Forgiveness Beyond the Call of Duty

Reflections on 1 Sam. 26:1-25

There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.
-- Bryant McGill

MANY OFFENSES. This chapter records Saul’s last attempt on David’s life. The first attempts came shortly after the women praised David’s heroism in battle against Goliath. Twice Saul tried to pin David to the wall with a spear (1 Sam. 18:10-11). Then Saul sent David into numerous battles with the Philistines hoping that they would kill him, but that strategy only made David more famous because he was successful (1 Sam. 18:17 ff.). Then Saul commanded his attendants to kill David, but Jonathan intervened (1 Sam. 19:1 ff.). Then Saul tried to pin David to the wall with a spear a third time, but David escaped (1 Sam. 19:10). Saul sent men to David’s house, but David escaped to Samuel in Naioth (1 Sam. 19:11 ff.). Then when his men failed in their mission, Saul pursued David to Naioth himself, but God protected David (1 Sam. 19:18 ff.). Saul took an army and pursued David in the Desert of Maon (1 Sam. 23:24ff.) and in the Desert of Engedi (1 Sam. 24:1 ff.). Even after David spared Saul’s life near Engedi, and Saul admitted his sin, Saul again pursued David with his army in the region near the hill of Hachilah.

So how did David react to Saul’s persistence in pursuing him? What did he do when he had opportunity to pin Saul to the ground with a spear when Saul had tried three times to pin him to the wall with a spear? David refused to avenge himself on the anointed king. In refusing to kill Saul, he is an example of both forgiving and forbearing.

FORGIVENESS. A willingness to forgive is a virtue every Christian should have. Jesus said that if a man repents after a rebuke, we are to forgive him even seven times in one day (Luke 17:3-4). Forgiveness is offered to all offenders and given to the penitent so that reconciliation can be achieved (see also Matt. 18:15). Consequently, to forgive means to release a person from a consequence or penalty for a moral failure (BDAG, p. 156). Both parties recognize the moral failure and forgiveness is both offered and given on the basis of repentance. Forgiveness loves the sinner but rejects the sin. When David spared Saul’s life, his actions and words rebuked Saul, and Saul expressed repentance and requested David’s mercy (1 Sam. 24:17-21; 26:21, 25). Considering all that Saul had done to David, it appears that David would have forgiven Saul seventy times seven times (cf. Matt. 18:22).

FORBEARANCE. Forbearance is another Christian virtue. Sometimes a person who has committed an offense is not moved to repent by the offer of forgiveness. The person who has been offended has two choices: 1) bring the matter to the church for judgment (Matt. 18:15-17), or 2) bear the wrong patiently (1 Cor. 6:5-7). Bearing the wrong patiently is called forbearance. Paul urged the Ephesians to live worthy of their calling “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2 ESV). We must not avenge ourselves, but with humility, patience, and love give God time to deal with the person so that reconciliation might be achieved. David did this. Even when Saul repeated his offenses, David continued to address Saul as “my lord” (repeatedly in 1 Sam. 26:17 and following). Furthermore, he endured not merely out of a sense of duty to the Lord’s anointed but also out of a sense of love. Recall that when David spared Saul’s life the first time, he called Saul “my father” (1 Sam. 24:11), and when Saul was finally killed in a battle with the Philistines, David sang that Saul was loved and lovely (2 Sam. 1:23). Somehow, David continued to love Saul, and that helped him to bear patiently with Saul’s insane jealousy and wrath rather than to seek revenge.

TOLERANCE. Tolerance differs from both forgiveness and forbearance. Forgiveness is the act of mercifully freeing a penitent person from the penalty for an acknowledged offense; it accepts the sinner but rejects the sin. Tolerance, on the other hand, hopes enmity will not escalate into something worse and allows a tolerable offense to continue; it accepts the sin but rejects the sinner. Forbearance, motivated by love, refuses to seek revenge against an obstinate offender but hopes that God will soften the heart and produce reconciliation before justice is executed. Tolerance, on the other hand, motivated by fear of making things worse, does not confront an offender but nevertheless hopes that the person will go away or get what they deserve.

David was not merely tolerant. Rather, he was both forgiving and forbearing. He was forbearing because Saul had too often forgotten his good intentions. Therefore, David could not return with Saul or even stay in Judah.