You may turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 19. We will return to our studies in the Gospel of Matthew in just a few weeks. Just taking a bit of a break as we ended chapter 19 to look briefly at some of the snippets of the life of Saul and David. We have seen David in the Valley of Elah bring deliverance to Israel through the cutting off of Goliath's head.
In chapter 18, Saul, in envy and in rage and in malice, tries covertly to try and destroy David. What was covert in chapter 18 becomes overt in chapter 19. We have an illustration of state-sponsored terror in the rule of King Saul of Israel. I want to read chapter 19 and then we'll look at the particulars.
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 19
Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, my father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard until morning and stay in a secret place and hide. and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you, and what I observe I will tell you.' Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you.
For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You sought and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?' So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed. Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things.
So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past. And there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him. Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand.
Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul's presence, and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michael, David's wife, told him, saying, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.
So Michael let David down through a window and he went and he fled and escaped. And Michael took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goat's hair for his head and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick. Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David saying, bring him up to me in the bed that I may kill him.
And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goat's hair for his head. Then Saul said to Michael, Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped? Michael answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go. Why should I kill you?
So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naah, Now it was told Saul saying, take note, David is at Naoth and Ramah. Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as leader over them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul and they also prophesied.
And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time and they prophesied also. Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sychiu. So he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David?
And someone said, Indeed, they are at Naoth and Ramah. So he went there to Naoth and Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naoth and Ramah. And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner and laid down naked all that day and all that night.
Therefore, they say, is Saul also among the prophets? Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our God, we thank you for the word of truth. We thank you for what it instructs us concerning in the first place you, as well the way that you deliver and uphold your servants. Give us grace now to receive these things. Fill us with the Holy Spirit that he may illumine us as we study scripture.
And may this all be an act of worship to our great and our triune God. Forgive us again for our sin and uncleanness. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, if we were to look at the next three chapters and we were trying to sum up each of these chapters, under one word. In chapter 19, what we have is deliverance. God delivers David. In chapter 20, we have covenant.
It is based on this covenant transaction between David and Jonathan that God continues to preserve David. And in chapter 21, we have provision. When David officially flees from Saul and starts going from place to place, we see God's gracious provision to his servant in his time of need. Well, as we consider this theme of deliverance, the deliverance of David by God, in chapter 19, there are two broad categories we ought to appreciate when we come to chapter 19.
In the first place, we'll notice the defense of David by Jonathan in verses 1 to 7. And then secondly, the deliverance of David by Yahweh in verses 8 to 24.
Defense of David by Jonathan
Note in the first place, as we consider the defense of David by Jonathan, the various responses to David. We pointed this out in our study in 1 Samuel that there are various responses to David that are in play in Israel at this particular time, just like with David's greater son. The Lord Jesus went about doing good. The Lord Jesus went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
The Lord Jesus went about doing all manner of blessed things from a whole host of persons, and yet there were varying responses. We truly see the reality of sin, that everybody didn't bow down and worship the Lord Christ as an evidence or a proof of the Bible's doctrine of total depravity. But what we have is that some do believe on Jesus. Some do follow Jesus.
Some do want to take on His yoke and know that blessed peace. But there's that opposition to the Lord Jesus. And in the same way, that's what we find in this particular section.
Saul's Public Command to Kill David
Note the desire of Saul in verse 1. Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. So again, what was covert or secret in chapter 18 is now overt and public in chapter 19. That Saul is instructing his son and his servants to exterminate or liquidate David shows us yet again a further evidence of the depravity of Saul.
He moves from simple defection to full-blown apostasy. We all ought to take a cue from Saul. If you ever want to be afraid, read the life of Saul. He starts off by neglect, and he ends up in this murderous rage.
And this is the reality. For all of those who profess the saving faith, who begin to start paring off the rough edges, who begin to start skipping steps, who begin to start neglecting the things of God, absenting themselves from the places they ought to be. Defection leads to apostasy. You cannot miss this over and over again in the Scriptures.
If you cut a little off here and you cut a little off there, there's going to be nothing left. Learn from Saul that defection leads to apostasy. Notice the overt statement that they should kill David. And it's intriguing because in chapter 16, or rather chapter 18, this distressing spirit from Yahweh comes upon Saul.
We'll read later in chapter 19 that this distressing spirit comes from Yahweh upon Saul. Remember, Saul is a man under judgment. God has departed from him. God has taken from him the Holy Spirit.
Not in the sense of salvation, though Saul was not ever saved, but in the sense of his political rule in Israel. And now what God has substituted in its place is this distressing spirit that sends Saul into these frenzies. But here in 19.1, there's no mention of a distressing spirit. We might say that in this particular section Saul is in his right mind.
