Please read this passage before reading this homily.
In Saul and David, we have two people anointed by God through Samuel to be king. David cuts off part of them of Saul’s garment and refuses to take the life of his rival. David’s cutting off of the piece of garment is a symbolic transfer of royal power to David.
David refers to Saul as his father, as the Lord’s anointed and as king. Saul verbally accepts that David ought to inherit and will inherit the kingship from himself. He calls David his son which establishes the inheritance as a legal entity.
No matter what Saul tries to do to David, David seems adamant against taking Saul’s life because, like himself, Saul is a person anointed by the Lord.
We should recognize other people as anointed by the Lord. In Christian baptism, the person is anointed into God’s family and, therefore, we ought not kill such a person. If a person is not baptized, we still ought not kill such a one, because it is God who has called all of us into being.
We should believe this and put a stop to all killings of people, whether by nation, state, or individual. This would effectively cancel all wars, insurrections, ambushes, murders assassinations and the like.