INTERNET BIBLE STUDIES I Samuel Lesson 19
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I Samuel Chapter 19

Memory verses for this week: Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
 

Introduction: We continue our study on Samuel this week. In last week’s lesson, we studied about the special love and respect that David and King Saul’s son, Jonathan, developed when Saul began to set out to destroy David. At the end of the chapter, David was given King Saul’s second daughter, Michal to be his wife. It seemed to be a good thing at first, but we found that Saul meant it to be a snare which might cause David to become careless and be killed by the Philistines.
 

  1. Saul’s Third Attempt to Kill David

1 Sam 19:1 And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

1 Sam 19:2 But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:

1 Sam 19:3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.

From verse 1, it is clear that Saul did not keep his intentions to kill David a secret. It says he told Jonathan and all his servants. Not only his intentions, but that he wanted them to try and kill him also. David had proven himself a very valuable man to Saul, but his jealousy kept him from trusting him. Jonathan cared for David, and he goes and tells David what Saul’s intentions were. Jonathan delighted much in David and this led him to tell David about the danger that faced him. He told David to hide himself in a secret place in the field, and he would check with Saul to see what he had planned and come and tell him.

1 Sam 19:4 And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:

1 Sam 19:5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

1 Sam 19:6 And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.

Jonathan spoke to his father and told him of all the good David had done for him. He reminded Saul that David had never harmed him, but had rather done many good things for him. He had put his life on the line for the nation of Israel when he went out to fight the giant Goliath. This turned into one of Israel’s greatest victories. Saul had witnessed this, but now wanted to kill David and shed innocent blood. Verse six says that Saul listened to his son and he promised that “As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. “
 

1 Sam 19:7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.

Jonathan goes out and tells the good news to David. It says he brought David back to Saul, and he again was in Saul’s presence as in the past.

1 Sam 19:8 And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

1 Sam 19:9 And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

1 Sam 19:10 And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

1 Sam 19:11 Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

As had been the case many times before, war broke out with Israel and the Philistines. David led the battle and this resulted in another great victory for Israel. The acclaim this brought David bothered Saul, and it says the evil spirit came back upon him. As David played the harp, Saul attempted to smite David to the wall with the javelin. God was with the young man as before, and he escaped any harm. Saul sends messengers to David’s house to watch for him and slay him the following morning. Michal, David’s wife understood what was happening and told David he must flee before morning.

J. Vernon McGee said this about Saul’s Intentions on killing David

An evil spirit comes upon Saul again, and he wants to kill David. It is a very dramatic scene. David is playing his harp, and Saul is fingering his javelin. David senses his murderous mood. Saul throws that javelin with the intent of pinning him to the wall. David knows that he is no longer safe in the palace even though he is married to Saul’s daughter. .1

1 Sam 19:12 So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

1 Sam 19:13 And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

1 Sam 19:14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

1 Sam 19:15 And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.

1 Sam 19:16 And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster.

1 Sam 19:17 And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

Michal helped David by sliding him down through a window so that he could escape in the night. She took some image and placed it in the bed with a pillow and covered it with a cloth to make it appear David was asleep in bed. When they came to kill David, she told them that he was sick. The messengers go to King Saul with the news, and he tells them to bring him on the bed to him and he would slay David. When they came to get him, they found they had been deceived by the King’s daughter. When Saul questions Michal about this, she lies and says that David had threatened to kill her if she didn’t help him escape.

 

II. The Spirit of God Protects David

1 Sam 19:18 So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

1 Sam 19:19 And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

1 Sam 19:20 And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

1 Sam 19:21 And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

David flees and goes to Samuel in Ramah. Both he and Samuel went and dwelled in Naioth. This was the place where Samuel conducted a school for young prophets. When Saul learns where they had fled, he sent messengers down to take him. A strange thing happened. When the messengers appeared, they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel overseeing them. The spirit of God moved on the messengers, and they began to prophesy also. Saul sends a second and third group to try and retrieve David, and each time the same thing happened. They prophesied like the prophets.

1 Sam 19:22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah.

1 Sam 19:23 And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

Saul is disgusted with the lack of production from the messengers, so he goes himself to Ramah. He inquires as to where Samuel and David are, and he is told they are in Naioth. As Saul neared the men, the spirit of the Lord came over him and he also prophesied.

Matthew Henry said this about David seeking out Samuel

I. David’s place of refuge. Having got away in the night from his own house, he fled not to Bethlehem to his relations, nor to any of the cities of Israel that had caressed and cried him up, to make an interest in them for his own preservation; but he ran straight to Samuel and told him all that Saul had done to him, v. 18. 1. Because Samuel was the man that had given him assurance of the crown, and his faith in that assurance now beginning to fail, and he being ready to say in his haste (or in his flight, as some read it, Ps. 116:11), All men are liars ("not only Saul that promised me my life, but Samuel himself that promised me the throne’’), whither should he go but to Samuel, for such encouragements, in this day of distress, as would support his faith? In flying to Samuel he made God his refuge, trusting in the shadow of his wings; where else can a good man think himself safe? 2. Because Samuel, as a prophet, was best able to advise him what to do in this day of his distress. In the psalm he penned the night before he had lifted up his prayer to God, and now he takes the first opportunity of waiting upon Samuel to receive direction and instruction from God. If we expect answers of peace to our prayers, we must have our ears open to God’s word. 3. Because with Samuel there was a college of prophets with whom he might join in praising God, and the pleasure of this exercise would be the greatest relief imaginable to him in his present distress. He met with little rest or satisfaction in Saul’s court, and therefore went to seek it in Samuel’s church. And, doubtless, what little pleasure is to be had in this world those have it that live a life of communion with God; to this David retired in the time of trouble, Ps. 27:4-6. 2

 

1 Sam 19:24 And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

This seemed to affect King Saul in a strange way. It says he prophesied before Samuel, and lay naked all that day and night. He prophesied as the spirit of the Lord moved him. This is one of the strongest evidences we have that Saul was a saved man. The spirit of God does not dwell in the lost man. The people question where Saul is also among the prophets as the chapter closes.


 

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Prov 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.


 

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1J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1981 by J. Vernon McGee.

2Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.