1 Samuel 31

1 Samuel 30

1 Samuel 29

1 Samuel 28

1 Samuel 27

1 Samuel 26

Take care with handling the word of God (part 2)!

1 Samuel 25

Take care with handling the word of God!

Why do I say this? Well, chapter 25 is a perfect example. We may read right through this chapter as though it was a speed bump between chapters 24 and 26. You see chapter 24 is all about David's choice to spare Saul's life, showing him mercy and allowing the Lord to decide the matter. If we skip to chapter 26 we see a very similar story play out. David again chose to spare Saul's life showing mercy and leaving the matter in the Lord's hand. But in chapter 25 we see a very different story play out. This story is sandwiched neatly between the stories of David showing mercy to Saul and not taking revenge for Saul making him an outcast. Why did the author of 1 Samuel, led by the Lord, write such an out-of-place story right between chapters 24 and 26? Can we just breeze through chapter 25 and ignore it so that we can get back to the main story line?

Of course not! Chapter 25 is there for a reason. The Lord would not allow His Word to be filled with anything irrelevant or useless. In fact, chapters 24-26 form a cohesive unit; therefore, all three chapters must be read and interpreted together not separately. Today I'll cover chapter 25 and show how the main idea flows from chapter 24 and how this chapter continues the movement of David's redemptive story from outcast to the throne. Next week I'll continue with this analysis and show how chapters 24 and 25 are related to chapter 26.

Nabal And Abigail

In verses 2-3 we're introduced to Nabal (whose name means "fool") and Abigail (whose name means "my father is joy"). We are told that Nabal was a very wealthy man who had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats. But we are also told that Nabal was a cruel and evil man, especially in his dealings with others. We even see in verse 17 that even the servants of Nabal (probably a large number since Nabal owned so many livestock and was wealthy) knew first hand that Nabal was cruel. See how the servant spoke first to Nabal's wife, not Nabal, and also said to her that Nabal was a worthless man, so worthless that no one could speak to him.

This servant was wise enough to know to talk to his wife, Abigail, as she was the polar opposite of Nabal. Abigail is described as both intelligent and beautiful. Indeed she is more than this. Abigail is also humble and wise as she deals with the fallout of Nabal's evil words spoken to David's entourage. Through her humility and wise actions she saves the lives of the servants, Nabal and probably even her own.

Character Analysis

Now one of the first things you want to do when you encounter a section (or chapter) of a book of the Bible that feels out-of-place is to look for similarities between it and the surrounding chapters. Ask yourself, "What is similar?" and, "What is different?" A good place to begin is with the main characters of the story.

Of course, David is a main character in all three chapters. And one thing we see with David in all three chapters is David's mercy. Additionally, we see David letting the Lord decide between him and the antagonist of each story. In chapters 24 and 26 we see David unwilling to kill Saul even though he has the perfect opportunity, not to mention much peer pressure from his men. However, in chapter 25 David is willfully intent on killing the antagonist, Nabal, not only Nabal but all of his male servants as well. Only through the wisdom of Abigail does David withdraw his desire to kill Nabal. So in chapters 24 and 26, the Lord's Spirit convicts David to spare Saul's life and to plead his case before Saul. But in chapter 25, Abigail confronts David and pleads her case to David while also bringing much food for him and his men as a peace offering.

This brings us to Nabal. Nabal is an evil man who speaks harshly to others. Does this sound familiar? The first we see of Nabal treating others harshly is at the end of verse 9 where it says, "... then they [David's men] waited." At this point, David had sent men to Nabal to ask for provisions since David's men had guarded Nabal's shepherds and their flocks all this time that they were hiding from Saul. As we hear in verses 15-16, one of Nabal's servants told Abigail that David's men were good and honest with them and were watching over them both night and day. Now David just wanted some compensation for his efforts, which seems reasonable. But Nabal was unreasonable. Once David's men made their impassioned plea to Nabal for aid (verses 6-8), Nabal made them wait.

Waiting had two implications. first, it made the situation awkward for David's men. This may have put Nabal in a better position to argue against their request. Second, it gave Nabal time to think through his strategy as to how he would answer David's men harshly.

Then in verse 10 we get Nabal's response. He answers and asks, "Who is David?" Surely Nabal knew whom David was since word would have spread far and wide. Also, Carmel, where Nabal lived, was close to two other cities Hebron and Maon, which would have made it easier for word of David to spread. This was also near the spot where Saul erected a monument in his own honor, see 1 Samuel 15:12:

Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.”

Nabal goes on to say, "There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master." Nabal sees David a servant to Saul who broke away from Saul when, in truth, Saul forced David to run. Nabal uses this line of reasoning to deny David and his men the provisions they asked for (verse 11).

Do you see now whom Nabal sounds like and acts like? It's Saul. Nabal refuses to recognize whom David is and acts harshly towards him just like Saul.

In chapters 24 and 26 David contends with Saul, but in chapter 25 David contends with Nabal. This is key to understanding why chapter 25 is seemingly so different and how it is intended to progress the story of David vs Saul.

Now we've understood the similarities between the characters of the story. Essentially, Nabal is the Saul of the story. But why, you might ask? Well, notice that in verses 37-38 after Abigail told Nabal she narrowly averted disaster with David due to Nabal's harsh attitude that Nabal became paralyzed and died. This is another clue as to why this chapter is here. We'll talk more about this in chapter 26, but suffice it to say, Nabal died in-the-place-of Saul. It was not the time for Saul's death, but the Lord can use Nabal as an example of what will happen to Saul.

Repeated Ideas

Now there is yet another technique that we can use to better understand the reason chapter 25 exists here between chapters 24 and 26. That is we can look for repeated words, phrases or ideas.

In returning to chapter 24 we see two verses that are of interest:

1 Samuel 24:12: “May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you."

1 Samuel 24:15: “The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

Now compare these two verses to what David says in the presence of the Lord when he finds out that Nabal has died:

1 Samuel 25:39: When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.”

Then David sent a proposal to Abigail to take her as his wife.

In chapter 24 David asks the Lord to plead his cause and deliver him from Saul's hand. In verse 25:39 David recognizes that the Lord has pled his cause. Note that David says to Saul, "may the Lord avenge me". In verse 25:39 David says that the Lord has avenged David (i.e., the Lord returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head). Also note that in chapter 24 (and in 26) David will not kill Saul as it would be evil. In verse 25:39 we see David say that the Lord kept him from doing evil. David recognizes that taking his revenge on Nabal would be evil, just as killing Saul would be evil.

Now we have gathered a lot of clues and tied together some important threads between chapters 24 and 25. However, this won't become crystal clear until next week when we go through chapter 26. Until then read and re-read all three chapters together and see if you uncover the final connective threads in chapter 26.

1 Samuel 24

What does having mercy on your enemies look like?

Chapter 24 gives a great picture of what having true mercy on your enemies looks like. Saul was finished pursuing the Philistines that had previously (chapter 23) stopped him from almost capturing David. Now in chapter 24, Saul had defeated the Philistines and had again taken up his pursuit of David in verse 1. It seems that Saul was again told by someone exactly where David was hiding. We’re not told exactly who that “someone” was, but remember that those he had slain in Nob, the priests, their families and livestock surely would have prompted some (maybe those living around Engedi) to give up David. Regardless of who told Saul, he wasted no time in putting together a formidable army of 3000 chosen men to pursue David. These chosen men were those of elite stature in the army. This was not a rag-tag group of men (much like David had with him), rather these would be those men that were battle hardened warriors.

David’s Choice Of Mercy

Saul, in verse 3, comes to a cave that was near a sheepfold (or pens for sheep, this will become more relevant as we begin to read chapter 25). Saul needed to relieve himself so he entered the cave, presumably alone. In the original Hebrew the word we get for “relieve himself” translates as “cover his feet”, which is an euphemism for having a bowel movement. So Saul was most likely alone (at best his guards were nearby, but not in the same part of the cave as he was), and he was in a compromised position as he was relieving himself. In other words, Saul was at his most vulnerable.

Verse 3 also informs us that David and his men were in the same cave as Saul. But this was no small cave. It says that David and his men were in the “inner recesses” of the cave. This Hebrew word for “inner recesses” is defined as the deepest and most remote part of the cave. So the interior of this cave was probably deep and fairly vast. This accounts for Saul not hearing the conversation that David has with his men in verse 4.

The dialog in verse 4 is very interesting. David’s men tell him that the Lord had given Saul into his [David’s] hand. Note the use of the word behold here. It is used to emphasize the fact that Saul is vulnerable, and David could end this whole mess once-and-for-all. But there is something else of even greater importance here. David’s men tell him that the Lord has said, “I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.” This statement was deceptive in nature since nowhere can we explicitly see or infer that the Lord actually said this to David. From this we can get a sense for what David’s men were going through. Yes, they were loyal to David, but at the same time they wanted this whole ordeal to be over and see David on the throne. As a result of his men disagreeing with him, David stealthily approached Saul near the entrance to the cave. But rather than killing him, he cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. Now this is very reminiscent of Saul tearing off a portion of Samuel’s robe earlier in 1 Samuel 15:27–28:

As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. However, here we see David cutting off a portion of Saul’s robe. Now, in doing this, David was essentially defiling Saul’s kingly robes and this would have been looked upon as David taking the kingdom away from Saul.

But David has a change of heart. In verse 5b it says that David’s conscience bothered him. His conscience (we could understand this as the Spirit of the Lord convicting him) led to his change of heart, a heart that is moldable by the Spirit. Once he does this, he tells his men in verse 6 that he should never have done this act. David views Saul as the anointed one of the Lord and does not want to put himself in place of the Lord and take Saul’s kingship. Rather, as a man after God’s own heart, David wants to let the Lord judge and act on Saul accordingly. David knew this was the right thing to do, but it seems that his men were still intent on killing Saul. In verse 6 David makes a persuasive speech to his men that no harm or further actions should be taken against Saul. We see in verse 7 that indeed this speech persuaded his men to not rise up and attack Saul.

David’s Treatment Of Saul

If we were reading this passage for the first time we may be inclined to think that the story would end here. But David surprises us (and surely his men as well) when he followed Saul out of the cave into certain death, as there were 3000 elite warriors with Saul. Not only does David follow Saul out of the cave, but he calls out to him with the words, “My lord the king!” Then David bowed down to Saul. David was now at the mercy of Saul, who we know desperately wanted to put David to death. But what happens next can only be explained as a supernatural intervention by the Lord. Saul listens to David!

David begins his speech to Saul in verse 9 by asking the rhetorical questions of why Saul continues to listen to the words of men that are telling him that David wants to harm him. This is a very important verse that will become clearer as we read through this chapter and chapter 26. What we see here is that David knows that there are unscrupulous men that have the king’s ear and are telling him lies, most likely in an attempt to get favor from the king (who by the way has a terrible temper). We’ve seen Doeg do this and I believe (although the Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us this) that Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, was also one of these men that were telling the king lies about David. Abner is mentioned several times in 1 Samuel, but is discussed a bit more in 2 Samuel. In fact, after Saul’s death Abner still is not welcoming of David as king and much bloodshed occurs. Abner had a great thing going as the commander of Saul’s army and obviously wouldn’t want the status quo to change. It is not a stretch to see that Abner thought of David as a threat to his position under Saul’s kingship. But through all of this, we must remember that Saul still harbored his own manufactured jealousy and resentment towards David. This was the result of Saul’s hardened and sinful heart, not solely the product of evil men whispering in his ear.

In verse 10 David begins to plead his case against the ridiculous charges that he intends to kill Saul and take his throne by force. Notice that he begins with “the Lord had given you [Saul] today into my [David’s] hand”. And not only that but others with David were pleading with him to kill Saul. Through all this David remains loyal first to the Lord. What do I mean by “David remains loyal to the Lord?” Well, read ahead to verses 12 and 15. Notice in this verse David says, “May the Lord judge between you and me” and similarly in verse 15 “The Lord therefore be judge and decide between you and me”. Also, “may the Lord avenge me on you” and “may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand”. We read a consistent theme of “may the Lord… may the Lord… may the Lord...”. David was not interested in taking the kingship by force, even though most everyone (including Saul) knew that David was chosen by the Lord as the next king of Israel. There were probably not many that would contest David’s right to rule as the Lord’s anointed or even challenge his ability to lead well. But David knew this right was not his to take but was one that had been given to him by the Lord. And as such, David had to put the Lord first and act with integrity to the point of patiently waiting on the Lord’s timing and not his own. So David leaves the battle to the Lord. You may remember that David says this in verse 1 Samuel 17:47:

and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.

Here again we see David’s faith at work.

Next, in verse 11 David shows the king the piece of garment that he had cut from Saul’s robe, putting to rest the idea that David wanted to kill Saul. For if it were possible to cut off a portion of his robe, it would have been just as easy to kill Saul. This was material evidence that David did not seek to kill Saul, but David also begins his defense here in verse 11 with an impassioned manner of addressing Saul that we have not yet seen. David addresses Saul as “father” (remember that David was, at least for the time being, Saul’s son-in-law). This was a sign of affectionate respect, surely one that would have tugged at the heartstrings of Saul. I do not believe that David is using the title of “father” here to deceive or be insincere in the hope of swaying Saul with pure emotion. Rather, I believe David is being sincere and that is how he views Saul.

Finally, we arrive at verses 12-15. Notice that in verses 12 and 15 David calls on the Lord to be judge between he and Saul. But nestled between these two verses are a promise and a rhetorical question designed to get Saul to think about how worthless his pursuit of David is. The promise begins in verse 12b and is echoed again in verse 13b, “but my [David’s] hand shall not be against you”, This repetition clearly emphasizes the promise to Saul. But David interjects a proverb between his repeated promise which is, “Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness”. This proverb again argues against the lies that David seeks to kill Saul.

Next comes is the rhetorical question in verse 14. This is where David compares himself to a dead dog or a flea. But he also contrasts himself to Saul who he calls the “king of Israel”. Here is true humility expressed by David. A flea is small and insignificant, and a dead dog can do no harm. This coupled with the promise not to lay a hand on Saul (not to mention the very fact that he could have killed Saul just moments ago) and the various forms of respect David has shown Saul (e.g., bowing down, using titles such as father and king) show that David was being sincere and truthful.

Saul’s Response

So how does Saul react to David?

