King Saul Keeps David on the Run
We saw last time that after David slew Goliath, King Saul grew both jealous and suspicious of him, because the Israelites glorified David more than he. (See God Covered David with His Spirit, Removing It from Saul.)
David is staying at Saul’s home. Saul is troubled once more, even as David plays the harp. In fact, he chucks a spear at him twice, telling himself that he only wants to pin David to the wall.
He escaped both times. Why is Saul acting this way?
Saul was then afraid of David, for the Lord was with David and had turned away from Saul. Finally, Saul sent him away and appointed him commander over 1,000 men, and David faithfully led his troops into battle. 1 Sm. 18:12, 13. NLT
David is successful in everything that he does. This makes Saul even angrier. As a matter of fact, look at the previous Scripture. Saul gives David 1000 men. That is dramatically reduced in number from a normal battalion. The king is trying to send David undermanned against the Philistines, hoping that he will get killed.
This takes place after Saul marries his daughter Michal off to David. Yet, David returns victorious. Now, Saul gets serious:
Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David, told him what his father was planning. 1 Sm. 19:1, 2. NLT
Furthermore, Saul hurled another spear at David (and missed), and sent troops to David’s house to kill him, but Michal hid him. Then, David escaped to see the prophet Samuel and told him of Saul’s doings.
After that, David found Jonathan and asked him why his father was so bent on killing him. Jonathan pledges his fealty to David. However, Saul gets angry at his son for not killing David. In fact, he even tried to kill Johnathan.
He in turn, tells David that Saul is hell-bent on killing him and to flee from the king.
David escapes first to a priest, Ahimelech, high priest in the town of Nob, who gave him the sacrificial ‘show bread’ from the tabernacle and armed him with the sword of Goliath.
Saul gets wind of this and has Ahimelech and 85 other priests put to death, as well as all the townspeople. David wrote a psalm describing this atrocity.[1]
David runs to the Philistine King Achish for refuge, feigning insanity.
The king’s underlings aren’t convinced and remained wary of his presence.
Meanwhile, Saul is pursuing David like a madman:
Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats. 1 Sm. 24:2 NLT
David and his 600 men are hiding in a cave. Saul chose this very cave to relieve himself. David’s men wanted to kill Saul, but he stayed their hands, remaining hidden. While Saul was doing his business, David stealthily cut off a piece of Saul’s robe:
After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, David came out and shouted after him, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him.
Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me. 1 Sm. 24:7 – 11. NLT
Saul replies:
“Is that really you, my son David?” Then he began to cry. And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil.” 1 Sm. 24:16, 17. NLT
Saul then admits to David that he knows he will become the new king, and they each go their separate ways…
Samuel died, and all Israel assembled to mourn for him, and they buried him by his home in Ramah. 1 Sm. 25:1 CSB
David picks up a new wife, Abigail, in addition to Ahinoam and Michal.
Saul goes after David again, despite his promise to do him no harm.
Accompanied by two men, David scouts out Saul’s whereabouts and sneaks right into Saul’s encampment and removes the sleeping king’s spear and water jug. At a safe distance, David chastises the king’s soldiers for not protecting him, and displays the spear and jug.
Saul responds:
Saul responded, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.” 1 Sm. 26:21 CSB
And they went their separate ways once more. David returned to King Achish of the Philistines and convinced him that he and his men were making war on the Israelites, when in truth he was attacking Philistine outposts.
Saul’s grave error:
The Philistines gathered a large army to attack Israel. Saul panics, seeing their number. Normally, he would have turned to the prophet Samuel to get advice from God with how to proceed in battle.
Being that Samuel is dead, Saul seeks out a medium (highly proscribed by Jehovah) to call of the spirit of Samuel from the dead. She screamed when he appeared! Most of the mediums’ claims were false; so, she was beside herself to see it actually work.
