Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 19. 1 Samuel chapter 19, working our way through the life of David. I think it's very practical to see how David is sustained and blessed by God in the midst of his trials. It's not that God delivers him immediately from all trials, but God sustains. and watches over him and keeps him going in the midst of these things. And essentially, we have those two aspects in the chapter tonight, the defense of David by Jonathan in verses 1 to 7, and then the deliverance of David by God in verses 8 to 24.
So, I'll just read beginning in 1 Samuel 19 at verse 1. 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. Then 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, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good towards 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 saw it 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 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, and 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? And 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 Nioth. Now it was told Saul, saying, Take note, David is at Nioth in 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. Then 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 Psakiah.
So he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And someone said, indeed, they are at Nioth and Ramah. So he went there to Nioth and Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also.
And he went on and prophesied until he came to Nioth 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? Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father, we thank you for the written word of the living and true God. We know it's given by inspiration of God that it's profitable to us for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And I pray that you would fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit, that you would give us wisdom and understanding as we approach this passage. Certainly, we have afflictions and trials.
Likewise, we're not being hunted to death by King Saul, but certainly there are hardships in this world. And God, help us to see your hand of mercy toward your servant, David. Help us to trust in the reality that you are the same true and living God, that you never leave, you never forsake your people. And may this encourage and strengthen each of our hearts.
We ask again that you would forgive us for all of our sin and all transgression and unrighteousness and guide us now by your spirit and encourage each one. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, after the battle in the Valley of Elah, when David bested the Philistine giant, remember that Saul was filled with envy and rage. David was recognized as a wonderful hero in Israel. He was celebrated as the victor and as the champion. And of course, Saul, having had the spirit depart from him, is now filled with rage and enmity.
He wants to destroy David. In chapter 18, it is covert. He doesn't come right out and express his intention. As we move now into chapter 19, he has broken down all barriers.
He is not keeping it a secret. His desire and his design is to rid the world of King David. David who had been anointed, David who's going to be the successor of Saul. Well, as we look at this chapter, as I said, it breaks down into these two sections, the defense of David by Jonathan in verses 1 to 7, and then the deliverance of David by God in verses 8 to 24.
The Defense of David by Jonathan
But in the first place, let us look at the defense of David by Jonathan. They forged an excellent friendship. We've already seen that, and you'll see it as we continue on in this particular book. David received great benefit from that friendship with Jonathan, as did Jonathan with reference to his friendship with David.
And in this particular situation, in verse 1, we see the various responses to David that are going about. In chapter 18, it essentially told us that everybody loved David. The servants loved David. The people of Israel loved David.
Everybody loved David except for King Saul. And we see that reiterated in verse 1. Now, Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants that they should kill David. So that covert attempt in chapter 18 is now overt.
He expresses his design to Jonathan, his son. And then notice the lack of a distressing spirit. That distressing spirit will come back in verse nine. But at this particular point, when Saul expresses the desire of his heart, it isn't predicated upon this distressing spirit from the Lord.
Rather, this is Saul in all of his wickedness and in all of his apostasy and in all of his defection. This is Saul raw. This is Saul as we see sinners. And as one commentator says, 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.
And one of the things that we ought to appreciate as we move through this chapter, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if political leaders just did their job? Imagine if instead of trying to kill David, Saul actually, I don't know, administered the kingdom and functioned in a capacity where God the Lord had instituted him. But rather he is rage-filled, he is envious, and he wants to dispatch David. He wants to send David into his early grave so that Saul is unfettered in his wickedness.
So Saul expresses the desire of his heart, and then notice in 1B, but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. As I said, in chapter 18, he's loved by Jonathan, he's loved by Israel and Judah, he's loved by Michael, he's loved by the servants. There is that expression of God's blessing upon David, except with reference to Saul. And that brings us to this discussion with David.
Jonathan essentially tells David, my father wants to kill you. Now that's an interesting statement. David doesn't respond here. In fact, we don't get a lot of David's input with reference to this particular chapter, except for instance, Psalm 59.