We can't blame it upon this distressing spirit from Yahweh. We blame it upon Saul who is culpable, who has entered the realm from king of Israel to a tyrant over a people in bondage. and he wants to murder David, the one who is the heir apparent. Vannoy says, so the shocking thing at the opening of chapter 19 is that the reigning king of Israel, that is the highest ranking leader of God's covenant people, proposes aloud the murder of David, the person whom God had chosen to succeed him as king. You know, Saul is not only paradigmatic or a pattern for the professing people of God, he certainly functions as a pattern or a paradigm for political leaders who are subsequent to Saul.
Lies, deceit. murder, malice, rage, chasing enemies rather than administering the kingdom. This is the folly of tyranny. And that God's people don't pray against such things and inform themselves of such things really does escape the mind. I'm not suggesting that we all need to be political junkies, but Jesus did teach us to pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God's will in heaven doesn't have lying tyrants. God's will in heaven doesn't have abortion clinics. God's will in heaven does not include same-sex or sodomite marriage. God's will in heaven done on earth.
That's what we as the people of God are charged to pray.
Jonathan's Delight in David
Now notice the delight of Jonathan. In chapter 18, David is loved by Jonathan, verses 1 and 3. He's loved by Israel and Judah, verse 16. He's loved by Michael, verses 20 and 28.
He's loved by the servants in verse 22. It's very intriguing. The tyrant wants to liquidate David, but everybody else loves him. Everybody else sees him as we ought to appreciate.
He's a national hero. He kills Philistines. He destroyed the giant from Gath. He cut his head off.
Something that was typical of the final and decisive judgment of David's greater son, when he crushes the head of the serpent. David gives us a down payment of that in the Valley of Ela, and rightly, People respond in love and in admiration, but not Saul. Saul is foaming with anger and rage and malice and ill intent. Now notice this discussion with David in verses 2 and 3.
Essentially, Jonathan says, my father wants to kill you. Just imagine if you were David here for a moment. You've had a pretty sterling career up to this point. I'm never going to suggest that David was a perfect man.
David certainly had his sins. No one is going to dispute that. But David was a man of integrity and a man of God. He was a man after God's own heart.
And though he sinned, he nevertheless was submissive to the Lord God Most High. But up to this point, he's only been a sterling character. His first act is to play his harp to soothe the frenzied gang in 1 Samuel 16. In the next act, in chapter 17, what does he do?
He's on a delivery mission with cheeses and to find out how his brothers are faring. And he says, why is this uncircumcised man taunting the armies of the living God. And David always knows and always realizes that he's going to kill this man. He goes into battle and he emerges victorious.
Chapter 18, when he's proffered the deal to marry one of Saul's daughters. What does he say? Who is your servant? He's just humble.
He's lowly. He doesn't deserve such things. He's only done right by Saul. And when we come to this section in verses 2 and 3, Jonathan is now telling him, my father wants to kill you.
Again, see the typical significance of David. Jesus only did right when he came into this world. Jesus only went about doing good. Jesus' career, if we can call it that, was marked by grace and mercy and kindness distributed far and wide.
But you see, when that light meets up with the darkness, the darkness hates it. It rages against it. And here we have Saul, this man of darkness, being exposed by this man of light. Very similar to what we find with Jesus and the Pharisees in the New Covenant situation.
So David was to hide while Jonathan spoke to his father and he would then be instructed on what the disposition was.
Jonathan's Threefold Appeal to Saul
Now notice Jonathan's appeal to Saul in verses four and five. This is masterful. Jonathan knows what he's doing. He doesn't need me to commend him on that, but he nevertheless does.
Notice, first of all, he appeals to the king. Let not the king. This isn't an emotional plea. This isn't a daddy plea.
This isn't a sentimental or mystical thing. David Samora says, Jonathan addresses his father formally as king. He makes his plea based not on his own feelings, but on the behavior appropriate to a king. You see, God's men are governed by God's law.
Deuteronomy 17 provides principles for the governing king. And one of those principles is not go out and willy-nilly murder people that are a threat to you. That's simply inconceivable that an acting king in Israel would function that way. Again, he's paradigmatic because how many kings subsequent to him function in just that same sort of manner.
You talk about state-sponsored terror, read the history of Israel. It really is in print before your eyes. Notice the rational argument that Jonathan presents to Saul. He says, "...for he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you." That's a rational argument, isn't it?
Why would you want to kill him? He hasn't done anything against you, and everything that he has done has been very positive toward you. Notice the moral argument, for he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine. That's all.
You don't want to murder a man that does such noble things. The morality of this situation ought to be evident even to a man that is in this position. Notice the theological argument, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. This should have stopped Saul in his tracks.
Yahweh is using David. What has Saul now done? He has positioned himself against God's servant, and hence against God. This is a terrible position for a man to be in.
