But true martyrs are such as those of whom the Lord says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.^[1] It is not, therefore, those who suffer persecution for their unrighteousness and for the divisions which they impiously introduce into Christian unity, but those who suffer for righteousness’ sake, that are truly martyrs. For Hagar also suffered persecution at the hands of Sarah;^[2] and in that case she who persecuted was righteous, and she who suffered persecution was unrighteous. Are we to compare with this persecution which Hagar suffered to the case of holy David, who was persecuted by unrighteous Saul? Surely there is an essential difference, not in respect of his suffering but because he suffered for righteousness’ sake.

The leaders of the Jews and the elders and scribes spoke to the apostles and strictly commanded them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.^[1] . . .

Moreover, the apostles loved Christ mightily and, as they counted the abusive attacks of the treacherous, they asked him to defend his church and to save his name and to stay in the church in a hidden manner and to hide in the hearts of the believers away from the consternation of men. They said, As you dwell in the flowering minds of the pious—for here is a field full of aroma and grace which the Lord has blessed—we will speak and teach this people in your name, and those among it who prefer to believe rather than remain in unbelief we will announce to your holy church so that as each one knows the state of each individual, he will know to ally himself with the faithful and to preserve himself from the unbelievers.

When the people of the Jews heard the voice of the apostles preaching, they were calmed down from the anger of their earlier fury and declared in a true affirmation of faith that the church of Christ would never be able to be wiped out from their midst and that the memory of him who is before all ages and endures for eternity would never perish.

Now it is certainly obvious what the sequence is looking to through the figures of the story. The one of David is predicted by means of David, and the one who was anointed signifies the Christ. And the lyre is a human instrument, but the song which comes from it is the Word which has been made manifest to us through the one who was made flesh, whose work is to destroy the derangement that comes from demons so that the gods of the nations may no longer be demons.^[1]

That king, however, who had the demons in himself, when the spirits withdrew at the song of him who adapted his instrument to this purpose, smote him with his spear (now a spear is wood which has been equipped with iron), but the wall received the spear instead of him. And we think that the wall is the earthly building, by which we understand the body, in relation to which we see the wood of the cross and the iron. But that David, who is both Christ and king, is without suffering. For the deity does not experience the cross and the nails.

The story relates how, when the vehement emotion of the demonic spirit had settled on Saul and the holy David quieted the disturbance of the passion by means of his psaltery, Saul found the spear that was standing by him, aimed it straight at David and hurled it against his benefactor. David, however, avoided the attack on himself by means of the divine alliance, and the assault of the spear fixed itself deeply in the wall. He fled the royal dwellings and was in his own house, in the hope that repentance would alter the king’s anger. But Saul placed his spearmen around David’s house and ordered the executioners to kill him. He barely escaped the dangers by letting himself down into the open through a window and avoiding detection by the guard.

Now Michal’s name means reign, because sin reigned over our nature up to that time.^[1] And at the very time he himself was born, he [the Lord in the figure of David] went out through a window. And the window indicates the return to the light again of the one who made himself known to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.^[2]

And his image is seen on the bed. For the angel says to those seeking the Lord in the tomb, Why do you seek the living with the dead? He is not here; he is risen.^[3] Behold the place in which he lay.^[4] Those seeking the Lord saw the tomb in which he was buried empty of the body of the one they were seeking. Only the burial sheets were in it. We think, therefore, that the image of David on the bed signifies the resurrection of the Lord in the tomb, through which the true averting of our death through expiatory sacrifice occurs.