Psalm 59 was written on this occasion when Saul had sent his servants to David and Michael's house to try and get rid of David while he slept in his bed. But in this instance, just imagine, as far as David is concerned, he has done a good thing. As far as David is concerned, he ponied up. He put his neck on the line.
He went into the Valley of Elah, and he did battle with Goliath. And now Jonathan is telling him, my father wants to destroy you. I've often thought David could have said something like, it's a good thing I'm not a human being, or these things would have an effect upon me. I mean, this is a horrific thing for Saul to relate via Jonathan.
But Jonathan, loving his friend, wants to warn him and wants to give him an alert with reference to Saul's murderous design, with reference to David. Now notice how Jonathan appeals to Saul in verses four to seven. In the first place,
Jonathan's Appeal to Saul
he appeals to him as king. Verse four, thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, let not the king. He's not appealing to him as daddy. He's not appealing to him as his father.
He's appealing to him as the highest figure in the nation of Israel, such that he should function according to principle and not emotion. He should function in a way that is concrete. He should function in a way that is just and according to God's law. So Jonathan appeals to him as the king.
He then sets forth this rational argument. Notice that he says, he has not sinned against you. And because his works have been very good towards you, You shouldn't want to kill him. He hasn't done anything bad to you.
In fact, everything that he has done has only been good for you in terms of your reign. There is this moral argument. Jonathan says, for he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine. You see the nature of the argumentation that Jonathan is presenting to his father Saul.
This is highly irrational. The function of the king of Israel is not to kill the inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel. Rather, you should be protecting them, and certain servants like David, who are very skilled in warfare, ought to be exalted and ought to be utilized for the security of the kingdom. He then offers up this theological argument.
He says, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. So it's not just David that's involved in David's blessing, but it's God over David being a blessing to Saul and to the entirety of the kingdom. And then the clear implication that he draws from that, you saw it and rejoiced, why then will you sin against innocent blood to kill David without a cause? Again, Jonathan's a good friend.
He appeals to the king in a rational way, sets forth several arguments, and they are airtight, and even Saul has to appreciate this because Saul responds in a favorable way. Notice in verse 6, so Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, as the Lord lives, he shall not be killed. So that is the fake oath that he gives. He swears by the Lord, and then lo and behold, in a few short verses, he's going to be again attempting to commit murder with reference to King David.
Remember that a man who's an apostate, a man who has defected, A man from whom the Spirit of the Lord has departed is not typically a man of his word. He's not typically a man of virtue. He's not typically a man that does make good on his promises. He has no regard whatsoever for the life of David.
All he wants to do is remove that threat. He wants to remove that perceived threat in the person of David. So Jonathan dutifully goes back and reports this to David in verse 7. 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.
The Deliverance of David by God
And that brings us now to the deliverance of David by God in several ways. In the first place, God delivers David from the Philistines once again. Just like in chapter 17, when David is successful in the battle in the Valley of Elah, so is he according to verse 8. Notice what we find.
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. So what David does, according to verse 8, is similar to what David does according to chapter 17. And then Saul proceeds in a manner that is consistent with chapter 18. On the heels of David's victory, on the heels of David's successful battle, we see Saul enraged.
We see Saul filled with envy. We see Saul with that distressing spirit and a desire to throw that spear and pin David up against the wall. So the same sort of thing is happening in this particular chapter, but we ought to pause and reflect upon the reality that David not only has the internal threat with a murderous king, but he also has the external threat of the Philistines. And God is there for him in the midst of all of it.
He doesn't just deliver him from the internal problems and then leave him to himself in the external. David is successful against the Philistines because the hand of God is upon him. David is successful in his escape or his evasion from Saul because the hand of God is upon him. And as I said earlier, we may not be hunted by kings.
