1 Samuel 24:5-6 (NIV) Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”

King Saul had gotten it into his mind that he had to kill David, the man that the Lord had used to not only kill Goliath, but who was the one who had also won many victories for Saul and Israel as one of Israel’s mighty warriors. But because the Lord had left Saul and was with David (1 Samuel 18:12), King Saul wanted to kill him out of jealousy and out of trying to preserve the kingship for his son. But no matter how many times he tried, he was never successful. One day during one of his murderous pursuits of David, he wandered into a cave alone to relieve himself. Little did he know that David and his men happened to be further back in that same cave. David’s men were sure that the Lord had delivered King Saul into his hands and encouraged him to go and kill him so that they would be able to stop running and hiding in the desert. David approached King Saul from behind but instead of killing him, he cut off a piece of his robe. After this, he felt guilty of doing something wrong. The scripture passage above says that he was conscience-stricken. He felt so bad that he followed Saul out of the cave to confess what he had done and to let him know that he would never lay a hand on him as evidenced by the opportunity that he just passed up to kill him.

To refrain from killing a man who is trying to kill you is noteworthy enough and makes you stand out as someone who is different than most people. This is especially true since they were not just civilians but were part of the military of Israel with Saul as the leader and David as one of his commanders. Killing during a time of war is not condemned. King Saul had declared war on David. But David not only did not reciprocate and look to kill him, but he felt guilty for even cutting a piece of his robe! If I were counseling him, I would probably tell him that he did the righteous thing and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the action that he took. After all, it wound up being proof that David was not King Saul’s enemy as Saul described him. But what was it that made David’s conscience so sensitive?

David’s sensitive and godly conscience stemmed from nothing other than His fear and reverence for God. David knew that regardless of the fact that King Saul had become like a madman, it was the Lord who had anointed him to be Israel’s first king. Because the Lord had appointed him, David had deep respect for him as king, even though this king was trying to kill him. When the Lord is your first priority and when your aim in life is to honor him above all else, your conscience comes in line with the very heart of God. David knew that if God wanted to take King Saul’s life, He very well could have. But God had not acted yet and David, because of his reverent fear of the Lord, knew that he could not and should not take the matter into his own hands. How much more like Jesus would we be if we had a conscience like David? No wonder that the Lord called him a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). Let’s seek the Lord more and more and develop a heart after God like David so that our consciences will be as sensitive and godly as David’s was. It will spare us from doing things that are not ours to do and will position us for gaining God’s favor and His blessing in our lives.

Pastor Joey Vazquez