1 Samuel Chapter 26

Day 26 – “A Spear, a Water Jar, and a Sleeping King”

Devotional on 1 Samuel 26

Read the Text

Take a quiet moment to read 1 Samuel 26 in your preferred translation. The quotations below are from the New International Version.


1. Setting the Scene

Geography. The “hill of Hakilah, facing Jeshimon” (v. 3) rises in the arid badlands south-east of Hebron. Archaeologists have mapped its ridges and caves; it is barren, wind-scoured, and offers clear sight-lines—ideal for a lookout.
Political climate. Saul is still king by public title, David by divine promise. Two anointed men occupy one land, and the tension runs through every verse.
Ziphites again. These border-people (cf. 23:19) choose the security of Saul’s favor over the risk of harboring a fugitive. Their repeated betrayal reminds us how fear shapes alliances.


2. The Long Night (vv. 5-12)

David scouts the camp, then descends with Abishai. The narrator repeats “Saul was lying inside the camp with the army encamped around him” (v. 5) to stress the human impossibility of reaching him. Yet two men walk straight to the center.

Hebrew note: verse 12 says וַיהוָה הִפִּיל תַּרְדֵּמָה (“the LORD had caused a deep sleep” – tardēmâ) to fall on them. The same rare word appears when God puts Adam to sleep (Gen 2:21) and when He seals covenant with Abram (Gen 15:12). In Scripture, tardēmâ signals that God alone is acting while humans lie powerless.

Abishai whispers, “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust” (v. 8). The verb “pin” (’akev) is the same root as “Jacob”—a word-play implying a grabbing of the heel, a shortcut. David refuses shortcuts.


3. A Theology of Boundaries (vv. 9-11)

David speaks three convictions:
1. Sacred office matters. “Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed (māshîaḥ YHWH) and be guiltless?” He separates Saul’s behavior (unjust) from Saul’s office (still holy).
2. God alone judges timing. “Either his time will come… or he will go into battle and perish.” David trusts divine process, echoing Deut 32:35 and foreshadowing Rom 12:19.
3. I will not. Personal agency remains: “But the LORD forbid that I should…” Restraint is an act of worship.

Early interpreters saw here a pattern for Christian ethics.
• Augustine: David prefigures Christ, who refused to call angels against those arresting Him.
• Calvin: Civil authorities may be flawed, yet rebellion is not the church’s tool; prayer and witness are.
• Wesley: The “meekness of wisdom” is stronger than drawn swords.


4. The Spear and the Jar (vv. 12-16)

David takes two objects:
Spear – symbol of royal power and military right.
Water jar – symbol of life in the desert.

At dawn he calls across the ravine to Abner, Saul’s general. By holding the spear high, David proves both skill and restraint; by holding the jar, he proves he could have ended Saul’s life-supply as easily as his breath.

Literary device: irony. Abner, whose name means “father of light,” sleeps in darkness and must be awakened by his enemy to his dereliction of duty.


5. Two Confessions (vv. 17-25)

Saul’s words: “I have sinned… I will not try to harm you again” (v. 21). This is his third sorrowful speech (cf. 15:24; 24:17). It sounds humble, yet nothing truly changes. Emotion is not repentance.
David’s words: He pleads that righteousness “be rewarded” by the LORD (v. 23). David does not demand vindication from Saul; he looks upward.

David’s final sentence is poignant: “May your life be valued highly in the eyes of the LORD” (v. 24). He blesses the man who hunts him. Jesus will later say, “Love your enemies… pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44).


6. Gospel Echoes

1 Samuel 26 sits between Advent and Easter in biblical theology:
• Like Jesus in the wilderness, David rejects a devilish shortcut to power.
• Like Jesus in Gethsemane, he enters darkness while friends sleep, and chooses the Father’s will over the sword (John 18:10-11).
• David’s patience leads to a throne not snatched but received—foreshadowing the path of the cross before the crown (Phil 2:5-11).


7. What We Might Miss

Ancient camp formations: Kings slept inside a ring of soldiers; breaching it was unheard of. The text magnifies God’s intervention.
Honor-shame culture: By sparing Saul twice, David piles “burning coals” (Prov 25:21-22) upon his honor, urging him to right relationship without public humiliation.
Desert survival: A water skin was priceless; to lose it at night could mean death by noon. David risks his own need for Saul’s sake.


8. Living the Text

  1. Whom do you presently regard as an “enemy”? How might you value their life “in the eyes of the LORD”?
  2. Where are you tempted to seize a promise by force instead of trust?
  3. Consider your speech about flawed leaders, civil or ecclesial. Does David’s restraint reshape your tone?

Suggested cross-references for meditation:
• Romans 12:17-21 – overcoming evil with good
• 1 Peter 2:21-23 – Christ’s example of suffering
• Psalm 54 – the prayer David wrote “when the Ziphites went to Saul” (title)

Hymn suggestion: “May the Mind of Christ My Saviour” (Katie Barclay Wilkinson, 1913). Sing stanza 3 slowly: “May the peace of God my Father / Rule my life in everything…”—a fitting refrain after a night beside a sleeping king.


Prayer

Lord of David and Lord of us,
You hold every spear and every breath.
Save us from grasping what You wish to give,
teach us to honor even those who wound us,
and keep us awake to Your purposes while the world sleeps.
May our restraint display Your greatness,
until the day Your kingdom comes in full.
Through Jesus, the true Anointed, we pray. Amen.

Narrated version of this devotional on 1 Samuel Chapter 26