We may not have to be battling with the Philistines, but we all have our trials. If you live in this world, there is difficulty. Jesus promised that in John 16 33 in this world you will have tribulation But he encourages his saints by saying but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world We have the reality the blessed promise of Hebrews chapter 13 God says I will never leave you nor forsake you and in that particular context It's with reference to temporal things It isn't the spiritual reality, though we know that's true, because He who began a good work in us will complete it unto the day of Christ. But even in terms of the temporal goings and comings that we engage in, God is there in the midst of His people.
God protects us. God delivers us. God aids us. God assists us.
And this is a great reason why you, on a daily basis, should be reading your Old Testaments. Not that you don't get this in the New Testament, but when we go back to the Old Testament, we see the lives of God's people lived on a daily basis. We see their issues, we see their hardships, we see their threats, both external and internal, and we see the faithful hand of God every step of the way. Now God obviously uses means, he uses Jonathan, he uses David's military prowess, he's gonna use Michael, and he's gonna use the Holy Spirit ultimately to deliver David. but all of these things converge to underscore the reality that our God is for us.
And if that is the case, what can man do? All the souls on earth cannot thwart those for whom Jesus Christ has died and those for whom Jesus Christ is raised again. We have the blessed promise in Romans 8, that God who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things. He protects us spiritually, He protects us temporally, and in that we greatly rejoice.
Notice, after the defeat of the Philistines, we see the response by Saul. And essentially, you have three attempts to murder David here.
The Spear: First Attempt
In the first place, you have the attempt with the spear. Notice in verses 9 and 10. 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.
Remember, we saw that. That's how they came together according to 1 Samuel 16. Saul had this distressing spirit from the Lord. David had been anointed already by Samuel.
And when it comes time to deal with the Saul problem with reference to the distressing spirit, one of the servants suggested music. Music will calm him, music will chill him out, music will help him to gain composure. And the servant says, I happen to know a fellow and he's a great harpist. So David and Saul meet at that particular place.
So it should not surprise us here after this battle, after having dealt with the Philistines, that David is now in the king's court and he's playing music. for Saul who is given over to this distressing spirit. Verse 10, 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. Notice that refrain, David fled and escaped that night, verse 10.
David fled and escaped, verse 12. David fled and escaped, verse 18. Again, in each instance, it's God who gives him escape. It's God who gives him the ability to flee.
As we considered last time in chapter 18, David didn't know in chapter 18 that Saul was a murderous madman that wanted to get rid of him. And so as far as David was concerned, these episodes where Saul would throw a spear at him was owing more to the mental distress that he was undergoing. Now David knows that Saul wants to kill him, but he's been assured by Jonathan that Saul's not gonna kill him. Well, obviously this has indicated that Saul is not going to keep his promise.
Saul is engaged in a murderous attempt against David and God gives David flight. Again, one man, Vannoy, says, 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. He's commenting here on Saul. Not only do you see David's rise, but you see Saul's decline.
And sometimes in biblical studies, that's important as well. We not only need to focus on the positive examples and seek by grace to emulate those, but we should caution ourselves with reference to the negative examples and seek by grace to avoid that calamitous ruin. And with reference to Saul, as Van Noy says, 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. In other words, no one can continually act in deliberate disobedience to God's clearly revealed will and expect to escape serious consequences.
So what we're witnessing with reference to Saul is something akin to Romans chapter 1. Remember, although they knew God, they did not honor God, nor were their hearts thankful. Therefore God gave them up. Verses 24, 26, and 28 in Romans chapter 1.
Because they rejected and resisted God, because they neglected the revelation of God in the created order, and they sought to suppress that truth and unrighteousness, therefore God gave them up. we were seeing God giving up this man Saul. He is increasingly growing harder, he is increasingly growing more murderous, he is increasingly growing in his rage toward David. So God, most high, delivers David from this attempt by Saul to pin him against the wall. And again, notice the language, he slipped away from Saul's presence.
God didn't just click his divine fingers and David vanished. No, God made David nimble. We saw that benefit in the Valley of Elah. Big, clunky, nine-foot-nine Goliath didn't have the speed on the field of battle that David was able to do.
David was able to evade him and launch the rock out of his sling and drop that man quicker than the man even knew what was happening.