And then notice the implication that Jonathan draws out of all this. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood to kill David without a cause? You see, Jonathan argues very succinctly, very convincingly, and in a manner that is honoring to God and to David.
So what does Saul do? He lies. Do we expect anything different from tyrants? Notice, Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, verse 6, and Saul swore, as the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.
The Geneva Bible comments, behold, how the tyrants, to accomplish their rage, neither regard oath nor friendship, God nor man. Now, I do suggest that you think about chapters like these, again, concerning the modern political climate. Now, when I say that, don't go hide yourself in your room and just study politics. But brethren, there ought to be a sense where we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Where we are thinking in terms of the Bible when we look around us. And when we see the viciousness and the rage of man, we ought to realize in the first place, there's nothing new under the sun. I mean, the same sorts of things that we face are the same sorts of things that David was facing in this particular age. And in the second place, it gives us fuel and ammunition on how we ought to pray.
How we ought to intercede in this generation. Notice in verse 7, then Jonathan called David and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as in times past. In chapters 16 and 18.
Remember David, initially it was called to play the harp to soothe Saul. Chapter 18, Saul brings him into his presence and conveys on him honor, not honor because he honored him, but because he wanted to put him into battle and see him murdered and see him destroyed. So that's the defense of David by Jonathan.
Deliverance of David by God
Notice in the second place the deliverance of David by God. There's two deliverances really, verse 8 and then the rest. Verse 8, God delivers David yet again from the Philistines. I mean, we just run through verse 8, and verse 8 is just a small little section in this particular chapter.
I think it functions similarly to what we see in 17 and 18. David is victorious in 17. Chapter 18, how does Saul respond? with envy, with rage, with malice, and with a desire to murder David. Same thing here.
David is victorious in verse 8. He is blessed of God to bring a decisive blow against the Philistines. Saul should rejoice. Saul should praise.
Saul should delight. But that's not what Saul does. Saul responds with rage and envy and anger and malice. Same sort of a pattern here.
But notice in verse 8, there was war again and David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a mighty blow and they fled from him. Isn't that beautiful? That's God's servant. That's God's man.
That's the one who has the sanction of Yahweh. Philistines flee from him. Philistines run from him. Philistines are afraid of David.
You see why David is the legitimate heir to the throne of Israel. He's not afraid. He's not cowering. He's not quaking in his boots.
He's not joining Saul and Israel on the sidelines while the giant goes out into the Valley of Elah to taunt the armies of the living God. David will have no part of the threat posed by the enemies of God upon the Church of the Kingdom of God. Brethren, dare to be a David. We're not out killing Philistines to be sure.
And I say, never take this in the literal sense. There's a difference between the old covenant theocracy and holy war to the new covenant application. But certainly we ought to be those people who aren't sitting on the sidelines, quavering in our boots, because everybody's advancing against the kingdom of Christ. We ought to stand behind the master who said, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
How many times have you and I heard people say, well, the threat of Islam, the threat of secularism, the threat of this culture, the threat of this religion. The promise of Jesus trumps each and every one of those threats. The people of God must be like David. The people of God must be faithful.
The people of God must know their God, and as a result, live in light of their God. It's too much retreat in the Christian church today. Let's have some advance. Propagate the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's evangelize sinners. Let's not be afraid of what the government might do if they find out we denounce homosexuality. You know, that sort of increasing pressure is coming upon us in the West. Somebody recently asked me, what if you get thrown into prison as a result of preaching against homosexuality?
What am I supposed to say? Well, I'm going to change the message. I'd rather get thrown into a prison in Vancouver than face my God for faithlessness. for treachery, for treason. Oh, because you hate homosexuals?
No! Because I want them converted unto Christ. When we legitimize their lifestyle, we keep them from the only thing that will save them. Christ Jesus came sinners to save.
When we identify it and every other abomination before God as sin, we offer them hope, we offer them a savior, we offer them reconciliation. It is barbarism to call it normal and to cut them off from the only means of salvation. That is destructive behavior. Brethren, we need to be Davids in our generation.
Saul's Attempts on David's Life
Notice the response by Saul in verses 9 to 24. Again, David comes back from the battlefield victorious. Philistines fled from him. Now, probably people talked about this, just like when he comes back from the Valley of Elah.
Remember what the lady is saying. For Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. No doubt, when David is victorious in chapter 19 and verse 8, persons say something similar. Did you see that?
David was awesome in battle. Did you see that? He had his sword, and he had his ruggedness, and he was killing people, and he got to the point where the Philistines were all running from him. They were the fraidy cats.
And the Israelites, the faithful, would be rejoicing in the victory that God had wrought through David, their warrior. Saul hears this, and instead of bowing to God and thanking Him that He's given him a trusted servant in David who will help secure the border of Israel, he rages against Him. You see, we've pointed out that this sort of pride is diabolical. When God blesses brethren, brethren, we ought to rejoice with them.
