The word 'conscience' does not occur in the Hebrew language in the Old Testament. The concept of conscience occurs, but no Hebrew word was used for the acts of conscience in the Old Testament. The concept of conscience is seen twice in today's text.
A jealous King Saul made the life of his loyal servant, David, miserable. King Saul's jealousy escalated to the point that the King made definite efforts to kill David. The situation placed David's life in jeopardy. To preserve his life, David fled to the wilderness. David's decision to flee was costly to David as a person! In the ordeal of hiding from Saul, he lost much!
The setting of 1 Samuel 24 was the wilderness of Engedi. King Saul took 3000 select troops to that area in a determined effort to capture David and his men. In the process of pursuing David, Saul found himself near a large cave. He went into the cave to relieve himself. He had no idea that David and his men were hiding in the rear of the cave. When the king removed his robe, David was able to cut off a piece of the king's robe and remain undetected.
David's act of harming the king's robe distressed David's conscience. It is difficult for most Americans to identify with David's feelings. David's reaction was the result of two factors: (a) the common feeling of a person toward royalty; (b) David's attitude toward God.
First, the common feeling toward royalty was simple. Because royalty were elite people by the consent of the people, they were to be honored rather than harmed. A king had the right to respect, so a subject in the king's kingdom reacted toward him and his family with respect. It was unthinkable to do anything disrespectful to one's king (quite a contrast to Americans' attitudes toward political leaders). That explains in part why David never threatened nor confronted King Saul.
Second, David's attitude toward God could be summed up in this manner: God is in control of the situation; God made Saul king; when God decides Saul should be king no longer, God will remove him. David's attitude was simple: "It is not my place to remove Saul from his position as king." That amazing attitude represents a concept and attitude not to be found in most Americans' thinking.
Note David's actions and words following his cutting of Saul's robe. He called Saul "my lord." He bowed himself in the appropriate declaration of allegiance to the king. He declared and demonstrated his loyalty to Saul. He referred to himself as a 'dead dog' and a 'flea' declaring that he was unworthy of the King's jealousy and anger.
David attached a significance to Saul being 'the Lord's anointed' that is foreign to most Americans. (See I Samuel 24:10; 1 Samuel 26:11; and 2 Samuel 1:11-16.) David accepted without question that it was wrong to act against King Saul. Even cutting the King's robe was inappropriate. When he cut the King's robe, he violated his own understanding of 'right and wrong'. He immediately reacted to his violation of his understanding.
A second conscience reaction is seen in the reaction of King Saul. King Saul instantly knew that David easily could have killed him. He immediately knew that if the situation had been reversed, he would have killed David without hesitation. He was profoundly aware that he had been powerfully blessed only because David was a good person.
The King's conscience declared, "You are more righteous than I" (2 Samuel 24:17).
King Saul knew something else. He knew David would be Israel's next king. He also knew that nothing he could do would prevent David from becoming king. He made but one request: "Do not kill my relatives when you are king." It was typical to destroy a defeated king's relatives, especially his children, when a new king from a new family began his rule. This assured two royal lines did not exist simultaneously in the same kingdom. The old royal line could never claim the right to rule. That greatly reduced the likelihood of civil war.
Consider these two illustrations of conscience. David was true to his understanding that (a) it was wrong to harm royalty and (b) it was wrong to harm God's anointed. Even cutting the King's robe violated his understanding. King Saul's harm violated David's understanding of 'right and wrong'. Cutting the King's robe was harming the king! King Saul's unjust behavior toward David could not justify David when David departed from his accepted understanding!
With King Saul, his conscience was stirred in an entirely different way. David's righteous behavior brought King Saul 'face to face' his own unrighteous behavior. He had no conscience reaction to his attempts to kill David until he was forced to view his unrighteous behavior. Briefly King Saul became a man of conscience again--until his jealousy and ambition once again obscured his conscience.
Commonly in the Old Testament, reactions we attribute to the conscience are attributed to the heart. The two things 'heart' and 'conscience' have in common are (a) both are internal and (b) both supply motive. A person of conscience is a person who acts on internal understandings as well as external considerations. For him/her, motives are an inseparable part of acts.
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 1