Read 1 Samuel 23:19-29

Sometimes God sends encouragement just at the right time. A shot in the arm, so to speak, before we face another trouble. Words of encouragement that build us up, when doubts have started creeping in. Timed so well, because they allow us to look to God and his provision in the difficulties that then come.

For David, Jonathan’s words of encouragement had just that effect. Because as soon as Jonathan left, trouble descended upon David once again. Yet despite that, God’s providential hand continued to watch over David, rescuing him again. While locals sought to betray David to Saul, God sent the Philistines against Israel to divert Saul once more. The location of David’s salvation, the Rock of Escape, reminds us of our own escape through God’s provision of Jesus, our deliverer.

We do not know how close David was to despair. After saving the inhabitants of Keilah from the Philistines, he was forced to flee because they would have betrayed him to Saul. At the right time, Jonathan’s visit encouraged him to put his trust in God, and the plans that God had laid out before David.

Just as well, because it was not just the residents of Keilah who could not be trusted. Even some of his own kinsmen, living in the area, saw an opportunity to get themselves on-side with Saul. Whereas Keilah could at least be excused for acting out of fear, there was no threat hanging over Ziph. Only the main chance.

A group of Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, telling Saul that his Public Enemy #1 was hiding in the area (v.19). They promised that if Saul came down, they would betray David into his hand (v.20).

Understandably, Saul was happy at the news. Speaking with the twisted spirituality which by now was quite a common part of Saul’s speech, like a shonky televangelist with a mansion and personal jet, Saul commended and blessed these Ziphites. “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me” (v.21). Saul saw increased gain for himself, so thought God ought to bless these men for looking out for the Real #1.

Drawing them into the plot, Saul encouraged the Ziphites to make enquiries as to David’s precise location, marking out all his hiding spots (vv.22-3). Once they had this intelligence, Saul would come down and pounce (v.24).

David’s own spies brought news of Saul’s coming, so David went once more into hiding (vv.24-5). Saul heard he was hiding in the wilderness of Maon, so pursued him there (v.25). A game of cat and mouse.

The tension builds. Saul went to one side of the mountain, David to the other. David and his men tried to get away, Saul and his men started to close in (v.26). Would David finally fall prey?

Just as the net seemed to be closing, news from the West! “A messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land’” (v.27). Foiled again!

Ironically, where Philistines were the enemy in the beginning of chapter 23, they unwittingly (except in God’s eyes) became the rescuers at the end. Saul was forced to leave the pursuit, and head cross-country to defend against the Philistine attack (v.28). That place became the Rock of Escape.

God provided once more. David escaped Saul’s hands, and moved to the wilderness of Engedi (v.29). In God’s providence, he led David through another time of trial, another time of difficulty and reliance on God, to the other side.

Once again, despite the efforts of men – of Saul, who sought his death, and of the Ziphites, who sought to feather their nests – God preserved his anointed king, David.

Yet David was not the only anointed king betrayed by kinsmen and those close to him. Jesus also was betrayed into his enemies’ hands by one of his disciples, Judas. 

Unlike David, in God’s wisdom and providence, Jesus did not escape the wrath of his enemies. Their hatred for Jesus, and ultimately for God, was poured out on Jesus when they sentenced him to death. Yet in the mystery of God’s providence, that same event saw the wrath of God against our sins poured out on Jesus instead of us.

Jesus suffered the penalty for sin, being given over into the hands of the Jewish leadership, let alone the hands of death and the devil, that we might instead escape its hand falling upon us.

Much like the irony of the Philistines being David’s saviour, there is plenty of irony that the triumph of the Jewish leadership and the Devil over Jesus, our anointed king, was also the moment of their decisive defeat.

As we go through the troubles and difficulties of life, this is a truth that we can hold onto and also share with each other as an encouragement. Jesus has suffered on our behalf, so that we are delivered into God’s presence, by God’s providence.

Jesus is, in a sense, our very own Rock of Escape.

Read 1 Samuel 14:14-18

When times are tough, faithful friends to encourage are a God-send. Literally! Friends help us bear our burdens, support and encourage us, and provide an outside perspective that we sometimes lack or start to fail to see. Friends are one way in which God provides and supports us in times of trial and difficulty.

David experienced God’s goodness continually, but he still needed a faithful friend to encourage him. While Saul was providentially hindered from finding David, the same did not extend to Jonathan. Jonathan came to David, encouraging him to remember and trust in God’s divine plan. In the same way, we have the opportunity to encourage each other to look to Jesus, our ultimate faithful friend, who secured our salvation through laying down his own life for us.

After rescuing Keilah from Philistine hands, David escaped Saul’s murderous intent when he discovered David’s location (vv.1-13). David was still on the run, but God was watching over him and protecting him.

This theme of God’s protection is summarised in verse 14, which tells us “David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.”