When God confers gift upon someone and He uses them, don't get mad at them. Don't let your eyeballs roll at them. Don't try to keep them out of the way. Don't engage in this Saul-like diabolical pride.
It's wicked. It's horrific. This man, instead of praising and honoring and worshiping God, who gave Israel a David, wants to exterminate the very gift that God has given. It truly is madness.
It truly does show what sin does in the heart of a man when we look at this particular Saul. Now notice the first attempt, the attempt with the spear. The attempt with the spear. I think I dealt a little bit with this last week, but we might ask the question, why in the world would David ever go back into the presence of Saul, especially while Saul was sitting there holding a spear?
Just as I was reading this again, did anybody think to ever take the spear out of the king's hand? Pat him on the head and say, everything's gonna be okay Saul. Just try to remove that spear and hide it from him. This is Act 2 for David and the spear, isn't it?
Why would David do this? Why does David go back into the court of Saul to play the harp for Saul when Saul has already, one time previously, tried to pin David to the wall? Well, in chapter 18, it's this distressing spirit from the Lord upon him. Probably, as I've suggested, it drove him mad.
He raved inside of his house. He was full of madness and frenzy. Probably in chapter 18, no one interpreted it as a murderous intent specifically against David. In fact, when David showed up with harp in hand on that day, they might have said to David, you know, he's having a particularly rough day today.
And so David starts to harp away and he takes the spear and throws it at David. He escapes. David on the way out probably said, yes, you're right, he is having a rough day today. He just tried to make a pincushion out of me with his spear.
You see, David at that point doesn't think in terms of murder. He's not thinking that Saul has an axe to grind against him specifically. He just thinks Saul is a bit loopy. And as a result, he's thrown this spear.
So David, when this distressing spirit comes back on Saul in verse 9, goes to play the harp before him again. David has seen this behavior. He'll strum the harp, he'll soothe the man, and hopefully all will be well and calm. Now notice, verse 9.
Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he, David, slipped away from Saul's presence, and he drove the spear into the wall, so David fled and escaped that night. So once again, Saul tries to spear David. Now, David has different information now.
He can no longer write this off as a bit of madness or frenzy on the part of this king. Jonathan has told David that Saul is trying to kill him. Jonathan has instructed David concerning the situation. He said, well, even after that, why did he show up again this time?
David's a servant to the king. He's not completely sure of all things at this particular point. I guarantee you from this point on, David knows what's happening. Vannoy makes this observation that's very good concerning Saul in his state here.
The solemn message of this chapter is that repeated disobedience of the Lord may lead to a hardening from which there is no way back. See, we can't redeem Saul at this point. Try as you may to yell at Saul in chapter 19, he ain't coming back. Defection leads to apostasy.
For those of you who do not understand the distinction that I am suggesting by those two terms, defection starts small. Defection starts with neglect. Defection starts with substitution. I know I should do this, I know I should serve God in this way, but I'm going to substitute this because it's more pleasing to me.
It's because I want to do it this way. Enough times of defection from the Lord turns out to be apostasy. That is a falling away from. There's no redemption for an apostate.
This is what is described in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10. Apostasy. There's no repentance in this state. Not because God isn't good or gracious, it's because the apostate will have nothing to do with it.
You see, when sensitive souls hear Hebrews 6 and 10 preached, they start to ask questions. Am I an apostate? And they start to evidence concern. If you are an apostate, you don't evidence concern.
You don't ask questions. You take your stand against Yahweh and against His Christ. You have hardened your heart. You have rejected His Gospel.
You have turned your back upon the Holy One of Israel. That's apostasy, and that's where Saul is. Vannoy continues, in other words, no one can continually act in deliberate disobedience to God's clearly revealed will and expect to escape serious consequences. Brethren, take heed.
Saul is in this section of scripture certainly to advise us about terrible political leaders. But Saul is in this section to inform us as believers in Jesus Christ that at one time Saul was doing quite well. At one time Saul was killing Ammonites until the heat of the day. At one time Saul was obedient to Yahweh.
And now he's throwing spears trying to destroy the very servant whom Yahweh has sent to save Israel.
Assassination Attempt at David's Home
Notice in the second place, another attempt, this time at David's home. We read Psalm 59 at the outset of worship this morning. You know when David wrote Psalm 59? In conjunction with this occasion.
It's fascinating and intriguing to me that through all these trials, all these dangers, all these difficulties, David is nevertheless praising God in the midst of it all. It's truly amazing. Note that in the narrative we have in 1 Samuel 18, 19, 20, 21, we don't get a lot from David in terms of his thoughts concerning his trials. But the Psalter fleshes it out for us.
