seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 19:1 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.
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?’”
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?”
Here's a link to the commentary I use.
Thank you for continuing to read with me.
Two of the verses [6 & 23] got my attention this morning. I've heard other stories about how Saul tried to kill David. I hadn't noticed those verses.
So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan: This took real humility for Saul. It was easy to say, “I’m the king and I’m right. I don’t care what you say.” But in this case, Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan.
Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed”: This shows that the LORD had genuinely touched Saul’s heart. God used Jonathan, but it wasn’t the work of Jonathan. It was the work of the LORD, and Saul recognized this by declaring this oath.
So Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as in times past: It seems to have all worked. The command to kill David is revoked. Saul and David are together again as in previous days.
So David fled and escaped that night: David never returned to the palace until he was the king of Israel — some 20 years later! From now until the day Saul dies David lives as a fugitive.
When they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them: When the messengers of Saul came to capture David, they came in the middle of a worship meeting. Samuel and his “students” (the group of prophets) were waiting on the LORD, worshipping Him, speaking to the LORD and hearing from Him.
He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied: The Spirit prompted Saul to do this as an expression of deep humility. Saul would not humble himself before God, and so God will find a way to humble him.
I don't' want to let David's wife out of this. She helped him escape. Then she said he made her help him. I think she respected her father Saul, so she put the blame on David. So, she wouldn't have to answer up for it.Ok... So, in verse 6 Saul made an oath! That oath couldn't be broken under punishment of death. Saul swore to Jonathan that David would not be killed. Then he tried to pin him to the wall with a spear again, and he sent troops out to capture David. He sent troops three times.
Saul didn't plan on standing by his own oath. Probably had a little devil on his shoulder, whispering in his ear. You've experienced it, that little devil whispering in your ear... right?
The last part is fascinating to me. Saul took off his clothes and joined the worship.
The commentary says "God will find a way to humble him".
Isn't it at all possible the musicians were singing and the preacher was preaching and Saul got swept up in the evangelism?
You know how it is.... when the music is particularly good that morning and the preaching is so "spot on" that you just never want it to end. I've had that kind of Sunday morning a few times in my life. It's not the normal Sunday Morning. At a real Revival, you actually feel God in the Air. You can feel the strong arm of Jesus around your shoulder. You know God is in control. It's fantastic!!!!
Revival! Saul and his troops were in the throes of Revival!
Saul took off his kingly clothes and joined the Revival!!!
Even the damned will dance at a good Revival!!!
