How is it possible that Dovid Hamelech should even think of being mispallel to be niftar 1 day earlier on erev shabbos rather than on Shabbos ?
He's being mispallel to be mekatzer his Yomim !!!!
One is required to be mechallel Shabbos to extend ones life even for a moment, let alone an entire Day !!!!!
What is P'shat ?
Sincerely,
Simcha Blatter.
David ha'Melech obviously weighed the extra day of life against the problem of dying on Shabbos; namely, that his body would be left in a shameful state, unattended, and there would be no eulogies (as Rashi points out, DH Amus b'Echas b'Shabbos), and he decided that those problems outweighed the extra day of life. We find that a corpse being left unattended is a very severe problem, as the Mitzvah of "Meis Mitzvah" overrides many Mitzvos (see Berachos 19b and other places).
Also, perhaps he feared that people might, G-d forbid, desecrate Shabbos to take care of his body. (We find this concept in Nidah 38b, where it says that the Chasidim Rishonim would make sure to conceive in such a way that the baby would not be born on Shabbos, lest they have to desecrate Shabbos.)