David in the Psalms tells us how we are to think concerning these trials that beset him. He tells us in the Psalms that this God who delivered him is the God who will deliver us as well. David comments very beautifully concerning the Lord's protection in the midst of all of these things. Note the plan by Saul.
He wants to send persons there to make sure that David is liquidated. And note Saul's folly. Saul tries to get Jonathan to murder David. What does Jonathan do?
He tips David off concerning Saul's plan. Saul gave David Michael, in chapter 18, to be a snare to him. Remember, the snare specifically was, if he wants to marry her, he has to bring me 104 skins from Philistines. Before you say, ooh, that's icky, think about what the implications are.
Saul says to David, you need to go out and kill, in battle, a hundred Philistines in order to bring me their foreskins. Remember, Philistines aren't going to give up those foreskins willingly. They're not going to stand at the clinic and pick a number. so that their time is next. David would have to liquidate them to bring the four scans to show that indeed he had done the task.
Saul's purpose is evident. Get David in the midst of Philistines so they can kill him. What does David do? He brings back 200 four scans.
David is a man of faith. In this particular instance, he had given Michael to David to become a snare. Who is it that delivers David here? Michael.
You see the folly of man? You see the idiocy of man? We try to manipulate and control events. We try to engage in total planning and control.
The government tries to micromanage. We ourselves try to micromanage. We want cradle-to-grave, you know, sort of protection and security. We try to put our hands on everything.
Saul is behind the scenes in all of his evil machinations, pulling strings to ensure that David meets his demise. And everything that Saul sets his hand to, God overrules it. Jonathan becomes the defender of David. Michael becomes the one who helps him escape.
Brethren, all the tyrants of the earth cannot rage against God. He will silence them, as David says in Psalm 59. He will hold them in derision. As David says in Psalm 2, when the mutiny of man rages against Yahweh and His anointed, how does the Lord respond?
Is He biting His cosmic fingers saying, oh no, what am I going to do with my mutinous creatures? No, He is in settled, steady composure and He laughs at the wickedness of these men. He responds by setting His Holy King on His hill Zion. And it is that King who will ultimately swing the sword to destroy all those who rage against the enemies of God." It truly is beautiful.
In what are very mundane events, in terms of, you know, escapes and spears and all these things, God overrules it all. God's involved in the details of life. Again, David's commentary on these events in this altar tells us this isn't just peculiar to David. I mean, the specifics might be, of course.
We're not, hopefully, getting spears thrown at us. If you are, We'll pray for you. That's a pretty terrible situation. Hopefully you're not having to escape your home because guards are watching it and you are going to be liquidated in your sleep.
Hopefully you don't have the sorts of things that David faced going on, but you certainly have trials, you certainly have afflictions, you certainly have sorrows, you certainly have issues, but God, the one who delivered David from all of these things, is the same God who delivers his people now. We ought to be encouraged. If the Lord God Most High can ensure that David escapes from the murderous rage of Saul, then the Lord God Most High can certainly see us through a difficult Monday. Can't he?
Or a difficult trial that we are undergoing. Doesn't Paul use this logic in the 8th of Romans? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? If the Lord's Supper is true, as we eat this bread and we drink this cup and we rejoice in the reality that Christ has saved us from our sins, is it not the case that when we face a difficult situation on Monday, God's not going to help us?
The Psalms are blessed commentary on the life and ministry of David. Read them. Be encouraged. Find hope.
Find strength. Find the reality that this God who gave what John Gill calls David nimble moves. Right? To dodge that spear, Gill says, he moved nimbly.
If God gave David nimbleness, certainly God is able to deliver us from our distress. This God is truly glorious and amazing. The Geneva Bible succinctly, I probably should have just read this seven minutes ago. Thus God moved both the son and daughter of this tyrant to favor David against their father.
It's an interesting statement concerning Michael. She puts this image in the bed. The details are a bit difficult to try and figure out. I think the bulk of it is to create bulk.
Put the idols there, cover it with blankets and say that David is in bed sick. Doesn't answer the question why Michael had idols. Doesn't answer a lot of things for us, but it was subterfuge. It was an act of deception calculated to afford protection to David.
Dale Ralph Davis says concerning this, the details of the verse, of verse 13, are a bit elusive, however. What did Michael do with the teraphim, the images of household of family deities? Did she stash them in the bed to give bulk to sick David? I love what he says here.
They really were appropriately used as dummies. Isn't that glorious? The idols here functioned as their purpose to function. They're dummies. or place them beside the bed as protectors of the ill.
And what was Michael doing with such relics anyway? But the overall picture is clear. Something like a quilt rumpled up at the bed. Perhaps some used gods to give form to the body and a bedspread pulled up.