The Messengers: Second Attempt
Notice in the second place the attempt at David's home. He tried to kill David in David's home. This is how bad Saul is, brethren. Not that it would be okay to kill David anywhere else, but when you assault a man in his home, that is particularly vicious, particularly vile, particularly wretched.
Notice the plan by Saul in verse 11. Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Now David's wife, Michael, receives word about that. Saul had given Michael to David as a snare, but here it is proving just the reverse.
It is deliverance by Michael that we have in this instance. Now, unfortunately, she'll ultimately lie to her father and say that David threatened to kill her. That's not correct at all, but at least at this instance in verses 11 and 12, Michael comes to the rescue with reference to David. So notice the counsel.
Verse 11b, 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 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 set.
Now this is interesting because this is the household idols. Remember back in Genesis, at least in our studies, was Rachel who had the teraphim, or the household idols? Well, the same thing is here with reference to Michael, which invites the question, why would any wife of David have household idols? It's one of those ambiguous statements in Scripture where there's not a lot of information.
We don't know why she had it, but the idea is that she did have it, and she used that in the bed to try to pretend that David was asleep, David was sick, that he was in the bed, but he wasn't up to being visited by the messengers. Davis makes this comment. He says, the details of verse 13 are a bit elusive. What did Michael do with the teraphim, the images of household family deities?
Did she stash them in the bed to give bulk to sick David? They really were appropriately used as dummies. So, obviously, good comment there by Ralph Davis, they were appropriately used as dummies. Or did she place them beside the bed as protectors of the ill?
These idols, these gods, if you will, are going to protect him while he's sick. And what was Michael doing with such relics anyway? But the overall picture is clear. Something like a quilt rumbled up at the head, perhaps some used gods to give form to the body, and a bedspread pulled up.
So she does that to make it look like David is in the bed, and then she reports to the messengers that he's sick. You can't get out of bed. He cannot come and see you. Again, he's already fled and escaped.
He is far removed from this particular position. And we see that Saul is not content with this response. Notice in verse 15, 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? And Michael answered Saul, he said to me, let me go. Let me go. Why should I kill you?
So she did a good thing. She gave safe passage to David to get away from murderous Saul. And now she lies about David with reference to Saul, but we'll see that sometime later as we move through 1 Samuel.
Saul Among the Prophets: Third Attempt
And then that brings us to the third attempt on David's life, this intriguing passage where Saul is among the prophets. Now, in order to, I think, get what's happening here, you have to understand chapter 10. After Saul is anointed and set apart to be the king of Israel, in chapter 10, he is among the prophets and he prophesies. There it's an investiture of power and authority for the task at hand, to be the king, to go into battle in chapter 11 against the Ammonites and to dispatch them or get rid of them.
This is just the contrary. This is just the opposite. Now he's among the prophets, but they say it, or the question is Saul among the prophets is not a rehearsal of, wow, this is a glorious thing, but they're incredulous at the thought of it. So let's look at what's happening here in verses 18 to 24.
We see, first of all, that David escapes to Ramah to inform Samuel. David is a man of wisdom. David is a man who understands the power structure in Israel. He knows that Saul is king, but he knows that Samuel is the chief prophet in all Israel.
If anybody can afford David help, it would be Samuel, other than God, obviously. But in terms of the human arena, he knows that Samuel will be a good one to tell about what's happening. So he goes, according to verse 18, 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 Nioth.
Now it was told Saul saying, take note, David is at Nioth in Ramah. Now, what Saul does is he sends three sets of messengers to Nioth in Ramah. And there was a school of the prophets there. And when these messengers get there, the Spirit of God comes upon them and they start to prophesy.
After that first set, he sends another set. The Spirit of God comes upon them, and they begin to prophesy. Saul sends another set of messengers, and guess what? The Spirit of God comes upon them, and they prophesy.
Now again, this is a bit puzzling. What were they saying? What were they seeing? What were they doing?
