Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won't strike him twice." – 1 Samuel 26:8

Today's Scripture Reading (April 27, 2022):  1 Samuel 26

In our literature, poetic justice is an important device that turns the story in the direction we want it to go. Poetic justice delivers good things to good people and bad things to those who do evil. In Charles Dickens's classic tale "Oliver Twist," poetic justice transforms the cruel Mr. Bumble from being the author of torment for the children of the orphanage into a poor pauper living an abused lifestyle in the same workhouse that he had once owned with his wife. Poetic justice makes the reader say, "well, he got what he deserved," allowing us to rejoice with the good and the bad delivered to the appropriate people in the story. But often, poetic justice is only found in the stories that we read; it never really seems to be a part of our daily lives.

David and Abishai sneak into the camp of Saul, and they stumble onto the place where the King is sleeping with his guards fast asleep around him. The King's spear, the very spear that Saul had once thrown at David, and the spear with which the King of Israel planned to kill David, was stuck in the ground beside the King's slumbering head.

For Abishai, the situation could not be more perfect. Once more, God had delivered Saul into the hands of his enemies. David had not taken advantage of the situation in the cave, but God had given them a second chance to rid the world of Saul. If David didn't want to do it, Abishai would be happy to dispatch Israel's King. Then, David could maintain his innocence in the act, and Saul would still be dead. David hadn't killed Saul; he had simply stood back and allowed it to happen.

And to add a touch of poetic justice, Abishai could accomplish the act using the same spear with which Saul had intended to kill David, the very spear that the King had carried into every battle he had fought. It was like a story spun by some of the best storytellers. God had ordained the events perfectly. And Abishai would do it quickly. Only one thrust of the spear would be needed. Saul would not suffer and would not be able to cry out. The action would be swift and quiet.

All Abishai needed was for David to say yes, which he had declined to say in the cave. David's general hoped that David would see what was so obvious to him. God had done this, and God himself had orchestrated the events so that the life of Saul could end on this very night.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 27