Saul then sends men and Saul then confronts Michael. Now notice something about Michael. It was nice of her and kind of her to be sure to make sure David escaped with his life. She didn't honor him.
She dishonored his reputation. Imagine you were Saul and you heard from your daughter, well, he threatened to kill me. He threatened to liquidate me. She didn't honor David.
Again, let's think of the typical significance with reference to David. Even among his own friends, the Lord Jesus found resistance. Even among those who loved him, even among those who confessed him, even among those who followed him, what happens in accordance with the prophet Zechariah? Strike the shepherd and what happens to the sheep?
They scatter. He's denied by Peter. It's not honored. His reputation isn't honored.
In that instance, Peter, of course, repented. The disciples, of course, repent. The disciples are restored. I'm not suggesting otherwise.
But we need to see with reference to David, even those who were close to him, even those who loved him, even those who were supposed to afford protection to him, nevertheless dishonored him. Now
David Flees to Samuel at Ramah
notice the third instance where Saul tries to kill David. David's had enough. Well, I don't know if he's had enough, because he continues on a long time being plagued by Saul and a fugitive from Saul. But in this instance, he goes to Ramah.
He goes to tell Samuel what is happening. Samuel, Saul has turned his rage against me. It's no longer Philistines that Saul is embattled with. Saul is targeting me.
So he tells Samuel this. He gets Samuel the prophet on board. He instructs him. Well, Saul gets wind of this.
Again, state-sponsored terror. People are reporting to Saul every move of David. They have their own version of the NSA. They have their own version of all those things that would track movements.
And they're reporting back to Saul so that he can target David. You see the folly? Why wasn't he concerned about Philistine troop movements? Why isn't he concerned about Ammonites?
Why isn't he concerned about Moabites? Why isn't he concerned about genuine threats to the kingdom? Because he's a petty, proud, envious wretch. That's what pride creates.
We see it in Saul beautifully, don't we? Do we ever see it in ourselves? Something happens, there's an event, there's an incident, there's a situation, and we ought to be happy for people, and instead we're upset, we're grumbling, we're whining, we're complaining, we make the whole thing about us. Probably one of the things that are very much akin to all of our hearts is a love for self.
I think John, when he says, little children, keep yourselves from idols, probably means us. We like to see ourselves in the best possible way. And if somebody threatens that, we respond with pride, with pettiness, with envy, with rage and malice. It's easy to see it here with Saul.
It's not so easy to see it with us when we're not rejoicing with those who rejoice. Like, what kind of diabolicalness is that? When somebody has a blessing in their life, somebody comes to prayer meeting and they offer a praise and they say, you know, I just got a raise at work. And somebody's upset because they didn't get a raise at work.
Brethren, be happy for people that are blessed. It really evidences the pettiness and the pride of our hearts if we don't take to heart that simple injunction to rejoice with those who rejoice. So David flees, he escapes, he's with Saul, Samuel and Ramah. Now notice, the information is given to Saul.
There are messengers then sent to take David and they are overcome by the Spirit. This is interesting because God has delivered David in a myriad of ways, and here, directly by the power of the Holy Spirit. So look at what then happens. Two other sets of messengers are likewise overcome by the Spirit, and they prophesy.
The king then goes to Ramah. You can hear him saying something like, well, if you want a job done, you have to do it yourself. He sent messenger after messenger after messenger, and instead of killing David, they're prophesying. Saul says, we can't have this.
They're not supposed to bust out in prophecy. They're supposed to be killing me some David. So Saul now ventures to Ramah. Saul goes to Naoth, which is probably a neighborhood in Ramah where prophets dwell.
And the Spirit overpowers Saul. It's truly an amazing depiction, isn't it? We say, wait a minute, is Saul now like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Daniel or Hosea? Is Saul godly again?
Is that what's happening in this particular instance? Let's look specifically at what's going on here. The nature of the prophesying is not explained to us. It's not told that they are singing hymns of praise or psalms of praise to God.
We really don't know what the nature of this prophesying was. Gil points out that as the messengers have done, singing such like songs or foretelling such like things as they did, he and they speaking not of themselves but as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of prophecy. For such gifts have sometimes been bestowed on men that were destitute of the grace of God, as Balaam Caiaphas and others. So it's not uncommon for this to happen.
I think it was Matthew Henry who said, I quite like to think that they were prophesying about who the next king would be in Israel. That would take a work of the Spirit upon Saul's wretched and hardened heart. But notice, when the Spirit comes upon them, guess what's not happening? They're not chasing David.
They're not murdering David. They're not destroying David. This overpowering influence of the Holy Spirit, putting them in a position of prophesying, is restraining them and keeping them from this murderous deed of taking David out of the way. Now notice, it says that Saul stripped off his clothes, verse 24.
