In chapter 14 we read how Jonathan, the youngest son of Saul had fearlessly attacked the Philistine camp. His attitude was ‘Perhaps the LORD will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.’
(1 Samuel 14:6)
In our last study re heard how the young David had also fearlessly killed Goliath. His attitude was ‘I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied’ (1 Samuel 17:45).
David was then taken to Saul’s Palace (It may not have been very grand at this time, just his family home, but perhaps larger than most).
Read 1 Samuel 18:1, 3-5
1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.
3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well.
Jonathan, who was of a similar age to David, recognised a kindred spirit in him; someone who was fearless, not relying on his own strength, but rather putting his whole trust in the Lord. We don’t know, but it is possible that Jonathan went with David on his ‘missions’ – the Lord blessed him wherever he went.
Read 1 Samuel 18:6-11
6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang:
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.’
8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. ‘They have credited David with tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.
(Prophesying – in the power of the evil spirit – perhaps raving?)
We can’t just gloss over the phrase ‘evil spirit from God’.
What does it mean?
We know very little of the spirit world. There are very few references in the Bible but enough to indicate that there are evil spirits, or devils – not part of the original perfect creation, but as a result of the fall. God of course still had authority over even these fallen spirits and for his own reasons he occasionally permitted them to tempt and plague individuals. Why? – We cannot know.
What was Saul’s problem in verse 8 – Jealousy?
Not necessarily – read the next verse
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul.
Why did that make Saul afraid?
Even in a youngster like David, did he recognise a power he no longer had?
Read 1 Samuel 18:13-15
13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns.
14 In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.
I wonder if sending David on missions with only 1000 men was normal (1 Samuel 13:2) or did Saul secretly hope he would be outnumbered and killed? (2 Samuel 11:15) . If so his plan sadly misfired and it only served to increase his fear (and hatred) of David.
Read 1 Samuel 18:16
16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.
Not only his fellow soldiers and officers (v5) but all the people favoured David.
And Saul also had another problem. He was quick to make pronouncement in the heat of battle (1 Samuel 14:24) and he had promised that the one who killed Goliath would be given his daughter in marriage.
Read 1 Samuel 18:17-19
17 Saul said to David, ‘Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the Lord.’ For Saul said to himself, ‘I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!’
18 But David said to Saul, ‘Who am I, and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?’ 19 So when the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.
David’s family was not wealthy and he would not be able to provide anything like the bride-price that might be expected. Adriel however may have been a better suitor – or Saul may simply have wished to spite David.
Read 1 Samuel 18:20-25
20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21 ‘I will give her to him,’ he thought, ‘so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.’ So Saul said to David, ‘Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.’
22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: ‘Speak to David privately and say, “Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.”‘
23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, ‘Do you think it is a small matter to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man and little known.’
24 When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, ‘Say to David, “The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.”’ Saul’s plan was for David to fall by the hands of the Philistines.
Now it is spelled out: ‘Saul’s plan was for David to fall by the hands of the Philistines’.
Read 1 Samuel 18:26-27
26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
For David it was as easy to kill two hundred Philistines as it was to kill one hundred.
(Why foreskins?
To force David to attack and kill uncircumcised Philistines rather than choose some unsuspecting Israelites.)
Read 1 Samuel 18:28-29
28 When Saul realised that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy for the rest of his days.
Why was Saul afraid?
Because the Lord loved him, his daughter loved him, and his plan that marriage would lead to David’s death actually made it more likely that David would eventually rule in his place.
Interestingly we don’t read that David was afraid of Saul.
Read 1 Samuel 18:30
30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul’s officers, and his name became well known.
For Saul that was too much for him to bear.
Read 1 Samuel 19:1-10 (Perhaps four people could read)
1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, ‘My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.’
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, ‘Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?’
6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: ‘As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.’
7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.
9 But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre, 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.
Enough was enough. Saul was obviously intent on killing David, whatever he may have vowed (v6) and David must get away.
Read 1 Samuel 19:11-17 (Again, perhaps a few people could read)
11 Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, ‘If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.’ 12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped.
13 Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.
14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, ‘He is ill.’
15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, ‘Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.’ 16 But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair.
17 Saul said to Michal, ‘Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?’
Michal told him, ‘He said to me, “Let me get away. Why should I kill you?”‘
What did Michal’s response mean?
‘If you don’t help me escape, I’ll have to kill you’.
David was very well known. Wherever he went to hide, people would recognise him so where could he go where he could be safe?
Again a passage that requires little comment. Have a few read 1 Samuel 19:18-24
18 When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
19 Word came to Saul: ‘David is in Naioth at Ramah’; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.
21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, ‘Where are Samuel and David?’
‘Over in Naioth at Ramah,’ they said.
23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’
Can someone explain what prophesied means?
Some form of Spirit-induced ecstatic outpouring of praise and prayer (See 1 Samuel 10:5)
Saul too, in the presence of the Power of God, stripped off his royal robes and prostrated himself.