Verses 16-21 detail Saul’s response to David. On the surface these remarks seem surprising, emotional and genuine. While Saul’s response is surprising and emotional, we sill see it is far from genuine. Verse 16 begins this emotional response as Saul calls David not only by his name (not calling him “the son of Jesse” as had been the custom) but also calling him son, a term of endearment. Then surprisingly Saul begins to weep. This is not just a shedding of tears but a distraught emotional crying. Saul is off to a good start; he’s showing a fatherly care for David as well as weeping over his sins.

Saul continues in verses 17-18 by telling David that he is more righteous as he dealt well and honestly with Saul by sparing his life even though the Lord had delivered him into David’s hand. And at the end of verse 18, Saul even admits that he has acted wickedly towards David. In verse 19 Saul goes above and beyond offering a blessing to David saying, “may the Lord therefore reward you with good”. As we arrive at verse 20 we hear Saul say what we have all been waiting for (especially David), “you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.” Did you catch that? Read verse 20 again and pay attention to the verbs. Saul says, “you will...”, which is future tense. In other words, Saul was stating that David would eventually assume the throne at some future point in time. Some translations use “shall” instead of “will be”, but it is the same. Sadly, Saul is still not willing to give up his throne. Even though Saul has shown deep emotion and respect towards David and even admitted that he was wrong and David was right. Still, Saul will not give the throne to the one the Lord has designated as Israel’s earthly king. Saul knows so strongly that David will be king that in verse 21 Saul makes David swear that he will not kill his descendents nor his name. Yet, he will not abdicate the throne.

In the last verse in this chapter, we are truly confronted with the reality that the relationship between Saul and David has not been mended and the pursuit of David will continue (see chapter 26). The last verse (22) says that Saul went to his home but David went to his stronghold. Nothing has really changed. If something had changed, wouldn’t Saul and David both return home together? Why go their separate ways as if nothing had happened? Well, David was not only merciful but also wise. Going home with Saul would have been a bad move for David as those “men” whom David spoke of in verse 9 that were filling Saul’s ears with lies would continue to do so. Those evil men would have seen David as a threat and use every means to eliminate him. We will see later in chapter 26 that this was a wise move indeed on David’s part.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? Like David, we show mercy to the merciless. As our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has shown us mercy (and taught us to show mercy), we also must show mercy not only to our friends but also to our enemies. As Jesus spoke on the cross in Luke 23:34:

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

So must we follow His example.

Read verses 8-15 again, but this time really consider the mercy David shows Saul. Then consider the mercy Jesus has shown us. Finally, consider the mercy that we are compelled by the Word of the Lord to show others...even our worst enemies.

I Samuel 23

Davide's back!

After enduring the dark times and failing sinfully in chapters 19-20, David is finally back to his old self. Verses 1-14 show a new David, different from the scared deceiving David in chapters 20-21. We finally see David fully putting his faith back in the Lord. And the Lord is quick to answer David’s inquiries and order events so as to protect David and his men. Yes, there will be more trials and more failings by David in future chapters, but for now we finally see our old friend, valiant warrior, God fearing king-in-waiting David.

Chapter 23 begins with David hearing news that the Philistines are attacking the city of Keilah. Specifically, they are plundering the threshing floors. This would mean that the Philistines are softening up the city of Keilah in preparation for a larger attack. Plundering the threshing floors means that the Philistines were attacking the grain threshing and storage areas in order to limit the food available to the city. You see, Keilah was more like a fortress with one main gate that was barred. This means that there was only one way into the city, which would mean a costly attack by the Philistines. It was better to besiege the stronghold and wait out the inhabitants

Now the David of chapters 21-22 would have probably not done much about this threat to Keilah, but here we see David immediately inquiring of the Lord as to whether he and his men should attack the Philistines invaders. This is the old David...the one who puts himself last, the one who helps those who cannot help themselves and is a valiant leader. The Lord replies to David that he should go and attack the Philistines. But David’s men were not so sure that this was a wise move, and logic would dictate that it was not. Consider that David had only a rag-tag assembly of men that could fight, and they did not have the backing of Israel (since Saul was acting king and hated David). Last-but-not-least, Saul was making ever effort to find and pursue David and his men. Surely going to battle with the Philistines at this moment would not only reveal their position but also weaken them (from battle). So rather than attempt to persuade his men through fancy speech or to berate and goad them as his nemesis Saul would have done, David goes back to the Lord to ask a second question. We aren’t told what this question was exactly, but the answer was the same. However, with this answer there was now a more emphatic command to “go quickly” or “go at once” (which is what “Arise, go...” would have signified). And the Lord specifically told David that the Philistines would be given into David’s hands. Upon this second inquiry to the Lord and the Lord’s command to go quickly and defeat the Philistines (the Lord having already determined the outcome of the battle), David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

In verse 6 we have this brief interlude in the narration where we are told that now Abiathar fled Saul and came to David. This text mirrors what we just read in 1 Samuel 22:20:

But one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.

So the question is why is this story repeated? Did Abiathar flee twice or is the order of events jumbled up? Well, the Bible narrative isn’t always about getting the chronological events of the story in the right order as a history book might do. Rather, the Bible is telling the story of the Lord and His relationship to man. So in this narrative, we see Abiathar fleeing to David in chapter 22 in order to tell David about the great slaughter of his people through Saul and his henchman Doeg. But here in chapter 23 verse 6 we read of the same flight from Saul to David by Abiathar; however, we notice two pieces of information that were left out in chapter 22. The first is that Abiathar fled to David who was currently at Keilah, and the second is that Abiathar had an ephod with him. So now we know that the narrative in chapter 22 with Abiathar occured at Keilah and that David now has a priest with an ephod. Previously, David had the prophet Gad with him to inquire of the Lord. Now David has both priest and prophet (with an ephod, more about this in verse 9) with him. Contrast this to Saul who seems to be devoid of either priest or prophet. In fact, Saul has just recently killed everyone in the town of Nob that housed his priests. The tide is surely turning against Saul.

Now by defeating the Philistines and liberating the city of Keilah, David has created quite the commotion. Something that would not have gone unnoticed by Saul. In verse 7 we read that Saul did indeed hear about David’s conquest. But Saul’s response is quite telling. Rather than being glad that a city that Saul was king over had not fallen into Philistine hands, Saul was only thinking of killing David. Saul thought that, since the city of Keilah was built like a fortress (one way in and one way out for protection as we previously discussed), he had David trapped like an animal. So Saul planned one of the most audacious and ridiculous acts of his career as king. Saul, exactly like the Philistines, was going to lay seige to the city of Keilah. Not only was he going to do the exact same thing the Philistines were going to do, he was going to do it against his own city!

But in verse 9, we discover that David hears about Saul’s plan against him and the city. So it seems that both Saul and David had spies and people that sympathized with each of them. As we read much earlier, David’s army that he commanded early on in his career loved David and followed him anywhere. So it is no wonder that others in Saul’s ranks were giving David information. Now here is where the ephod that Abiathar brought with him to David would come into play. In verse 9 David calls for Abiathar, the priest, to bring him the ephod and in verse 10 it is used to make an inquiry to the Lord as to what David should do next. This is an amazing turnaround for David. You see, he is now looking to the Lord for answers and for safety. Before, David was on his own and relying on his wits (and deceptions) alone. Now we see a new David (or rather, I should say the old David), the selfless David who follows after God’s own heart.

So David asks the Lord two questions: “Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his [Saul’s] hand?” and “Will Saul come down [to Keilah] just as your servant [David] has heard?” The Lord answers the second question first with a resounding “yes”. David reiterates his initial question about Keilah turning David over to Saul. The Lord again answers with a resounding “yes”. It’s this initial question of the town of Keilah surrendering David to Saul that I want to focus on. Why would David ask such a question? After all, David just saved the town of Keilah from the Philistines. You would think they would be more gracious to David than this. Turning David over to Saul seems like the worst treachery of all.

We need to put this question into its right context to understand it. Remember back in 1 Samuel 22:6-23 that Saul completely destroyed the priests of the Lord (except Abiathar), the priests town of Nob and all of their livestock. David knew that this retribution of Saul’s on the town of Nob was his fault and he did not want the same thing to happen to Keilah (David is still thinking of others). But David also knew the the town of Keilah had heard of Saul’s destruction of Nob and that Keilah, while they were indebted to David, did not want to die themselves over one man. So while David probably didn’t want to go back on the run, the Lord had other plans for him. But in David’s wise questions to the Lord, he discerned his true situation and did the only right thing, which was to leave the town of Keilah and draw Saul away from there.

Notice in verse 13 that David now has 200 more men than he started out with. I would imagine that many (if not all) of these men came from the town of Keilah or possibly the surrounding areas. This defense of the town did not go unnoticed by the people. Many of the people were drawn towards David and left their old lives to follow him. This almost seems to mimic Jesus going from town to town calling his disciples to him and them dropping everything to follow Him. Some towns would deny Jesus as Keilah denied David (the town’s savior), but there was always a remnant that would follow David or Jesus out of the town into the wilderness.

Now in verses 15-16 David becomes aware somehow of Saul coming for him while he was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. It seems like Saul had a bunch of information leaks within his organization since both David (in verse 15) was alerted that Saul knew where he was hiding and Jonathan (in verse 16) was alerted that David was at Horesh. In fact, Jonathan went to see his friend David at Horesh, yet his father Saul was unable to locate David in this same place (this is divine intervention, but more on that later). Jonathan would have had to have been known by David’s men as an ally since it seems that Jonathan simply had to show up at Horesh and most likely David’s men would have escorted him directly to David.

The meeting between David and Jonathan is recorded in verses 16-18. We only have a very short retelling of the meeting between these two men but what Jonathan says to David is incredibly important in building up and encouraging David and his faith in the Lord. There is a lot of information that Jonathan tells David, including:

* Do not be afraid.

* Saul will not find you.

* You will be king of Israel.

* I will be by your side.

* Saul knows all of this to be true.

This is the mark of a true friend. One that will drop everything and travel to aid someone even though the route may be treacherous (certainly if Saul caught Jonathan he would be put to death). Once the two friends are reunited, Jonathan shares some words of encouragement with David. First, he says, “Do not be afraid.” It is not just that Jonathan says not to be afraid, but that he does it in a way that strengthens David in the Lord (see verse 16). But Jonathan doesn’t stop there. He continues by telling David why he shouldn’t be afraid. The first reason is that Saul will not find David. Jonathan knows that the Lord will make David king (as he states next), and for that to happen Saul cannot catch and kill David. Now these two statements show a great faith in Jonathan, and isn’t it always encouraging for us when a friend who has such a great faith comes alongside of us in our most dire situations and expresses their faith to us. It’s almost like they are sharing a part of their faith that we embrace and use to encourage ourselves.

Next, Jonathan says that he will be by David’s side. Unfortunately, we know that this is not to be, which is heartbreaking to hear. But at this time what Jonathan is doing is pledging himself to the new king of Israel. Jonathan is saying that he will be David’s faithful second in command when David takes the throne. This is another supreme encouragement for David, knowing that his true friend who is faithful and also has a heart for the Lord is pledging to be by his side always. Jonathan’s actions towards David in 1 Samuel have always born this out to be true. He will stick by his friend faithfully no matter the cost. This is encouragement in the fullest.

Finally, Jonathan says that Saul, even Saul the king, knows that all of this is true (but he is still blinded by his own pride). David will be king and Jonathan will follow David, setting aside his own claim to the throne because the Lord has anointed David as king. Then the two parted ways.

In the last section of this chapter (verses 19-29), the Ziphites met with Saul to tell him where David was hiding. Now the Ziphites could have known this because of Jonathan going up to Horesh to meet with David. It does seem that the slaughter of the priests, their families and livestock at Nob would have put every city on alert that Saul would kill them too if they were found harboring David. So, maybe like the city of Keilah, the city of Ziph was simply trying to save their own skins by keeping the sitting king on their good side. However, if we read Psalm 54:1-3: we see a different view of the Ziphites:

Title:  For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”

Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your power. Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen against me And violent men have sought my life; They have not set God before them. Selah. From this Psalm that David wrote, we see from his perspective that indeed the Ziphites were a godless and violent people that sided with Saul.

Next we see Saul pursuing David yet again. But, as has previously happened numerous times, David was alerted to the danger and was able to flee and escape Saul’s hand. However, this time Saul was much closer to David and was able to pursue him as he ran. I would assume here that the warning to David must have arrived in the 11th hour just before Saul arrived. If this is true, David would not have had much time to prepare to flee. In verse 26 we get to the height of the pursuit where David is only a few steps away from Saul’s grasp. For someone not in-tune with David’s relationship to the Lord, it would seem like this may be the end for David. Saul, in verse 26, is on one side of a mountain and David on the other. Saul apparently is splitting his forces to go around both sides of the mountain in order to encircle David and his men, cutting off all escape. But the Lord has other plans for Saul and his men. In verse 27 a messenger tells Saul that the Philistines had raided the land. This causes Saul to break off the pursuit and turn to the Philistine problem. Now we could think (incorrectly) that this is a wonderful coincidence. Not so, this is the Lord’s providence at work helping to protect and sustain David in his persecution. Why is this not a coincidence? Well, we have just seen that Saul was more than willing to wipe out an entire town of the Lord’s priests as well as lay seige to any town where David would seek asylum. Saul has no love for the people of Israel; he only loves himself. So the Lord would have to intervene in some way to make the Philistine situation much more important than capturing and killing David.

Just as with David, the Lord is at work when we are pursued and persecuted. We may not see it, but the Lord’s hand is at work to bring about His good desires. We may see this as others coming to our side to join our battle or in good friends risking all to encourage us and to come alongside us, sharing their faith in order to build up our faith. Or perhaps, the Lord will work miraculously in our situation and with our persecutors to make the problem go away as He did with prompting the Philistines to attack just as when Saul was closing the noose around David and his men.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? We can be the Jonathan to those around us who struggle. Let us risk what we have to come alongside our friends in the faith and encourage them, building them up by sharing our faith.

I Samuel 22

You may think that I’ve been overly hard on David throughout the last several chapters as I point out his failings and deceptions during this time when he has taken his eyes off the Lord and is focused on his dire situation. This is not to say anything less of David or to say that we (myself included) are better than he was. Surly not! I don’t think I would have the stamina to handle all that David has been through even half as well as he did. Also we should not take away the idea that David was a terrible person or no better than Saul. David was a man after God’s own heart after all. That makes all the difference in the world (and in heaven). You see, the Bible exposes people (especially David) for who they really are. When we truly understand the heroes and villains of the Bible, we see how they are like us (or different from us). This should give us reason to praise the Lord for His mercies and grace towards us. For just as his mercies and grace overflowed to David-even as he sinned-they will overflow to us. We have the same failings and some of the same strengths of the fallible David, so we can relate to him in deeper ways now that we know of his weaknesses and sins. But just as David failed in some things, we must also look at how he correctly dealt with these failings and sins and imitate him. Of course, we should always keep in mind the one from David’s line who was perfect and without sin, Jesus Christ our Lord.