He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and laid down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore, they say, is Saul also among the prophets? A couple of things we need to understand here. The nakedness probably doesn't mean he was in his birthday suit.
Probably doesn't mean he was in the buff. He wasn't absolutely naked. He stripped off his kingly garments. The Spirit is showing something forth here.
Maybe they were prophesying about the next king. Because the reigning king has taken off his royal robes. The reigning king is now naked. We see something akin in chapter 18 when David comes from the battle of the Valley of Elah.
What happens when Jonathan meets him? Jonathan takes off his robes. Jonathan takes off his armor. Jonathan takes off his sword to defer the kingdom to David.
Jonathan essentially says, take these because you are worthy of them. I want you to be the heir apparent to the throne. Well, here the stripping off of Saul's clothes indicates something. Probably the removal of the royal prerogative.
It's interesting. In chapter 10, verse 11, a similar question is asked. Is Saul also among the prophets? There they're amazed.
Saul is being equipped for battle. Saul goes in in chapter 11, he kills Ammonites until the heat of the day. That was a different vision or a different scene. Here it's incredulity.
Is Saul also among the prophets? He's not acting like one. He's divested himself of his royal robes. He's taken off his kingly attire.
He has shown forth in symbol that he is no longer the king. This is what two men had to say. Van Hoy says, just as the earlier occasion, Saul's prophesying with a company of prophets was a confirming sign of his investiture with the role of a king. So on this occasion, his prophesying combined with the stripping off of his clothes was a sign that he was divested of that same royal office.
Is there a symbol going on in this, brethren? It's not just the madness of Saul. Wow, isn't that wacky? He takes off his clothes, he's got the Spirit, and he's prophesying.
God the Lord is showing us here in vivid detail. Saul is done. Saul is done. His career is over.
I mean, it makes what's going on in other parts of the world today look like child's play, in effect. One other man said, a reversal of what 10 1 to 9 says of Saul's endowment with the Spirit. In both cases, the Spirit is a divine manifestation. In chapter 10, he gives strength to Saul to carry out his feat of bravery.
In chapter 19, he works in the reverse. He makes Saul helpless and drives him to strip off his clothes, the clothes of a king. He goes there to haunt David. The Spirit overpowers him such that he prophesies and he strips off the kingly robes.
The prophesying is probably not good faithful exposition and preaching. We don't know particularly what it is, but the Spirit's evident power is manifested in the section.
Application
So that's exposition. Let's just conclude with a few thoughts and then we'll be done. The first place, I think we've tried to sufficiently point out the tyranny of Saul. The king sets his heart on the destruction of God's servant.
Sounds just like the greater than David. The kings take their counsel together. They speak together against Yahweh and against his anointed. Saul is acting in typical fashion as well.
If David is typical of the greater than David, Saul is typical of every wicked rejecter of the gospel that would ever follow suit. This rage and malice and anger targeted against one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. If you're not a Christian here this morning, I want you to ponder this question. What is it about Jesus Christ that keeps you from Him?
Doesn't the bride describe him that way in the song? He is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. If we see something altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, aren't we drawn to it? If I were to say to you, hey, we listened to these young men today, they said, we went to Yolo, and it was beautiful, and the majestic beauty, and it was glorious, and if you're in fit shape and you can, you know, hobble your way up those mountains and see what we saw, it'd be tremendous.
There's a draw there, isn't there? There's a longing that is developing there. You meet Christians, you hear people that say, you know what, I was this, or I was that, or I was this, or I was that, but the Lord has saved me, He has washed me, He has cleansed me, He has purified me, He has given me a righteousness such that I can stand before His Father. You hear that, your soul should be drawn to Him, should want the one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000.
Why is it you continue in Saul rage? Why is it that you continue to reject and resist? Why is it that you would rather choose the bondage of sin and the devil himself than to flee and to find grace and to find mercy and to find the Lord Jesus Christ? He is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000.
You young people and you children, You're growing up in a day and age very much unlike what your parents have. We had all the same sins. We just didn't have as easy access to it as all. We didn't carry little factories of, you know, I'm not saying phones are necessarily bad.
Do not take that from what I'm about to say. But what you can see through that phone in the space of two seconds is bad. We had to try a little harder to get at that sort of stuff. We still were successful, to our shame.
But nevertheless, we had to do a few more things in terms of jumping hoops. You carry power in your pockets. And that stuff is prolific. It's all over the place.
It's conspicuous. You can't walk down the street without being confronted by temptation. Flee to Christ. Believe on Him.
Turn from your wickedness now and find grace and mercy and forgiveness. Christ is one of those objects that we should cleave to and never, ever, ever let go. That's the refuge for our souls. You are in Saul's company this morning if you continue to resist and continue to reject the one who is the hero, the one who is the champion of Israel, the one who has brought redemption to his people.
