Haven’t we seen all this before in chapter 24? David is on the run from Saul, when he unexpectedly finds Saul within his grasp. David refuses to kill Saul, but instead takes some kind of incontrovertible evidence that he had certainly had the opportunity to do so. And then David and Saul have an interview, in which David humbly professes his loyalty, and Saul confesses that he has not treated David fairly. So, why would the author of this book bother to include two such similar stories?

Well, there are some relatively important differences between the two accounts. In chapter 24, Saul just happens to go into a cave where David was hiding. David could therefore have attributed his sudden advantage over Saul merely to chance. But in chapter 26, the unnaturally deep sleep that fell on everyone in Saul’s camp made it impossible for David to deny what his cousin Abishai said: “Today, God has delivered your enemy into your hand” (26:8). Such an obvious miracle thus made it even harder for David to resist the temptation to kill Saul and put an end to his own misery.

But David didn’t kill Saul, and wouldn’t let Abishai do it either. And why? Because instead of being guided by even obviously miraculous events, David continued to stand on what he knew to be true: anyone who killed the Lord’s anointed king would be guilty (26:9), no matter how unfit that king was to hold office, and no matter how unjust his actions might have been. And the same principle holds true for us today: we must not allow the circumstances of our lives to determine for us what is right and wrong. Instead, we must stand rely on the Word of God alone to help us determine His will.

But there’s another truth we can learn from the similarity between chapters 24 and 26: regardless of their words or even their transitory intentions, deep down some people just never change. After all, Saul should have called off his pursuit of David after chapter 24, when David proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t trying to kill Saul. And so, even though David provided exactly the same sort of proof of his innocence once again in chapter 26, and even though Saul promised that this time he really would put a stop to his paranoid pursuit of David (26:21), David knew better. So, although he would not harm Saul in any way, David also would not allow himself to trust him. In fact, David came to the conclusion that he would be safer among the Philistines than among his own people (27:1).

And here we see yet another way in which David foreshadowed the ministry of his greater Son. For Jesus not only taught us to love our enemies, seeking to bless them regardless of whether they deserve it (Matthew 5:43-44). No, Jesus did the same thing for all of us, humbling Himself before His enemies so that we might have the forgiveness and salvation that we need.

But at the same time, Jesus was realistic about how rebellious and fickle we all are. So as a result, “Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25).

So, if we would follow David and the Son of David, we are called to love our enemies, but not necessarily to trust them. Instead, our trust must remain in the Lord alone, for He will bring about perfect justice – in His way and in His time.

I Samuel 26:1-27:1 (NASB)

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”
2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph.
3 And Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, beside the road, and David was staying in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness,
4 David sent out spies, and he knew that Saul was definitely coming.
5 David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.
6 Then David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”
7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him.
8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be without guilt?”
10 David also said, “As the LORD lives, surely the LORD will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish.
11 “The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.”
12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side, and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them.
14 And David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you who calls to the king?”
15 So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king your lord.
16 “This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, all of you must surely die, because you did not guard your lord, the LORD’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was at his head.”
17 Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.”
18 He also said, “Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?
19 “Now therefore, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, cursed are they before the LORD, for they have driven me out today that I should have no attachment with the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
20 “Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the LORD; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.”
22 And David answered and said, “Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it.
23 “And the LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed.
24 “Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the LORD, and may He deliver me from all distress.”
25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

27:1 Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”