Touching God’s Anointed

And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” 1 Samuel 24:6

In 1 Samuel 24, something very interesting happened. Saul had gone into a cave to ease himself. Sensing a great opportunity, David’s men “prophesied” to him, saying, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you’” (24:4a). Every prophecy needs to be judged, and in this case, David’s men-with all their good intentions-were way off the mark.

In the natural, David was given a golden opportunity to ambush Saul. After all, God had promised him the necks of his enemies and Saul was right there, ripe for the picking. Every natural indicator pointed toward the killing of Saul. But God didn’t instruct David to do that. We must always walk by the leading of the Holy Spirit and not by our own clever human reasoning. Unfortunately, there is always the temptation to “help God out” when our vision is not forthcoming.

Although Saul was a terrible man, he was nonetheless David’s anointed king, father-inlaw, and mentor-albeit a bad one! The Bible says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” (Rom. 13:1-2). We must not come against those God has ordained.

David had the good sense not to listen to his men. But in his heart, he wanted to teach Saul a lesson. He wanted to shame Saul openly. So, “David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe” (1 Sam. 24:4b). That was an arrogant act designed to let Saul know that he could have killed him if he wanted to. In the natural, to David’s own men, his cutting off a corner of Saul’s robe was an act of mercy. But to God, it was an attitude of gross dishonor. God was so upset that He smote David’s heart (24:5). David had touched His anointed.

Our attitude determines our altitude. Very often, it is not just what we do or don’t do, it is the attitude we project; the signals we give. And to God, those signals are more important than our words and deeds. If David could not honor the authority God had ordained in the nation, he had no right to exercise authority over others. Therefore, David said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD” (24:6). May we never touch the anointed servants of God in His kingdom.