I Samuel 26:19

Let him accept an offering - If God have stirred thee up against me, why, then, let him deliver my life into thy hand, and accept it as a sacrifice. But as the word is מנחה minchah, a gratitude-offering, perhaps the sense may be this: Let God accept a gratitude-offering from thee, for having purged the land of a worker of iniquity; for, were I not such, God would never stir thee up against me. But if they be the children of men - If men have, by false representations, lies, and slanders, stirred thee up against an innocent man, then let them be cursed before the Lord. If I am guilty, I deserve to die; if not, those who seek my life should be destroyed. Saying, Go, serve other gods - His being obliged to leave the tabernacle, and the place where the true worship of God was performed, and take refuge among idolaters, said in effect, Go, serve other gods.

If the Lord have stirred thee up against me--By the evil spirit He had sent, or by any spiritual offenses by which we have mutually displeased Him. let him accept an offering--that is, let us conjointly offer a sacrifice for appeasing His wrath against us. if they be the children of men--The prudence, meekness, and address of David in ascribing the king's enmity to the instigations of some malicious traducers, and not to the jealousy of Saul himself, is worthy of notice. saying, Go, serve other gods--This was the drift of their conduct. By driving him from the land and ordinances of the true worship, into foreign and heathen countries, they were exposing him to all the seductions of idolatry.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant,.... Whether David waited for an answer to his question is not certain; probably he did, and observing none returned, desired audience of what he had further to say: if the Lord have stirred thee up against me; if he had put it into his heart to persecute him after this manner, for some sin he had committed against him, though not against Saul: did that appear to be the case: let him accept an offering; my offering, as the Targum; or my prayer, as Jarchi; I would offer a sin offering according to the law, to make atonement for my offence, and might hope it would be accepted; or I would make my supplication to God, and entreat him to forgive mine iniquity, and so an issue be put to these troubles; or should it be a capital crime deserving of death he was guilty of, he was content to die, and satisfy for his fault in that way; or if both of them had sinned, in any respect, he proposed to join in an acceptable sacrifice to God, and so reconciliation be made, and matters adjusted in such a religious way; if it was the evil spirit from the Lord that had entered into Saul, or God had suffered a melancholy disorder to seize him, which had put him upon those measures, let an offering agreeable to the will of God be offered, or supplication made for the removal of it: but if they be the children of men; that incited him to such violent methods, as Abner his general, or Doeg the Edomite, and others: cursed be they before the Lord; an imprecation of the vengeance of God upon them: for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord; meaning not from his own house and fatally, nor from the palace of Saul, but from the land of Canaan the Lord had given to his people Israel for…

David's troubles from Saul here begin again; and the clouds return after the rain, when one would have hoped the storm had blown over, and the sky had cleared upon that side; but after Saul had owned his fault in persecuting David, and acknowledged David's title to the crown, yet here he revives the persecution, so perfectly lost was he to all sense of honour and virtue. I. The Ziphites informed him where David was (Sa1 26:1), and thereupon he marched out with a considerable force in quest of him (Sa1 26:2, Sa1 26:3). II. David gained intelligence of his motions (Sa1 26:4), and took a view of his camp (Sa1 26:5). III. He and one of his men ventured into his camp in the night and found him and all his guards fast asleep (Sa1 26:6, Sa1 26:7). IV. David, though much urged to it by his companions, would not take away Saul's life, but only carried off his spear and his cruse of water (Sa1 26:8-12). V. He produced these as a further witness for him that he did not design any ill to Saul, and reasoned with him upon his conduct (Sa1 26:13-20). VI. Saul was hereby convinced of his error, and once more desisted from persecuting David (Sa1 26:21-25). The story is much like that which we had (ch. 24). In both David is delivered out of Saul's hand, and Saul out of David's.

26:19 If the Lord has stirred you up against me: David was perplexed by Saul’s behavior and concerned with the possibility of unintentional sin on his part. • a human scheme: Possibly a reference to Doeg (22:9-10). • worship pagan gods: The sentiment parallels Ps 137:4. Anyone who was exiled from the holy land was unable to worship the Lord by participating in sacrifice at the central sanctuary.