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When Saul had finished fighting
with the Philistines, he went into the wilderness, and many soldiers with
him; and they all wandered about among the rocks, trying to find
David. But God still kept David in safety from his enemies. At
last Saul came to a cave, and went into it to rest; for he was
tired. The cave was very large, it could hold many people, and Saul
and his men were not alone in it. Who were there besides?
David and his soldiers were in the cave; but Saul did not see them,
because they were in another part of it; so he went in, and lay down, and
was soon asleep. David's men saw Saul come into the cave, and said
to their master, "See, there is Saul; God has given him into thy
hand." Then David arose and went to Saul. There he lay
asleep; he had no power to hurt David, and David could kill him if he
liked. And did he kill Saul? No; David had no angry feelings
in his heart; he did not wish to hurt his enemy; but he went quietly, and
cut off a piece of Saul's robe. When David came again to his men, he
felt sorry. Why? Because he had not killed Saul? No;
David was sorry because he had cut off part of Saul's robe. Then
David commanded his servants not to kill Saul, nor hurt him. When
Saul awoke, he arose to go away. He did not know what David had
done; but David cried out, and said to him, "My Lord, the
king!" Saul turned round; and David bowed respectfully before
him, and said, "God to-day gave thee into my power, when thou wast
asleep in the cave: but I remembered that thou art a king chosen by
God, and therefore I did not hurt thee. I never did thee any wrong;
why dost thou try to kill me? God knows that I am not thine
enemy." Then Saul began to weep, and said, "Is it thy
voice, my son David?" Why did Saul weep? Because he felt
how unkind he had been to David, and how kind David was to him.
David's gentleness made Saul gentle too. Saul
said, "Thou hast been more righteous than I. Thou hast rewarded
me good, though I rewarded thee evil." Then Saul asked David to
spare his family after his death: for Saul knew that God would give
David the kingdom. David promised this, and Saul went home; and
David's kindness made Saul kind for a little time. If
we have enemies, we ought to act towards them as David did towards his
enemy. The Bible says, "Love your enemies." When
people are unkind to us, we must try to be kind and forgiving to
them. When our enemies are in sorrow, we must comfort them, and help
them, and try to make them happy. If they are wicked, we ought to
talk gently to them, and beg of them to repent of their sin, and turn to
God. And we ought to pray God to forgive them, and to give them new
hearts, and make them kind, and gentle, and holy. If we do not
forgive, God will not forgive us.
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