David fled deep into the lands of the tribe of Judah, his tribe. There, he sheltered in caves and other hiding places in the wilderness. While Saul knew he was somewhere, he did not know where Saul was. God hindered Saul in his murderous quest to track down and eliminate the dynastic rival to the throne.

While God was clearly protecting David, David was aware that Saul was actively seeking his life (v.15). As David hid in the wilderness of Ziph, he would have dealt with the same fears, worries, and doubts that we all deal with in times of difficulty and trial. Would God truly preserve him? Would God keep his promises to David as he had in the past, or would Saul finally catch up with him? 

David was faithful to God, but even the most faithful servant of God still suffers the doubts that come from the sin that resides in our bodies.

Thankfully God was not just a faithful protector, but also a faithful provider. While Saul could not find David, his own son Jonathan did not seem to have trouble!

“Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God” (v.16). Jonathan, David’s faithful friend, sought out David and encouraged him to keep trusting in God’s plans and purposes. Unlike his unfaithful father, Jonathan trusted God above his own self and desires, and encouraged David in a time of spiritual need.

Jonathan reminded David of God’s goodness. He told him not to fear “for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you” (v.17). This was not based on a view of Saul’s incompetence at spycraft, but God’s protection of David.

Jonathan confidently proclaimed that “You shall be king over Israel” (v.17), not himself. He declared that he would support David in assuming the kingly role, when his day came, not fight him for it (v.17). 

Finally, Jonathan pointed out that even Saul knew and understood this reality, even if in his sinfulness and unbelief he sought to overturn God’s Will (v.17).

Jonathan confirmed his encouragement and support to David by making a further covenant with him there in the wilderness (v.18). But ultimately, Jonathan was the encouragement David needed, but the encouragement David needed to keep looking to God. 

Jonathan did not stay with David, but went home, while David remained in the wilderness (v.18). Jonathan’s support was not to be constantly present, but to remind David that God was constantly present.

In the same way as God provided a faithful friend to encourage David, so too God places friends in our lives to support and encourage us in tough times. As believers we have the privilege of encouraging and strengthening each other’s hand in God.

Like Jonathan, our encouragement should point people to God’s constant presence. As important as it is to support each other, we support best when we point each other to Christ.

After all, Christ was the ultimate faithful friend to us all. Jesus showed us all the greatest love that a person can show by laying down his life for our sins on the Cross.

Through Jesus’ death for us, we are secured from our great foe, sin, and the death that comes with it. The promises that God made for us are fulfilled in Jesus, and Jesus’ resurrection is the demonstration of the hope that we share in God completing what he has begun.

In Jesus, God rescues and preserves us from our sins. While we still go through difficult times, he protects us and encourages us through faithful friends and fellow believers to strengthen our hand in God.

Even though trials and difficulties leave us troubled, we are not left alone. Faithful friends point us to God and to Jesus, our most faithful friend.

Read 1 Samuel 23:1-14

Life offers up difficult situations where we are unsure of what to do. We may struggle with questions of relationships, jobs, where to live, and wonder how to glorify God. When these situations arise, as believers one of our natural inclinations is to seek God’s guidance in what to do. But where do we go to seek God’s guidance? And does God offer guidance?

The answer is yes! God does offer guidance in how to live. We see this demonstrated in God’s guidance to David in 1 Samuel 23. David, faced with his own questions about what to do, sought God’s guidance. God provided that guidance to David through his priest. God provides that guidance to us through our Great High Priest, Jesus, and the Scriptures which both point us to him and come from him.

Chapter 23 begins by again highlighting the dramatic difference between Saul and David. Saul had destroyed an Israelite town and killed all (but one) of the Levitical priests as revenge for helping David. 

David, on the other hand, heard that the Philistines were attacking another Israelite town, Keilah, and stealing their food (v.1). Instead of leaving them to their fate given his own situation, David was moved to help God’s People. He inquired whether he should attack the Philistines and God told him “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah” (v.2).

While David trusted God, his followers were less sure in the circumstances (v.3). So David asked for direction from God, and God confirmed his leading to David: “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand” (v.4).

David and his men went down to Keilah, and just as God said would happen, they defeated the Philistines and took away their cattle (v.5). “So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah” (v.5) while Saul destroys townships.

Abiathar, the remaining priest, was with David at Keilah, along with the Levitical ephod that symbolised priestly office (v.6). Saul meanwhile had heard David was there, conveniently locked up behind walls! (v.7). So Saul raised the army to attack Keilah, and rid himself of David (v.8).

When David heard that Saul knew he was in Keilah, he went to Abiathar, and had him bring the ephod which held the Urim and Thummim (v.9, the Urim and Thummim were some sort of object provided to discern God’s Will).

David knelt down before God and prayed, seeking God’s guidance. David wanted to know if Saul would come down to kill him and if the inhabitants of Keilah would hand him over (vv.10-11).

