1 Samuel 26 is a story of sanctified swagger. Women often doubt such a thing exists, but most men know it does.
What happens in 1 Samuel 26? David takes Abishai with him into the heart of Saul’s camp. They’re outnumbered 3000 to 2. David is a total underdog. But he knows God loves the underdog who trusts in him. He knows God has given him this mission so he undertakes it with a holy boldness. It’s risky, but not reckless. It’s bold, but not stupid.
God puts Saul, Abner, and his men into a deep sleep – the word describing their sleep is a unique word, also used of Adam’s sleep in Genesis when God formed the woman out of his side. In fact, as we will see, there are many Edenic themes woven into this story.
Saul has his spear stuck in the ground by his head, along with his canteen. The spear is the same spear Saul used when he attempted to kill David multiple times earlier in 1 Samuel. While Abishai wants to use the spear to pin Saul to the ground (the way Saul wanted to pin David to the wall), David restrains him and tells him that God will kill Saul in his own way when the time is right – either by striking him (the same word is used for God striking Nabal dead in the previous chapter), causing him to die a natural death, or by perishing in battle. (Ultimately, the Lord goes with option three, as Saul is given a head wound on the battlefield. Since Saul has become the seed of the serpent, this is a fitting way for him to go.)
Saul’s battle camp is arranged as a new Eden. Not only are his men in an Adamic super-sleep, but at the center of the camp, Saul (an Adam figure) is positioned with his spear, tree-like, stuck in the ground by his head (!), and there is a jug of water — just like the forbidden tree and the river were in the center of Eden.
For David to take the spear and kill Saul would be to seize kingly glory ahead of time (the very sin Adam committed in Genesis 3). David does take the spear and canteen – but only temporarily, as he fully intends to return them. He takes them to show Saul that his helper, Abner, has failed him. He takes them to show the Lord is with him, not with Saul. He takes them to show he is a superior man to Saul – indeed, Saul is like the first Adam, and David is a prototype of the Second Adam.
When David gets to a safe distance, he calls out to Abner: “Are you a man?” The question gets to heart of manhood and masculinity. Men are supposed to protect. Men are supposed to do their duty, even in the dark, even when it’s difficult, even when it’s dangerous. Men are supposed to be loyal, sacrificial, and responsible. Abner has failed on every count. He’s no man at all. Only a soft, effeminate man would fail in the way Abner fails. David should have been in Abner’s place – he’s the real man in the story. David is the one who protected Saul’s life when Abishai was ready and willing to end it. He is the true protector of the king. He should have been in command of Israel’s troops. He should have been the king’s helper and right hand man. But Saul, out of envy and spite, chased him off, and is now stuck with incompetent emasculated men like Abner.
But David’s taunting of Abner is not the main event. That comes when David and Saul engage in their back and forth conversation.
David is deeply respectful to Saul, but it’s obvious he respects the office, not the man in the office. David is saluting a uniform, not the man who wears it — and rightly so.
David says if the Lord put it in Saul’s heart to hunt him because of some sin on David’s part, surely David could repair the situation through offering sacrifice. But if Saul’s pursuit of David is driven by men who have influenced him, then they will all be cursed because they are trying to murder an innocent man (who also happens to be anointed – David refrains from killing Saul because he is the Lord’s anointed, but Saul’s men want to kill David precisely because the Lord has anointed him). Obviously, David believes Saul’s men have poisoned his mind with lies and slanders (a point David often makes in psalms written during this period of his life). Saul fears men rather than God, so he is easily steered and manipulated.
When David reminds Saul of his innocence, Saul shows remorse, but not repentance. Worldly sorrow, rather than godly contrition, is all Saul can muster. Saul invites David to join him, and promises he will not harm David, but it’s too late. David is not naive; he knows better than to trust a double-minded man like Saul.
David’s speech is his last stand in what turns out to be the last meeting between the two anointed ones. David demonstrates his innocence, his expectation that the Lord will reward his righteousness and faithfulness (kingly virtues that Saul lacks), and the certainty that the Lord will value and protect his life even as he valued and protected Saul’s life.
