1 Samuel 19
March 8, 2017
1 Samuel 19
1 Samuel 19
Shawn Bumpers / General
1 Samuel / Saul (king); David; Persecution; Trust; Faith; Idolatry
Saul begins to persecute David
Introduction
We pick it back up where we left off a couple of weeks ago with chapter 19.
In chapter 18 we saw how David had become hated by Saul and Saul was pulling all kinds of strings to try to kill him.
But up to this point his plans had been relatively secret.
But in our chapter, Saul’s plan to murder David is no longer a secret.
The rise of David from shepherd boy to royalty, was characterized by the Lord being with David.
And it was characterized by popular approval.
And so David will be forced to flee to Samuel at Navi-yat, where Samuel supervised a group of prophets.
But more than Saul’s hatred of David, 1 Samuel 19 and 1 Samuel 20 tell of David’s growing friendship with Saul’s son, Jonathan.
Jonathan knew God intended David to be king.
And, unlike his father, he gladly accepted God’s will, and became an ally of David.
Psalm 59:1–2 NKJV
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Defend me from those who rise up against me.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.
Psalm 59:4–5 NKJV
They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
Awake to help me, and behold!
You therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors.
Selah
It seemed incomprehensible to David that God would let his enemies do such things to him.
Psalm 59:16–17 NKJV
But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.
David had been anointed king by Samuel.
But Saul ruled.
Hebrews 5:8 NKJV
though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
How could Jesus (who never stopped being God) learn anything?
Jesus did not learn how to obey; He learned what is involved in obedience and He did so through suffering.
In our chapter for tonight, perhaps for the first time, we see David’s faith wavering.
David had great faith, as we have already seen.
But he does make some mistakes as we will see over the next few weeks in chapters 19, 20 and 21.
• First, he places trust in people … Jonathan, Michal, and Samuel.
• Then we find he places trust in himself.
But first and foremost, before any person, our trust must be placed in God.
V1-7
Saul’s mind and heart were so possessed by hatred for David that he openly admitted to Jonathan and the court attendants that he intended to have his son-in-law killed.
Up to this point, Saul’s intentions were somewhat hidden and behind the scenes.
And, most importantly, the fulfillment of that covenant would bring Jesus Christ the Messiah into the world.
Despite the pressure of family loyalty, Jonathan remained true to his covenant friendship with David.
At this stage, he decided to act as a go-between in order to reconcile his father to David.
Surely Saul knew that Jonathan would pass the word along to David.
In the morning Jonathan would bring his father within reach of David’s hiding-place, and let David know the outcome of his conversation with Saul.
Now, you may remember that when Saul triumphed at Jabesh-Gilead AND when he was confirmed as king, he had refused to punish his detractors.
As a result David was able to return to the court … yet even in this you can see that Saul was acting in self-interest above anything else.
V8-10
The reconciliation was temporary.
When the Philistines attacked Israel again, David went out with his men and soundly defeated them.
AND, this again made Saul angry and envious.
David got the hint.
He knew that the time had come for him to leave Saul’s presence and hide.
But first he went home to see his wife Michal.
Now, think about it … David could have returned the spear back at Saul.
He would never return to the palace until he was king of Israel – 20 years later!
v11-17
Saul expected that David would go to his home … which is exactly what David did.
So Saul sent men that night to watch David’s house and kill him when he came out the next morning.
So, perhaps knowing how her father thinks, or maybe seeing the men in hiding … Michal urged David to get out that night and flee to a place of safety.
Now, the text uses the word, “Image” in verse 13 … she placed an image in the bed and covered it to look like David was asleep in bed.
But the Hebrew word there is Teraphim.
They were associated with luck and prosperity of the family.
Idols were explicitly condemned in the Bible.
So, what was this Teraphim doing in the house of David who was so faithful to God?
Exodus 20:3–5 NKJV
“You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Back to the text … Michal was still depending on idols while married to a man after God’s own heart, and like her father, she was a schemer.
While Michal was scheming, David was praying and trusting the Lord, and Psalm 59, which we looked at earlier … came out of this experience.
In that Psalm, Saul’s spies are waiting for David to emerge from his house, and you hear David comparing them to snarling dogs lurking in the city streets.
But David’s faith was in the Lord.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that David rejected any plans for escape.
When they came back to the bed, the truth was revealed, and Michal was reproved by her father for being so deceptive.
If David failed in the way of faith in this chapter, it is here.
So, where was David going to go?
Well, David’s first thought in his time of emergency was the prophet who had from the beginning been his trusted guide.
V18-24
David fled to Samuel in Ramah.
The prophet was a godly friend and mentor that he knew he could depend on.
The word Naioth means “dwellings” and was a section in Ramah where the “school of the prophets” assembled.
But Saul’s spies were everywhere and they reported to Saul where he could find David.
The king sent 3 different groups of soldiers to capture David.
God protected David and Samuel, not by sending an army but by sending the Holy Spirit to turn warriors into worshipers.
2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
So, 3 groups of soldiers had failed.
As a result, Saul in desperation finally had to go in person.
In verse 22, we find that David’s presence in Ramah was no secret because the people at the well knew where he and Samuel were and they told Saul.
Saul quickly went to the place only to be met by the Spirit of God and he, too couldn’t do anything but praise the Lord.
BTW – As for Samuel and Saul, this would be their last meeting until the night when Samuel came from the realms of the dead to pass judgment on the king (1 Samuel 28:7).
I think these 2 events prove that a person can have a remarkable religious experience and yet have no change in character.
Matthew 7:21–23 NKJV
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Saul, like Judas, had many opportunities to see the Lord’s hand at work, and yet he never had a life-changing experience with the Lord.
While Saul was occupied at the school of the prophets, David slipped away from Ramah and went to meet Jonathan somewhere near Gibeah.
David and Jonathan would make one final effort at reconciliation with Saul, and it would almost cost Jonathan his life.
Leave a Reply