1 Samuel 26:19

_NOW THEREFORE, I PRAY THEE, LET MY LORD THE KING HEAR THE WORDS OF HIS SERVANT. IF THE LORD HAVE STIRRED THEE UP AGAINST ME, LET HIM ACCEPT AN OFFERING: BUT IF THEY BE THE CHILDREN OF MEN, CURSED BE THEY BEFORE THE LORD; FOR THEY HAVE DRIVEN ME OUT THIS DAY FROM ABIDING IN THE INHERITANCE OF THE LORD, SAYING, GO, SERVE OTHER GODS._ If the Lord have stirred thee up against me - by the evil spirit He hath sent, or by any spiritual offences by which we have mutually displeased Him. LET HIM ACCEPT AN OFFERING - i:e., let us conjointly offer a sacrifice for appeasing His wrath against us. if they be the children of men. The prudence, meanness, and address of David in ascribing the king's enmity to the instigations of some malicious traducers, and not to the jealousy of Saul himself, is worthy of notice. SAYING, GO, SERVE OTHER GODS. This was the drift of their conduct. By driving him fr...

13-20 David reasoned seriously and affectionately with Saul. Those who forbid our attendance on God's ordinances, do what they can to estrange us from God, and to make us heathens. We are to reckon that which exposes us to sin the greatest injury that can be done us. If the Lord stirred thee up against me, either in displeasure to me, taking this way to punish me for my sins against him, or in displeasure to thee, if it be the effect of that evil spirit from the Lord which troubles thee; let Him accept an offering from us both. Let us join in seeking peace, and to be reconciled with God by sacrifice....

Verse 1 Samuel 26:19. _LET HIM ACCEPT AN OFFERING_] If God have stirred thee up against me, why, then, let him deliver my life into thy hand, and accept it as a sacrifice. But as the word is מנחה _minchah_, a gratitude-offering, perhaps the sense may be this: Let God accept a gratitude-offering from thee, for having purged the land of a worker of iniquity; for, were I not such, God would never stir thee up against me. _BUT IF_ THEY BE _THE CHILDREN OF MEN_] If men have, by false representations, lies, and slanders, stirred thee up against an innocent man, then _let them be cursed before the Lord_. If I am guilty, I deserve to die; if not, those who seek my life should be destroyed. _SAYING, GO, SERVE OTHER GODS._] His being _obliged_ to leave the tabernacle, and the place where the true worsh

IF THE LORD HAVE STIRRED THEE UP - The meaning is clear from the preceding history. “An evil spirit from God troubling him” was the beginning of the persecution. And this evil spirit was sent in punishment of Saul’s sin 1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 16:14. If the continued persecution was merely the consequence of this evil spirit continuing to vex Saul, David advises Saul to seek God’s pardon, and, as a consequence, the removal of the evil spirit, by offering a sacrifice. But if the persecution was the consequence of the false accusations of slanderers, then “cursed” be his enemies who, by their actions, drove David out from the only land where Yahweh was worshipped, and forced him to take refuge in the country of pagan and idolaters (compare...

DAVID A SECOND TIME SPARES SAUL'S LIFE (1 Samuel 26:1.). EXPOSITION SAUL, ON INFORMATION FROM THE ZIPHITES, AGAIN SEEKS TO DESTROY DAVID (1 Samuel 26:1). 1 SAMUEL 26:1 THE ZIPHITES CAME UNTO SAUL. There are so many points of similarity between this narrative and that contained in 1

NOW THEREFORE, I PRAY THEE, LET MY LORD THE KING HEAR THE WORDS OF HIS SERVANT,.... Whether David waited for an answer to his question is not certain; probably he did, and observing none returned, desired audience of what he had further to say: IF THE LORD HAVE STIRRED THEE UP AGAINST ME; if he had put it into his heart to persecute him after this manner, for some sin he had committed against him, though not against Saul: did that appear to be the case, LET HIM ACCEPT AN OFFERING; my offering, as the Targum; or my prayer, as Jarchi; I would offer a sin offering according to the law, to make atonement for my offence, and might hope it would be accepted; or I would make my supplication to God, and entreat him to forgive mine iniquity, and so an issue be put to these troubles; or should it be a capital crime deserving of death he was guilty of, he was content to die, and satisfy for his f...

CHAPTER 26 _ 1. The Ziphites and Saul's pursuit (1 Samuel 26:1)_ 2. David again spares Saul (1 Samuel 26:5) 3. David's words to Abner (1 Samuel 26:13) 4. David's words to Saul (1 Samuel 26:17) 5. Saul's confession and David's reply (1 Samuel 26:21) Hachilah, where we find David now, was six miles east of Ziph and about halfway to En-gedi. The Ziphites once more reveal his hiding place to Saul. And Saul was rushing forward to his doom when with his three thousand chosen men he took up the

1 SAMUEL 26. DAVID SPARES SAUL IN THE WILDERNESS OF ZIPH (J). From one of the oldest sources (_cf._ on ch. 24). 1 SAMUEL 26:1 TO 1 SAMUEL 12:1 f. repeats briefly the substance and part of the wording of 1 Samuel 23:19: David is in the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul pursues him. But instead of the sequel given in 1 Samuel 23, we have another version of the story in 1 Samuel 24 of David's generous treatment of Saul. David learns that Saul is again pursuing him and is in his immediate neighbourhood: of a certainty is clearly wrong, and RVm, to a set place, is not much more likely. There may be a scribal error, and the name of a place may have stood here originally. David went to see for hims

OFFERING. See App-43. CHILDREN. sons. MEN. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14. SERVE OTHER GODS. David was being driven from God's altar....

David's final expostulation with Saul 13. _a great space being between them_ This precaution indicates that David trusted Saul less now than upon the former occasion. Cp. 1 Samuel 26:22....