Samuel’s spirit speaks:
“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” 1 Sm. 28:15 AMP
Saul answered that he didn’t know what else to do. Samuel’s spirit render’s God’s final judgment upon him:
“Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy?The Lord has done [to you] just as He said through me [when I was with you]; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord…Moreover, the Lord will also put Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me [among the dead]. Indeed, the Lord will put the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.” 1 Sm. 28:19 AMP
Indeed, the Philistines beheaded King Saul and killed his three sons the very next day…
Stay tuned for KING David.
Goodnight and God bless.
[1] Ps. 52
Building Better Americans 159
God Covered David with His Spirit, Removing It from Saul
Last time, we saw how the people’s choice for a human king (Saul), turned out badly – exactly as God predicted. (See The First Time Was Not the Charm – Just as God said.).
The anointing:
The prophet Samuel was still moping about the loss of God’s favor over Saul, even though it was completely justified. Jehovah tells him to move on:
Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.” 1 Sm. 16:1 NLT
Samuel gathers the elders of Bethlehem for a meeting with Jesse and his sons to anoint a king for Israel. Jesse brings each of seven sons, all handsome and well built, like Saul; but God doesn’t choose any of them. In fact, He tells Samuel what to look for:
“Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Sm. 16:7 NLT
Perplexed, Samuel asks Jesse if he has presented all his sons. Jesse replies that there still is the youngest son, who taking care of his sheep and goats. Samuel sends for him.
When he, David, arrives, God chooses him as king of Israel and Samuel anoints David’s head with oil.
(Mind you, David is king in God’s eyes, but he will not reign officially until years later.)
A brief and loving companionship:
Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. 1 Sm. 16:14 NLT
Saul is facing his judgment for his repeated disobedience.
Saul’s servants take note of this and tell him to find a harpist whose music would turn the spirit away when the musician played.
One of the servants just happened to remember that David fit that bill. Coincidence? Not! God is beginning to shape David for his reign. In fact, not only did David’s music soothe Saul, but he also came to love David and promoted him to be his armor bearer.
An unpredictable victory:
The Philistines lined up on one side of a valley to do battle with Israel, and Saul’s army lined up on the other.
The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him. 1 Sm. 17:3 – 7. CSB
Goliath taunts Saul and his army, daring them to send their champion to do battle with him. They were paralyzed with fear and dread. This went on for forty days!
Included in Saul’s army were three of David’s brothers. Jesse decided to have David bring food to them and report back to him of their status. When he got to the two armies facing one another, he heard Goliath’s challenges and the cowardly response of the Israelites.
David spoke to men standing next to him:
“What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes the disgrace [of his taunting] from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?” 1 Sm. 17:26, 27. AMP
David’s words were reported to Saul, who had David brought to him. David offers to fight Goliath, but Saul tries to dissuade him, saying that Goliath was a professional warrior and that he wouldn’t stand a chance.
David retorts that he has killed both a lion and a bear, and then speaks out of faith:
“…this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Sm. 17:36, 37. CSB
Saul relents and tries to give David his armor, but it was too bulky and awkward, so he takes it off and approaches Goliath armed only with a staff and a sling with five stones he found in a stream bed.
When Goliath sets his eyes on David, he blurts out:
“Am I a dog, that you come to me with [shepherd’s] staffs?” 1 Sm. 17:43 AMP
“Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. 1 Sm.17:44. NLT
David responds:
David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” 1 Sm. 17:45 – 47. NLT
David runs full bore at Goliath, immediately slinging a stone into his head, causing him to fall on his face. Grabbing Goliath’s sword, David beheads the giant. Seeing this, the Philistines flee, and Israel chased them and plundered their campsite.
Saul now kept David full-time. He made him commander of his army. Saul’s son Jonathan also greatly admired David and they made a covenant to be life-long friends.
So much for the bromance:
As they were coming [home], when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tambourines, [songs of] joy, and musical instruments. The women sang as they played and danced, saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 1 Sm. 18:6 & 7. AMP
(Of course, no one slew thousands or tens of thousands. It was only whimsical license.)
Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed [only] thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” Saul looked at David with suspicion [and jealously] from that day forward. 1 Sm. 18:8, 9. AMP
The division begins. Stay tuned…
Goodnight and God bless.