Saul’s final words are a surrender, an admission of David’s superiority and of David’s certain success. The episode ends with a parting of the ways – but who is the superior man has been amply demonstrated. Saul goes off with his 3000 men while David goes off with one, but David leaves with something much better than a massive army – he has the Lord on his side.
The point of the story? There are many lessons, but what stands out most is David’s willingness to entrust his future to God. Saul grasps at glory, and the more he grasps, the more he loses. David does not grasp; he is willing to wait in righteousness and faithfulness for God to give him the glory of the kingdom at the proper time. David had many reasons to be anxious and fearful. Instead, he was bold and courageous. He was fearless in a fear-filled situation. There was a kind of sanctified swagger – a holy bravado, a righteous cockiness – about his course of action. The secret ingredient to his swagger was his faith in God’s plan. He knows God values his life. He knows God has made promises about his future and he trusts those promises even in the midst of trial, hardship, and deprivation. David’s faith in God’s promised future did not make him passive or presumptuous – it made him wise and courageous.
The point: What gives us a holy boldness about the future is trusting God to care for us in the future. We have to know God loves us, that our lives are valuable to him, that he has a stake in our salvation and success. God is for you — and so you do not need to fear the future. Even in the face of uncertain, you can be certain God loves you and will all things together for your good.
Christian, you are a David. You have been anointed by the Lord. The Lord has promised you a kingdom. Consider David’s example of faith, and then go and do likewise, living with a sanctified swagger.
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David takes Saul’s spear and jug. The spear is a symbol of death, the jug is a symbol of life.
While Saul is king, this is the second time that David has held the life and death of Saul in his hands. And David has mercifully spared Saul each time. David is really “king” over Saul even though he has not yet been crowned/enthroned. David is the superior man. Saul is weak and defenseless. David is strong and courageous.
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In chapter 24, David cut off the wing of Saul’s robe. David repented over this because the robe was a sign of Saul’s legitimate authority. But David has no such regret when he takes the spear — and not only because he intended to return the spear, but because the spear had become a sign of Saul’s illegitimate authority, a sign of his tyranny.
David had no intention to be an ungodly revolutionary. David is submissive for as long as he can be, in as many ways as he can be. But even in a submissive posture, he finds ways to stand up to tyranny and expose its evil underbelly.
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Saul’s spear appears so many times in the narrative of 1 Samuel, it’s almost a character in its own right. In addition to chapter 26, see 18:10-11, 19:9-10, 20:33, 22:6. The spear keeps showing up at crucial moments in the story, starting with the Philistines not allowing the Israelites to have spears in chapter 13, then Goliath being armed with a spear in chapter 17, which becomes Saul’s spear. The spear links Saul with Goliath — he’s the Israelite giant, the Israelite who seeks to defy God but ends up getting bested by the “underdog” David. Note that 17:47, David makes it clear he does not trust in spears but in the Lord. As we will see, spears continue to be a theme into 2 Samuel.
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Abishai says he will not need to strike Saul twice with his spear to kill him. One blow will do. Abishai probably knows the story of 1 Samuel 18 when Saul tried twice to kill David with his spear and missed both times (1 Sam. 18:11). Abishai is implicitly claiming to be better with a spear than Saul. (Saul actually tried a third time to spear David in 19:10, but again David escaped.)
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David is able to trust God’s plan for his life because he understands he is a character in a story God has authored (cf. Psalm 139:16). David realizes it would be foolish to try to grab hold of the pen and author the story himself. Indeed, that’s the very heart of the difference between Saul and David. Saul wants to seize control of the story. He wants to create a different future than the one God has promised. Instead of submitting to God’s story, he rebels against it and tries to write his own version of the story. David is content to live in the story God has written and he is confident God will bring about the happy ending he has promised.