One additional thing to keep in mind here is that when the Bible takes down the heroes of the Bible, such as David, a notch or two we understand that this adds to the Bible’s legitimacy. That is, the Bible will not hold back the humanness and fallibility of people in order to glorify the Lord. If the Bible were to have built up the heroes of the Bible to a point where they could do no wrong and the situations did not play out as they would in reality then maybe our faith would not be placed in the Lord but rather in the heroes that could not fail. However, by showing the fallibility of people like David in the Bible we can be more assured that the Bible speaks the truth and doesn’t hold back. And all glory can be given to the Lord of all.

Fortunately, it seems as though David turns a corner here and begins to take his eyes off of his dire situation and put them back onto the Lord. Chapter 22 begins with David still on the run, but gathering strength (verses 1-5). Then it switches over to Saul and his pursuit of David and the  encounter with the priests at Nob (verses 6-19). And finally it ends back with David (verses 20-23) and him facing the consequences of his sin of deception in chapter 21.

Chapter 22 opens with David escaping to the cave of Adullam, which would be a good place to stay and probably easily defensible. In verse 1 it says that when David’s family heard that he had escaped to Adullam they met him there. This sentence is very telling of what is happening around David. It seems that people were talking about David and his flight to Adullam. Perhaps Achish the king of Gath and his servants were making it public that David was in their midst acting strange. Maybe others along the road to Adullam saw David and knew who he was (people would know the slayer of the tens of thousands of Philistines as the song goes) and were talking about it...especially since David was alone without the men of his army, which would naturally be strange so close to the Philistine border. Whatever reason or reasons, people were talking of David and that he was staying at Adullam. Surely this was news that would eventually reach Saul’s ears.

Secondly, and more importantly, we see that not only is David’s family seeking him out but also in verse 2 we see many people who are in distress, in debt and discontented (bitter of soul) all flocking to David in Adullam. Finally! This is what we’ve all been waiting for...a visible sign of Israel turning away from king Saul and towards Israel’s rightful ruler, David. In total there were about 400 men with David and it says that David became their captain. Now 400 men seems a small number and not much to protect David, but remember another faithful mans words back in 1 Samuel 14:6:

Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.”

So we know that from Jonathan’s faithful words that 400 men are more than enough to protect David. And surely this was a boost to David’s moral at this low point.

It seems from these first two verses that Saul’s awful rule was starting to wear on the people. People were not only bitter and distressed but also deeply in debt. This makes complete sense as we know that Saul is becoming more and more unhinged even to the point of publicly attempting to kill his son recently (and not for the first time either). But more to the fact if we go back to verses 1 Samuel 8:10-19:

So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king. He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us.”

All of this that Samuel spoke of to the people had now come to fruition. It’s no wonder that the people were becoming bitter towards Saul and deeply in debt towards the kingdom.

Then David and those that followed him went to Mizpah of Moab. Now this was a wise and calculated move unlike the actions David took in chapter 21. You see Moab was an enemy of Saul as it says in 1 Samuel 14:47:

Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, the sons of Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment.

However, the king of Moab was the great grandson of Ruth who was related to Jesse, David’s father. This family relationship along with the animosity between the king of Moab and Saul created the perfect mix for David to safely seek asylum in Moab. Finally, we see David starting to make some good decisions. But that’s not all. David asks the king of Moab if his mother and father can stay with them in their kingdom. David was not thinking of just himself anymore. He had family to protect and being on the run from a madman would have been extremely difficult for his old parents. So David sought a safe place to keep his parents away from harm and hardship. But there’s also a third point of interest here in verse 3, probably the most important line that David speaks. David asks the king of Moab to keep his parents safe with them...”until I know what God will do for me”. After a few chapters where David spoke little of the Lord, he is once again looking to the Lord for guidance. He seems to be repenting of focusing on himself and his dire circumstances and finally putting his gaze back on the one who can truly save his life.

We see in verse 5 that David did not have to wait long to hear from the Lord. The prophet Gad came to David and told him to “depart, and go into the land of Judah.” And, of course, we see David in that same verse immediately obey and go to the forest of Hereth southwest of Jerusalem.

Now the narrative switches over to Saul. In verse 6 it says Saul was in a familiar position. He was sitting under a tree with his spear in his hand. Saul was sitting, sulking and waiting for a word to come to him of David’s whereabouts. And, of course, he had his trusty spear in his hand. We all know what typically happens when Saul is sitting with his spear in his hands..nothing good, especially for the people around him. At this point a word came to Saul about David’s whereabouts. You would have thought that this would have been good news to Saul, but instead we see in verse 7 that Saul begins a tirade of paranoia directed towards the men (royal servants, guards, etc.) standing around him.

Upon hearing of David’s location and most likely that David now has a small garrison with him, Saul descended into even more paranoia and hate towards David. Presumably now that David had men following him, Saul thought that an attempt on his throne was immanent. Saul, in an attempt to head off what he thought was an immanent coup, decides to address those around him. In verse 7 Saul presents his men with two rhetorical questions, “Will David (still using the term ‘son of Jesse’) give you fields and vineyards? Will David make you commanders of hundreds or thousands?” These two questions were designed to get his men to think that with Saul they have it good and are doing well, but if David takes over then there is a huge question as to whether or not they will have it as good, seeing that they are the ones pursuing David. A future with Saul is safe, but a future without Saul is uncertain. This is typically what those in charge will attempt once they feel that their authority is slipping away as Saul’s authority is.

Next, in verse 8 we see Saul devolving more into paranoia and anger. This time it is directed towards his own men! As is the case with tyrants unwilling to repent and give up their self-serving lifestyle, so we see here Saul lashing out at his own men....men who he is supposed to trust, his servants, his men that he has gone into battle with and the men who he has hand picked to be his own personal bodyguards. Now verse 8 is a little more difficult to read in some translations such as NASB or ESV since these are formally equivalent translations or a word-for-word translation from Hebrew to English. What we need here is a translation that is more functionally equivalent, that is one that basically gives us the same meaning of the verse as it would have meant thousands of years ago to the original audience. For that we need a translation such as the NIV, CSB or LEB. The CSB begins verse 8 with Saul saying, “That’s why all of you have conspired against me!” Here we see that Saul is now twisting his own words in verse 7 to say that his own men are trying to dethrone him and replace him with David. But why? The rest of verse 8 answers this question. We see that Saul blames his own men for not telling him about Jonathan and David’s covenant and how Jonathan stirred up David to lie in wait for Saul to kill him (which was obviously false). Note also in between Saul’s falsehoods he says, “None of you cares about me...” Some translations say “are sorry for me” or “have sympathy for me”. This is another one of those “woe is me; the whole world is against me and I did no wrong” kind of statements. Saul is using every trick he knows to try to keep his men loyal to him in an effort to keep his throne.

It seems though that none of Saul’s men responded to the king’s tirade. That is, except one...Doeg. We met Doeg back in in chapter 21. Doeg sees an opportunity to get even closer to the king and possibly to make a name for himself. Doeg has fully bought in to what Saul is selling. Doeg answered Saul saying that he saw the son of Jesse (notice how Doeg is mimicking the manner in which Saul identifies David here) with Ahimelech in Nob and that Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for David, gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath. So if you go back to chapter 21, we do indeed see Ahimelech giving David provisions and the sword but we don’t read that Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for David. It’s possible that the author just decided to not record that part, or it may be that Ahimelech never inquired of the Lord for David this one time. Either way, Doeg begins his accusation of Ahimelech and David with this information. This turns Saul’s anger directly towards Ahimelech and he calls for Ahimelech and his priests to be brought to him.

In verse 13 Saul begins to accuse Ahimelech of conspiring with David against him. Ahimelech’s response to Saul’s charge follows in verses 14-15. It is interesting that Ahimelech’s response begins with an honoring of David. He says that David is a faithful and honorable person who is even honored in your house. These words are somewhat of an echo of what Jonathan said to his father much earlier, which caused Saul to relent and not to pursue David in order to kill him. But now these words have the exact opposite effect on Saul. Saul is so angered that he sentences Ahimelech and all of the priests to death. However, no one but Doeg would raise a hand against the priests of the Lord. Doeg does what no one else would dare and ends all of the priests’ lives. This fulfills the prophecy from the Lord that the house of Eli will end violently in 1 Samuel 2:31:

Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house.

Before we leave this section I wanted to note that in verse 15 Ahimelech says to Saul, “Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him [David]? Of course not!” The various translation use slightly different wordings for this rhetorical question but one that might help a little bit more is, “Did I begin that day to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me to do such a thing.” Ahimelech is claiming here that he has not just begun that day to enquire of God for David. In other words, he did not enquire and has not enquired of God for David. Why should he start doing so now? Also if we look back at the overall narration between David and Ahimelech in the last chapters, we know that David has spun a web of lies (with good motives, but a disastrous outcome) and needed to leave quickly before Saul found him (the mere sight of Doeg probably spurred David to move even more quickly). So it wouldn’t have made sense for David to wait around for Ahimelech to make inquiries of the Lord, but even more importantly David had lied to the priest and really wasn’t looking to make an inquiry of the Lord. David was afraid and knew the Lord wouldn’t be happy with his deception. So really, David had no reason to inquire of the Lord. This makes Doeg out to be a very devious one, bending the ear of Saul with lies probably motivated by a desire to get in the good graces of Saul. Whatever the reason, Doeg exposes himself as just as evil as Saul.

Once Saul had put the priests to death he turned his rage on Nob, an innocent village of the priests. Saul commanded that all the people and livestock of Nob were to be put to death. Here, in his fit of rage, Saul put to death everyone and everything but remember earlier that when commanded by the Lord to do the same to His enemies, Saul could not. See 1 Samuel 15:3:

‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’

Here Saul shows his true colors as anyone that tried to protect David would not only be destroyed, but their families and friends would also die. Even their livestock would pay the penalty of this affront to Saul. It seems that Saul would do this to protect his own name but not for the name of the Lord.

But it does seem that one of the priests of Nob, Abiathar, did survive and fled and escaped to David. Abiathar told David what had transpired and David responded that all of this was his fault and that he brought about the deaths of all in Abiathar’s household. Here we see David continuing to do the right thing. Unlike Saul, David takes responsibility for his own failings. Rather than hide what he has done, David confesses his sin to Abiathar. Not only that but he takes Abiathar in and keeps him safe as now they both are running from Saul.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? Let us be more like the David of chapter 22. Let us seek the Lord, take care of our loved ones and take responsibility for our own sins, confessing them to the Lord who is ready to forgive with all grace. But this cannot happen unless, like David, we take our eyes off of ourselves and place them back on the Lord!

I Samuel 21

Can deception ever be justified?

In this chapter David deceives on not one but two occasions. First in verses 1-9 David deceives Ahimelech the priest and in verses 10-15 David deceives his mortal enemy Achish the king of Gath, a Philistine king.

David meets with Ahimelech the priest at Nob. Now Ahimelech was a priest of the line of Eli, actually Ahimelech was the great grandson of Eli. This would have made Ahimelech a disqualified priest according to verses 1 Samuel 2:30-36. Not only has David left the safe confines of Naioth in Ramah where Samuel and the prophets were and where the Lord supernaturally protected David from Saul, but now David is seeking Ahimelech a disgraced priest for provisions and a weapon.

Listen to the words of David as he speaks to Ahimelech in verses 2-6. David begins with a deceptive answer to Ahimelech’s question in verse 1 about why David is alone (not why David is showing up in Nob but specifically why he is alone). It is highly likely that Ahimelech knew of the king’s intent to kill David and was worried about his own life and possibly David’s too. But David tells Ahimelech a lie, a deception, in response. David tells him that he is on a mission from the king, a secret mission no less. Since David required secrecy in order to elude Saul, a secret mission from the king makes a lot of sense. No one would ever go against the king and reveal a secret mission for fear of death. But David doesn’t end the charade there. In order to make it more believable he tells Ahimelech that he has sent away the young men that were with him in order to keep this mission a secret. Since if David showed up with a garrison of men that might cause people to ask questions which would harm the secrecy of their mission. Now, of course, there were no men with David. This was just a ruse to make David’s story sound more believable.

David needed provisions for himself and his “men” who were in hiding. Normally a group such as this would be more prepared as they went out, but due to the urgency of the king’s “mission” they did not have time to adequately prepare. David asks for the consecrated bread that was on the altar normally only to be eaten by the priests. But that day Ahimelech was willing to give it to David and his “men” as long as they were ceremonially clean...specifically, that none of them had had sexual relations with women. David answers Ahimelech saying that they were all ceremonially clean and they had not had relations with women recently. This is probably the closest thing to the truth that David utters here. As David would be ceremonially clean at this point not having been with any woman for awhile. But this is really only a half-truth as the deception lay in the fact that David was also indicating that his “men”, who did not exist, were also clean.

In verse 7 we hear of an Edomite called Doeg who was a servant of Saul. Doeg was actually a chief shepherd of Saul who, for whatever reason, had embraced the Hebrew religion and way of life. Verse 7 says something quite out-of-place. It suddenly changes the focus of the story from David and Ahimelech to Doeg and then back to David and Ahimelech. These out-of-place verses are actually very important points in any Biblical story but the reason for their placement is not always apparent without further study. If we read ahead to 1 Samuel 22:22:

Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.

We get a big clue as to why chapter 21 introduces Doeg. David’s fear all along was that Doeg would speak of his not-so-secret meeting with Ahimelech to Saul, putting Ahimelech in harms way. But there is another clue here as to why Doeg was even around at all during David’s meeting. In verse 7 it says that Doeg was “detained before the Lord”. This could mean that Doeg was either forced to stay at the tabernacle to offer sacrifices and prayers or maybe he was paying some form of penance for a crime. Whatever the reason, the Lord in His sovereignty had caused Doeg to be there at the same time as David in order to witness this meeting. David, seeing that Doeg was there and perhaps being led by the Spirit of the Lord, was more than concerned that Doeg would rat him out to the king. I believe that this fateful run-in with Doeg was the Lord telling David that there would be consequences to his deceptive actions. David, however, ignored this warning and went ahead with the ruse anyway. Of course, later in the next chapter we see the fallout of his decision.

