(16) В¶ And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. (17) And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. (18) And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. (19) For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. (20) And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. (21) Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. (22) And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.
Is it not matter of astonishment, that after such a palpable act of mercy as David had shown Saul, that his mind should still retain hatred to the person of David, as we find in the sequel of the history it did? And is it not yet more astonishing that Saul should even weep, confess his baseness, and yet soon dry up the tears and hate more than ever. Reader! I beg it of you as a favour, though your welfare, not mine, is concerned in the request, look inward, search that depth of corruption lodged in your own heart! depend upon it, the Lord did not ask that question by the prophet, without full cause, when pronouncing the heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, he added who can know it? meaning no doubt that none can thoroughly know it, but the Lord. See Jeremiah 17:9-10. No man hath ever yet penetrated to the bottom of the wickedness and deceit of his own heart; neither have all the foldings in which foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, been laid open to any man's view. Proverbs 22:15. But wherefore have I adverted to this subject; or requested the Reader to look so narrowly within? Believe me, it is not that any pleasure can be derived to him that writes, more than to him that reads, from ripping open the bosom of either, when both are alike unclean. But it is to endear Jesus; it is to render him yet more sweet and more precious. It is, to convince, by an evidence so decided, and palpable as a man's own bosom, that there is salvation in no other. The tears of Saul, the tears of Esau; nay, all the tears which have been shed from the days of Adam to this hour, have no efficacy to change the heart, or wash away sin. And though I make a wide difference between these tears of Saul, in the same unregenerated state, and the tears of Peter, when the Lord had renewed him to repentance; yet the tears of Peter, were only precious evidences of his being renewed, and his heart changed; not the means of his acceptance. Neither those tears, nor that repentance, became the cause of his recovery, or of the Lord's favour. This mercy wholly sprung from the fountain of mercy, God's grace in Jesus Christ. Oh! for testimonies in my soul that I am become a new creature in Christ Jesus, by the sweet fruits of faith, repentance, and a new life. But with all these precious gifts in full exercise in my soul, I pray God that I may lay no stress upon either, but wholly seek to be accepted in the person and complete redemption-work of Jesus Christ. As Paul counted all things but dross to win Christ, and be found in him; so would I pray to be found, living and dying to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made poor sinners accepted in the Beloved. See Philippians 3:7-9; Ephesians 1:6-7.