Through the Urim and Thummim, God gave two answers. Firstly, yes, Saul would come down against David at Keilah (v.11). Secondly, yes, Keilah would hand him over to save their skin (v.12).

David knew what to do from there. David and his 600 men left Keilah, and scattered (v.13). Saul gave up his expedition (v.13). David and company returned to their stronghold base, and evaded Saul’s soldiers in the wilderness (v.14).

David was particularly privileged. He asked direct questions of God, and received answers through the Urim and Thummim. We do not have the same objects today. We do not have the same direct privilege; we are not David. But we do have something David looked forward to. We have something better.

David relied on a sinful priest and physical objects as the mediator between him and God. We have the Great High Priest, Jesus, to mediate on our behalf. And we have God’s Word, which reveals Jesus to us but also reveals God’s Will through the words on the pages, rather than a physical object.

Since we have Jesus to forever mediate and intercede for us, we can come boldly to the throne of grace and seek God’s ear, and seek God’s leading (Heb 4:14-16). Jesus will provide us with the help we require in time of need.

He has done that through his Word, which reveals to us how to act when we face difficult decisions. It reminds us, firstly, to act in a way which is obedient to God’s Will, as David did when he sought God’s guidance on where to go and what to do. He heard God’s Word, and obeyed it. Not what God forbade, but what God approved.

Secondly, it reminds us that the decisions we make should glorify God, rather than ourselves. David led his men to save Keilah because it brought glory to God, not to himself.

Thirdly, he acted in a way which was wise and godly. He could have remained where he was, but acted in a way which benefited God’s People and his own company, demonstrating God’s goodness and provision to both.

David glorified God because he trusted in God’s leading. He trusted in God to save. That same God has saved us through Jesus, our Great High Priest, who intercedes and mediates for us. By seeking God’s guidance through God’s Word, we too can glorify God and submit to his will in thankful obedience.

Read 1 Samuel 22:7-23

The Bible is not a collection of tales and sayings but a grand story that spans all of human history. From Creation to Christ’s imminent return, the Bible tells the story of God saving a people for himself. It also repeatedly shows the attempt of the Devil to frustrate that plan, by attacking God’s People and attempting to destroy them.

While we usually think of this enemy as one without, all too often this enemy operates within. Many antichrists have already come, and they have come throughout history. Bringing false teaching which destroys churches, or destroying to preserve power. Saul in this passage adds his name to the ignoble list of destroyers of God’s People, in his attack on the Priests at Nob. Yet despite this, we still see that this is all part of God’s plan, and that God still preserves his people.

After David fled Saul’s reach, and ensured the safety of his family, Saul’s frustration could only have increased. His own heir has aided his enemy, as have plenty of his subjects. Nobody seems to care about poor Saul! So Saul sulked underneath a tree at Gibeah (vv.7-8).

Thankfully for Saul, at least somebody cared. Doeg the Edomite, who was ominously mentioned in the previous chapter, mentioned that he “saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech” and that Ahimelech gave him weapons and provisions (vv.9-10).

Treason! Saul called for Ahimelech along with all the priests to come and explain themselves (v.11). After they arrived, Saul demanded an explanation for why they had helped David (vv.12-13).

Given the circumstances, Ahimelech gave a decent answer. While he no doubt knew that David was not exactly on Saul’s Christmas Card list, he still pointed to the “official” reality. That David was highly placed in Saul’s Court, he was Saul’s son-in-law, a key military figure (v.14). Besides which, David regularly sought God’s guidance through Ahimelech, what was different? (v.15) What conspiracy against Saul’s reign is there, really?

Unfortunately, the official response and any cautious misgivings Ahimelech had were not enough to save him. Like any good autocrat, Saul expected his subjects to know the party line all the time. Therefore, a sentence of death for Ahimelech and his house (v.16). Executed immediately!

Except, Saul’s guards were more pious than Saul was. When Saul told them to put the priests to death, Saul’s guards refused (v.17). Foiled again!

Except there was good old Doeg the Edomite, ready to help. Saul turned to Doeg, who happily killed the defenceless Ahimelech and priests, “and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod” (v.18). Then he turned his attention to Nob, wiping out their families and livestock (v.19). The destruction due for Canaanite unbelievers, visited on priests by an unbelieving, pre-Christ antichrist named Saul.

Yet even as Saul struck down God’s Anointed priests, he fulfilled God’s Word to Eli back in 1 Samuel 2:30-36. The curse on Eli’s house finally found its fulfilment, decades later. Even an unbeliever is powerless to resist God’s salvation plan. Even an unbeliever is used to fulfil God’s salvation plan.

Saul’s plan was not completely successful though. One of Ahimelech’s sons, Abiathar, escaped the slaughter and fled to David (v.20). Abiathar told David the bad news about the persecution and slaughter of the priests, and David confessed that his desperate, sinful actions were the cause of this event (vv.21-2).