Now we get to the second part of chapter 21 in verses 10-15 where David flees from Saul once again. Saul must have found out about David’s clandestine (or really not-so-clandestine) meeting with Ahimelech and showed up in Nob soon after David fled. Now David does a rather dangerous and just mind-boggling act here. He goes to the one place where he knows Saul cannot follow him. David goes to king Achish of Gath, a Philistine. Wait, so David shows up at the home of his most hated enemy? Remember David killed Goliath (and he was wearing Goliath’s sword too) and won many many battles against the Philistines. The only thing that possibly could have driven David to the home of his enemies would have been a hopelessness in his situation alongside an immense fear of Saul’s pursuit of him. Indeed, not only is this chapter focused on David’s fear and hopelessness, but notice that the Lord is only mentioned twice in connection with the consecrated bread and as to why Doeg was detained at Nob. Not once does David mention the Lord. What we have here is a picture of David who has his eyes off of the Lord and squarely on his own desperate situation. This situation is hopeless and dire, but with our sovereign all powerful Lord all things are possible.

It’s not explained in the text as to exactly what David was thinking when he went to Achish king of Gath. Perhaps he thought that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He knew Saul would not be able to follow him there and possibly he could keep his head down and the Philistines would not even notice he was there. But in verse 11 the servants of king Achish told their king that David, the one whom Israel sang and danced for and the one that slayed tens of thousands of their people, was in their midst. Did you notice also that the king’s servants also said that David was the king of the land of Israel? Now David wasn’t officially king, but this saying would make some sense in that David had been fighting all the battles against the Philistines and therefore the Philistine peoples would have probably recognized David as king of Israel since he was so prevalent on the battlefield. Remember Saul was usually behind the front lines, far behind. It seems that even Saul’s enemies knew that the throne had been taken from him. Saul seems to be the only one blinded to his own situation by his pride.

In response to the king’s servants revealing who David was to the king, David became greatly afraid. This causes David to deceive a second time. David pretends to be insane. In verse 13 we see David acting insanely and scribbling words (probably incoherent words) on the gate and drooling. All of these signs would have indicated insanity on the part of David. In fact drooling down one’s beard was considered extremely disgraceful so a king of Israel would never be found doing such a thing unless he was truly mad. So the deception worked and king Achish sent David away. It seems that king Achish had enough madmen in his presence (as he sarcastically says) and didn’t need another one.

So David got out of yet another precarious situation. But we should see the hand of the Lord working here. David was getting himself into a bigger and bigger mess and trying to lie his way out of it each time. But the Lord was working to save David from harm even though David had taken his eyes off of the Lord temporarily. You see, the Lord had established that a man after His own heart would ascend to the throne and that man was David. There is nothing that Saul nor anyone (even David, in his own misguided efforts) could do to thwart the Lord’s sovereign plan. So while David was running in fear of his life, the Lord was always there protecting him. And we know that the Lord protected David because he was a man after God’s own heart.

To answer the question of “can deception ever be justified?” I think the cut-and-dry answer would be a resounding “no”. Deception is sin and there is no sin in the Lord even though He allows this sin to happen. Exodus 20:16 says: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” But the Bible is full of stories where deceit is used as a means of escaping danger or harm. In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen deceit used in this manner in 1 Samuel. Also, another famous story of deceit is the story of Rahab in Joshua 2 where she lies to the kings men that were searching for the Israeli spies in Jericho. Then we see in Hebrews 11:31 where it says:

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

and in James 2:25:

In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

Notice that nowhere does the Bible praise Rahab for lying, but rather it lifts up her faith (read Joshua 2 again and notice all of what Rahab says in that chapter, not just the lie she told). While we mere mortals are not yet perfected as our Saviour is, we will fail and use things such as lies and deception to protect ourselves and our loved ones. But the important thing to focus on is the faith that was given to us by our Lord. Both David and Saul deceived, but what was the difference between these two men? The difference was their hearts. David’s heart was always towards the Lord and Sauls was always towards himself. You see, the Lord looks at our heart, our innermost being and thoughts, not at the outside like man does. Remember what 1 Samuel 16:7 says:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

So no, we should not deceive even when it seems right or our only option. Instead we should rely on the Lord for our strength and safety. This is of course no easy feat. I fail in this as we all do...even as David did. But we know grace covers our sins and the Lord is quick to forgive us our sins as we confess them. Even if we fail in this we can be comforted in the mercies of the Lord and that His sovereign purposes will be established in spite of our failings.

In the next chapter (22) we will see the repercussions of David’s lie to Ahimelech and how he handles the fallout.

I Samuel 21

Can deception ever be justified?

In this chapter David deceives on not one but two occasions. First in verses 1-9 David deceives Ahimelech the priest and in verses 10-15 David deceives his mortal enemy Achish the king of Gath, a Philistine king.

David meets with Ahimelech the priest at Nob. Now Ahimelech was a priest of the line of Eli, actually Ahimelech was the great grandson of Eli. This would have made Ahimelech a disqualified priest according to verses 1 Samuel 2:30-36. Not only has David left the safe confines of Naioth in Ramah where Samuel and the prophets were and where the Lord supernaturally protected David from Saul, but now David is seeking Ahimelech a disgraced priest for provisions and a weapon.

Listen to the words of David as he speaks to Ahimelech in verses 2-6. David begins with a deceptive answer to Ahimelech’s question in verse 1 about why David is alone (not why David is showing up in Nob but specifically why he is alone). It is highly likely that Ahimelech knew of the king’s intent to kill David and was worried about his own life and possibly David’s too. But David tells Ahimelech a lie, a deception, in response. David tells him that he is on a mission from the king, a secret mission no less. Since David required secrecy in order to elude Saul, a secret mission from the king makes a lot of sense. No one would ever go against the king and reveal a secret mission for fear of death. But David doesn’t end the charade there. In order to make it more believable he tells Ahimelech that he has sent away the young men that were with him in order to keep this mission a secret. Since if David showed up with a garrison of men that might cause people to ask questions which would harm the secrecy of their mission. Now, of course, there were no men with David. This was just a ruse to make David’s story sound more believable.

David needed provisions for himself and his “men” who were in hiding. Normally a group such as this would be more prepared as they went out, but due to the urgency of the king’s “mission” they did not have time to adequately prepare. David asks for the consecrated bread that was on the altar normally only to be eaten by the priests. But that day Ahimelech was willing to give it to David and his “men” as long as they were ceremonially clean...specifically, that none of them had had sexual relations with women. David answers Ahimelech saying that they were all ceremonially clean and they had not had relations with women recently. This is probably the closest thing to the truth that David utters here. As David would be ceremonially clean at this point not having been with any woman for awhile. But this is really only a half-truth as the deception lay in the fact that David was also indicating that his “men”, who did not exist, were also clean.

In verse 7 we hear of an Edomite called Doeg who was a servant of Saul. Doeg was actually a chief shepherd of Saul who, for whatever reason, had embraced the Hebrew religion and way of life. Verse 7 says something quite out-of-place. It suddenly changes the focus of the story from David and Ahimelech to Doeg and then back to David and Ahimelech. These out-of-place verses are actually very important points in any Biblical story but the reason for their placement is not always apparent without further study. If we read ahead to 1 Samuel 22:22:

Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.

We get a big clue as to why chapter 21 introduces Doeg. David’s fear all along was that Doeg would speak of his not-so-secret meeting with Ahimelech to Saul, putting Ahimelech in harms way. But there is another clue here as to why Doeg was even around at all during David’s meeting. In verse 7 it says that Doeg was “detained before the Lord”. This could mean that Doeg was either forced to stay at the tabernacle to offer sacrifices and prayers or maybe he was paying some form of penance for a crime. Whatever the reason, the Lord in His sovereignty had caused Doeg to be there at the same time as David in order to witness this meeting. David, seeing that Doeg was there and perhaps being led by the Spirit of the Lord, was more than concerned that Doeg would rat him out to the king. I believe that this fateful run-in with Doeg was the Lord telling David that there would be consequences to his deceptive actions. David, however, ignored this warning and went ahead with the ruse anyway. Of course, later in the next chapter we see the fallout of his decision.

Now we get to the second part of chapter 21 in verses 10-15 where David flees from Saul once again. Saul must have found out about David’s clandestine (or really not-so-clandestine) meeting with Ahimelech and showed up in Nob soon after David fled. Now David does a rather dangerous and just mind-boggling act here. He goes to the one place where he knows Saul cannot follow him. David goes to king Achish of Gath, a Philistine. Wait, so David shows up at the home of his most hated enemy? Remember David killed Goliath (and he was wearing Goliath’s sword too) and won many many battles against the Philistines. The only thing that possibly could have driven David to the home of his enemies would have been a hopelessness in his situation alongside an immense fear of Saul’s pursuit of him. Indeed, not only is this chapter focused on David’s fear and hopelessness, but notice that the Lord is only mentioned twice in connection with the consecrated bread and as to why Doeg was detained at Nob. Not once does David mention the Lord. What we have here is a picture of David who has his eyes off of the Lord and squarely on his own desperate situation. This situation is hopeless and dire, but with our sovereign all powerful Lord all things are possible.

It’s not explained in the text as to exactly what David was thinking when he went to Achish king of Gath. Perhaps he thought that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He knew Saul would not be able to follow him there and possibly he could keep his head down and the Philistines would not even notice he was there. But in verse 11 the servants of king Achish told their king that David, the one whom Israel sang and danced for and the one that slayed tens of thousands of their people, was in their midst. Did you notice also that the king’s servants also said that David was the king of the land of Israel? Now David wasn’t officially king, but this saying would make some sense in that David had been fighting all the battles against the Philistines and therefore the Philistine peoples would have probably recognized David as king of Israel since he was so prevalent on the battlefield. Remember Saul was usually behind the front lines, far behind. It seems that even Saul’s enemies knew that the throne had been taken from him. Saul seems to be the only one blinded to his own situation by his pride.

In response to the king’s servants revealing who David was to the king, David became greatly afraid. This causes David to deceive a second time. David pretends to be insane. In verse 13 we see David acting insanely and scribbling words (probably incoherent words) on the gate and drooling. All of these signs would have indicated insanity on the part of David. In fact drooling down one’s beard was considered extremely disgraceful so a king of Israel would never be found doing such a thing unless he was truly mad. So the deception worked and king Achish sent David away. It seems that king Achish had enough madmen in his presence (as he sarcastically says) and didn’t need another one.

So David got out of yet another precarious situation. But we should see the hand of the Lord working here. David was getting himself into a bigger and bigger mess and trying to lie his way out of it each time. But the Lord was working to save David from harm even though David had taken his eyes off of the Lord temporarily. You see, the Lord had established that a man after His own heart would ascend to the throne and that man was David. There is nothing that Saul nor anyone (even David, in his own misguided efforts) could do to thwart the Lord’s sovereign plan. So while David was running in fear of his life, the Lord was always there protecting him. And we know that the Lord protected David because he was a man after God’s own heart.

To answer the question of “can deception ever be justified?” I think the cut-and-dry answer would be a resounding “no”. Deception is sin and there is no sin in the Lord even though He allows this sin to happen. Exodus 20:16 says: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” But the Bible is full of stories where deceit is used as a means of escaping danger or harm. In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen deceit used in this manner in 1 Samuel. Also, another famous story of deceit is the story of Rahab in Joshua 2 where she lies to the kings men that were searching for the Israeli spies in Jericho. Then we see in Hebrews 11:31 where it says:

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

and in James 2:25:

In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

Notice that nowhere does the Bible praise Rahab for lying, but rather it lifts up her faith (read Joshua 2 again and notice all of what Rahab says in that chapter, not just the lie she told). While we mere mortals are not yet perfected as our Saviour is, we will fail and use things such as lies and deception to protect ourselves and our loved ones. But the important thing to focus on is the faith that was given to us by our Lord. Both David and Saul deceived, but what was the difference between these two men? The difference was their hearts. David’s heart was always towards the Lord and Sauls was always towards himself. You see, the Lord looks at our heart, our innermost being and thoughts, not at the outside like man does. Remember what 1 Samuel 16:7 says:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

So no, we should not deceive even when it seems right or our only option. Instead we should rely on the Lord for our strength and safety. This is of course no easy feat. I fail in this as we all do...even as David did. But we know grace covers our sins and the Lord is quick to forgive us our sins as we confess them. Even if we fail in this we can be comforted in the mercies of the Lord and that His sovereign purposes will be established in spite of our failings.

In the next chapter (22) we will see the repercussions of David’s lie to Ahimelech and how he handles the fallout.

I Samuel 20

“Then David fled...”

These three simple words set the tone for the rest of this chapter. Did you read this opening phrase in verse 1 and ask yourself, “Why did David flee?” When I began this study I did not ask that question. It took quite a few readings of this chapter along with deeper observation of what was happening between all the characters before I started asking, “Why flee?” But to answer this question we need to back up to the previous verses in 1 Samuel 19:23–24:

He [Saul] 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. 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?”

The word “Then” in “Then David fled...” (some versions use the word “And” here) shows that this verse connects back to 1 Samuel 19:23-24 where Saul was overcome by the Spirit of the Lord and ended up taking off all of his clothes (as we talked about last time, this showed that the Lord had removed Saul from the throne) and then fell asleep for an entire day. Knowing this and the previous context in which the Lord engineered David’s protection through Jonathan (his friend), Michal (his wife) and finally through explicit intervention (the Spirit of the Lord overcoming Saul) we know that David was under the Lord’s all powerful protection. In fact, all David had to do it seems was to stay in Naioth with Samuel in order to stay safe.

But then at the beginning of chapter 20 it says “David fled...”. Notice now that the phrase is not “fled and escaped” as it was in several instances with David fleeing and escaping those who would do him harm in chapter 19. It just states that he fled. It seems that there was nothing to escape in Naioth. To get a more clear picture let’s back up to the verses in 1 Samuel 19:2–3:

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. “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.”

and in verses 1 Samuel 19:11-12:

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.” So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped.

Both Jonathan and Michal acted wisely and with the best interests of David at heart. However, both tell David to basically flee and escape. I cannot say for sure what was going on in David’s head, but surely David would be worn down physically and mentally from Saul’s constant attacks. I know I would be worn down. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to say that all these events were building up to where David was beginning to take his eyes off of the Lord and focus on the hopelessness of his situation. In fact verse 1 of chapter 20 continues the idea of the beginning of David’s backsliding away from the Lord. David (the anointed David, mind you) now flees when the Lord has just shown him three separate times that He will save his life no matter who comes after him.