What was the function in terms of their prophesying at this particular juncture? Well, the text doesn't get into that, but the one thing we know for certain, that when the Spirit comes upon them and they prophesy, they're not searching out David to kill him. So the means by which God delivers David in this particular instance isn't through Michael. He did that in the previous time.
It isn't through nimble moves on the part of David. He did that in the previous time. Now it's a direct act by the Spirit of God coming upon these men such that they will prophesy instead of engage in the murderous rage enacted by their king. And so Saul gets wind of this, and now Saul wants to go to Ramah.
I think the sentiment with Saul is, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. And so Saul undertakes to go now to Ramah to engage in this particular activity. Notice what we find. Verse 22, then he also went to Ramah and came to the great well that is at Saqil.
So he asked and said, where are Samuel and David? And someone said, indeed, they are at Nioth in Ramah. So he went there to Nioth and Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also.
And he went on and prophesied until he came to Nioth and Ramah. John Gill says he prophesied before Samuel in like manner, as the messengers had done, singing such like songs or foretelling such things like they did. He and they speaking not of themselves, but as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of prophecy. Now listen to this because it's most important.
For such gifts have sometimes been bestowed on men that were destitute of the grace of God, as Balaam, Caiaphas, and others. It was a means purposed by God to confound the messengers and to confound Saul. If Saul is among the prophets prophesying, then Saul is not finding David and putting a knife in his belly. So this is the means by which God delivers David in this particular instance.
Now notice verse 24, 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? Now the nakedness here. probably doesn't mean completely naked. It's not that he's in his birthday suit.
It probably means that he divests himself of his royal robes. He takes off the signifying garments of royalty. And again, I think there is a connection here between this and what we find in chapter 10. So the nakedness is not complete.
In fact, go back to 1 Samuel 18. Just real quick in verses 1 to 4. 1 Samuel 18, verse one. Now, when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore.
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. So that divestiture of his royalty, he gives gladly over to David. And so when we go back to chapter 19, when Saul strips off his clothes, the idea is that he's stripping off the royal garments.
This is a sign. This is an acted parable. This is indicative of what is transpiring in Israel. Yes, David has been anointed in chapter 16, but David hasn't ascended the throne yet.
But we see the movement in the narrative in terms of the decline of Saul and in terms of the rise or exaltation of David. And so in 1 Samuel 10, in preparation for battle against the Ammonites, he's among the prophets and he's prophesying, and everybody marvels. They stand amazed at that. Here in chapter 19, now they're shocked because he's stripped naked, he's laying there day and night, and they ask the question within credulity, is Saul also among the prophets?
Vannoy, again, says, just as at 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. In other words, things are not going well for Saul. His declension is obvious, and it is seen now, not with this marveling question, is Saul also among the prophets? But with this question of incredulity, is Saul also among the prophets?
A reversal of what chapter 10 says of Saul's endowment with the Spirit. In both cases, the Spirit is a divine manifestation. In chapter 10, the Spirit gives Saul strength to carry out his feat of bravery. In 1918, he works in the reverse.
He makes Saul helpless and drives him to strip off his clothes, the clothes of a king. And so this is evidentiary of the fact that Saul is in a persistent decline. And the fact that he continues to harden his heart, as we quoted Vannoy earlier, is not a good sign. When God gives men over, that is a horrific act of judgment.
We need to pray to God Almighty that we walk according to His Spirit, that we walk by His Spirit according to His law. We need to pray to God to keep us and to watch over us and to care for us and to protect us from all temptation and from anything that would prove our undoing. We want no truck with apostasy. We want no siding up with defection from the living and true God.
We rather, by grace, want to conduct ourselves the way that faithful David does. Not a perfect man, but a faithful man all throughout his life. He never departed from the living and true God. Yes, he sinned, he sinned big, but he never denied his God, he never denounced his faith, and he never committed the act of apostasy from the living and true God.
Application
Well, in conclusion, a few thoughts and then we'll close.
The Tyranny of Saul
In the first place, we see the tyranny of Saul. The tyranny of King Saul. In the first place, he set his heart on the destruction of God's servant. It sounds a lot like Psalm 2.