While true, this was also in contrast to Saul’s reception of the priests. Faithful David confessed, unfaithful Saul persecuted. David offered protection (v.23), while Saul offered only destruction.

Just as the Devil seeks to destroy the Church today, so too in the past he has sought to try and snuff out God’s People. Here, the Devil worked through the hand of Saul and Doeg the Edomite to attack God’s very representatives and mediators, the priests.

No surprise then that the Devil sought to have Jesus killed, to try and frustrate God’s salvation plan. Removing the one true mediator between God and man that those priests pointed forward to, by having him put to death on a Cross.

And yet, surprise! This was all part of God’s plan. What the Devil and men meant for evil, God meant for good. The good of our salvation. Our ultimate rescue and preservation for all eternity, through sinless Jesus paying sin’s penalty for us. Not even the Devil can resist God’s salvation plan. Even the Devil was used to help fulfil God’s salvation plan.

Because we are saved through Jesus’ blood, the worst this world can offer is only that; what this world can offer. It is not the worst that there is. They may kill our bodies, but they cannot destroy our souls. We are hidden in Christ with God. We are ultimately preserved.

All who oppose God will never wipe out the Church. God will preserve his remnant on earth. Jesus, the anointed King, will protect. God will preserve us from every antichrist’s persecution. It is all part of God’s salvation plan.

Read 1 Samuel 22:1-5

We live with a very short-term focus. It is inevitable given our limited number of years and our limited knowledge. We make decisions based on the best information we have to hand, and hope that things work out. The implications of our decisions we may never fully recognise. 

But God does. God has a plan, and knows how things will plan out – he orders it that way. In these verses we see God’s long hand of providence working out, once again in goodness towards David and his family. God’s goodness to David reminds us that this is part of a greater plan. One where God rescues his people from their sins through Jesus.

With Saul’s murderous intent clear, David had desperately fled Saul’s immediate reach. He had acquired food and weapons, and fled outside of King Saul’s realm looking for sanctuary. Unfortunately there he was recognised and had to pretend madness to escape Philistine vengeance. In these acts, we see a man acting out of desperation and not dependence, yet at the same time God’s goodness toward David.

After escaping Philistine lands, David fled back into Saul’s domain to hide in “the cave of Adullam” (v.1). This cave was near a town in the low hills in the west of Judah’s tribal lands. Lands that would be more inclined to keep a fellow tribesman safe from a vengeful Benjaminite king.

Word of David’s whereabouts eventually quietly made its way to David’s family, who themselves went down to him (v.1). David’s parents would have been getting on, and the entire family would have been at risk from King Saul, because they would be tempting hostages to coax David out of hiding (if not to kill since they could not get at him).

But David’s family were not the only ones who came. Saul’s madness meant that many would have found themselves his enemies, whether warranted or not. It seems many of those who were “in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him” (v.2).

David may have been in exile, but he had already begun to gather around himself the core of a new kingdom, made up of rejects and undesirables. He “became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men” (v.2). A relatively small but still effective group. God’s hand of providence, at work.

After that, “David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab” (v.3). There, he asked the king, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me” (v.3). David was looking out for his parents, to ensure they were kept safe out of Saul’s reach.

No doubt David was relieved to find somewhere his parents would be safe, and they stayed there a considerable time (v.4).

While the choice of Moab seems odd, and the Moabite king’s willingness to boot, we must not forget that David was part Moabite. David was descended from Ruth, who was his great-grandmother. Family ties ran thicker then than now, but essentially David was flashing his Moabite passport to ensure his family were protected. God’s providential hand at work, again.

Finally, God’s providential hand spoke by sending Gad the prophet (perhaps from Samuel) to tell David “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah” (v.5). David was not to hide away in another country, but to return to his tribal lands, the lands he would one day rule. 

“So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth” (v.5). David listened to God’s guidance, providentially provided through a prophet. Providential guidance that was not provided to his now foe, King Saul.

Who would have thought that David’s great-grandfather would be a providential means of God to show goodness to David and his family? God did. God knew what would happen as part of his plan, and part of his ordering of affairs ensured this moment of provision for David, on the run from Saul.

But it was part of something bigger than just David. A long time in the days yet to come from David’s perspective, another king would be despised and rejected, marked for execution.

He too would gather a motley crew of followers. Fishermen, tax collectors, revolutionaries (“zealots”), and women (who were not highly esteemed in his day), and form them into the core of a new kingdom.

That man was Jesus. A descendant of David, and of Ruth. Those motley rejects were his disciples, and became the core of the Church, representing God’s Kingdom here on earth. All part of God’s plan. His long arm of providence.

That is the God we serve. Who looks out for us and cares for us. Who secured our salvation not through sanctuary in another country, but through Jesus’ death on the Cross for our sins. Whose long providential plan was set out all along, with even the minor details worked out.

That is a God who is good. That is a God we can trust.

