CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—
1 Samuel 24:16. “And Saul lifted up his voice.” “There is no hypocrisy or pretence here. Saul, tossed powerless hither and thither by fierce passions and without harmony of soul-life, is here laid hold of in a hidden corner of his heart, where he was still accessible to the power of truth, and involuntarily yields to this nobler arousing of his soul, though it is not destined to be permanent.” (Erdmann.)
1 Samuel 24:20. “How did Saul come to this knowledge which he here expresses, and which Jonathan had already affirmed that his father had? (1 Samuel 23:17.) Not through direct Divine revelation, but by the observation that all his undertakings against David were unsuccessful, and that David, in respect to his persecutions, was under special Divine protection, coupled with the recollection of what Samuel had once said to him in the name of God respecting his rejection for disobedience.” (Erdmann.)
1 Samuel 24:21. “My name,” etc. “A name is exterminated when the whole of the descendants are destroyed—a thing of frequent occurrence in the East in connection with a change of dynasties, and one which occurred again and again even in the kingdom of the ten tribes. See 1 Kings 15:28 sqq.; 1 Kings 16:11 sqq.; 2 Kings 10” (Keil.)
1 Samuel 24:22. “The hold.” “The word here so translated is used to denote the mountainous part of the desert of Judah. It is different in 1 Samuel 22:5.” (Keil.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 1 Samuel 24:16-22
THE EFFECT OF DAVID’S CONDUCT UPON SAUL
I. Here is a righteous emotion and a sincere confession of sin produced by godlike conduct. The ice upon the lake may be very strong and thick, but there is a strength of sunlight that will dissolve it; and the iron may be very hard and cold, but there is an intensity of heat that will make it glow and even melt it. So the conscience may be as it were frozen over by indulgence in some evil passion, and all the soul hardened by a long course of sin; but there are manifestations of goodness that will melt the stubborn will, and awaken into life the better part of the man although it may be only for a season. Circumstances sometimes bring such a man into such contact with a godly character that he cannot avoid seeing the contrast between what he is and what he might and ought to be; and the effect of the vision is to awaken a feeling of contrition, and it may be to extort from him a confession of his guilt. Such a time now came to Saul. The feeling of jealousy against David had gained such an ascendancy in his soul as to stifle all his better feelings, and even the voices of reason and conscience; but this meeting, and David’s godlike behaviour, caused him for a moment to see himself in a true light, and to discern how great a gulf of character there was between him and the man whom he was hating even unto blood. For a short season the magnanimity of David asserted its power over his pitiless foe, and melted him into contrition and confession.
II. But this righteous emotion and sincere confession failed to produce true repentance. Where there is beautiful blossom we may hope in due time to see the fruit, and whenever we rejoice over the ripened fruit we know it began with the blossom, but the blossom is not the fruit, and we know that, alas, many a fair blossom fails to bring forth that which it seems to promise. So is it with contrition for sin and sincere repentance, the one must precede the other, and when we see the first we hope it may prove to be that godly sorrow which worketh repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). But we know that it is not always so, and Saul’s conduct here and on a subsequent occasion shows how even strong and sincere emotion may be felt and yet not pass into life and action, and so fail to benefit the character and even make repentance more difficult. Every conviction of sin which leaves the man no better than before does not leave him as it found him, but in a worse condition, even as the bar of iron which has been in the furnace is harder than one which has never yet been heated.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1 Samuel 24:16. What change is this that takes place all at once? He who but lately could not bring himself to mention David’s name (1 Samuel 22:7)—who hated even his name—makes him one of his family by calling him his son! What more happy fortune than that which now befel David, who transforms his would-be murderer into his father, who changes the wolf into the lamb, who is able to extinguish this angry conflagration, to make a calm succeed the tempest, and to heal this fever of passion in the soul? David’s words had brought about this revolution. Saul says not, “It is thou who speakest, my son David,” but “It is thy voice, my son David,” for the mere sound of his voice was enough to soften him. And as a father, who, after a long absence, hears the voice of his child, needs not to see him to be awakened to emotion, so Saul, after the words of David penetrating his heart, chased away his hatred, recognised in David the man of God, and, cured of his evil passion, felt himself possessed by another emotion; his malice had disappeared, and joy and affection had taken its place. Just as in the darkness of night we do not perceive the presence of our friend, but when the daylight comes we recognise him even afar off, so while we are evilly disposed towards each other, we listen to each other’s words, and look upon one another in the spirit of prejudice, but when we are cured of our malice, the voice which before sounded harsh and angry becomes soft and pleasant to our ears, and the countenance which seemed repulsive and unwelcome is now lovely and attractive.—A bridged from Chrysostom.
1 Samuel 24:17. He should have said, Thou art righteous, but I am wicked; but the utmost he will own is this, Thou art more righteous than I. Bad men will commonly go no further than this in their confessions; they will own they are not so good as some others are; there are those that are better than they and more righteous.—Henry.
1 Samuel 24:18. Saul for the present spake as he thought. But good thoughts make but a thoroughfare of wicked hearts: they stay not there, as those that like not their lodging.—Trapp.
Saul’s sense of David’s generosity must be very strong when he beseeches God to reward it. Indeed, Saul had no equivalent to give David for the kindness shown him, and therefore he refers him to God for retribution. For if, after this, he should even save David’s life, yet still he could only save the life of his best benefactor, whereas David both spared and saved the life of his most mortal enemy.—Delany.