| “And David took the spear and the cruse (glass) of water from Saul’s bolster (pillow); and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked … And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear! And let one of the young men come over and fetch it” (1 Samuel 26:12, 22). |
| You can read this story in 1 Samuel 26, when David was running away from King Saul. Saul wanted to kill David, because he knew that David had been anointed king. Saul took a band of soldiers and went out after David, intending to find him and kill him. But David and his men knew exactly where Saul and his men were. One night while Saul and all his soldiers were sleeping, David and one of his men (Abishai) went down to Saul’s camp and took both his spear and his glass of water. The Lord had made all Saul’s men to be so sound asleep that they did not wake up when David and Abishai came to the camp. David took Saul’s spear and glass of water to show Saul that they could have killed him, if they had wanted to. But David would not do this; he waited for the Lord’s time, for him to be made king. |
| Then, when David and Abishai were on the top of a hill, David called out to Saul and his men, and showed them what he had done. Saul evidently felt bad, for the moment, and seemed sorry for chasing after David. But his heart had not changed; he never really repented of his attitude toward David. |
| But there is something very significant here. David took Saul’s spear and his glass of water. The king’s spear was usually stuck in the ground by the king when he was sleeping, as a sign that this was the king’s tent. David acknowledged Saul to be the king, and would not kill him, for God had anointed Saul to be king. David respected that, and waited for the Lord to remove Saul, so that he — David, could be king. For this reason, David asked that one of Saul’s young men come over and get the spear back. |
| We notice that David did not mention the glass of water. Nothing is said about giving that back to Saul. Why was that? The glass of water speaks of refreshment, and water in the Bible often is a picture of the Word of God. Unless Saul repented, there could be no refreshment for him, and later, two chapters further on in 1 Samuel, Saul actually consulted a witch. This was a very serious thing to do. Let us remember this, and be ready to confess our sin, if we have done something to displease the Lord. It is the only way back to real refreshment from the Lord. |