Read 1 Samuel 21

There are times in life where it seems like everything is going wrong. Where it feels like you are on your own. Where it feels like the best thing to do is to lean on your own strength and escape from the problem. Where you start to wonder if God is providing for you, or if he has abandoned you.

For David, his flight from Saul must have felt like that. Before his wife, Samuel, and his best friend had been helping him. Now he was alone. The actions of David in 1 Samuel 21 are the actions of a desperate man, seeking aid and comfort through devious means. Yet despite his acts, God was still providing for David. This lesson is one for us too in tough times; God is good and generous to us too, despite our acts. After all, were we godly enough to enable Christ to die for our sins?

In Chapter 20, David knew that his time in Saul’s presence had come to an end. Saul wanted David dead. He recognised a rival to his throne, to his dynasty, and wanted it dispatched. God had protected David in the past, but now there was nothing more that his wife or his covenant brother could do.

So David, after saying goodbye to Jonathan, David fled to Nob, where the tabernacle had moved. Seeing David arrive, the high priest Ahimelech came out to meet him, trembling. Abimelech clearly knew something was up, given David’s state and quite likely knew there was tension between the King and the Champion. So he asked “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” (v.1)

David provided a pretty flimsy cover story. He was on a secret mission from the king. However, he would be meeting some colleagues later (v.2). So secret, he had no food on hand; did Abimelech have any spare (v.3)? Later, David would ask whether there were any weapons too (v.8). Some secret mission!

Perhaps David was trying to provide cover for Abimelech. That may have been a rationalisation in his mind. But fear and desperation seems to be the main driver here. If it was, unfortunately Saul’s man Doeg saw it all (v.7). An ominous foreshadowing for something to come. Whatever his intentions, David has put Abimelech in danger.

Abimelech did have food, but it was set aside as holy and so only fit for the priests and their family under the Law (Lev. 24:5-9). Yet mercy is the greater part of the Law, as Jesus later pointed out (Matt. 12:1-8), and Abimelech knew it. So after confirming that David and his “band” were not ritually unclean, Abimelech provided David with loaves from the Bread of Presence which was consecrated to God (vv.4-6).

David also received Goliath’s sword, which had also been consecrated to God after David’s victory over Goliath (v.9). While David had not wanted to wear Saul’s armour in battle to face Goliath, here he was certainly keen on having something physical to defend himself with.

From there, David left Saul’s domain and fled to Gath, a town of the Philistines (v.10). Presumably hoping to find shelter beyond the reach of Saul.

Yet even there, David was well recognised, as well as the “impact” he had had on the local Philistine population and the songs that Israel sang in thankfulness (v.11). So David turned to deceit again, pretending to be mad, tagging the walls and acting like a lunatic (vv.12-13). Thankfully Achish the King of Gath fell for the act, and had David ejected from the town rather than deal with another nutter (vv.14-15).

In both of these incidents, David is clearly motivated by fear and desperation. His life was under threat from Saul. He sought food to eat, means to defend himself from Saul’s assassins, and shelter beyond Saul’s reach. There is no indication here of David seeking God’s help, or following God’s prompting.

Yet despite this, God was clearly providing for David. He gave him food – food set apart for himself. He gave him Goliath’s sword – a weapon set apart for himself because he was the true Champion through David’s hands. And he protected David in Gath, by having them turf David out rather than dispatch the madman who had slain so many of their kinsfolk.

David did nothing to deserve God’s goodness, yet God was good anyway. There is a reminder for us here. In desperate times, we should lean on God. But all too often, we don’t. Yet despite that, God is good to us anyway. He provides us food to eat, clothes to wear, comfort from friends and from himself.

After all, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He did not wait for us to act right, Jesus acted so that we could be made right with God. That same goodness shown in our forgiveness from our sins is showered on us every day; grace upon grace.

Because even in the times of our deepest desperation, God is always good.

Read 1 Samuel 20

Covenant is not a word that we use much these days, though the concept still exists in legal relationships involving trust and unconditional love… like marriage. While even marriages are not always honoured these days, a covenant is an extremely important bond. Especially when overseen by God.

In 1 Samuel 20, David faced the prospect that he was an enemy of Israel’s king. At the same time, while driven by fear, he was comforted by the covenant between himself and Jonathan. Jonathan’s actions show the faithfulness of a covenant keeper in this chapter. It points us to our own way to thread the needle of faithfulness to God in life with the demands of the world. But most importantly, it points us to our faithful covenant keeper, Jesus, who is faithful where we are not.

David had to flee from Saul (ch. 19). He could no longer stay in Saul’s presence, facing attempt after attempt against his life. While Saul was busy prophesying, David had time to flee Naioth (v.1). He sought out Jonathan, seeking some understanding for why Saul wanted him dead (v.1).

Jonathan was not convinced that Saul meant to kill David, believing that Saul would not keep him in the dark despite his obvious allegiance to David (v.2). David was more worldly-wise and recognised that Saul would not keep his pro-David son in the loop (v.3).