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When Saul invites David to join him, it’s as if Saul wants to reverse the flow of history. He wants to undo the past. But history only flows in one direction. The past cannot be undone. We can repent of things we have done in the past, but we cannot change them, and so we have to live with the consequences.
In a video game, if you get off to a bad start, you can just start over. You can hit the reset button. But not so in real life. In real life, once concrete gets poured, it dries. Wisdom understands this. The way you live in the here and now matters for eternity. “Right now counts forever,” as the saying goes.
(We can compare this to Esau, who sold his birthright and then regretted it. But regret does not give one a rewind button. Regret does not mean you get a do over. What’s done is done. Yes, you can be forgiven for past sins, and forgiveness does give a fresh start in a sense. Forgiveness cancels out the eternal consequences of sin. But it does not cancel out all temporal consequences, which can be used by God to chasten us.)
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When David says Abner is worthy of death because he failed to protect the king, the point is not just to expose Abner’s dereliction of duty. David is saying, “You deserve to die instead of me.” The point is that Saul is seeking to execute the wrong man. Abner is worthy of death and David is not. But Abner keeps his position of power while Saul keeps trying to kill David. Saul is guilty of moral inversion — he calls the righteous wicked and the wicked righteous. He acquits the wicked and condemns the righteous — the exact opposite of what a king should do.
Literally, David calls Abner a “son of death.” In fact, his accusation is broader; after the first clause in verse 16, “you” becomes plural. All of Saul’s men are worthy of death because they failed to protect their king. All 3000 of Saul’s choicest men should be court-martialed and executed. Saul has 3000 men but is still defenseless against David.
This “sons of death” phrase is precisely the same language Saul used of David in 20:31. But now the tables are turned. David is not a son of death. Abner and Saul’s troops are the sons of death. They belong to death and deserve to die. David does not.
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David lists three ways God can bring judgment against Saul in v. 10:
- God can strike him with an unnatural death. The word “strike” was used of God’s judgment against Nabal in the previous chapter (25:38), showing that David has learned his lesson: He does not need to act in anger. He can leave vengeance to the Lord. In chapter 25, David has to learn in a new way that the Lord will fight his battles for him, and he puts that lesson to good use in chapter 26.
- God can cause him to die a natural death. David recognizes that his trial of living under Saul’s kingship could go on for many more years. David is prepared to wait it out. He won’t seize kingly glory ahead of time. He will be patient and keep trusting.
- God can cause Saul to die in battle. This is what will happen a few chapters later (see 31:4). Saul will die an ignominious death in battle with the Philistines, who will then (very fittingly) behead him (see 31:9). Since the seed of the serpent dies of a head-crushing, this is completes the narrative arc for Saul, as he goes from humble king, to arrogant tyrant, to demonic despot. Saul started off with so much promise but ends up as the representative seed of the serpent.
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Since Saul confesses he is a fool, we should obviously connect him with Nabal, even as Nabal’s king-like feast at the expense of David and his men connected Nabal with Saul. Saul is a Nabal and Nabal is another Saul. Both men stand in the way of David’s rise and God removes them both from the scene in due time. Both men hated David, the Lord’s anointed, and suffered the Lord’s judgment.
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It’s interesting that Abishai is presented to us as Joab’s brother, even though Joab has not yet become a player in the story. This is a bit of dramatic foreshadowing since Joab will go on to play a significant role in David’s administration, a role that was sometimes postive (because at times Joab saw things more clearly than David) but also negative (because Joab often resorted to pragmatism over principle). Abishai is also David’s nephew (1 Chron. 2:16-17). At this point in the story, David has control over his relatives. Later in the story, largely due to David’s own failings (his polygamy, his adultery, etc.), he will lose control of his family members. David loses his moral and spiritual authority — and this lack of control wreaks all kinds of havoc in Israel and ultimately undermines his kingdom.
