1 - 7 Jonathan Pleads for David
1 Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. 2 So Jonathan told David saying, “Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; if I find out anything, then I will tell you.” 4 Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds [have been] very beneficial to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and struck 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 by putting David to death without a cause?” 6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as formerly.
We see in Saul and Jonathan a great contrast between two people in their attitude toward David. This speaks of the relationship that every human being has with Christ. It is for or against Him. The relationship to Christ is all-determining for the present and the future. The division this causes runs through families (Lk 12:51-53).
Saul speaks openly for the first time about killing David (verse 1). It is not now during an outburst of anger, but deliberate. He tells Jonathan and all his servants about his intention. In this company David has only one friend: Jonathan. The servants seem to symbolize the silent majority. They are neither for David nor against him. They do not have their own opinion but go along with the party that offers them the most benefits. There is a certain esteem with them for David, of which Saul is also aware (1Sam 18:5,22), but they do not speak openly for him, like Jonathan.
Jonathan is “greatly delighted in David”. Saul seems to have forgotten this. He will think that Jonathan is as afraid of his position as he is and will therefore benefit from killing David. But Jonathan informs David of the intentions of his father and urges him to exercise caution. He also informs him that he will let him know what his father really intends to do. He does not urge David to flee but seeks an opportunity to have him return to his father’s court. Despite all the difficulties there still is David’s place.
In what Jonathan says in verses 4-5 of David, we can almost hear the Christian speak of a fellow believer and of Christ. It is good to be a friend who speaks well of a friend. Above all, it is good to speak well of the Lord Jesus before the ears of the world.
The first thing Jonathan says is that Saul, as king, should not be tempted to sin against David. He may only kill David if sin is found in him. But, Jonathan testifies, David has not sinned against the king. On the contrary, he has done what has been “very beneficial” for him. Jonathan reminds his father of David’s victory over Goliath, taking his life in his hand (cf. Jdg 12:3). That victory the LORD has given and has been beneficial to all Israel. Saul saw it himself and rejoiced.
Jonathan’s testimony to Saul shows how much David is a servant of the LORD and not just of Saul. David is hated without cause, as was and is the case with the Lord Jesus. The natural man can sometimes admire the Lord Jesus for His deeds. But if he does not choose Him, he hates Him and also all who are in connection with Him.
Jonathan concludes his plea with an appeal to Saul’s common sense. There is no reason to kill David, he is innocent. Therefore, Saul must refrain from killing David, otherwise he will shed innocent blood.
The heart of Saul is getting soft and he reinstates David, just as before. It characterizes David that he returns to the court of Saul. This can only be done by someone who lives with and for the LORD and not for the eyes of men. There is no resentment or revenge on his part. Despite all the injustice done to him and the permanent threat of death, David returns to perform his humble service with an intractable king.
Each time we find such moments of the becoming soft of the heart of Saul (1Sam 24:7; 26:21). Each time it turns out to be only a transient condition and not the conviction of his heart. His jealousy for David remains and with it his hatred and his attempts to kill him. David remains for him the competitor of his throne, from which he does not want to renounce.
David escapes being killed by Saul four times in this chapter alone. First through the intervention of Jonathan. Next time by his own speed to dodge the spear Saul throws at him (verse 10). The third time by the help of Michal (verse 12) and the fourth time by the protection of Samuel (verse 23).
8 - 10 Saul Tries to Kill David
8 When there was war again, David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled before him. 9 Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing [the harp] with [his] hand. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
When there is war with the Philistines, David attained a great victory, so that the Philistines flee before him. Instead of rejoicing over it, the evil spirit of the LORD comes on Saul. Then David leaves his place of celebrated general and takes again the place of the humble minstrel to calm down a king tormented by an evil spirit. He knows that in that place he should not be on his guard of the Philistine spear, but of Saul’s spear (1Sam 18:10-11).
Because in addition to David's victory, it is mentioned that an evil spirit takes possession of Saul, we can assume that David’s victory makes Saul jealous. Jealousy offers demons an opening to gain control over a human being. Saul again tries to kill David with his spear. Because David is always on his guard, he dodges the spear with a presence of mind given to him by the LORD. Then he flees and escapes.
11 - 17 Michal Helps David to Escape
11 Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.” 12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped. 13 Michal took the household idol and laid [it] on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ [hair] at its head, and covered [it] with clothes. 14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed, that I may put him to death.” 16 When the messengers entered, behold, the household idol [was] on the bed with the quilt of goats’ [hair] at its head. 17 So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I put you to death?’”
