Saul Tries to Kill David
v1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. Jonathan liked David very much. v2 So he warned David, ‘My father Saul is trying to kill you. Be careful tomorrow morning. Hide in a secret place and stay there. v3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are hiding. I will talk to him about you. Then I will tell you what I find out’.
v4 Jonathan spoke to his father Saul. Jonathan said good things about David. Jonathan said, ‘The king should not do anything that is wrong to his servant David. David has not done anything that is wrong to you. And he has been a great help to you. v5 David risked his life when he killed Goliath the Philistine. The Lord had a great success for Israel. You saw it and you were happy. Why do you want to do wrong to an innocent man? There is no reason for you to kill him’.
v6 Saul listened to Jonathan. Then Saul made a promise in the Lord’s name. Saul said that he would not kill David. v7 So Jonathan called to David. He told David everything that they had said. Jonathan took David to Saul. David served the king as he had done in the past.
Commentary
In the past, Saul tried to kill David in a secret way. Now, Saul hated David so much that he even told other people to kill him. Jonathan was wise. He told David to hide from Saul. Jonathan spoke to his father Saul and tried to stop him. Jonathan was more loyal to David than to his father. Jonathan reminded his father about the great things that David had done. He praised David. Jonathan wanted his father to think in a sensible way. He did not want his father to kill David. Saul listened to Jonathan. Saul realized that he was wrong. Saul made a serious promise to God. And he allowed David to live. So David went and served Saul again.
David and the Philistines
v8 The war with the Philistines started again. David went and fought the Philistines. He completely defeated them so that they ran away.
v9 But an evil spirit from the Lord came and took control of Saul. Saul was sitting in his house. He had a spear in his hand. David was playing his harp. v10 Saul tried to push his spear through David and into the wall behind him. David moved out of the way. Saul’s spear went into the wall. David ran away that night.
v11 Saul sent some of his servants to watch David’s house. Saul told them to kill David in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him. She said, "You must go away tonight or someone will kill you tomorrow." v12 So Michal helped David to get out through a window. He ran away and escaped. v13 Then Michal got an idol from their house and laid it on the bed. She put hair from a goat on the idol’s head. Then she put a cover over it.
v14 Saul sent some men to get David. Michal told them that David was ill. v15 Saul sent the men back to David and said, "Bring David to me on his bed so that I can kill him."v16 The men went back to David’s house. They found the idol on the bed. It had goat’s hair on its head.
v17 Saul said to Michal, "Why did you lie to me? You let my enemy go away. He has escaped."
Michal replied, "David asked me to help him. He said that he would kill me if I did not help him."
v18 David ran away and escaped. He went to visit Samuel at Ramah. David told Samuel everything that Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
Commentary
Saul did not keep his promise to God. Saul tried to kill David again. David escaped again. But this time he never went back to serve Saul. David had to stay away from Saul for the rest of Saul’s life. David could never trust Saul again. The events of verses 8-9 are similar to 18:6-11. Saul was jealous because God gave David success.
Verses 11-17 show that Michal was more loyal to her husband David than to her father Saul. Michal saved David’s life. Saul’s servants watched the door of David’s house. So, David had to get out of a window where the servants could not see him. The window was probably on the first floor of their house. So, Michal had to help David get down to the ground. Michal had an idol in her house. This shows that Israelites worshipped other gods as well as the Lord. However, the Bible does not say that David ever worshipped idols. Michal made the idol look like a person in the bed. God’s laws say that it is wrong to lie (Leviticus 19:11) and wrong to murder (Exodus 20:13). Michal thought that it was best to protect David. But to do that she had to tell a lie. This gave David more time to run away from Saul. In verse 17, Michal lied again. Perhaps she was afraid that Saul might kill her too.
David needed someone to help him now. He trusted Samuel so he went to visit him at Ramah. It took David about an hour to walk there.
Saul Looks for David and Samuel
v19 Saul heard that David was in Naioth in Ramah. v20 So Saul sent men to seize David. When the men arrived, they saw a group of prophets. Samuel was their leader. They were all prophesying. Then the Spirit of God came and controlled Saul’s men. They started to prophesy too. v21 When Saul heard about this he sent more men. But they prophesied too. So Saul sent a third group of men. These men also prophesied. v22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He went as far as the large well at Secu. He asked the people, "Where are David and Samuel?" The people replied, "They are at Naioth in Ramah."
v23 Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came and controlled even Saul. He continued to prophesy until he came to Naioth. v24 Then he took off his clothes and prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. The people said, "Has Saul really become a prophet?"
Commentary
Samuel and his prophets did not live in the main part of the town of Ramah. ‘Naioth’ means ‘tents’. So they probably lived at the edge of the town. In those days, prophets often lived together. An older prophet led them and taught them. Saul sent three different groups of men to seize David. The Spirit of God came and controlled all the men. "They started to prophesy" means that they behaved like the other prophets. They probably showed a lot of emotion and spoke in strange ways. Then Saul decided to go himself to get David. But Saul could not find his way. When he got to Ramah, the Spirit of God controlled him too. Saul could not kill David. Instead, he behaved like the prophets. Saul took off his clothes, including his royal coat. The people saw what happened to him. But they knew that Saul was not a real prophet.
The Spirit of God first came on Saul just after Samuel anointed him as king (1 Samuel 10:9-13). This showed that God had chosen him to be the king of Israel. But this time, the Spirit of God controlled Saul to stop him from killing the future king of Israel.
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