigns from a pure heart, a clean conscience, and a genuine faith. [I Timothy 1:5 (The VOICE)]
Now there's a trio for you: a pure heart, a clean conscience and a genuine faith! I believe David had that - imperfect though he was...
I want that! Don't you? Here's a good prayer - sing it if you know it...
God,
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