Jonathan agreed to help David however he could (v.4). David proposed a test which would show if Saul was against him or just crazed, based on his reaction to David’s absence from a monthly feast (vv.5-7). David expected Jonathan to act with love and kindness to him, as the lesser partner in their covenant, because God was their witness (v.8). If David had done wrong, Jonathan should be the one to kill him (v.8). Jonathan promised his goodwill and support (vv.9-11).

To let David know the outcome in a way which avoided dragging Jonathan openly into conflict with Saul, they agreed an arrangement to convey the outcome. Jonathan was bound to honour his covenant oath, but also his duty to his father, the king (vv.12-17). Jonathan, on the other hand, knew David would be king after Saul, so had David promise that he would not wipe his family line out to remove the competition (v.17). 

So, in three days, Jonathan would shoot arrows at a stone heap. If his servant was told the arrows fell short, all was well. If they were long, then David needed to flee (vv.18-23). That way Jonathan could thread the needle.

Sure enough, it all came to pass. Jonathan sat down at the monthly feast, but David’s place was empty (vv.24-6). While Saul offered a day’s grace in case of ritual uncleanness, by the second day he noticed and asked why David was not there, Jonathan offered the pre-arranged falsehood (vv.27-9).

Jonathan was probably a bad liar. Saul saw right through. His reaction was as David expected, though. He angrily cursed his son, suggesting if Jonathan wanted the riches of kingship he should deliver up David (vv.30-31). When Jonathan questioned Saul’s motives in killing David, Saul threw his spear at his own son! So Jonathan had his answer, and withdrew from his godless father (vv.32-4).

There was only one thing left to do. Jonathan rose as agreed and went to shoot arrows. He shot arrows beyond, and added “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” (v.38) Then, sending his servant back home, took the opportunity to tearfully bid farewell to his faithful friend, unjustly accused and sought by his godless father king (vv.39-42). While they would be on opposite sides of the conflict to come, they were friends who sought each other’s good, and the good of their families (v.42).

Jonathan’s example was exemplary. Jonathan was caught between two difficult situations; between his covenant before God with David, and between his duty to his father the king. David and Jonathan both sought a way to determine the truth, while attempting to uphold Jonathan’s duty to his father. 

While this involved falsehood, Saul was in practice an unbeliever and acting against God’s Will. When this happens, God’s People are called to a higher obedience to God than to man. But we must be careful not to use this as an excuse to disobey rules that we dislike.

Yet we must also notice that Jonathan carefully tried to balance duty to the king to his duty to his faithful covenant brother. This is the balance we must all strive for, between faithfulness to God and the demands of daily life.

However, we must not make this passage about us. Jonathan’s faithfulness points us to Christ’s faithfulness. Jesus was faithful to us when we are not, always seeking our good and suffering the rejection of the world for us. Jesus fulfilled the Law’s demands for us, and in love gave his own life for us. We can trust in God’s covenant with us, because of God’s goodness to us in Christ.

Read 1 Samuel 19:1-24

Jealousy makes people do silly things. They take and harm even when it is utterly foolish to consider, because of the consequences. Ultimately, the jealousy of the Nations against God is expressed in similar foolishness as they seek to defeat and undermine God’s salvation plan.

In 1 Samuel 19, Saul’s envy came to a head. Multiple times, he sought to kill David, or have him killed. But in all these times God protected his anointed one from harm, showing that Saul’s efforts would come to nothing compared to God’s power. This reminds us that Jesus was also protected by God in his early ministry, only laying down his life at the appointed hour. In the same way, God watches over us and protects our souls, even if our bodies may come under earthly attack.

David’s military success and God’s goodness to him saw him reach great levels of prestige in the land of Israel. Everyone loved David. Everyone except Saul. So Saul spoke to his son Jonathan, and his servants, telling them David needed to be killed (v.1).

Jonathan was a great fan of David, who he saw as a fellow servant of God (v.1) So Jonathan warned David of the plot, instructed him to hide, and promised to speak to Saul about the situation (vv.2-3).

This is exactly what Jonathan did. Appealing to morality and common sense, Jonathan warned Saul that David had done nothing against him, and in fact had done great things for him (vv.4-5). “Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”

Saul listened to Jonathan’s argument, and swore an oath not to have David killed (v.6). After this, Jonathan brought David back into Saul’s presence, signalling his restoration (v.7). God protected David through Jonathan.

Soon enough David went out to battle the Philistines again, who he struck with such a great blow they fled before him (v.8). Unfortunately, once again Saul’s green envy, stoked by the harmful spirit sent to torment him in judgement, flared up as David was back in court playing the lyre (v.9). Saul tried to stick David with his spear, but only managed to stick the spear to the wall. Meanwhile, David fled from Saul’s presence (v.10). God protected David through circumstance.