The unveiling of David’s mind continues in verse 1 as he asks Jonathan three questions: “What have I done?”, “What is my iniquity?” and “What is my sin?” Notice the “I”, “my” and “my” in those three questions. They are all about David but the Lord is never mentioned. Now, granted, these are legitimate questions for the anointed David to ask as all of this must have been intensely confusing. Why would the Lord anoint him and then allow the unhinged Saul to remain on the throne? Well, the short answer to this is that the Lord was not finished moulding David into the king that would continue to follow after God’s own heart. You see, character and faith are born in the fire of adversity. And even though we stumble, we repent and learn from our mistakes.

The fact remains that David’s faith was being intensely tested and he was beginning to take his eyes off of the Lord and focus on his situation.

The rest of this chapter can be divided up into three distinct acts:

1. David meets with Jonathan.
2. Jonathan confronts his father.
3. Jonathan responds faithfully to his dear friend David.

In the first act, David confronts Jonathan with the fact that Saul is still trying to kill him. Jonathan does not believe him saying, “Far from it, you shall not die.” Then continues by telling David that his father would never do anything (like killing David) without consulting him first. But it seems at this point in time Jonathan had not heard that Saul was still trying to kill David, and most likely Jonathan didn’t know the real reason Saul went to Naioth (which was to kill David). Possibly Jonathan was dealing with other matters of state or possibly Philistine raiders, but whatever the reason Jonathan was in the dark concerning his father.

David tells Jonathan in verse 3 that Saul is not only still trying to kill David but that Saul will not tell Jonathan about it because he knows that Jonathan is on David’s side. Then Jonathan does something that only one could do out of love for David and faith in the Lord. He says, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” There is no arguing, no pride involved, just a caring love that puts David first even over his own self.

Now in verses 5-7 David concocts a scheme that will uncover the truth about Saul to Jonathan. Basically David asks Jonathan to lie for him. Granted this deception is designed to uncover Saul’s deception, but it is a lie nonetheless. We again see small hints of David looking at his own situation rather than keeping his eyes on the Lord. David will continue deceiving others in upcoming chapters sometimes with disastrous results, see 1 Samuel 22:22:

Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.

In verse 9 Jonathan insists that he will tell David the truth about what he learns from his father once Jonathan tells him that David has gone home. But David, in verse 10, answers with, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” thus indicating that David is truly concerned about Jonathan’s well being. David is concerned that Jonathan may not survive this encounter with his father due to his father’s state of mind and anger towards David. Indeed, David is correct here as Saul attempts to kill his son with a spear later in this chapter in verse 33. To answer David’s question, Jonathan takes David out into a field, presumably so they will not be overheard, and swears an oath before David with the Lord as witness. Jonathan says he will do as David asks and report back to David. If Saul truly is set on doing David harm, Jonathan will help David escape from Saul and his men safely. At the end of verse 13 Jonathan says “And may the LORD be with you as He has been with my father.” Jonathan is blessing David saying, “May the Lord be with you like He has been with my father.” The verb “has been” is in the perfective aspect and as such indicates something that has been completed or has come to an end in the past. Jonathan knew that the Lord had removed His Spirit from his father, but he wanted the Lord to continue to be with David as it was when the Lord’s spirit came upon Saul back when Saul was at least attempting to follow the Lord’s will.

Next in verse 14 Jonathan says, “If I am still alive...” This shows that he’s in agreement with David at least in part that truly his father could be angered enough to try to kill Jonathan. It wouldn’t be the first time. Jonathan then asks David to make another covenant with him that he and his household will not die when David assumes the throne, providing Jonathan survives his father’s wrath. It was wise for Jonathan to make this covenant with David since David assuming the throne could be messy and Jonathan wants to make sure he and his house continue their relationship with David and his household. But there is also a very real sense of faith at work in this covenant as Jonathan states “when” the enemies of David are cut off, not “if” they are cut off. Jonathan’s faith rests in the knowledge that the Lord will put David on the throne in the future. Contrast this with David’s actions here.

Verses 18-22 detail the manner in which Jonathan will inform David of whether his life is in jeopardy or not. Notice that this involves no contact between Jonathan and David. This way Jonathan can be certain that no potential onlookers could see David and inform the king of his whereabouts. Again, Jonathan is putting David’s life ahead of his own as he is making absolutely sure that David’s life is kept safe at all costs.

In the second act, Jonathan goes to the feast as it is the New Moon (or the first day of the month). The first day of the feast Saul did not think much of David’s absence, but on the second day Saul inquired of David’s whereabouts to Jonathan. When asking about David Saul can’t even speak his name, probably out of anger and disrespect, instead calling him the son of Jesse. Jonathan proceeds to tell Saul the story that David concocted about going home to sacrifice with his family as David had asked Jonathan to do. But this angers Saul since he sees through Jonathan’s ruse. As the text says, “Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan.” This word for “burned” indicated that Saul’s anger was growing more and more inside of him.

Saul’s first attack was verbal, saying to Jonathan, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman!” This was more of a Hebrew idiom insulting Jonathan through defamation of the character of his mother. Oddly enough it wasn’t an attack on his mother per se but a heinous insult to Jonathan himself. Next Saul makes it known to Jonathan in no uncertain terms that indeed he knows that Jonathan is siding with David and not his own father the king (as David intimated to Jonathan back in verse 3). But despite Saul’s anger, he seems to give Jonathan one last chance to make amends. Notice that he tells Jonathan, “as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established.” As long as David is alive Saul vows that Jonathan will not be king, but this means that if David dies then Jonathan may become king. This vow is followed up, by Saul, with the command to bring David to him in order to kill him. Even in his rage, Saul is somewhat calculating and manipulative.

What is Jonathan to do? If he brings David to Saul he goes back on his covenant vows to David and witnessed by the Lord. If he says, “No” surely Saul’s anger will grow towards him and he will be disobeying a direct order from the king and probably wouldn’t have the people on his side this time (like when he ate of the honey and battled the Philistines). So in an act of courage and lovingkindness towards David he asks his father saying, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Saul has no good and righteous answer for this question. Saul is done with words. In the very next verse (33,) Saul hurls his spear at Jonathan with the intent to kill him. This physical answer to the question, “What has David done?” shows Jonathan that truly Saul intends evil towards David.

Look in verse 34 how Jonathan reacted to his own father, the king, who besmirched his integrity, tried to coerce him into bringing David in to face death and then finally tried to kill him. I could empathize with Jonathan when it says that he arose in fierce anger, not just anger but fierce anger. Jonathan was a seasoned warrior who was probably a very large man (since it is said that his father was also a head in height above all the people in Israel). This was not a person you wanted to be fiercely angry unless you were fighting the Philistines. I could picture at least one table being overturned by Jonathan as he left in anger. Imagine all the people who were eating and serving and doing various tasks as they witnessed the king’s unbridled anger.

Notice that soon after Jonathan’s anger turned to grief in verse 34 (this was also mentioned by David earlier in verse 3). After all that his father did to him, Jonathan was only grieved for David. Forget the harsh words or the attempted murder, Jonathan was only concerned for his friend...even above himself. This is what Jesus meant by a self-sacrificial love towards others. Jonathan’s love for David (as their souls were knit together) is the best and most clear example of that message.

Now we get to the third and most heartbreaking act starting in verse 35. Jonathan faithfully arrived at the appointed time to meet with David in order to give him the terrible news that indeed Saul intended harm to David. Jonathan brought a little boy with him to help retrieve the arrows that he would shoot out into the field near where David was hiding. This was the sign in which Jonathan would secretly inform David as to the intentions of the king. The key word here is secretly for David was putting his life in Jonathan’s hands, and if any word got out about where David was hiding or that Jonathan was helping David then surely David would be caught and killed. So we see several places in this section where Jonathan made great efforts to keep this meeting secret. First, he arrived only with a young lad who knew nothing of what was going on. And most likely because he was young, the adults would not have paid much attention to him even if he did see David in the field. Second, in verse 38 there is strong emphasis on the commands that Jonathan gave the boy when he said, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!”. In the ESV it is even more pronounced, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” Notice all the exclamation points. Jonathan wanted to keep the boy’s attention on retrieving the arrows so as not to be meandering about, possibly running across David hiding. Third, the little boy could provide some means to witness that Jonathan had only gone out to the field for target practice and not to meet with anyone. Fourth, in verse 39 there is another emphatic phrase, “...only Jonathan and David knew...” showing that Jonathan had been successful in both keeping the meeting secret as well as David’s whereabouts. Because Jonathan had faithfully kept his promise (vow) to David, not only was David assured that Jonathan was truly a friend like no other but also that Jonathan now knew the full extent of his father’s evil heart.

But notice here that when the little boy departed with Jonathan’s bow and arrows that David came out of hiding and met with Jonathan. Earlier in their vow Jonathan told David to run away (verse 22) if the king meant to harm him. But David instead came out of his hiding place and bowed down to Jonathan three times in a sign of reverential deference to Jonathan (even though they both knew that David was anointed the next king of Israel). Then they kissed one another showing a deep sign of friendship between them. Finally, they wept together. But David wept all the more.

In the final scene of this act we see David departing and Jonathan going back into the city. The agony of David being cast out of his own country and hunted by the king who he once would pacify and sooth with his melodic playing in the courts must have been beyond words. But let us not forget Jonathan who left to go back into the city where his father, who had just attempted to murder him, was. Think of that pain and the anxiety of having to face his father. But we get the sense here that that pain was fully overshadowed by the pain of finding out that his father wanted to kill his friend David and that he had to let go of his friend and let him run from the danger that was Saul. Surely the pain of this deep friendship being torn apart was more difficult to handle than going back to face his angry, evil father.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? Let us not run from the Lord’s protection and put ourselves and our loved ones in harm’s way. Let us first wait on the lord (as David would later mention several times in his Psalms) and wait on His direction. I’m not saying that we always run from adversity and persecution but that when we find shelter in the Lord, we act wisely and continue to wait on Him keeping our eyes on Him and not on our situation. In His perfect time, the Lord will act and we must act with Him.

I Samuel 19

What does the Lord’s intercession look like in your life?

Chapter 19 marks a big turning point in Saul’s actions towards David. Saul has already tried to kill David directly and indirectly but all attempts have failed. Now Saul, in his frustration and fear of David, decides to “take off the gloves” and verbally decree that David is to be killed. Saul tells all of his servants and his son Jonathan to kill David in verse 1. In fact, from this section of text we get the sense that Saul’s main desire in life is not the people of Israel or his family or servants, but to eliminate David. This desire is probably the only thing that Saul thinks of on a daily basis.

Chapter 19 begins the narration of Saul’s overt pursuit of David in order to kill him. We may not have an unhinged king pursuing us with a singular desire to kill us, but as Christians we will be persecuted in various degrees. This is a fact of life for believers. As Jesus said...if they persecuted Him, they will also persecute us as we are not greater than Jesus. But just like David, we are also not alone in this battle. The Lord sees all and intercedes for us. Let’s look at how the Lord interceded for David.

The Intercession Of True Friends

Immediately after hearing these evil words from his father Saul, in verse 2, Jonathan tells David what his father intends. Notice that once again the author spells out that Jonathan “greatly delighted” in David. This is not the first time we’ve heard how much Jonathan loved David. This is critically important as the author is explicitly telling us over and over again how strong the relationship between Jonathan and David continued to be.

Jonathan loved David so much that he placed himself between his father the king, no less, and David. Jonathan speaks with his father in the field (somewhat near where David was hiding, possibly so that David may hear some of the conversation and know what was spoken) on behalf of David. Listen in verses 4-5 as Jonathan pleads David’s case to Saul. Jonathan begins by “speaking well” of David to Saul. This must have been a very tense situation for Jonathan; just think of the thoughts that must have been running through his head. Will my father accept my words or kill me because of them? Will he even listen? Will I be ostracized from the royal courts? But notice that instead of letting these other thoughts compete for his attention drawing him into a deep anxiety, he decides to push forward with what is right (defending David who was innocent). Not only that but Jonathan picked his words wisely (similar to how David was acting). I could see Jonathan spending much time picking and choosing the right words for this situation (note that I don’t mean to state that Jonathan picked these words on his own strength, but rather on the strength of his faith). This is wisdom used to defend the righteous at the risk of sacrificing one’s own life. This is someone that we all should aspire to model our lives after.

The well thought out argument began with the appeal for the king (note that Jonathan uses his father’s title here out of respect, whereas earlier he called him his father) to not do wrong (or sin) against his servant (note the use of more titles here to describe David’s position as lower to the king) David. Next Jonathan gives reason for the king to stay his hand against David. Jonathan makes two distinct arguments for not killing David. First, David has not done anything wrong against the king. David always acted wisely and prudently even when the king attempted to murder him on multiple occasions. Secondly, David’s deeds were of much benefit to the king. Remember back in the last chapter when the king was unable to figure out a way to “fix” the Goliath situation, and David stood up and not only defeated Goliath but pursued the fleeing Philistine army. Well now these good deeds (done in the power of the Lord’s Spirit, let’s not forget) did serve to benefit the king. A defeat by Goliath and the Philistines would have surely caused Saul an early demise.

Verse 5 lends details to David’s exploits against Goliath and the Philistines, further pushing the appeal. Then at the end of verse 5 Jonathan sums up his argument. Jonathan presents his final arguments saying, “Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?” This could have many ramifications for the king. By pursuing David, the king would be killing an innocent man. Jonathan loved David and so did the people of Israel. Important also is that the men of the army under David also seemed to admire and love David. There are so many ways this could go wrong for the king if he did indeed kill David. We know that from this wise argument that the king did listen to Jonathan and relent, taking a vow not to kill David but we’ll see how long that lasts.

Jonathan’s actions were not simple nor free of danger. Conversely, Jonathan was attempting to change the mind of a king who had consistently tried to kill David. Someone who was so unhinged that nothing else mattered to him but his throne, and he was convinced (rightly convinced) that David was the successor to his throne. But this was all made worse by the fact that back in chapter 14, Saul was intent on killing Jonathan, his own son, for the fact that he had eaten when Saul had expressly forbade eating until his enemies were vanquished. So Jonathan was in a very precarious situation and could not know if his words would calm or enrage the king. If his words enraged, then it was almost a surety that Jonathan would die. Fortunately, we know that Jonathan’s words had a more calming effect on Saul. However, this calm would not last.

