AP

CLOSE YET FAR APART: DAVID AND SAUL

            What matters more than where we are, is where we are going. At any one point in our earthly pilgrimage there may be as much mist as fair skies. The early interactions of Saul and David illustrate this. God uses the temple and the kingship to point to the Coming One who fulfils both – and more. Christ is both temple where God’s glory is revealed and where the sacrifice for sin takes place, and He is king over all, both son of David and Lord of David. Yet at the outset, God made it clear that He did not need either a temple or a king (1 Sam.8; 2 Sam.7).

            The first king, of course, was Saul who seemed to possess all the needed attributes. Even physically, he was impressive, being both tall and handsome (1 Sam.9:2). More significantly, the Spirit of God rushed upon him (1 Sam.10:6; 10; 11:6), and in the Old Testament the Spirit is not mentioned as often as is the case in the New Testament. Saul’s anointing by Samuel was a solemn affair: ‘Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies” (1 Sam.10:1).’

            Furthermore, Saul was a king who also prophesied; he became a new man with a new heart (1 Sam.10:6, 9-13). There is a rather bizarre episode recorded later where the Spirit again comes upon Saul who, in a sense, joins the prophets (1 Sam.19:18-24). Not all seems right and godly here, as Saul has deteriorated in character to the point where he is overcome with jealousy of David and tries to kill him. Saul fell into a kind of naked ecstasy, which surely indicates that his prophesying is not simply an expression of God’s favour towards him. No such ambiguity is associated with the admittedly later prophecies of David (e.g. Psalm 22 & 110).

            When Saul was chosen to be king, this was revealed in a way that was common in the Bible – by lot (1 Sam.10:21). This signified that it was God’s choice, not any attempt to make the world safe for democracy. Signs were given that Saul was indeed the one to be king (see 1 Sam.10, especially for ‘signs’ in verse 7). Not all went smoothly, and there were some Israelites who despised him, and brought no present to honour him. In response to this rebuff, Saul showed wisdom and magnanimity, curbed his ego, and held his peace (1 Sam.10:25-27). Saul disobeys God (see 1 Sam.13 and 15), and utters a foolish vow which for a time places his own son, Jonathan, in some danger (1 Sam.14). For all that, the Lord blesses Saul with victories over Israel’s enemies (see 1 Sam.14:23, 47-48; 15:4-9).

             More could be said but Saul and David, in these early years, do not seem so far apart. David was good-looking (1 Sam.16:12), but he apparently did not possess Saul’s imposing size and physique. In any case, the Lord rejects David’s oldest brother, Eliab, who looked more Saul-like, and tells Samuel that He does not see as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart (1 Sam.16:6-7).

            If Saul knew the Spirit of God upon him, so too did David (1 Sam.16:13); and if Saul was anointed by the prophet, so too was David (1 Sam.16:13). David also knew victories, the best-known being his defeat of the Philistine giant, Goliath (1 Sam.17). This even became the pattern of David’s life – ‘the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went’ (2 Sam.8:14). The women celebrated in song: ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’ (1 Sam.18:7; 21:11). David was the greater warrior, but Saul is hardly belittled.

Regarding works of the flesh, Saul came to allow his passions to dominate him, to the point where he sought to kill David as his perceived rival, and where in his rage he slew the innocent priests of Nob who had looked after David and his men (1 Sam.22:6-19). But we are not to think that such a hot-headed response to the trials of life, real or imagined, was totally unknown to David. When Nabal refused to help David and his cohort, David’s fury was such that he was determined that not a man who worked for Nabal would survive till the next morning. Only the Lord’s gracious intervention, by means of the wisdom and kindness of Abigail, prevented a bloodbath. In his humility, David was brought to recognise this (1 Sam.25:32-35).

            As we have seen, there were times when Saul revealed shrewd and peace-loving leadership skills, even showing some magnanimity (1 Sam.10:25-27). More tellingly, David twice passed up opportunities to slay the man who wanted to slay him (1 Sam.24 & 26). So affected was Saul that he almost repents – he weeps; confesses his sin and admits that David is the more righteous man as he repaid evil with good; acknowledges that David would indeed become king; and finally pronounces a blessing on the fugitive who would be made king (1 Sam.24:16-22; 26:21-25). Saul’s two experiences of something like repentance are not in the Psalm 51 category, but there are glimmerings of spiritual awareness in them.

            In their sins, their victories, their characteristics, the blessings they received, and their humanity, David and Saul are different, but at times not radically. At the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, David’s lament was deeply felt: ‘Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions’ (2 Sam.1:23). Eulogies often detect more grace than is warranted – at least that is true of David’s estimation of Saul.

It is so difficult to evaluate the soul of another person. We can be too harsh or too soft, and we are always limited. Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed: ‘Nothing that we despise in the other man is entirely absent from ourselves.’ David is like Saul, and Saul is like David – and yet they are far apart. Ultimately, the difference is found in electing grace as distinct from common grace. The outcome for the Christian studying this ought to be a renewed sense of humility, and a fresh appreciation that we live to praise the glorious grace of the triune God (Eph.1:6, 12, 14).

– Peter Barnes