So Saul sent assassins to David’s house to kill him in the morning. Thankfully, David’s wife Michal realised what was happening and warned David to flee that night, and let him out the window (vv.11-12). Meanwhile, she took an image/statue of some sort (possibly an idol) and made it look like David, claiming he was sick (vv.13-14).

When Saul sent his minions to force the issue, they found it was a fake! Michal feigned innocence, implying to Saul that David threatened her health if she did not comply (vv.15-17). God protected David through Michal.

Meanwhile David fled to Samuel for protection, and they moved villages (v.18). Yet word still got back to Saul (v.19). So Saul sent “messengers” to take David by any means necessary (v.20). But as they approached, God’s spirit came upon them turning rebellion to praise (v.20).

Not deterred, Saul sent more messengers. Same result (v.21). If at first you don’t succeed, try yet again. Same result.

So Saul, still disobedient to God, took matters in his own hands. He went searching for David and Samuel (v.22). His protest also turned to praise, as he worshipped God (v.23). 

His complete humiliation by God led to an idiom noting the strangeness of the situation: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (v.24). God himself protected David from Saul.

David was God’s Anointed, the king who would seek after God’s own heart rather than his own as Saul did. So God protected him despite Saul’s envy and murderous intent.

Yet David was a sinner, and still fell short of God’s glory like you or I. One of his sons would truly live his life totally pleasing to God. Jesus, God’s Son, descendant of David. God’s true Anointed One.

God watched over Jesus all his days, delighting in the Son who pleased him. Despite the early and often intent of the Jewish leadership and authorities to kill Jesus, God protected and preserved him from death until his appointed hour. Only then, when Jesus laid down his life for our sins, did God allow harm to come upon his Anointed.

Because Jesus died for our sins and was raised to life, God promises to protect all of us who belong to him. We will not face the judgement to come. Our souls will be preserved, even though physical harm may come on our bodies in this present age. Our eternal hope and state is sure, and secure.

Whether God chooses to preserve and deliver us from earthly woes now, or allow our bodies to suffer loss, he will not let our souls be snatched away from him. Because God Protected his anointed, and protects those whom he loves and has called according to his purposes.

Read 1 Samuel 18:6-30

If only the Christian walk was easy, with no obstacles in the path. If only the nations supported and rejoiced in God’s goodness towards us, and did not act with malice. Yet sadly, the Christian walk is one that contains difficulties and trials, although these have a good purpose in sanctifying us and growing us in Christ.

For David, that road of difficulty was quickly approaching. While his victory over Goliath won him accolades and the godly devotion of Jonathan, Crown Prince of Israel, all was not well. Saul’s vanity would quickly turn to envy, and from there to calculated attempts to rid himself of the competition. Despite this, God’s goodness to David continued to shine. David would not succumb to Saul’s envy.

After David’s victory over Goliath, it was fair to say just about everybody loved David. The army loved him. The people loved him. Jonathan loved him. Saul was on the fence though. This would quickly change.

Even as they returned from the battlefield, the victory songs began. “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” the women injudiciously sang (vv.6-7). Never a good idea to praise the king less than the servants. Worse still, it was the wrong one to praise – God was the victor, not David (the instrument). Hardly a ringing endorsement of Israel’s spiritual state.

Saul noticed, and made a note. He was angry (v.8). David was a watched man from then on (v.9). 

The next day, Saul’s harmful spirit came upon him, and twice he attempted to spear David (vv.10-11). The behaviour must not have seemed that out of place, because it did not affect David.

Yet it affected Saul. He realised that God was with David, protecting him (v.12). After all, Saul was not one to miss. So Saul made David an army commander (v.13). But even in this, God’s goodness was apparent, as David won victory after victory (v.14). Saul was in fearful awe, the nation smitten (vv.15-16). Saul probably realised that this was the successor Samuel had promised would inherit his throne.

Still, threats can be dealt with. In the cold calculus of life, the coin of life will not always turn up heads. Saul offered his eldest daughter as a wife, provided David kept fighting the Philistines (v.17). David politely and humbly declined the offer, so for whatever reason Saul married her off to another (vv.18-19). 

However, his other daughter Michal had eyes for David; here, thought Saul was his chance to use Michal as bait for his purposes (vv.20-21). So Saul offered Michal, and had his servants convince David to marry into the dynasty (v.22).

While David thought himself a little financially short-handed for Michal’s hand, Saul made it known through his servants that money was no object. If he was short of cash, 100 enemy Philistine lives would pay the bride price just as nicely (vv.23-5). Unfortunately, this was again Saul trying to create opportunities for David to trip over a Philistine spear.

Yet God continued in goodness to David. David took the offer, but doubled it to show the value of Michal (vv.26-7). David and Michal were duly married.

But Saul was horrified. Not with the deed, or even the extra numbers, but because “Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David” (v.28) and protected him even in the schemes Saul created. Not only that, even his younger daughter loved this rival. Saul was even more afraid, and David whether he knew it or (likely) not, had an enemy (v.29).