The Lord will use trusted friends to intercede for us. However, the key word here is “trusted”. Jonathan proved himself a trusted friend as he sacrificed not only his title as successor to the throne to David but was also willing to sacrifice his very life if necessary to ensure David’s safety. Likewise we should not only seek out trusted friends but maybe, more importantly, we should BE that trusted friend to others!

The Intersession Of Family

After Jonathan’s intersession for David, we see an interlude in verses 7-10 where David is reinstated in Saul’s court (since Saul vowed not to kill him). But war breaks out again against the Philistines and David wins the day (in the Lord’s strength) once more. I’m sure this didn’t sit well with Saul as David was most likely getting more glory than Saul was for the defeat of the Philistines. Next we see the evil spirit from the Lord tormenting Saul as it was back in verses 18:10-11. We also see that the weapon of war (a spear) was in Saul’s hand while a weapon of peace (the harp) was in David’s hand. It doesn’t seem that the music was relieving Saul of the torment and Saul immediately goes back on his vow and attempts to murder David as before. This time though it does say that Saul did strike the wall. However, Saul still missed David as David was under the Lord’s protection.

Now it says in verse 10 that David “fled and escaped” from Saul that night. This begins a series of “fled and escaped” sections. This first is from Saul in his courts. The second is when David’s wife lowers him out of their window to escape Saul’s guards (verse 12). And the final one is when David runs to Samuel (verse 18). But back in verse 8 it states that the Philistines just “fled” David and his army. Notice it does not say “fled and escaped” since that would mean a successful fleeing from certain death. No, the Lord was with David and protected him at all times, unlike those uncircumcised Philistines! (note that this was taken from the NASB95 Bible, other translations may vary as to word interpretations)

In verses 11-17 we see Michal, David’s wife and Saul’s daughter, telling David (the one whom earlier we are told she loved) to escape since tomorrow Saul’s messengers will kill him. Michal let David out through their window (she must have been a strong woman) during the night so that David could successfully escape. Then Michal did the old “the one you are looking for is sick and in bed” ruse. Michal fashioned a household idol to make it look like David was sleeping in bed. Wait, did the author say “household idol” (or “image” in some versions)? This bears some explanation and to be honest, from my research, this is still debated as to what this word in Hebrew really means in this context. The Hebrew word terapim is typically translated here as “household idol” or “image” but it could also mean an “ancestor statue” or a “protective figure” of some sorts. From my study, I believe the translators are sensible in translating this word as “household idol”. My reasoning is as follows: Michal was the daughter of Saul who was not the most God obeying and God fearing person in Israel. In fact, he was starting to look like the kings of other nations. It would not be outside the realm of the possibility that Saul began to be influenced by other nations (in that he wanted to look as they did). One influence would have been idolatry. Let’s face facts; Saul worshiped himself over the Lord so it’s not a stretch to say that he would have also fell into idol worship. In 1 Samuel 15:23 it says:

“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”

We see Samuel chastising Saul here equating insubordination with the sin of idolatry (and yes, that’s the same Hebrew word terapim that we see in verse 13 in this chapter). Some theologians infer here that Saul was already caught up in idolatry. So we see that it is possible that Michal inherited her father’s idol worship and would have most likely brought these ideas and “idols” into her marriage with David. But wait, you say, what about the idol actually being in David and Michal’s house? Well, this could be explained with the inevitable absence of David from his own house while he carried on the war against the Philistines in verse 8. You see Saul wanted David to be away from him fighting his wars and when David was home, Saul wanted David in his courts so that he could keep an eye on him. So David wasn’t at home a whole lot and it would makes sense that Michal would fall into old routines with having idols around the house as she would have probably grown up with them around in Saul’s house.

But we must not miss one particular aspect of this story, that of how Michal treated this idol. It says she dressed it up and used it to deceive those lying in wait to kill David (Saul’s messengers). If Michal truly revered and worshiped this idol, it is highly unlikely she would have used it for such low purposes. Secondly, she used it for good to delay Saul’s men long enough for David to escape with his life.

Like Jonathan, Michal’s actions could have been seen as treasonous by her father Saul. She would have known that standing in the way of her father’s attempt to kill David would have surely lead to her death too. But here we see the Lord’s providential care over both David and Michal.

The Intercession Of The Lord

At this point David has fled and escaped Saul’s attempts on his life multiple times. Finally, he runs to Samuel at Ramah. After telling Samuel what Saul is trying to do to him, they both left for Naioth.

It is interesting that David ran to Samuel. Why did David run to Samuel? The obvious reason is that Samuel would have understood Saul’s mental state and would have offered David sanctuary, especially since Samuel had at this point separated himself from Saul. But there is another, more subtle, reason for David running to Samuel.

Samuel was the Lord’s prophet and judge. In fact we have already seen that Samuel feared and obeyed the Lord to the point that all of Israel listened to Samuel as if the Lord was speaking to them in their midst. In 1 Samuel 8:19:

Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us...”

Here the author of 1 Samuel uses the phrase “the voice of Samuel” in place of “the voice of the Lord”, showing the presence of the Lord in Samuel.

From this it’s no wonder that David ran to Samuel. Samuel’s relationship with the Lord was unshakable. It’s as if David was running to the Lord himself as represented in Samuel. Fortunately, today we don’t have to run to another physical location to meet up with the Lord. We have the Spirit of the Lord, the Lord himself, within us at all times.

Now Saul found out that David was with Samuel, and so he sent his men to capture David. The first group of men Saul sent came upon Samuel who was leading a group of prophets who were prophesying. That is, they were declaring and speaking publicly the Word of the Lord; contrast this to the evil spirit that tormented Saul causing him to rave. This is where the Lord steps in directly to prevent David’s death. As soon as Saul’s men came upon Samuel and the prophets, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon them immediately causing them to prophesy in the same manner as the prophets of Samuel. Saul’s men could no longer pursue and capture David as they had met the Spirit of the Lord face-to-face so to speak.

So Saul, hearing of this, was not deterred. He sent a second group of men after David. The Spirit of the Lord also fell on the second group. A third group was dispatched and the same occured to them. I wonder what happened to all three groups of men. Did they continue prophesying with the other prophets? Did each group return to Saul after prophesying before the next group was sent? I’m not sure, but we do know that each group was unable to capture David as they were stopped by the Spirit of the Lord.

After all three of Saul’s agents failed (in the same manner, nonetheless) Saul decided that he would go to kill David himself. As Saul proceeded to Naioth, the Spirit of the Lord fell on Saul as it had three times on his men before. I had to stop and wonder if Saul, upon hearing that even his own men were receiving the Spirit of the Lord, thought that he might go as well and also receive that which had been taken away from him. Of course this thought would have been rooted in selfishness, jealousy and pride and we know that is not how the Lord works. Note that the text does not explicitly say this nor does any of the commentaries that I read, so this idea should be taken with a grain of salt.

Lo and behold the Lord does send His Spirit on Saul in verse 23. Like his predecessors, Saul too prophesied as he traveled to Naioth. But this sending of the Spirit on Saul was not to empower him but for judgement. Once Saul arrived in Naioth, he prophesied in front of Samuel and then he took off his armor and royal robes and collapsed for a full day (24 hours). This removal of Saul’s armor and royal robes echos back to when Jonathan took off his armor and royal robes and gave them to David (1 Samuel 18:3-4) to show the transfer of Jonathan’s title as prince and successor to the throne to David. But here Saul simply removes his armor and robes under the overwhelming power of the Spirit of the Lord. This signifies Saul’s loss of his kingship.

Finally at the end of verse 24 it says “Therefore they say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” The people also asked this same question back when Saul was first anointed and received the Spirit of the Lord in 1 Samuel 10:11:

It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Back in chapter 10 this question was asked because the people were so surprised to see Saul prophesying as Saul was mostly unknown among the people at that time. However, here (after all that has happened with Saul between chapters 10 and 19) the people ask this same question but with a more critical eye towards Saul...essentially expressing their wonder as to why Saul, who was such a poor and faithless leader as compared to David, was now prophesying alongside Samuel and the other prophets. This seemed so out-of-character with Saul that the question of, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” is now a sarcasm instead of a rhetorical question.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? While the Lord will use good friends and/or loving family members to protect us under His providence...when the difficulty or persecution becomes too much for us to bear, we must not forget to run to the Lord for protection as David did.

I Samuel 18

Who do you think was the more difficult foe for David, Goliath or Saul?

It’s sometimes difficult to see but David had to face not one but two seemingly insurmountable foes in rapid succession, Goliath in chapter 17 and Saul here in chapter 18. It seems to me that the story of David vs. Goliath is one of the lesser winning out over the greater, which is highly valued in society...and makes for a great Hollywood movie. But that story always seems to overshadow another story in this chapter, David vs. Saul (as an aside it’s interesting to note that Saul too was of great stature, taller than any other Israelite by a head). If we listen carefully to the narration in this chapter of how Saul sought to kill David we can gain even more insights into both David’s faithfulness and Saul’s faithlessness.

Before we get too far into chapter 18 it would benefit us to revisit Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1–10:

 Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes. The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them. He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.

Notice how Hannah’s prayer was clearly praise to the Lord’s faithfulness and power but also notice how it is foretelling of the story of David vs. Saul, especially in verse 2:10.

Saul’s Worry

In verse 2 in chapter 18 we see that Saul “took” David and “did not let him return” to his father’s house where he would have most likely gone back to tending sheep (to which I’m sure one of his brothers was demoted to performing that duty). We may think that Saul here was being nice to David by taking him in and providing a much more lavish and comfortable lifestyle than David had before as a shepherd. But with the addition of Saul not letting David return to his father (as he did in 1 Samuel 17:15 when Saul let David go back and forth between the king’s court and his father’s house) we get the sense that this was not a good thing that Saul was doing for David. In fact, as we understand the escalating hatred of Saul towards David throughout this chapter we beginning to realize that this “taking in of David” by Saul was more so that Saul could keep a watchful eye on this new champion of Israel. Saul was concerned (even worried) that his kingship may be in jeopardy since this young boy defeated a giant while he did nothing. You’ve heard the phrase, “keep you friends close and your enemies closer”. Well, this is just what is happening here.

To make matters worse for Saul, Jonathan (Saul’s son) not only made a covenant with David but gave him his clothing, armor, belt and weapons. The covenant shows Jonathan’s love, devotion and loyalty to David. We are also told that Jonathan loved David as himself (sounds a bit like the golden rule). Now Jonathan could have stopped there but he strips down and gives David everything he is wearing. This is important to understand since Jonathan is basically relinquishing his title as prince (successor to Saul’s throne) and giving David this title. Jonathan sees who David truly is, the anointed king. It is interesting that Saul is also beginning to see this same thing. However, both Jonathan and Saul treat David in a diametrically opposed manner (i.e., one loves David and one hates him).

Saul’s Anger

In verse 8 we see Saul’s worry turn into anger as the women came out and sang that Saul had killed his thousands while David his ten thousands. This was a very true statement. While Saul was cowering and trying to come up with a plan to defeat the Philistines both Jonathan and David (at separate times) had taken the initiative and attacked the Philistines with the Lord’s help. Also, remember how Saul had made that silly oath that no one would eat until the Philistines had been defeated. Well, that oath prevented the army from doing just that, fully wiping out the Philistine threat. Now as David was returning from beheading the giant and defeating the Philistine army, the people were honoring David above Saul. I wonder if that song the women sang was intended as a direct stab at Saul.

Saul’s Suspicion

At the end of verse 8 and into verse 9 Saul, in his anger, basically says that the only thing left for David to have is to be king over Israel. This was cause for Saul to regard David with suspicion. Some translations use the term Jealousy instead of suspicion. Either way, Saul’s suspicion/jealousy would completely control his actions from here on. It is interesting how this section (verses 1-9) plays out. Saul first worries about this new upstart that has done what he could only hope to do (i.e., defeat Goliath). This worry turns quickly into anger as Saul sees that the people (correctly) give more credit to David. This anger forms into a seething suspicion (including jealousy) of David and his motives. Surely the words of Samuel were still reverberating in Saul’s ears from 1 Samuel 15:28:

So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

Now we have a very good picture of Saul and his mindset towards David. Let’s see how this begins to escalate throughout the rest of the chapter and how David responds.

David Physically Attacked (verses 10-11)

Now the next day we see the distressing (evil) spirit of God again beset Saul in a powerful way, much more so than when this spirit previously beset Saul. This spirit tormented Saul to the point he began to prophesy. We should look closer at this word “prophesy”; Although, some translations translate this word as “rave”. But prophesy in this context does not mean to foretell the future. Rather it means that Saul was speaking out loud before others who were in his house prompted by this evil spirit (note also earlier in this book that the Spirit of the Lord also caused people to prophesy in a different, non-raving, manner). Now we can better understand what this looked like by noting that once the evil spirit fell upon Saul then he began prophesying/raving in his house.

As an aside, you may be wondering why I made this last statement. That is, why did I say that the evil spirit fell upon Saul THEN he began prophesying/raving. Well, this warrants a brief look at conjunctions in Hebrew. Hebrew conjunctions are different from what we see in Greek and even in English. Many Hebrew conjunctions, such as the one here in verse 10, are actually a character attached to a word (the verb prophesy or rave in this verse). This particular conjunction in the Hebrew is called a Vav-Relative Imperfect (since the Vav-Relative conjunction is prefixed to the imperfect verb prophesy/rave). Anyway, what this means is that this conjunction “and” in verse 10 expresses temporal succession. And what that means is that this conjunction is basically saying, “The next thing that happened was...” So this word “and” here logically connects the evil spirit coming on Saul with Saul’s ravings. Actually, in 1 Samuel this type of conjunction happens quite a lot.

Now all we have to do is compare this to when the Spirit of the Lord fell on Saul back in verse 1 Samuel 19:23–24:

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. 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?”

Notice that Saul here prophesied (not raved in this context) before Samuel once the Spirit of the Lord was with him. Also of note is the first “and” in verse 19:24 that is also a Vav-Relative, attached to an Imperfect verb. So while the Spirit of the Lord caused Saul to prophesy in line with the Spirit’s leading, the evil spirit that the Lord sent cause Saul to rave as a lunatic. I could only imagine what Saul was saying out loud in his own house.