Why did the nations rage and the people plot of vain things? They rise up against Yahweh and against his anointed. Well, David is now the anointed of the Lord. Saul doesn't like that.
Saul doesn't want that. Saul doesn't want to be dispossessed from the royal palace. He doesn't want to go back to, you know, shoveling coal or whatever it was, or tending to donkeys, whatever he did prior to having become the king. So he's filled with rage and enmity, and he wants to target for destruction the anointed of Yahweh.
Secondly, the king pursued murder rather than the proper government of his kingdom. It's one of the distressing things that you see when you read through the Old Testament books. You see these kings so caught up in their own lives, in their own doings, in their own dealings, in their own building of their own stuff, that they're not doing what they're called to do. There is a doctrine of vocation.
We're supposed to actually do what God calls us to do. We're supposed to be hard workers, whether we're kings or we're not. And Saul was more engaged in trying to pursue and murder David than administer the kingdom that God had stationed him over. Thirdly, the king continued his downward spiral as a result of previous declension.
This is a tough pattern that sometimes the people of God fall into. They get into a pattern of declension. They start to neglect their Bibles. They start to neglect prayer.
They start to neglect attending the public means of grace. They start with just a few small things. Well, it's even tougher to get back to normal. Once you sort of decline or you're in a deficit position, it's harder to get back to normal.
It is most excellent and much better and more to be preferred that we try to stay at normal. Now, you might say, well, why not, Jim? Go for the best. OK, go ahead.
But when you come back to reality, you're going to find out that the normal and the ordinary are OK. Declension and sliding into holes is never a good thing. There's an old proverb. It says, when you're in the bottom of a hole, stop digging.
Don't keep digging in that hole. Get out of it. Claw your way out of it. Pick up your Bible and read.
Go to your closet and pray. Gather up the family at the altar and worship. Come to church. Do not let declension settle into your hearts.
And then fourthly, the king's declension ends in full-blown apostasy. We'll see that when we get to chapter 28. He's going to go to battle against the Philistines. He doesn't want to go into battle with the Philistines without some sort of divine aid, without some sort of divine direction.
But God's not talking to him. God is no longer communicating to him. And so he seeks out this witch at Endor and seeks her counsel about going into battle. Well, it shouldn't surprise us that he dies a miserable death on the field of battle against the Philistines.
And then finally, the king's ruin was ultimately a result of the judgment of God. His foolish plans, his disloyal children, and ultimately an avenging God set him up for ruin. So as God gives him over, as his heart is increasingly hardened, that itself is the manifest evidence of God's judgment. I think I've said before, sometimes people will say, do you think that as a society we're going to be judged by God?
What do you mean, going to be judged by God? There is every evidence that our fellows have been given over. There is every evidence in society today. I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but when you see gross perversion exalted at every step, You see the unmerciful assault on babies in their mother's wombs.
You see the unmerciful assault on elderly people, on sick people. What are you supposed to conclude but Romans 1, 24, 26, and 28? For this reason, God gave them up to a reprobate mind. When you reject the living and true God, you ultimately get exactly what it is you're asking for.
He cuts you off.
The Loyalty of Jonathan
Secondly, and again we'll see this as we proceed in the life of David, the loyalty of Jonathan. Jonathan sides with David. not because of any other reason than he knows that David is a man after God's own heart, and his father Saul has relinquished that. His father Saul is no longer a man who gives praise to God, who wants to do what the will of God is. So Jonathan sides with the man who God has sided with, and Jonathan is a very faithful and a very loyal friend to David.
God's Manifold Deliverance
Thirdly, in terms of the deliverance by God, he delivers David by Jonathan. He delivers David by David's own ability to move quickly. Brethren, I'm not sure that everybody at that quick could move out of the way of a moving spear. I mean, we ought to give David a bit of credit that he's got the acuity and the physical ability to do that just like he did on the field of battle.
