(4) And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. (5) And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. (6) And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. (7) So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
The Lord had given David many precious promises, that he would be with him to deliver him at all times. And the Lord had done so. Indeed the anointing him to the throne, implied all this. But there was no one promise of a particular day when the Lord would deliver Saul into his hand. Therefore this was a temptation of the enemy. And it is plain that afterwards David saw it in this point of view, when his heart smote him for only having cut off the skirt of Saul's robe. But Reader, when you have paid all due attention to this example of David, in the forbearance of resentment for injuries received, (for it is a very sweet one, and may serve to show us that true believers in Christ cannot take the government even of their own wrongs into their own hand, for they are themselves the Lord's property, and the Lord's care;) when I say, you have paid all due respect to this view of the subject, turn your thoughts to one infinitely higher, and in the person of David's Lord on the cross, see how Jesus, in his unequalled forbearance, prayed for mercy on his murderers; and no doubt, from these prayers of Jesus, several of those who crucified the Lord of life and glory, were afterwards made the happy partakers of redemption in his blood. Think, Reader, of the manifold wisdom of God in this, and behold how that prayer was literally fulfilled, though in a way the very reverse in which it was uttered; when they said, his blood be upon us and upon our children. Compare Matthew 27:25, with Acts 2:37-41; Acts 2:37-41.