The Philistines, angered by the slaughter of 200 of their men, went out to battle against Israel. Yet despite this, God was good to David, and David’s success was head and shoulders above the other servants of Saul (v.30).

Saul’s envy was impotent, because of God’s goodness. The contrast in David’s success and Saul’s failure is telling. The difference is not blind luck or the fates, but God’s goodness to David. It demonstrates that God is often quietly working in the background, throughout our difficulties, to work things for our good (Rom 8:28).

We often think that God’s goodness must mean miraculous intervention, as sometimes happened in the Old Testament or the Gospels. Yet just as often, God’s goodness is demonstrated by a quiet working away. How is he protecting us today? One to ponder, and give thanks for…

That goodness is not given to us because we have earned it, though, but because Jesus earned it for us. Jesus’ life was filled with situations of peril and strife, but God’s goodness kept him until the appointed hour of his death for us. Because God was with him. Because Jesus was both God and man, and thus the only man deserving of glory and praise.

Through Jesus, we are blessed by God. Through Jesus, we receive God’s favour. In Jesus, we are kept and comforted through trials, to make us more like Christ. In Jesus, the world’s envy cannot overcome God’s goodness to us.

Read 1 Samuel 17:55-18:5

Growing up I remember singing the song “what a friend we have in Jesus” at church. All our sins and grief to bear! Having close friends and confidants helps with the ups and downs of life. How much more so the steadfastness of Jesus, who is always interceding for us at God’s right hand and has given us the Holy Spirit as a comforter.

After God’s victory of Goliath, through the hands of his faithful servant David, David’s star rose to shine brightly in Israel’s skies. His feat certainly caught the attention of the calculating King Saul, but it also caught the attention of Saul’s son, Jonathan. While Saul’s acts were calculating, Jonathan’s acts expressed a man of faith who rejoiced in another’s use by God.

After seeing David confidently defeat Goliath, trusting in God for the victory, Saul was intrigued. Ever the worldly calculator, Saul wondered about this young man whose victory captivated Israel’s attention. What was his background? What were his intentions? How could he benefit?

It was for this reason that Saul asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” (v.55). Saul already knew David, because David played the harp in his Court. He had just talked to him before the battle. But now David was not just a musician or a kid with a desire to take on Goliath, but a mighty warrior champion. Potentially, a threat. What was his pedigree?

Abner naturally did not know, so was instructed to make inquiries (vv.55-6). He did so by bringing David before the king (v.57). David, fresh off the battlefield, holding the head of Goliath in his hands, before King Saul (v.57). What a sight it must have been.

Saul asked his question again, to find out what David’s background and social status was. David responded matter of factly “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite” (v.58). No thanks for ridding him of a troublesome Philistine. Just another knight on the chessboard to move around.

What a contrast then, with Saul’s son Jonathan. Where Saul was calculating, Jonathan rejoiced that God was using another man for his purposes. “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (v.1).

Both men had a common faith in God, and a common spirit of service and devotion motivated by that faith. Both had done great deeds for Israel motivated by their faith. But they were also different people.

Jonathan was the Crown Prince. The Heir Apparent to Israel’s throne. He was years older than David, who was not yet old enough to join the army. He came from privilege, while David came from more modest means. He came from a different tribe.

David was a threat. He may not topple Saul, but he may have displaced Jonathan as Saul’s successor in a popular revolt. Jonathan had much to lose, and little to gain. Yet despite this, Jonathan had found a fellow believer who served God over self.

There was nothing impure here. This was the bond of two men who saw love of God in each other, and had both achieved great things in God’s strength. Anyone who says otherwise says more about their weird obsessions than about David and Jonathan.

So David joined Saul’s Court (v.2). He was too prominent a figure to not keep close; to not ensure a bit of the glow reflected onto the king. 

But David and Jonathan forged a close friendship which was sealed by a covenant (v.3). He endorsed David and lent him his own prestige by lending him his clothes and armour (v.4). No soldier would sneer at David now. 

Thus David went forth and fought God’s enemies, successful wherever he turned (v.5). The people were happy. Saul’s servants were happy. Saul? To be confirmed.

Clearly, we should not view fellow servants of Christ as chess pieces to move, but as fellow servants to rejoice in. The love of Jonathan for David, a fellow kinsman in God, is the same love we all ought to have for each other. When God uses another for good, we should rejoice instead of feeling envy. Feeling bitter towards a fellow servant? Pray for their success!

Yet while this is true, we must come back to that hymn. What a friend we have in Jesus! “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) Jesus said. Which is exactly what he did.

As great a friend as Jonathan was to David, Jesus is a greater friend. His covenant was with the Father from all eternity, to save us from our sins. He clothes us with his righteousness, and arms us with the armour of God. He laid down his life for us, that we may be reconciled to God.

What a friend David had in Jonathan. But a greater friend in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus, too!