Gregory the Great, on 1Sam 14:36

“And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God.”

“This has been sufficiently explained above, but because he desires to strike the Philistines in the night until the day dawns, this surely suggests that, lest demons be able to cause harm in the future, they must now be driven out and destroyed from the hearts of sinners. Indeed, this life is called night when it is compared to eternal life. For whoever has been able to worthily contemplate that life, in comparison with it, whatever appears bright here is judged to be the darkness of night. But that day dawns when, at the end of this life, it opens itself to the souls of the elect. For at its departure from the body, the elect soul sees eternity dawning upon it, because it did not gaze upon the light of the present age, regarding it as darkness. But what does it mean when it is said: "And let us not leave of them a man"? But every Philistine man must be destroyed; every little one cannot be destroyed at all. For no one is without sin, except God alone. Therefore the "men" are capital crimes and principal vices. But they are designated by the name of men, that is, of strong ones, when they subject the hearts of sinners to themselves. Rightly therefore it is said: "Let us not leave of them a man," because converted sinners, by the counsel of holy preachers, abandon all their strong sins and vices, but they cannot have no sin or vice at all. They can guard against crimes, but they cannot avoid all sins. They can extinguish vices, but they are unable to prevent themselves from being in some way struck by any of them. He says therefore: "Let us not leave of them a man," because the preachers of holy Church command us to uproot our vices; but while they slay the strong and principal ones in us, they are unable to bring it about that certain of them do not in some way live through a faint stirring. And adding concerning the obedience of the people, he says: (Verse 36.) "The people said: Do whatever is good in your eyes." The eyes of preachers are the gaze of reason. He who is entrusted to the judgment of a teacher is therefore rightly said to say to him: "Do whatever is good in your eyes." As if to say: We who distrust the illumination of our own reason entrust to the light of your reason what we judge to be lacking in ourselves. But what Saul said, "Let us rush upon the Philistines," can be understood to mean that he did not put forward a deliberated decision, but by saying this, he was consulting whether they should rush upon the Philistines. But the fact that the people quickly gave their assent suggests what we observe, that some within the holy Church approve the words of their superiors before they understand them. ...”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.