1 Samuel 19
by Pastor David Groendyk

To say nothing else of this chapter, it’s an awkward position that Saul is putting his children in. Both Jonathan and Michal have made covenants with David, and their father now expects both of them to help kill David. It’s not exactly model parenting. More than that, this chapter kicks off a lengthy section where David is on the run from Saul as Saul’s jealousy of David continues growing. The general lesson from these next few chapters is that David is under a special protection from Yahweh since he’s been chosen and anointed to be king. What God has promised David (and Samuel and Israel) must come to pass, and so he will miraculously deliver David many times.

First, David is protected through Jonathan’s intercession (vv. 1–7). And how familiar do Jonathan’s words to Saul sound? An anointed king through whom the Lord worked a great salvation is unjustly being pursued to death by the wicked. The pointers to Jesus are uncanny. Many people are quick to see Jonathan’s covenant with David in 1 Samuel 18:1–5 as an act of deep friendship, but I think it’s clear that something more is going on. Jonathan, being Saul’s son, is the rightful heir to the throne once his father dies. By all accounts Jonathan should see David as a usurper to the throne. And yet, Jonathan willfully strips himself of his warrior-king clothing and hands them over to David, God’s rightful king. It was a great act of submission, not only to David but also to God. Now Jonathan is pleading with his father to see and understand the same thing. David is God’s anointed one through whom he’s worked a great salvation. What does this say about our submission to King Jesus who has worked his own great redemption and salvation? Are we willing to strip ourselves of our right to the throne of our own lives? Will we plead with others to do the same rather than persecuting him? Jesus was persecuted once on earth, and he continues to be persecuted now, and so do his followers. Who in your life are you able to plead with about the truth of the salvation of Jesus Christ?

Second, David is protected through his wife Michal (vv. 8–17). In a scene reminiscent of “Escape from Alcatraz,” Michal uses a household god and some goat hair as a dummy in David’s bed to throw off the intruders. While we certainly can’t praise or condone the deception that Michal used to protect David (including also her lies in vv. 14 and 17), her desire to save her husband and future king from an unjust killing is commendable. And what’s different with Michal is that Saul’s anger does not abate on account of her actions like it did with Jonathan. Michal protects David although Saul is breathing fire against her. What can we learn from Michal’s life-sacrificing risk in saving David from certain death?

Finally, David is protected by… the Holy Spirit (vv. 18–24). Yes, Samuel offers David rest, relief, and a hiding place, but this time God chooses to do the protecting himself rather than work through David’s friends (not unlike Saul himself taking matters into his own hands when his secondary means fail him in v. 22). It’s definitely a bizarre scene. It’s hard to say what exactly it means that all of these messengers and Saul himself begin prophesying, but the main point is clear. The Holy Spirit himself is delivering David from death by turning these executioners into prophets. Although God usually uses secondary means to accomplish his will, that’s not always the case. By now, Saul should’ve known that his pursuit of David was hopeless since the all-powerful God was on his side. And yet he’ll keep trying. Try and try as we might, we simply cannot overcome God’s will or defeat his sovereign purposes. How do you typically find yourself kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14), refusing to accept or do God’s will? How can you humble yourself in that matter?