While Saul’s servants surround the house, David writes Psalm 59 (Psa 59:1a). In it he prays for deliverance (Psa 59:1b-2). Therein he is a type of the remnant. In such circumstances we may trust in God and say that in the morning we will praise Him. At the same time David uses the opportunity offered to escape. He flees in a way like that of Saul, later Paul (Acts 9:24-25).
The use of the idol means that there is an idol in the house of David. Perhaps the application is allowed that this is the way Michal looks at David: she adores him, he is her idol. It leads her to help her husband stay out of her father’s hands. There are women who adore their husband so much that they support him through thick and thin, even in evil. We do not know whether Sapphira, for example, worshiped her husband Ananias, but she did support him in evil and shares his judgment (Acts 5:1-2,5,9-10).
The illness that David is said to have is no obstacle to Saul to let him bring to him. He now is that keen on the death of David that he wants to kill him himself to have the certainty of his death.
Michal has a certain love for David, but it is a selfish love. She is not a Saul, but neither is she a wife who follows her husband. Her help to the refugee resembles in the distance the help Rachab gave to the spies (Jos 2:4-6).
The deceit is discovered. Saul blames Michal very much and calls David “my enemy”. Then Michal’s self-love appears. She speaks of David to her father as someone who has threatened to kill her if she would not help him escape. Michal is not Saul, but certainly also not Jonathan who spoke well of David to his father Saul (verse 4).
18 David Flees to Samuel
18 Now David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.
David does not flee to his family in Bethlehem, but to the old prophet Samuel. In picture he resorts to the Word of God. He chooses the Word as his hiding place. By this Word he has been told that he will become king. He does not see much of this yet. He therefore needs to be reminded of this. He also needs the Word to guide him in the journey that is about to begin.
Here we hear about Samuel again since quite some time. We last heard of him in 1 Samuel 16, when he anointed David king. Then David came to the fore and Samuel withdrew to Ramah. That does not mean that he has become useless, because we see that he is leading a prophet school here. He will also have certainly kept his word, that he said to the people that he would not cease to pray for them (1Sam 12:23).
19 - 24 Under the Protection of Samuel
19 It was told Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing [and] presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And [someone] said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Samuel and David withdraw to “Naioth”, which means “dwellings”, which probably refers to the houses of prophets, where prophet schools are located. Under Samuel’s guidance, the prophets are busy becoming familiar with God’s thoughts. There David enters. He, and Samuel, may have thought that Saul would not venture to get there. But Saul does not shy away from it. He sends his messengers out to pick up David from there. Then we see what happens to the messengers when they come into that sacred environment.
The prophets, led by Samuel, are under the power of the Spirit. This power is also exercised over those who come into that sphere. This also happens with the next messengers and with a third group of messengers. Instead of capturing David they are captured themselves. They experience that God is truly among them (cf. 1Cor 14:24-25). It is not about conversion, but about an influence from which one cannot escape. We see something similar in Balaam who wants to curse God’s people but is forced to bless it (Num 22:2-6; 23:11-12,25-26; 24:10-13).
Then Saul himself goes. He does not realize at all that David is under the special protection of heaven. His journey to Naioth is described in detail. When he comes to Ramah, he asks not only for David, but for Samuel and David. He connects the two names as the conspirators against the throne on which he sits. When he is on his way, the Spirit of God already comes upon him. The Spirit remains on him and as he goes, he prophesies, until he comes to Samuel. It seems that this is God’s last attempt to make Saul aware he must repent.
The Spirit of God works wherever the Word of God is preached. Everyone who hears it comes under its influence. It leads to an action that one would not first think possible: singing, being touched. Yet the heart remains dark and cold.
Saul strips off his upper garment of royal dignity and lays down only in his underclothes. He is completely under the influence of the Spirit, but not with his mind. Thus, men can have great gifts and prophesy in the Name of Christ and cast out demons, but without knowing grace (Mt 7:22-23).
Mockingly, later is told of him that he is also among the prophets, as something considered impossible and not recognized as true, but as an untrue matter. Even an unbelieving man like Balaam came under the influence of the Spirit, but without repentance. Thus, a person can come under the influence of God’s Spirit, but without affecting his relationship with God.