David's Loyalty to Saul - 1 Samuel 18:1 - 24:22

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Bible Stories

Rusty's Notes

1 SAMUEL 17

• David kills Goliath

• 18 picks right up after

 
DAVID’S SUCCESS
1 SAMUEL 18
1 When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan was bound to David in close friendship, and loved him as much as he loved himself. 2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.
3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself. 4 Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David,

• Robe was symbolic of the Israelite Kingdom
• Transfer of power

along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

• Jonathan was probably 20-30 years olders than David.

5 David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well.
6 As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. 7 As they danced, the women sang:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.
8 Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

• It was personal jealousy that took root in Saul's mind and led to his downfall.
• The problem was Saul's desire to be popular with the people more than with God 

 
SAUL ATTEMPTS TO KILL DAVID
10 The next day an evil spirit sent from God came powerfully on Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear, 11 and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.

• Saul's unchecked jealousy bred the symptoms of paranoia
• He began to think that his most loyal subject was his mortal enemy.
• Contrast Jonathan's implicit confidence in David.
• The difference was that Saul saw David as a threat to his security, whereas Jonathan saw him as the savior of God's people.

12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul. 13 Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops 14 and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.

• Saul sent David out to die at the hands of the Philistines, but actually became more of a hero to the Israelites.

16 But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops. 17 Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife if you will be a warrior for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
18 Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 19 When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

• David did not jump at the chance to marry the king's daughter, even though such a marriage would have advanced his career significantly (cf. 16:18).
• He dismissed this possibility since he could not afford the dowry.

 
DAVID’S MARRIAGE TO MICHAL
20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him. 21 “I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

• Evidently Saul meant that Michal would become a snare to David because, as the son-in-law of the king, David would have been a specially important target for the Philistines in battle

22 Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor commoner.”
24 The servants reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.”
25 Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
26 When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, 27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife. 28 Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, 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]
 
In 1 Samuel 19-23, we see the escalating tension between Saul and David, as Saul's jealousy and fear of David grow.

• In chapter 19, Saul orders his son Jonathan and his servants to kill David.
• However, Jonathan, who has a deep friendship with David, warns him and helps him escape.
• Michal, David's wife and Saul's daughter, also aids in David's escape by deceiving her father (1 Samuel 19:1-17).
• David flees to Samuel in Ramah, where Saul sends men to capture him.
• However, each group of men, and eventually Saul himself, are overcome by the Spirit of God and begin to prophesy, unable to harm David (1 Samuel 19:18-24).
• In chapter 20, David and Jonathan devise a plan to determine Saul's intentions.
• Jonathan confirms Saul's desire to kill David and helps him escape, reaffirming their covenant of friendship and loyalty (1 Samuel 20:12-17, 30-42).
• David continues to flee from Saul, seeking refuge in various places.
• In chapter 21, he visits Ahimelech the priest in Nob, where he receives consecrated bread and Goliath's sword.
• David then seeks asylum with Achish, the king of Gath, but pretends to be insane to avoid harm (1 Samuel 21:1-15).
• In chapter 22, David gathers a group of followers at the cave of Adullam, including those in distress and debt.
• Meanwhile, Saul, in his paranoia, orders the massacre of the priests of Nob after learning they aided David.
• Only Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escapes and joins David, bringing the ephod with him (1 Samuel 22:1-23).
• In chapter 23, David continues to evade Saul, seeking God's guidance through Abiathar and the ephod.
• He saves the town of Keilah from the Philistines but must flee again when Saul learns of his location.
• David and his men hide in the wilderness, and Jonathan visits to encourage David, reaffirming God's promise that David will be king (1 Samuel 23:1-18).

These chapters highlight God's protection and guidance for David, despite Saul's relentless pursuit. They also emphasize the importance of friendship, loyalty, and seeking God's direction in times of trouble (1 Samuel 23:14-16).
 
DAVID SPARES SAUL
1 SAMUEL 24
1 When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

• Pics of En Gedi (Hyrax & Ibex/dessert goat)

3 When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself.

• Nobody, even his personal bodyguard, would accompany him into the cave for this purpose.
• Walk in a pitch dark cave after being in the sunlight.

David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave, 4 so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’ ” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

• A king's hem was especially ornate and identified him as the king.

5 Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “As the Lord is my witness, I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 With these words David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.
Then Saul left the cave and went on his way. 8 After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.

• By addressing Saul as his "lord" and his "king," and by bowing with his face to the ground and prostrating himself before Saul, David demonstrated his respect for and his submission to Saul.

9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? 10 You can see with your own eyes that the Lord handed you over to me today in the cave. Someone advised me to kill you, but I took pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is the Lord’s anointed. 11 Look, my father! Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Recognize that I’ve committed no crime or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life.
12 “May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you. 13 As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ My hand will never be against you. 14 Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea? 15 May the Lord be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.”

• David confronted Saul face to face… not through his people.

16 When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud 17 and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you. 18 You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed?, May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.
20 “Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” 22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.[2]

• It was customary in the ancient Near East for a new king to kill all the descendants of the ruler whom he replaced.
• This prevented them from rising up and reestablishing the dead king's dynasty.

David had already promised Jonathan that he would not kill his descendants (20:14-17), and he now made the same promise to Saul.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 18:1–30.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 24:1–22.