I Samuel Chapter 19
Please read: I Samuel 19 –
What is described in this chapter is certainly a spiritual battle. The enemy is trying to destroy David before he even assumed the throne as the king of Israel. Saul has reached a point in his jealousy of David and his suspicion that he is to take away his throne; that Saul is no longer hiding the fact that he wants David dead. He didn’t just voice this madness to some soldier in his army; Saul told his own son who was also David’s best friend. And Saul’s daughter Michal, who was David’s wife, also learned that her father wanted David dead. Saul thought nothing of his own family only his hatred for the man who would take his throne from him.
There was so much that God had wanted for Saul and his family; so much that could have been his had he only yielded control of his life to God. In this chapter we see that he is so far from God that he is considered a mad man. God has removed His Spirit from him and allowed an evil spirit to come upon him. Saul’s heart was so dark that he threw a spear at David trying to kill him.
Let's Reflect
1. Jonathan reminded Saul of the good that David had done for him. What did Jonathan remind him of?
2. Jonathan asked his father why he would murder David. What had David done?
3. Saul listened to Jonathan and made an oath to him. What was his oath?
4. Verse 7 indicates that for a while things went back to normal and David played in the palace for Saul once again. David also went back out to fight against the Philistines. But instead of being joyful of the victory, what was Saul’s demeanor?
5. Verse 10 describes the first murder attempt made on David’s life. What did Saul do?
6. David escaped to his own house, but his wife had heard that Saul’s men were coming to take him and deliver him to her father to murder him. She put an image or a bust in his bed and some other things to make it look like he was lying in bed. She had already let David down with a rope from a window. Saul either didn’t believe his men that David was sick or else he didn’t care. He wanted David brought to him bed and all. What name did Saul call David when he confronted Michal about letting David escape?
7. Michal told a story that she had to let David escape or he would have killed her. She was caught in a difficult place between her husband and her mad father. Where did David escape to?
8. Someone told Saul where David was and so he sent messengers to go and take him captive and to bring him back. What happened to the messengers?
9. These men were not simultaneously prophesying in the sense of telling the future, but they were all speaking truths about God and praising His name. This was God stepping in against evil. Saul sent more messengers, but it happened to these men as well. And it happened again with a third group of messengers. Saul efforts to kill David were being stopped by the very hand of the living God. What happened to Saul when he decided he needed to do the job himself?
10. The idea that he stripped off his clothes most likely means he removed all his royal robes down to his undergarments. It is unlikely that he was completely naked. But here for the first time, we see Saul humbled before God. Saul had broken his oath to his son Jonathan, and now he lay bare before the true King. God will always win the spiritual battle. What did the people think when they saw Saul doing this?