Of course, in good form, here was David right beside Saul trying to sooth him with his music. But it seems that this spirit was tormenting Saul so deeply that David’s music had no effect. And then you see in verse 10 that David had his harp in his hand and the narrator contrasts this with the spear that was in Saul’s hand. I love when the narrator in 1 Samuel writes in a way that allows easy comparisons and contrasts between each person in this book. You could simply do an entire study on each of the main characters in 1 Samuel and how they compare or are contrasted with others in this same book. But here we have what is in David’s hand (a harp) that is used to sooth Saul’s torment from the evil spirit contrasted with the spear in Saul’s hand, which is an implement of war and of killing. Never once does that change according to the narrator. We don’t see David exchange his harp for a weapon nor do we see Saul exchange his spear for an olive branch. This echo’s what David said to Goliath back in 1 Samuel 17:47:

“and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.” David knew (and lived by the fact that) his Lord would deliver him and that David did not have to pick up a spear or sword to defend himself. The Lord was his deliverer.

Next we see Saul using the spear in his hand in an attempt on David’s life. But this was not just Saul angrily throwing a spear at David to kill him. No, Saul was so enraged that he was thinking not only would he kill David with it, but he wanted to actually pin him to the wall with the spear. Not only was there murder in Saul’s actions, but he wanted to make a spectacle of David’s death, perhaps so that other’s wouldn’t get the idea to usurp Saul’s throne in the future.

What did David do? He never once attacked Saul physically or verbally. He simply escaped Saul, running from Saul’s presence. This echos the story of what Joseph did when confronted with Potiphar’s wife’s advances. Joseph like David simply ran from the enemy’s presence. But we know that David was not alone in this trial, his Lord was with him in His Spirit. The Lord’s providential care was over David as the Lord’s sovereign will had yet to be fulfilled.

David Exiled (verses 12-16)

Saul’s direct attempts to kill David had failed. This caused Saul to be afraid of David. This was no “fear out of respect” that we saw in 1 Samuel 12:14:  “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him...” No, this was a dreadful fear that terrified Saul. Saul now knows for sure that the Lord has departed from him and was now with David. But do you see what Saul does because of this new revelation. In verse 13a it says, “therefore Saul removed him [David] from his presence...” Just as the Lord removed Saul from His presence (by removing His Spirit), Saul now removed David from his presence. It’s as if Saul is acting like a two year old (if I can’t have what I want than neither can you). What’s worse is that this is starting to sound as if Saul is thinking as if he is like God (this is not a stretch as many nations of this time viewed there kings as gods or like gods). Saul is doing to David what the Lord did to him.

So Saul came up with a new idea. Maybe he couldn’t kill David but he could send him far away. Saul basically exiles David in verse 13b when he makes David a military commander of a large number of men. This meant that David would be away from Saul, maybe permanently. But this too backfired on Saul. David acted wisely and the Lord was giving David success wherever he went. Not only that but the people of Israel all loved and respected David, unlike Saul.

What did David do? Again David never once attacks Saul physically or verbally. Instead David obeys Saul. This seems strange, why would David be so passive with Saul. David was the rightful ruler of Israel, he had Jonathan’s clothes, armor, belt and weapons, David also had the people’s love and affection. Why not just take what was rightfully his? Well, we have clues as to the mind of David. One clue is in the way David loved the Lord (the living God as he would say) and how he loved the people of Israel as we see in 1 Samuel 17:26:

Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”

And in 1 Samuel 17:37:

And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

Now taking a king’s throne by force is a very messy business (not that I’ve ever done that). If David had risen up and taken Saul’s throne by force think of all the harm it could have done to the people of Israel. People would have died. Families would have to take sides, probably under the fear of death. Things would have been thrown into chaos. But most importantly the Lord would not have the glory. I believe David didn’t want to put the people through all of that but there is a greater reason than just this. David knew that the Lord would deliver him as He had done so many times before. David knew that his patience would allow the Lord to act. David loved the Lord so much that he would risk the throne just as long as the Lord would be glorified and honored first.

David Attacked By Proxy (verses 17-19)

Saul had now failed twice to kill or rid himself of David. He had to get a little more creative in his next attempt. Maybe Saul could find someone else to kill David.

Saul had earlier given out a reward to the man who defeated Goliath. Part of that reward was his daughter’s hand in marriage, see 1 Samuel 17:25:

The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.”

So Saul thought that he’d give his daughter Merab to David. However, David came from a poor background and wouldn’t have anything to offer the king in return (i.e., a dowry used in Eastern countries as a way to purchase a wife). Saul, knowing this, told David to go out and be valiant and fight the Lord’s battles against Israel’s enemies (it is interesting to note that Saul now uses the phrase “the Lord’s battles” where before he would typically say “his battles” or “his enemies”). But Saul had an ulterior motive behind this. Saul was hoping that in one of the numerous battles David would be killed.

What did David do? David acted wisely. Not so long ago Saul tried to viciously kill David with a spear (actually more than once). This would have been something that David would have considered when Saul offered him his daughter. I believe that David’s line of reasoning was that of, “Why is Saul, the one who was just the other day trying to murder me at multiple times, now being so nice to me. Saul is graciously giving me his daughter’s hand in marriage and allowing me to pay him a dowry for his daughter by going to war with the Lord’s enemies.” This couldn’t have made sense to David. Surely Saul had a more devious desire in mind for him.

So David, through the Spirit’s guidance, had to have come to the conclusion that something else was at work here and it wasn’t the Lord. Through this straightforward observation of Saul and through the Lord’s Spirit’s prompting David to respond in such a way. David both did not provoke Saul and at the same time sidestepped this evil plan of Saul’s. David simply stated that he was nobody and that he was not worthy to become the king’s son-in-law. Notice that David even posed this as a rhetorical question to Saul, further limiting Saul’s response.

A Snare Set For David (verses 20-28)

The Lord was not with Saul, causing him to descend still deeper into despair and fear of David. While the Lord was with David, enabling him not only to successfully dodge Saul’s attacks but also to increasingly gain the favor of the people of Israel. The reason for David’s success is directly attributed to the Lord’s Spirit on David. Saul knows this but still hardens his heart towards both the Lord and David (sounds a bit like Pharaoh, doesn’t it).

In verse 20 Saul is told that Michal, his daughter, is in love with David. Rather that preventing the union Saul contrives another trap similar to the one he used with Merab. Saul would set Michal as a snare to David enticing him to take Michal as his wife (i.e., in other words, taking the bait). However, Saul knew David’s response would be the same as with Merab, that he had no dowry to give the king for his daughter. Knowing this, Saul was ready with a reply to David that all he had to do is give him 100 foreskins from the Philistines. This would have been a fairly easy feat for David to accomplish, however it was not without its danger. Saul couldn’t get David to fight battles (plural) when he offered David his daughter Merab but Saul  in his deviousness thought that if he could entice David to go into a battle (or maybe 2 or 3 smaller skirmishes) with the Philistines and return a much more specific prize (i.e., 100 foreskins) that his trap would be sprung and David would die fighting.

We see in verse 26 that David, upon hearing that Saul only wanted 100 foreskins for his daughter’s hand in marriage, was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Wait! What!?!? Saul earlier tried to use the same basic trap to entice David to go to war for him and hopefully die in battle. But David saw through that scheme and wisely walked away. Now David is (probably) knowingly walking into Saul’s snare. How could this be! Well we know that Mishal loved David and that love was most likely reciprocated. And this time, with Michal, the “dowry” required by Saul was limited. Previously, Saul required David to go out and fight his battles, that is “battles”, possibly without limitations, whereas here there was a specific limit which was easily attainable by David. most importantly, we know (and David knew) that since the Lord was with David that he would be victorious in his battles against the Philistines. So David must have thought that this was a perfectly satisfactory and easily to satisfy request from the king.

In verse 27 David proved that this was a easy feat for him to accomplish, having the Sprit of the Lord on him. In fact David doubled the request from the king and brought back 200 foreskins instead of the required 100. Further proving that the Lord was with David.

Conclusion

Notice the progression of both Saul and David throughout this chapter. Saul progressed deeper into fear and desperation as he tried progressively more devious methods to murder David. Throughout this chapter three times it is said of Saul that he feared David (verses 12, 15 and 29). In verse 29 it says that Saul was even more afraid of David showing the deep progression of his fear. Contrary to that David progressively grew more loved and esteemed in the eyes of the people. David’s success grew in spite of the fact that Saul tried to kill or exile him. You see with the Lord we, like David, are protected under His sovereignty. This doesn’t mean we will not encounter danger (remember how David had to dodge Saul’s spears and go into battle to acquire the 200 foreskins). Nor does it mean that we will not be exiled or persecuted (remember how Saul removed David from his presence and in a way exiled him). But in all of this that David suffered he always acted faithfully and wisely, and we can’t forget patiently as well.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? We must remember that the battle is the Lords! We do not fight the Lord’s battles in our own strength. We give room and time for the Lord to choose the battle, choose the time and choose the place. We act wisely and faithfully, remembering that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Then in submission to the Lord we fight as He directs us to fight, for the battle is the Lord’s.

I Samuel 17

When faced with a dire situation where do you place your faith?

In chapter 17 the Philistine and Israeli armies had gathered together to fight, but each army held high ground with a deep valley separating the two. In order to attack each other, one army would have to come down in to the valley and then fight an uphill battle against the opposing army. This was not an enviable situation for either army. Let’s examine how each side dealt with this situation.

The Philistine Strategy

The Philistines came up with an interesting strategy to win the war with minimal casualties (actually no casualties...if the plan succeeded). They took their largest most impressive warrior (a fighter from youth, large in size), outfitted him with armor from head to toe and gave him several weapons (javelin, spear and sword). Then they had this warrior stand in the valley between the two armies and taunt the Israeli army mercilessly. This warrior gave Israel an ultimatum: fight me and win and we will be your servants or fight me and lose and you will be our servants.

The Philistines had obviously placed their faith in what they saw. On paper, Goliath was an unstoppable force. He was large and imposing, armored with the best armor (the scale armor weighed in at an impressive 126 lbs...imagine the strength necessary to walk around in that) and arrayed with powerful weapons. But that wasn’t all that Goliath brought to the table. He also was adept at psychological warfare. Notice how he taunts the Israeli army. First Goliath mocks Israel saying, “Why have you come out to line up for battle?” Earlier (in previous chapters) we saw most of the Israelites run and hide in caves before the massive Philistine army. Surely Goliath is bringing this stinging truth back to Israel’s mind. Then he continues with, “Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?” This is a remark directed at Israel’s turning from the Lord and desiring to set up an earthly king for herself. Remember earlier in 1 Samuel that there were times that the Philistines knew of the Lord’s protection of Israel? One specific case of this is when the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant and the Lord’s judgement fell on the Philistines. Now Goliath is specifically attacking Israel saying in effect, “Where is your God?” Now is where Goliath presents the challenge for Israel to send out a warrior to face him in combat...the loser subjecting his nation to servitude.

It seems as if the Philistines had done their homework and had created a situation where they could not lose. In fact, the narration bears this out. Saul and the people (remember the Lord took His spirit away from Saul at this time) were dismayed (having no courage) and terrified of Goliath and his challenge. Saul was pretty much useless as king. There was no enabling Spirit of the Lord to guide him and give him courage. Not only was Saul useless but his troops did nothing out of fear. This went on for 40 days. It seemed as if all hope was lost.

David’s Strategy...Faithfulness

Then David enters the scene. Directed by his father to go to the front lines to give his brothers food and to give their commander a spread of cheeses (perhaps to entice the commander to keep Jesse’s sons safe or to put them in the commander’s good graces), David does as his father asks and meets up with his brothers. It is interesting here that the author specifies that David went back to his shepherding duties while his three eldest brothers followed Saul into battle. The three brothers that the Lord had rejected were following the one that the Lord had rejected as King. All of this happened after David had been anointed instead of his brothers. Not only were the brothers still following a man who made (and is making) poor decisions (remember the fiasco with Saul’s oath for no one to eat until he had his revenge on the Philistines) but later in verse 28 we see David’s oldest brother chastising David saying that he has an evil heart and is arrogant. So David’s brothers were showing their hardened hearts, a further vindication of the Lord’s rejection of them.

David’s Discourse With His Brothers And The Army

As David was dropping off the supplies for his brothers on the front line in verse 22, he went out to greet his brothers and see how they were doing so as to bring back word of them to their father. Goliath once again showed himself in defiance...ridiculing and challenging the Israeli army. The Israelis once again fled and were greatly terrified. They told David of Goliath and the reward that Saul would give to the man who defeated Goliath. This is an interesting dichotomy between David and Saul right here. David is literally on the front lines seeing first hand what is going on while Saul is way at the back away from the battle. Saul is not acting to defeat Goliath (Saul’s “valiant” acts have now ceased); rather, Saul is encouraging someone else to defeat Goliath by offering a prize to whomever defeats the giant (including money, his daughter and to live free in the land forever, that is to not pay any more taxes).

So now David knows of the reward for killing Goliath, but in verse 26 David spoke again to the fearing men of the army of Israel reiterating the question of what Saul will give to the man who kills Goliath. David is not asking a question here. He is presenting a rhetorical question designed to boost moral and make the men on the front lines consider taking action rather than cowering. And then David says something very wise thus showing his faithfulness. David asks another rhetorical follow up question, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” It’s as if David puts Goliath on one side of a scale and the living God on the other side. The scales will always tilt towards the living God and never towards a man. David is comparing the evil unclean Goliath to the living God. There can be no comparison; God always is victorious. But did you see that David also describes God as the living God, further showing David’s faith in God. David viewed the Lord as active and living, not as the Philistine idols that were made of wood and metal, totally dead.

David was now doing what the king should have been doing...standing with his men at the front line facing the enemy, bolstering his troops and not hiding behind the lines where it was safe. We are seeing verses 1 Samuel 12:24-25 being played out right before our eyes:

“Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.”

King Saul and his army were performing wickedly, fearing man (Goliath) and disobeying the Lord. Whereas David was doing the opposite, fearing the Lord and obeying. Like Jonathan and Samuel before him, the Lord was about to use one man who is faithful to carry out His will. And like Jonathan as with David, the entire army of Israel was left behind not to participate in the Lord’s will (that is, until after the Lord gave the victory to both Jonathan and David, then the armies found their courage).

But even after all of this encouragement by David the army of Israel would not cease to fear Goliath. In verse 27 the men of the army replied to David that yes, whomever defeats Goliath will get a reward. They would recognize that the man who defeats Goliath would get a reward, but none of them were willing to be that man! Then we see Eliab’s anger towards David for trying to encourage the troops in verses 28-29, thinking that David just wanted to be a spectator with a front row seat to the fight. Of course we know this couldn’t be farther from the truth. But David continued to bolster the troops as we see in verse 30 as he left his brothers.