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Some of the minor characters in the book of 1-2 Samuel deserve their own study (e.g., Jonathan, Joab). Abner (who happens to be Saul’s cousin) is an interesting character in his own right. Abner actually brought David to Saul after David killed Goliath (17:55ff). Abner was at Saul’s feast when David intentionally absented himself in chapter 20. Abner’s role in the story is far from over after his failure in chapter 26. He is shamed by David for that failure, and will continue to be a rival to David, even after Saul’s death, as he tries to continue the Saulide dynasty. He will be defeated by David and his men, early in 2 Samuel. Even so, David demonstrated his magnanimous rule in giving Abner an honorable burial and calling on the nation to mourn his passing.
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The opening illustration in the sermon about Polk ending up behind enemy lines, then bluffing his way to safety, was one I was already familiar with, but I was inspired to use it in the sermon by Dale Ralph Davis, who used in his commentary on chapter 26.
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In verse 20, David refers himself as a flea, which he also did in chapter 24. He also refers himself as a calling bird in the mountains — which is fitting since he calls out from the mountains to Abner and Saul.
The incongruity of Saul using 3000 men to chase after a flea or a songbird is a good indication of just how fall saul has fallen into reckless hate and foolishness. Saul should have been fighting battles on behalf of the nation of Israel, e.g., keeping the Philistines at bay. Israel asked for a king so they’d have someone to fight their battles for them. But has experienced mission drift (to put it mildly). He is using all his resources for private vengeance rather than the public good.
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In the sermon (36 minute mark), I inadvertently said that back in chapter 24, David called Saul his father in response to Saul calling him his son. But it’s actually the other way around. In 24:11, David calls Saul his father. Saul calls David his son in 24:16.
The fact that Saul still calls David his son in chapter 26, but David does not reciprocate, is very telling. It’s a detail, but a significant one. I believe up until this point, David was open to reconciliation with Saul. But not anymore.
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Chapter 26 is important because, for all practical purposes, it concludes the Saul/David relationship. They never meet again. Their relationship, once so sweet, comes to a tragic end.
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From my Lord’s Supper exhortation after the sermon:
When Adam seized and ate the forbidden fruit, he was trying to control the future. When humanity gathered at Babel instead of scattering to fill the earth, and tried to build a tower to the heavens, they were trying to control the future. When Abraham slept with Hagar in an attempt to bring the promised seed into the world, he was attempting to control the future.
We are tempted to do the same — to cut corners, to sacrifice integrity, to do things our own way instead of God’s way, to let the end justify whatever means, in order to make an easier path through life for ourselves. We too want to control the future. We want to write the story we’re in instead of trusting God to author the story.
But when you try to grasp control, you don’t get control. Instead, you get anxiety, because you realize you don’t have control and never can be in control. The desire for control is the desire to dethrone God and enthrone yourself in his place. It always backfires. We don’t control the future. We don’t get to write our own stories.
If you want to live with that sanctified swagger we see in David, you must learn to live by faith. You must learn to entrust your future to God. None of us knows what tomorrow holds. None of us can change what tomorrow holds. We must learn to trust God to take care of us — in the present and in the future.
Earlier we sang “Jesus Lives and So Shall I” and the lyrics capture this point perfectly. It’s a very future-oriented hymn. It’s all about our rest in God’s plan for our lives and our faith that he will take care of us in the future in accord with his promises. Consider part of the last verse:
“Courage [that’s the sanctified swagger], then, my soul, for thou
hast a crown of life before thee;
thou shalt find thy hopes were just;
Jesus is the Christian’s trust.”
Hope rooted in Christ is well founded and will not disappoint. When Jesus is your trust and hope, you can live with a sanctified swagger. You can live with courage as you face an uncertain future. You can live with confidence even though you don’t control your circumstances.
One of the ways God forms that sanctified swagger in us is by feeding us at this table. This table is not only a gift for the present, it is also a foretaste of the future. It is a tiny preview of what is to come. When the Israelite spies went into the promised land, they brought back giant clusters of grapes — a foretaste of the glory that awaited them when they entered the land. This table is a foretaste of that great feast that is to come at the last day when we enter into the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb, when we enter into the glorious joy of our master forever.
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