The Lord delivered David by Michael, and then the Lord delivered David by the power of the Spirit. And that last bit, in terms of, is Saul among the prophets? Again, it's enigmatic, it's puzzling. We might wonder why God does that.
But doesn't that make Bible reading interesting? Doesn't that make Bible reading delightful? Doesn't that make Bible reading fun? There's excitement.
There's a myriad of ways that God delivers his saints in the midst of hardship, heartache, and trial. Ways that you and I would have never imagined. Ways that you and I would have never thought. Ways that you and I would have never even spawned in terms of our mind.
But God sends the Spirit upon three sets of messengers and upon Saul, such that as they're prophesying, they have forgotten and are no longer about their actual task, which was to hunt David and to kill him. And then
Continual Trials for God's Servant
a fourth observation with reference to this passage of the continual trials for God's servant. I hate to discourage any of us, but we've only just begun. David had a tough life. Remember that instance, 1 Samuel 16, the spirit comes, he's anointed, and then the spirit comes, and then the trials begin, just like Jesus in Matthew 3.
The heavens open up, the father affirms his love and approbation of the son, and the spirit descends like a dove upon our Lord Jesus. What's the next scene in Matthew 4? The Spirit leads Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. The presence of the Spirit never equals the absence of trials.
In fact, it's just the opposite with reference to the Bible. The presence of the Spirit most assuredly ensures there will be hardships, there will be difficulties, there will be trials. Why? Because all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
You live in a world filled with opposition to the living God. There's a real devil who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And then, lo and behold, within your own heart, within your own bosom, within your own breast, there is defection at times there. So there is this threefold unholy trinity that is in opposition to the people of God.
There's going to be hardships, there's going to be trials, there's going to be afflictions. Listen to Ralph Davis comment on this reality of the continual trials for God's servant. He says, God's regimen of protection should have proven instructed for David. 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. I mean, think about it. He's been victorious.
He bested the Philistine giant. He was promised good gifts from Saul. You can marry my daughter, and your father receives tax-exempt status in Israel. Well, that didn't flesh itself out as far as we know, and all he learns now is that this Saul whom he served wants to kill him.
So he says, much in fact, almost everything seemed discombobulated, yet in all of it, there was this clear evidence that David had not been forsaken, had not been abandoned. Now, please listen to this last sentence, because I think it's gold. If you get anything out of any of this, I mean, certainly get the exposition of 1 Samuel 19, but get this point. He says, 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 gold, brethren. That's gold. Sometimes the evidence isn't that you're past your trial, but that you're still on your feet in the midst of your trial. That's what David learns every step of the way.
That's what God tutors him, and that's how God deals with him. It's not that God has an ax to grind with his servant David, it's that God loves him. God is conforming him unto the image of his blessed son. God is working in David great and glorious things, and David continually maintained that hope.
Our brother read at the outset, Psalm 59, The subscript there tells us that David penned that Psalm at this occasion. Listen to what David says in verses 16 and 17. 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. May the Lord Most High put such psalms in our minds and in our hearts, and may we sing them, chant them, pray them back to God as He continues to relieve us from the afflictions and the hardships and the difficulties, or rather sustains us in the midst of them.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You for the love and the care that You show to Your servant David. And I know there would be people that would read these things and say it looks just the opposite. The various hardships and the various attempts on his life and the dealings with the Philistines, the dealings with the people in Israel, all of these things would suggest that he was under the disfavor and the judgment of God. But we know better, Lord.
We have the Psalms, we have divine commentary. from David himself, reflecting upon your goodness and your faithfulness. And certainly, though it was perhaps his own ability to move from the spear and Michael's wisdom to lower him out of the window and this spirit coming upon these messengers and Saul, David gives all glory and all praise and all honor to God who had delivered him. I pray that we would learn the lesson of these chapters, that it would encourage our heart, that you would stabilize and strengthen us and grant us the grace and the help to persevere. to learn from passages like these, to go the route of David and not the route of Saul. Go with us now, we pray, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
We'll close with a brief time of meditation.