1 Samuel 24
Hunted by the king, David fled from home to wilderness after wilderness, to cave after cave. God chose David to replace Saul, but Saul would not acquiesce. He did not want to relinquish the throne. His infatuation with the power and status of the role overtook his character and his responsibilities as a king and man. Entirely out of alignment with (the freedom of) God's will, Saul was enslaved by his own. God's will is freedom because it releases us from a task that is too big for us. Without God, we are not equipped to manage the demands of life.
Our bodies consistently want things that do not fulfill our spirit. Unchecked desire is torment. The only peace, the only true form of freedom is found in alignment with the will of God. When we relinquish control to Him two major changes occur, we: (1) release anxiety and discontentment and despair (2) adopt trust, hope and joy. This happens because a relationship with God is built on an understanding of His character and faithful nature over time. He is wisdom! He is justice! He is meticulously generous.
Saul nearly foamed at the mouth with the desire to kill David. But Saul had once loved David and David was innocent of crime, so happened? Saul stopped, or perhaps never started, to seek fulfilment of the spirit. He chose to serve his body rather than God. And his body, like our bodies, want selfish, void things like power and prominence. It is not our body's natural inclination to readily agree with or even understand Jesus' statement in Luke 9:48, "... he that is least among you all, the same shall be great." Only through joyful subservience to God can we accept and even thrive in the concept that as the least we are the greatest version of ourselves.
Understand that by "least" Jesus did not mean unseen, unheard, unloved. We are seen, heard and deeply loved by God, even in our imperfection. God distributes spiritual gifts to each person (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) in divine assurance of individuality. Nobody is least important; each member is a crucial appendage of the whole body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
By "least" Jesus meant that we should endeavor to develop inherent selflessness. With complete faith that God will provide what we need, we can focus on what others need. We can follow Matthew 6:33 in faith that life lived in accordance with God's will will provide all that we need. And if we live with that faith, we do not have to live selfishly. We do not have to constantly try to procure things or elevate ourselves to feel relevant or worthy of some obscure status society has set. Instead, we can roll up our selves and do the work of God. Every day, with every interaction.
The alternative is to devolve into some version of Saul. So obsessed with worldly status that every role and relationship held is destroyed. Unconcerned with the life's greater purpose: a vapid, tormented life. The shiniest stone in a pathway God plans to melt and pave over. Relevance in the Kingdom of Righteous, born of humble productivity on Earth, is the only worthwhile status. Anything else is a varying degree of superficiality.
Regardless of Saul's resistance, God would remove him from the throne. God enabled David escape Saul several times; but this time, David had the opportunity to capture (and kill) Saul. David had arguable reason to seek revenge on Saul, and even to kill him: Saul had attempted to murder him on several occasions (self-defense), murdered innocents who associated with David (justice), and forced him to leave his home, wife and hard-won reputation behind (restitution).
David crouched in the cave, unseen by Saul, in complete control of the situation and with Saul wholly vulnerable. Goaded by his men to finally take revenge! David stood and slashed at Saul's... robe, then felt instant regret. Instant regret not because of his restraint but because of his lack of it. David regretted raising his weapon at all. In those moments, Saul exited the cave.
David did not believe that it was his right to harm Saul, as he had been anointed by God as king. That role had since been given to someone else, David himself, but that did not make it David's duty to dispose of him. David held his men back from attacking Saul. David allowed Saul to leave, then he followed. This was David's opportunity to speak to Saul, (paraphrased):
Where did you hear that I wanted to harm you? The Lord put you right in front of me, my men urged me to kill you, but I spared you. See, I have a piece of your clothing in my hand. I cut it off but did not kill you. Now you can see and know that I plot no evil toward you and have not sinned against you... yet you hunt my soul to take it. The Lord can judge between us, and he can avenge me, but I will not harm you. For as the ancient proverb states, wickedness proceeds from the wicked. But my hand will not harm you. After whom does the king of Israel come? After a dead dog, after a flea. The Lord therefore be judge, and plead my cause, and save me from you.
David's words stunned Saul to a moment of clarity and shame, (paraphrased):
Is this you, my son David? Saul wept. You are more righteous than I am, you have rewarded me good when I have rewarded you evil. Today is proof you have be kind to me, the Lord brought me to you, but you did not kill me. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? The Lord will reward you good for your choices today. Now I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. Promise me that you will not kill my family after my death, or destroy my family name.
David promised and Saul went home.
We learn from David to let the Lord avenge us. We do not need to resort to evil behavior to restore justice to our lives. We need only to, like David, relinquish control, to allow God's will to supersede our own. Saul resisted and fought God's will... and lost the kingdom. David subjected himself to it... and won the kingdom.
How was David least in this situation? If he even felt it at all, he suppressed the bodily desire: to avenge himself, to remove a serious and dangerous threat to his life; to oust the person who stood in the way of his promotion. If it was God's will that he remain in the wilderness and Saul to (for now) remain on the throne, David would not protest. He had enough ease of mind in God's ultimate plan, enough presence of mind, to resist a wicked, hasty, selfish action. Least in that he did what was right rather than what seemed most immediately beneficial to him.