David holds a corner of cloth and chooses not to use what he holds. In a cave at En Gedi, with Saul at his mercy, the future king of Israel takes mercy over vengeance and trusts God to be the judge.
Full sung version coming soon.
Lyrics
When Saul returned from following the Philistines They told him saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel And went to seek David and his men
And he came to the sheep pens by the way Where was a cave and Saul went in to relieve himself And David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave
David’s men said to him, Behold, the day of which the LORD said to you I will deliver your enemy into your hand that you may do to him As it shall seem good to you Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly
Afterwards David’s heart struck him because he had cut off Saul’s skirt And he said to his men, Far be it from me that I should do this thing to my lord The LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him Seeing he is the LORD’s anointed
So David held back his men with these words and didn’t allow them To rise against Saul And Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way
David also arose afterwards and went out of the cave And cried after Saul saying, My lord the king And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth
And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to men’s words Saying, Behold, David seeks your hurt Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had delivered you into my hand
In the cave and some bade me kill you but my eye spared you And I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord For he is the LORD’s anointed
Behold, see the skirt of your robe in my hand For in that I cut off the skirt of your robe and didn’t kill you Know and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand
I have not sinned against you yet you hunt my soul to take it The LORD judge between me and you and the LORD avenge me of you But my hand shall not be upon you
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1 Samuel 24 sung by Psalm Selah. The whole Bible, one chapter at a time.
Published 2026-05-22 · Last updated 2026-06-06
Written by Reid Wender, Editorial Director at Psalmody Press