When the spirit of anarchy is afoot in a nation, it can inspire people to commit evil and dishonorable acts. It can also cause people to support those who want to see those evil and dishonoring acts take place. Sadly, it can also stir up those in the Church who lack discernment and are willing to join with the spirit of anarchy to accomplish its goals. The story of Saul and David helps us see how to respond in the opposite spirit when those opportunities appear.

Saul had a deep hatred of David. It was a delusional hatred that was so irrational that he went on a campaign to kill David, even though David did nothing to deserve death. Over the course of time, Saul’s irrationality led him into a place of mental imbalance and a series of irrational actions against David.

When Saul heard that David was in the wilderness of En-gedi, Saul assembled 3,000 elite soldiers to go and kill David. “At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!” (I Samuel 24:3).

David’s men saw Saul enter the cave and said, “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” Instead of killing Saul, David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe” (vs.4).

After David cut off a piece of Saul’s robe, his conscience began to bother him. “He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.’ So, David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul” (vs. 6-7).

After Saul left the cave and walked away some distance, David shouted out to him, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? This very day, you can see with your own eyes that it isn’t true, for the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’” (vs.9-10).

Instead of killing Saul when the opportunity presented itself, David extended honor and mercy to the king. He said, “So, you can be sure I will never harm you” (vs. 13). David finished by saying, “May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!” (vs. 15).

When Saul realized what had happened, he said, “Now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule” (vs.20).

David possessed the spirit of a righteous and honorable person, not the opportunistic spirit of anarchy that would see the events in the cave as his opportunity to kill Saul. Instead, he trusted his Advocate, the Lord God, to rescue him from Saul.