For as the LORD lives, the LORD will smite him, or his day will come and he will die, or he shall go down into battle and be swept away — David's confidence (*chi YHWH yikhehuu o yom bo vamut o b'milchama yishaph*) asserts that judgment belongs to the LORD, not to David. The enumeration of possibilities—Saul will be smitten, his day will come, he will fall in battle—suggests that David relies on divine judgment rather than human action to resolve their conflict. David's refusal to kill Saul, despite the opportunity, is an act of faith, a submission to God's timetable and methods.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse