1 Samuel 24:1

1 Samuel 24:1 says, And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.  After returning from fighting the Philistines, Saul was told where David now was.  It seems that many of the people of Israel were still loyal to Saul, even though David had done more overall to protect them from the Philistines.  There are people today, even some Christians, who are loyal to political leaders no matter what, but we a Christians need to seek God's guidance as we place our loyalty in political leaders.  Verse two adds, Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.  Saul took three thousand chosen men, that we would think were his best fighters, to go and hunt David.  This was an overwhelming force to go against David and his small force.  As followers of Christ, we are always going to be outnumbered in the world today, but God has already given us the everlasting victory through our faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse three continues, And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.  When Saul got there, he went into a cave.  This was a very large cave, and David and his men were hidden inside it.  Saul was alone,and David had an ideal opportunity to kill him, but this still wasn't David’s intention.  Verse four states, And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.  David’s men told him that God had delivered Saul into his hand as He had promised.  David could have listened to them and killed Saul and justified it as being God's will, but instead he cut off a piece of Saul's robe.  Not every opportunity that we have to destroy our enemies today is given to us by God, and we need to be careful about assuming that they are.  Verse five adds, And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.  Afterwards, David was remorseful about what he had done,even though it should have shown Saul that David wasn't trying to kill him.  If we as followers of Christ take actions today that we later realize were not what God would have us do, then we should be remorseful when we realize it. Six continues, And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.  David said the LORD forbid him from harming Saul, who was God's anointed as king.  Even though Saul had proven himself to be in defiance of God and David had already been anointed to replace him, David still was not going to take matters into his own hands, even tough the opportunity to kill Saul was there.  We need to be careful that in our fight against evil today that we don't confuse opportunity with God's will.  I also believe that if God has placed a preacher in a church that we should support him instead of attempting to undermine him if we don't like him.