Useful Bible Studies > 1 Samuel Commentary > chapter 26
The sound of David’s voice went far in the quiet air of the early morning. Although David was on a hill opposite Saul’s camp, Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, heard him clearly. David explained how, during the night, he had saved Saul’s life.
Saul himself was also listening to David’s speech. David had not told Abner his name; but Saul knew that it was David. Saul knew that because of David’s attitudes. None of Saul’s officials were as loyal to him as David (22:14). None of them cared so much about Saul as David did (16:21-23; 19:4-5).
Immediately, Saul realised that he was wrong to oppose David. For that reason, Saul again called David ‘my son’ (see 1 Samuel 24:16). He chose that phrase in order to express love towards David. He was pleased with David; he approved of David.
Saul’s attitude of hate towards David had again changed to the opposite emotion: love.
David then replied in a manner that gave honour to Saul. He called Saul ‘my lord’, in other words, ‘my master’. That showed that he still respected Saul greatly. Saul was David’s master, so David considered himself merely to be Saul’s servant. A servant has a duty to be loyal to his master; David understood that he still had a duty to be loyal to Saul.
David also called Saul ‘the king’. God had appointed David to rule Israel (16:13), but David still recognised Saul’s authority as king. David would not start a revolution and he would not oppose Saul. For the rest of Saul’s life, David considered Saul to be Israel’s king.
Next part: David’s second appeal to Saul (1 Samuel 26:18-20)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.