David And Saul’s Discourse

Now during this time, someone told Saul what David was saying to the troops. Saul in the excitement of his cowardice, thinking that he’d finally found his champion who might defeat Goliath, calls David to his presence. Let’s break down the conversation between Saul and David in verses 1 Samuel 17:32–37:

David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

First David shows real concern for the troops. David does not want their hearts (courage) to fail them because of Goliath. David then states that he will step into the gap between the troops and Goliath and fight Goliath (knowing this would be a fight to the death). Saul replies as one would who is walking by sight. Saul sees Goliath and David in comparison and immediately states that David is no match for Goliath. Imagine Saul’s elation descending back into fear at seeing David.

In response to Saul’s “fear of man” response, David assures him that indeed he has fought beasts of the field (possibly even more significantly dangerous than Goliath) such as bears and lions with nothing but a Shepard's staff and a sling. Notice also in David’s description of battling bears and lions that David sought them out and attacked them, killing them if they turned and attacked him. David was no weakling, no underdog. The Lord had raised David from a youth to be a leader and fearless warrior. Now, since Goliath had disrespected the armies of the living God (here we see David specify “living” to describe God), David would see and contend with this Philistine just as he saw and contended with the bear and lion. David was not afraid of Goliath or what he saw Goliath to be. David loved and adored the Lord so much that to even disparage the people of the Lord was a sin that necessitated the death of Goliath.

David’s final response to Saul showed the full depth of his faith. David says that the Lord delivered him from the bear and the lion and He will deliver him from Goliath. Compare this to what Jonathan says in 1 Samuel 14:10:

“But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us.”

Jonathan states that the Lord “has already given” (a verb in the past tense of a perfective aspect) the victory. In other words, Jonathan’s faith knows that the Lord has already given the victory. Whereas David says in verse 37, “He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistines.” David is using the future tense “will deliver” to show once again that his faith in the Lord to save him from yet another seemingly overwhelming problem is firm. With both men there is no hesitation, there is no questioning and there is no fear. With Jonathan’s faith he knows the Lord has already given him the victory, but with David’s faith he knows that the Lord will indeed give him the victory. Their faith has set in their minds that the Lord provides the victory.

David And Goliath’s Discourse

Next we see David preparing to do battle with Goliath. David grabs his staff and some choice rocks for his sling and proceeds to meet Goliath on the battlefield. Let’s examine how David handles Goliath’s taunts in 1 Samuel 17:42–47:

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

Goliath obviously has no respect for David (or the Lord for that matter) as Goliath sees a much smaller, weaker, younger and less armed opponent. Goliath probably saw David being sent out to battle him as an insult by the Israelis. Then Goliath cursed David by his gods. Finally, Goliath says to David to “come to me”, which evokes the image of Jonathan asking for a sign from the Lord that the Philistines would also call him to “come to them”,  and that Goliath would feed the birds of the sky and beasts of the field with David’s body.

Then David replied. David acknowledges Goliath’s power but does not respond in kind. Rather, David responds that he comes in the name of the Lord of hosts. David associates himself with the almighty Lord, emphasizing that it is not that he comes in his own earthly power but in the power of the Lord, the Lord who is the God of the armies of Israel. This is in direct contrast to how Goliath addressed the army of Israel in verse 8 where he called the army of Israel the servants of Saul (not the Lord). David is setting the story straight. Goliath wasn’t just taunting the army of Israel but the Lord Himself.

Then David not only tells Goliath that he will kill him but how (that the Lord will deliver Goliath into David’s hands) and the result (Goliath’s head will be removed from his body). But David doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say that not only will Goliath die right here but that the army of the Philistines will feed the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field (echoing what Goliath said about David). Notice that Goliath only sought to kill a single man but David empowered by the Spirit sought to kill Goliath and the rest of the Philistine army. This was all for the Glory of the Lord as David said this would all be done to let all the earth understand that the God in Israel is real and that the Lord saves His people.

David had experience going up against bigger, stronger foes such as bears and lions. Without a doubt David could have “borrowed” a sword or spear from Saul’s extensive armory, but David decided not to. Saul wanted to clothe David in his best armor and give him his best weapons but David says, “No.” Instead David goes out to meet Goliath just as he would go out to protect his sheep...with his simple clothes (offering no real protection), a staff and a sling. All this was seemingly insignificant compared to what David would go up against. This is yet another example of David’s faith in action. David didn’t give himself every advantage that he could find. Rather, David humbly gave room for the Lord to work. Without this room for the Lord to work, less glory would have been given to the Lord and both armies would not have witnessed the overwhelming power of the Lord working through David.

The last line of David’s discourse with Goliath is probably the most important for us to clearly understand. David says that the Lord does not deliver (save from destruction) by man made weapons like the sword or spear; rather, the battle itself is the Lord’s and the Lord will make David (and Israel) victorious. David, by not bringing a sword or spear to the battle, was showing literally that the Lord, through David, does not battle as man battles. (This also echos the idea in verse 16:7 when the Lord says that He does not see as man sees.) Whatever disadvantage David was at, it did not matter because the battle was the Lord’s. This is important for us to understand today. Do we try to fight with the sword and spear...cutting words and flaming darts sent towards our enemies? Or do we, like David, show up to the battle without armor and with only simple common weapons...wisdom and faith. If we truly know and understand that the battle is (and always has been) the Lord’s, we might do as David did.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this? We do as David did. We first hold our Lord in the greatest respect (see 1 Samuel 12:24-25). Then we go to the front lines where the Lord is being challenged. Then when the Lord calls us into battle, we go as we are because we believe that the battle is the Lord’s. Finally, we give full glory to the Lord. Fighting the battle in our own strength with sword and spear is a recipe for disaster, great anxiety and failure.

Listen again as David speaks:

1 Samuel 17:32:

David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

1 Samuel 17:36–37:

“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

1 Samuel 17:45–47:

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

I Samuel 16

With what measure do you judge others, especially leaders?

With elections upon us, 1 Samuel 16 is a most relevant message for us today. How would you judge a person worthy as a leader or elected official? It is so easy to look at the outside of the person: are they good looking, charismatic, an effective speaker, do they say what you want to hear? But how do we look at their character, their heart as the Lord does? As it says in 1 Samuel 16:7:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

How do we look at the heart of a person rather than the external appearance? Well, let’s start with what not to look at.

But first a quick note on the structure of chapter 16. Verses 1-13 narrate the choosing and anointing of David as the Lord’s new king for Israel. Whereas the rest of the chapter (verses 14-23) narrate the fall of Saul as king of Israel. But these two sections have a common thread between them, the person of David. We see the Lord’s providence at work as He raises up David while simultaneously rejecting Saul as king. The Lord’s providence is even more clear in the second part of this chapter as David is invited into king Saul’s court, thus beginning the establishment of David’s rule under the nose of Saul.

Chapter 16 begins with The Lord instructing Samuel to go to Bethlehem and anoint the new king that the Lord has chosen. Samuel obeys, somewhat reluctantly due to a fear of reprisal from Saul. Upon Samuel’s arrival in Bethlehem he prepares Jesse the Bethlehemite and his sons for the sacrifice. As Jesse and his sons came to the sacrifice they entered in a certain order. The firstborn of Jesse entered first followed by the second born and so on until the next to youngest son entered (the youngest son seems to have not been invited).

Then in verse 6 we see that Samuel looked at Eliab the firstborn and thought that surely the one that the Lord wants Samuel to anoint is Eliab. But in verse 7 the Lord says to Samuel that this is not the one to be anointed. It’s interesting that the Lord also says to not look at Eliab’s appearance or his stature. The Lord does not tell Samuel that because of Eliab’s appearance He is rejecting him but simply to not take into account external appearances. This becomes important as David enters the scene.

Verse 7 continues with explaining that the Lord looks at a person’s heart. The Lord does not look upon a person as we do. We look at the physical or outward appearance. And we tend to be drawn to people by their outward appearance, not so with the Lord. But how do we look at a person’s heart as the Lord does? First we need to define what “heart” means to the Hebrews at this time. The heart was a concept that consisted of a person’s intellect, emotions, will and desires. The heart was what was inside a person, unseen by all but the Lord. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true. We cannot physically “see” intellect, emotions, will and desires but we can see the outworking of those things. Remember back from the study on Matthew in Mt 12:34-35:

“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”

From this we can infer that we can “see”, in a manner of speaking, a person’s heart. If the person’s heart is filled with good then what that person says and does will align with goodness. Likewise, an evil person will speak and act according to the evil that fills his/her heart. But it takes time to discern a person’s heart. Yes, the Spirit of the Lord is there to help us and guide us on these matters, but sometimes the Lord will be silent in this matter in order to possibly teach us a valuable lesson. I remember there was a person in a church that I attended a long time ago in another state. This person did all the right things and said all the right Christian words, but his heart was not right with the Lord (in fact I doubt that he was ever a Christian due to the outpouring of his heart). I considered this person a friend and brother in the faith, but soon his heart was let loose. It started slowly, a few odd things were said and maybe some out-of-place behaviors came out, nothing too terrible, just odd. But then things grew out-of-hand and his mouth could not hold back the vitriol that was overflowing in his heart. Long story short, this created a huge rift in the church and we all parted ways. Maybe I didn’t listen closely enough to the Spirit’s leading or maybe the Lord wanted me to go through this for some greater good, maybe just such a time as this where I can use this lesson from the Lord to more clearly present Gospel truth. I should really pray for him right now...

We must always keep in mind that the Lord knows us better than we can even know ourselves as it says in Jeremiah 17:10:

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

And in 1 Chronicles 28:9:

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”

Back to Samuel…we see in verses 8-10 that all of Jesse's sons passed before Samuel and the Lord rejected each in turn. That must have been a little confusing to Samuel. The Lord sent him to anoint the next king of Israel and the chosen one never showed up. What Samuel didn’t know (until he asked Jesse) was that there was an eighth son that was out in the fields tending the sheep.

Jesse here was also looking at the external. He probably thought that his firstborn Eliab was the best looking and had the best pedigree as he was the firstborn, which was a big deal in the Hebrew culture. So he put Eliab first in line to show off to Samuel. Surely David, the youngest, was not important enough to warrant him being present for the sacrifice, plus the sheep needed tending. But the Lord saw not as Jesse saw. The Lord wanted the youngest son, whose heart was aligned with His, to become the next king. Who does David sound like? Someone who faithfully tends his father’s sheep and who also is king...Jesus Christ our Lord! In fact, Jesus would be a descendant of the line of David thus fulfilling prophecy.

Already we see certain aspects of David that show he has a good heart. He obeys his father even when that means that he won’t be attending an important event (an event designed for him, no less). He works as a shepherd which requires a great amount of humility as shepherds were usually dirty and smelly since they spent most of their time close to the sheep out in the wilderness. But did you notice in verse 12 that David’s external appearance was handsome? Wait, didn’t the Lord just reject Eliab, Jesse’s firstborn, because of this? Well, no...the Lord does not see as man sees. The Lord sees the heart, and David’s heart was much better than his brothers’. Just read any of the Psalms that David wrote (Psalm 27, for example). It just so happened that David’s appearance was pleasing. However, it’s always the heart the Lord is concerned with.

>Then in verse 13 the Lord told Samuel to anoint David. This would be the first anointing of 3. This first one would be done in secret. Well, sort of in secret since David’s family was present and probably a number of the elders that Samuel encountered as he entered Bethlehem. Some semblance of secrecy was necessary as Saul was still acting king of Israel and would continue to be for some time. The Lord would use this time to prepare David for his kingship.

Now this anointing was done in the midst of David’s brothers. Right here I’m reminded of the story of Joseph (in Genesis) and how his brothers conspired to kill him since he was his father’s favorite and how he had prophetic dreams of all his brothers bowing down to him. I can picture the scene with all David’s brothers thinking they were going to be a part of something important and special and then David, who wasn’t even supposed to be there, gets the prize, the golden ticket (as his brothers probably saw it). Can you imagine the jealousy? The youngest, who probably got all the hand-me-down clothes, was to be king. In fact, we read in 1 Samuel 17:28:

Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”

We see that indeed Eliab (and possibly his other brothers) was jealous of David. It’s important to note that Samuel doesn’t mention that he’s anointing David to be king but just that he’s anointing David for some important future duty. However, they would have all recognized the Holy Spirit descending on David making this anointing clearly the Lord’s doing. And, as we all know from other OT narratives, the Lord anoints a person in order to have them perform spectacular tasks for the glory of the Lord.

However, Eliab and the other brothers were also seeing David through the eyes of man. They looked on the external and probably thought, “How could this be? I’m better than David! He’s just the youngest.” They were not seeing David as the Lord saw him.

Now in verse 14-15 we switch to Saul and see the Lord rejecting him as king. Notice that this appointment of David as king so far only involved the Spirit of the Lord being given to David and removed from Saul. David did not actually assume the throne at this moment. It actually takes quite a bit of time for David to assume the throne as we shall see in the upcoming chapters. But the Lord in His providence would work all of these things for His sovereign good.

Moreover, the evil spirit that the Lord allowed to torment Saul was for the purpose of giving David access to the king’s court. This would place David in the eyes of the king (and David would become another one of Saul’s armor bearers) as well as all of Israel. As the Spirit of the Lord guided David to act faithfully, the people of Israel would grow to love their new king.

From this point on we see Saul’s power and influence wane due to the Sprit of the Lord leaving him...essentially leaving Saul powerless. Then the tormenting spirit that the Lord allowed to terrorize Saul further deepened his depression, fear and mental imbalance. We will see in the next chapter that Saul becomes even more powerless as a leader and unhinged as a man. But through all of this we see David’s Spirit enabled faithfulness bring victory for Israel when Saul’s inactivity only brings consternation to the people.

While the title that Trev chose for this study on 1 Samuel, “Finding peace in the chaos”, refers to the events involving the Israelites at this time, it is upon reflection just as applicable for us today. We too can find peace in the chaos of our lives and in the times we are living in. How do we do this?

We must do better at examining other’s hearts while asking the indwelling Spirit to guide us and teach us in all wisdom how to do better at this task. Understanding a person’s heart allows us to set up God fearing, God obeying (1 Samuel 12:14-15) leaders, which in turn enables us to enjoy peace between us and God. Think of it this way...if we only look at the external, we are doomed to set up Sauls as leaders. However, in listening to the Spirit and examining the heart of a person (granted this second part is not an easy task), we will set up Davids as leaders in our lives. Which one sounds more peaceful to you?