And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.
He would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. The probability is that a vivid recollection of the refreshing water of Beth-lehem excited a momentary wish to taste it again, and he gave utterance to the wish, without dreaming that any of his attendants heard or heeded his exclamation. When he thought of the imminent peril at which the draught had been procured, he would not partake of it, lest he should seem to prefer the selfish gratification of his palate to the lives of his most valued soldiers. "He poured it out unto the Lord," as a sort of libation or acknowledgment of the divine goodness in preserving the lives of his men.