But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?”
This is the second time David has Saul at his mercy, and the second time he refuses to strike. Abishai is ready to end it in one move. David's answer is a question, not a command: who can lift a hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?
What's notable is that David needed to say this twice. Restraint, apparently, isn't a lesson you learn once and keep forever. The same temptation can circle back around, dressed up as a different opportunity, a better excuse.
That's probably true of whatever your own repeated struggle is — the grudge you thought you'd let go of, the old resentment that resurfaces just when circumstances make acting on it look reasonable again. This verse doesn't treat David's consistency as automatic. It treats it as a choice he kept having to make, twice, maybe more times than the story bothers to mention.
What old resentment keeps circling back, asking you to make the same choice again?
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.