1 Samuel 24:10-13 - From evildoers come evil deeds

24:10-12

David stresses how the Lord had given Saul into David’s hands, yet David had not killed him. This was despite some of his men urging him to do so.  David then produces the piece of Saul’s robe to demonstrate how close David had been to Saul. So there was ample proof that in no way was David guilty of “wrongdoing or rebellion”. David knew that the Lord would avenge him, but David would leave the avenging to the Lord to do, he would have no part in it (Rom 12:19). 

24:13

“From evildoers come evil deeds”. David would have no part in evil. Of course, later on he did have a part in evil, but for now he is innocent. There are two key lessons from all this. The Lord will exact judgement in His timing, sometimes this will be soon, sometimes not. But we are not to take vengeance into our own hands, this is God’s responsibility.

1 Corinthians 12:29-31 - The most excellent way

12:29,30

Having listed various gifts and ministries (and the list should not be considered as exclusive) Paul raises the rhetorical question, are all ...? Clearly expecting the answer no. All these things matter and help contribute to a healthy church, but Paul is just making what should be evidently true, that all are different, and that is the way it is meant to be.

12:31

“Eagerly desire the greater gifts”. It will be chapter 14 before Paul tells what he means by “the greater gifts”, and this will be prophecy. However, before that there will be chapter 13, the great chapter on love. Some consider this next chapter to not really fitting, but in reality it fits perfectly with what Paul is teaching. The Corinthians had a fundamental attitude problem, their thinking was often very worldly. They were comparing themselves, and comparing others, wanting to know “who is the greatest”. This was not a problem unique to the Corinthians (Matt 18:1). The chapter on love shows us how we should be thinking, he will show us “the most excellent way”. It is with the right attitude or mindset that we should use the gifts, and function as a church.

1 Samuel 24:5-9 - David was conscience stricken

24:5-7

After doing this David was conscience stricken. He considered cutting off the corner of Saul’s robe as an offence against “the Lord’s anointed”. Note that David views Saul not purely in terms of who Saul was, but who he was in God’s sight. God had anointed Saul as king, and even though He had revoked this, David still had respect for Saul as King. David then rebukes his own men, and orders them not to attack Saul. Saul, totally unaware of what had happened, left the cave. Indeed, Saul seemed to have been unaware of many things throughout his life.

24:8,9

David, however, went out of the cave and called after Saul. He addresses him as “My lord the king” and bows down to him, demonstrating that David respects the king. Why did David do this? Is he hoping for some sort of reconciliation with Saul, or is it just to show that David is actually no enemy of Saul at all? David does not say it is Saul who is deluded, but that he is listening to wrong voices in believing that David is his enemy. He is making it easier for Saul to repent.

1 Corinthians 12:27,28 - You are the body of Christ

12:27

Verse 27 sums up the situation, all of them were the body of Christ, and they were all part of it. None of them needed to feel inferior, or less a part of the body of Christ. Likewise, none of them should feel superior to others, and somehow being set apart from the others.

12:28

The chapter finishes with a list of various roles within the church, within the body. First he lists apostles, prophets and teachers. These three all feature in the “fivefold ministry” given in Ephesians. Apostles is probably not restricted to the original twelve (or eleven plus Paul), but used more generally. The three ministries are followed by giftings, rather than ministries, naming miracles, healings, helping, guidance and tongues. 

1 Samuel 24:1-4 - David is in the desert of En Gedi

24:1,2

We don’t know how long it took for Saul to deal with the Philistines. However, some time after this he resumed his obsession with trying to kill David, and learnt that David was in the Desert of En Gedi. He knew the exact location (the Crags of the Wild Goats) and set out with three thousand “able young men”. This was about five times the number that David had.

24:3,4

Saul reached the area where David was, and by chance (or God’s providence if you prefer!) went into the cave that David was hiding in in order to relieve himself. David’s men thought that this was David’s chance. They didn’t actually urge David to kill Saul, but would almost certainly have considered that to be a good outcome. In John 2:24 we read that Jesus would not entrust Himself to people, and David adopts a similar approach. David crept up to Saul and cut off a corner of his robe.

1 Corinthians 12:23-26 - If one suffers all suffer

12:23,24

Paul then points out that the parts of the body that seem to be “less honourable” are clothed with greater honour, while the parts that are more presentable receive no clothing. Paul is probably thinking of the genitals when he talks about the “less honourable” parts, but let's put it another way. People are praised for their good looks, their athletic prowess, their intellectual or artistic abilities etc. Yet no one ever refers to someone as having a great pair of kidneys! However, if your kidneys stop working properly then you are in real trouble.

12:25,26

It is God who has put the body together, for He is the one who distributed the gifts. And He has done this so that there is unity in the body. Again we have the fact that to truly understand things we need to be God focused. So if one suffers all suffer, if one is honoured all are honoured.

1 Samuel 23:19-29 - Saul broke off his pursuit

23:19,20

The Ziphites (Ziph was the region that David was hiding in) went and told Saul that David was hiding among them. They invited Saul to come and get David, and they would assist him in doing this. Why did they do this? Perhaps because they saw David as a threat, or rather Israel led by David as a real threat, especially compared to Israel led by Saul.

23:21-23

Saul pretends that he sees this as an act of kindness on the part of the Ziphites, and blesses them in the name of the Lord. He asks them to gather more information on David’s movements. Once he had this information he would go and track David down.

23:24-29

David heard that Saul was searching for him, and something of a game of cat and mouse ensued. Saul’s forces were closing in on David. However, a message then reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding the land, so Saul broke off the hunt to go and deal with the Philistines, and David “went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi”. So once again God had intervened to keep David safe. It is perhaps worth noting that if Saul had not been such a fool and had had David as his army commander, then the Philistines by now may well have been subdued, or even completely defeated. When godless men rule additional enemies arise and are a problem to the godless rulers.