Saul pursued murder rather than the proper government of his kingdom. He continued in his downward spiral as a result of previous declension. The declension ends in full-blown apostasy, and his ruin is ultimately the judgment of God Most High. Do not think that Saul has escaped God.
Saul is under God's judgment. In the second place, we ought to find friends like Jonathan. Find friends like Jonathan. Better yet, be a friend like Jonathan.
In chapter 20, this is developed more in detail for us. This covenant of friendship that David and Jonathan manifest toward one another. They love each other. And that love isn't, like I was trying to suggest earlier, this sappy, syrupy, I'm-just-here-to-do-what-you-want sort of thing.
It's principled, it's rooted in covenant, it's rooted in moral obligation, it's rooted in mutual affection for the glory of God and the good of His servants. Find Jonathans, find Davids, or be Jonathans and be Davids. Thirdly, the deliverance of Yahweh is manifested. He delivers David by Jonathan.
He delivers David by nimble moves. He delivers David by Michael. And he delivers David directly by the power of the Holy Spirit in Ramah. And the fourth observation, I'm going to lean on Ralph Davis again here.
Do you notice a pattern with David? Do you see something that's happened to David? since he's originally identified as the heir to the throne in Israel. When the Spirit comes upon David, what happens? Does David enter into that special rank and privilege that the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers talk of?
Is his life full of joy, full of peace, full of Fridays, full of his best life now? Do you notice that in David's life he has no small share of trials, of afflictions, of hardships, of woes, of difficulties, of excruciating pain? I mean, how would you like it, brethren, if your king was trying to throw spears at you? How would you like it if you're laying peacefully in your bed, your wife gives you a shake and says, you need to go or else my father is going to murder you?
How would you feel if there was a man who was foaming with rage and malice against you, trying to kill you? Would you respond by writing Psalm 59? Would you respond by writing Psalm 34, Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 142? Would that be your response?
Or would your response be similar to my response? Why is this happening to me? Why does the Lord keep getting me? Why am I suffering?
Why am I hurting? Why this hardship? Benny Hinn said, once I came to Jesus, gold and silver and money would be my lot, and yet that's not happening to me. Do God's people respond to God's providence the way God's servant David did?
I mentioned on Wednesday night, Psalm 34 is an acrostic. He wrote Psalm 34 in the events going on in chapter 21. Not to write poetry is beyond me to begin with, but an acrostic poem, that means you start with A and B and G and go all the way through the Hebrew alphabet and compose poetry accordingly. That's David's response to trial.
That's how David copes. That's David's therapy, that's David's comfort, that's David's strength. When trials come, he doesn't fall apart. When trials come, he doesn't cry.
When trials come, he doesn't suck his thumb. When trials come, he looks to God. Brethren, what's the take-home message for us? Look to God.
Davis says Yahweh's regimen of protection should have proven instructive for David as well. At the end of chapter 19, the danger is still alive for David. Nevertheless, even in this distress and in this momentary relief, David should have been able to look back and see assuring evidence of Yahweh's care and intention to preserve him. Much, in fact almost everything, seemed discombobulated.
Yet in it all there was this clear evidence that David has not been forsaken, has not been abandoned. Now this next line, brethren, is the kind of stuff, besides the written word, is this kind of stuff that reminds us about the written word to furnish comfort to our souls. Listen to Dr. Davis.
Sometimes the clearest evidence that God has not deserted you is not that you are successfully past your trial, but that you are still on your feet in the middle of it. That's money! God's evident provision, deliverance, and protection for his people does not always equate The removal of trial. It means that in the midst of trial, you're able to pull yourself out of bed, to stand on your feet, to go to work, to love your family, to be faithful in the midst of it.
God is present and God is upholding you. David seems to record this very sentiment at the end of Psalm 59. 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. See, 1 Samuel. is an oasis for the people of God.
Brethren, if you are not able to attend on Wednesday night, I don't want to scold you, I don't want to lambast you, I don't want to guilt you. If we stop in the next couple of weeks at the end of probably chapter 21, please read 1 Samuel. Please note God's care. Please attend to his deliverance and his provision and his protection for his servants and realize that it's not just for David, but according to David in the Psalms, it's for all those who fear God.
Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for the Word of God and we thank you for what it instructs us concerning your deliverance. We ask our Father that you would help us to get our minds wrapped around the Psalms and get our minds wrapped around these narratives to see the reality that our God is for us, who then can be against us. We ask that you would go with us now. I ask that you would take the word preached by the power of the Spirit that you would convict sinners so that they would look in faith to the one who is altogether lovely, to that one who is chief among 10,000.
And we pray these things through Christ our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.