1 Samuel 24:19

24:16-22 Saul speaks as quite overcome with David's kindness. Many mourn for their sins, who do not truly repent of them; weep bitterly for them, yet continue in love and in league with them. Now God made good to David that word on which he had caused him to hope, that he would bring forth his righteousness as the light, Ps 37:6. Those who take care to keep a good conscience, may leave it to God to secure them the credit of it. Sooner or later, God will force even those who are of the synagogue of Satan to know and to own those whom he has loved. They parted in peace. Saul went home convinced, but not converted; ashamed of his envy to David, yet retaining in his breast that root of bitterness; vexed that when at last he had found David, he could not find in his heart to destroy him, as he had designed. Malice often seems dead when it is only asleep, and will revive with double force. Yet, whether the Lord bind men's hands, or affect their hearts, so that they do not hurt us, the deliverance is equally from him; it is an evidence of his love, and an earnest of our salvation, and should make us thankful.

For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?.... Or "in a good way" (e), in peace and safety, without doing him any hurt; this is not usual among men, and yet this was the present case; David had found his enemy Saul, which Saul tacitly owns, and yet had let him go well away from him, without hurting him: wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day; he does not promise to reward him himself, but prays the Lord to reward him; and had he been sincere in it, he could not have done better for him. Some connect the former clause with this, after this manner, "if a man find his enemy, and let him go away, the Lord will reward him, the Lord reward thee", &c. so the Syriac and Arabic versions. (e) "in via bona", Pagninus, Montanus.

Verse 19. - Will he let him go well away? Hebrew, "will he let him go on a good way?" i.e. will he let him go on his way in peace, unhurt? As David, nevertheless, had let his enemy go unharmed, Saul, touched momentarily by his generosity, prays that Jehovah will reward him for what he had done. 1 Samuel 24:19

1Sa 24:8-15. He Urges Thereby His Innocency. 8-15. David also arose … and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul—The closeness of the precipitous cliffs, though divided by deep wadies, and the transparent purity of the air enable a person standing on one rock to hear distinctly the words uttered by a speaker standing on another (Jud 9:7). The expostulation of David, followed by the visible tokens he furnished of his cherishing no evil design against either the person or the government of the king, even when he had the monarch in his power, smote the heart of Saul in a moment and disarmed him of his fell purpose of revenge. He owned the justice of what David said, acknowledged his own guilt, and begged kindness to his house. He seems to have been naturally susceptible of strong, and, as in this instance, of good and grateful impressions. The improvement of his temper, indeed, was but transient—his language that of a man overwhelmed by the force of impetuous emotions and constrained to admire the conduct, and esteem the character, of one whom he hated and dreaded. But God overruled it for ensuring the present escape of David. Consider his language and behavior.

This language—"a dead dog," "a flea," terms by which, like Eastern people, he strongly expressed a sense of his lowliness and the entire committal of his cause to Him who alone is the judge of human actions, and to whom vengeance belongs, his steady repulse of the vindictive counsels of his followers; the relentings of heart which he felt even for the apparent indignity he had done to the person of the Lord's anointed; and the respectful homage he paid the jealous tyrant who had set a price on his head—evince the magnanimity of a great and good man, and strikingly illustrate the spirit and energy of his prayer "when he was in the cave" (Ps 142:1).

"If a man meet with his enemy, will he send him (let him go) in peace?" This sentence is to be regarded as a question, which requires a negative reply, and expresses the thought: When a man meets with an enemy, he does not generally let him escape without injury. But thou hast acted very differently towards me. This thought is easily supplied from the context, and what follows attaches itself to this: "The Lord repay thee good for what thou hast done to me this day."

[Bible] \24:9\And David said to Saul, Why hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? \24:10\Behold, this day thy eyes have seen how the LORD hath delivered thee to-day into my hand in the cave; and some bade me kill thee: but my eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed. \24:11\Moreover, my father, see, yes, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. \24:12\The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee. \24:13\As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but my hand shall not be upon thee. \24:14\After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea? \24:15\The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand. \24:16\And it came to pass when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. \24:17\And he said to David, thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded thee with evil. \24:18\And thou hast showed this day how thou hast dealt with me; forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thy hand, thou didst not kill me. \24:19\For if a man findeth his enemy, will he let him go away well? wherefore the LORD reward thee with good, for what thou hast done to me this day. \24:20\And now, behold, I know well that thou wilt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in thy hand. \24:21\Swear now therefore to me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house.

[Bible] Not good is this thing which thou hast done; Jehovah liveth, but ye [are] sons of death, in that ye have not watched over your lord, over the anointed of Jehovah; and now, see where the king`s spear [is], and the cruse of water which [is] at his bolster.` And Saul discerneth the voice of David, and saith, `Is this thy voice, my son David?` and David saith, `My voice, my lord, O king!` and he saith, `Why [is] this — my lord is pursuing after his servant? for what have I done, and what [is] in my hand evil? And, now, let, I pray thee, my lord the king hear the words of his servant: if Jehovah hath moved thee against me, let Him accept a present; and if the sons of men — cursed [are] they before Jehovah, for they have cast me out to-day from being admitted into the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods. `And now, let not my blood fall to the earth over-against the face of Jehovah, for the king of Israel hath come out to seek one flea, as [one] pursueth the partridge in mountains.` And Saul saith, `I have sinned; turn back, my son David, for I do evil to thee no more, because that my soul hath been precious in thine eyes this day; lo, I have acted foolishly, and do err very greatly.` And David answereth and saith, `Lo, the king`s spear; and let one of the young men pass over, and receive it; and Jehovah doth turn back to each his righteousness and his faithfulness, in that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into [my] hand, and I have not been willing to put forth my hand against the anointed of Jehovah, and lo, as thy soul hath been great this day in mine eyes, so is my soul great in the eyes of Jehovah, and He doth deliver me out of all distress.` And Saul saith unto David, `Blessed [art] thou, my son David, also working thou dost work, and also prevailing thou dost prevail.` And David goeth on his way, and Saul hath turned back to his place. Chapter 27