1 SAMUEL 18:28-30 CSB
28 Saul realized [saw and knew] that the LORD was with David…29 and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.
30 Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.
1 Samuel 19:1-7 CSB
David Delivered from Saul
1 Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan [delighted much in David], 2 so he [Jonathan] told him [David], “My father, Saul, intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there. 3 I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to his father, Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you. 5 He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
6 Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed.” 7 So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he did before.
Saul’s son Jonathan is interceding on David’s behalf.
1 SAMUEL 18:29 → “Saul was David’s enemy from then on.”
Jesus makes even His enemies His friends
Romans 5:10-11 ESV
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Definition of ‘reconciled’ → “restore friendly relations between”
Romans 5:2 ESV
Through him [Jesus] we have obtained access…
by faith…
into this [AMAZING] grace in which we stand,
and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
1 Samuel 19:8 CSB
8 When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.
David is on the rise.
Saul is on the decline.
1 Samuel 19:9-11 CSB
9 Now an evil spirit sent from the LORD came on Saul as he was sitting in his palace holding a spear. David was playing the lyre, 10 and Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. As the spear struck the wall, David eluded Saul, ran away, and escaped that night. 11 Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning.
David wrote Psalm 59 at this moment.
Do you feel surrounded?
Psalm 59
God Our Stronghold
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David.
When Saul sent agents to watch the house and kill him.
1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me.
2 Rescue me from evildoers,
and save me from men of bloodshed.
3 Because look, LORD, they set an ambush for me.
Powerful men attack me,
but not because of any sin or rebellion of mine.
4 For no fault of mine,
they run and take up a position.
Awake to help me, and take notice.
5 LORD God of Armies, you are the God of Israel.
Rise up to punish all the nations;
do not show favor to any wicked traitors.
Selah
6 They return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.
7 Look, they spew from their mouths—
[swords are on] their lips.
“For who,” they say, “will hear?”
8 But you laugh at them, LORD;
you ridicule all the nations.
9 I will keep watch for you, my strength,
because God is my stronghold.
10 My faithful God will come to meet me;
God will let me look down on my adversaries.
11 Do not kill them; otherwise, my people will forget.
By your power, make them homeless wanderers
and bring them down,
LORD, our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride.
They utter curses and lies.
13 Consume them in fury;
consume them until they are gone.
Then people will know throughout the earth
that God rules over Jacob.
Selah
14 And they return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.
15 They scavenge for food;
they growl if they are not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of your strength
and will joyfully proclaim
your faithful love in the morning.
For you have been a stronghold for me,
a refuge in my day of trouble.
17 To you, my strength, I sing praises,
because God is my stronghold—
my faithful God.
Do you feel surrounded?
1 Samuel 19:11-17 CSB
But [David’s] wife Michal warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!” 12 So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. 14 When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”
15 Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.” 16 When the agents arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.
17 Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”
She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
Michal completely rejects Saul.
The author seems to support it
1 Samuel 19:18 CSB
18 So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel left and stayed at Naioth.
1 Samuel 15:35 ESV
35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Ramah, Samuel’s hometown is where Samuel anointed Saul as king.
Full circle.
1 Samuel 19:19-24 CSB
19 When it was reported to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 he sent agents to seize David. However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying. 21 When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying. So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying. 22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
“At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.
23 So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God also came on him, and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah. 24 Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Now God is rejecting Saul.
1 SAMUEL 18:3 CSB
3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself. 4 Then Jonathan removed [stripped off] the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.
Jonathan takes off his royal robe
Saul takes off (Lit stripped off) his royal robe & all his clothes
This verb is only used 3 times in the book of Samuel.
1. Jonathan stripped off
2. Saul stripped off
3. Then at the very end of 1 Samuel the Philistines stripped off
1 SAMUEL 31:8-10 CSB
8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
We all have a choice every day:
Be like Jonathan or be like Saul
This is Life With Jesus
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