David isn't that type of man but Saul, like many unscrupulous people, thinks everyone around him is just as unscrupulous as he is. He suspects David of ulterior motives that he does not possess. Even though David has been anointed as the next king of Israel (unbenownst to Saul) he is willing to leave the method and the timing of his coronation to the Lord. He does not intend to usurp the throne.
Saul has previously thrown a spear at David twice in an attempt to take his life. When he saw how the Lord shielded and protected David, he was afraid to strike out at him again but instead hoped the Philistines would take care of him. But that didn't happen so, out of his intense paranoia toward David, he decides he must make another attempt on his life. This time he tries to enlist the help of his royal cabinet and his son Jonathan. "Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David and warned him, 'My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.'" (1 Samuel 19:1-3)
I think Saul does not yet realize that Jonathan and David have become best friends. These two young men have a great deal in common: their faith in the Lord, their bravery in battle, and their love for their country. Saul assumes Jonathan is on board with his murderous plan because Jonathan is his eldest son and heir of his estate and next in line for the throne. He thinks Jonathan perceives David as a threat, just as he does, and that Jonathan will be more than glad to see this threat eliminated. But Jonathan sneaks over to David's house after dark to warn him of the plot against his life. I think we owe it to Jonathan to stop here for a minute to consider how unselfish he is and how committed to the Lord he is; he doesn't want the kingship if it isn't the Lord's will. He wants the Lord's chosen man to rule Israel, and if that man is David, then Jonathan intends to put all his support behind him even though it means he himself will never be king. He displays a heart like Christ's, a heart that says: "Not my will, but Thy will, be done."
The next morning David does as Jonathan suggested. He hides himself in a field while Jonathan and Saul walk and talk nearby. "Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, 'Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?'" (1 Samuel 19:4-5) Jonathan tries to calmly and logically reason with his father. David has never been anything but a faithful subject of Saul's. There is nothing he can legally be charged with having done against the king. He's broken no laws and disobeyed no orders. He's never so much as said a bad word against the king, much less plotted a coup against him. To use today's terminology, he's squeaky clean, and there is no logical basis for Saul's suspicions and hatred toward David. In fact, it wasn't so long ago that Saul himself was willing to declare David a national hero. Upon what basis does he now consider David his enemy?
Saul is in a more stable mood this morning than he was last night. The night before I think he was plagued with one of his obsessive, depressed, paranoid moods but perhaps in morning's light his fears seem much less justified than they did during the hours of darkness. Doubts and fears are always more difficult to push away in the dark, aren't they? But Saul finally got a little sleep before dawn and now he's standing outdoors in the fresh air where it's easier to dismiss the fears of the night while the sun is shining and the birds are singing. He agrees not to do any harm to David. "Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: 'As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.'" (1 Samuel 19:6) Saul's ability to think clearly and logically will be short-lived. His oath will be short-lived. He's a man who says and does whatever suits him in the moment and who is willing to do the opposite of what he's vowed if he thinks it will help him achieve his goals. He does not love the Lord and an oath made in the name of the Lord means nothing to him.
But peace between Saul and David is temporarily restored and David is able to come and go from the king's court again. "So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before." (1 Samuel 19:7) Does David believe Saul's oath is sincere? I think he has his doubts but he believes his safety depends on the Lord, not on any vow made by Saul. David doesn't know whether or not he can trust Saul; he likely believes he can't. But he knows he can trust the Lord and that's why he goes into the presence of the king without fear. He has the assurance that he is surrounded with the Lord's favor as with a shield, as he will later say in Psalm 5:12. He believes what the Lord said about someday making him the king of Israel and that means none of Saul's plots against his life can possibly be successful.
"Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him." (1 Samuel 19:8) David and the men he leads into battle are victorious again in pushing the invading Philistines away from the borders of Israel. Instead of being thankful for such a wise and brave general, Saul allows David's battlefield prowess to send him into another downward spiral. All of Saul's insecurities come to the forefront of his mind and he again begins imagining conspiracies where there are none. He's afraid David will make a bid for the throne and that all the people will back him. Or he thinks David and the army will take the throne from him by force. Because Saul is living so far from the Lord and because his heart is so filled with hatred and rebellion, the Lord allows him to keep descending into madness. There's nothing to hold the madness back because Saul, as we've noted before, prefers the Lord to maintain a "hands off" attitude toward him. "But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove his spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape." (1 Samuel 19:9-10)
David has been called to the king's house because he's in one of his moods again. No one can do anything with him and the hope is that the music will calm him down. But while David is trying his best to soothe the king's fretful mind and racing thoughts, Saul flings his spear at him, intending to kill him. From this point onward we will rarely, if ever, see Saul without his spear in his hand. He will even be armed while he sleeps with his contingent of personal bodyguards around him.
The word translated as "evil" could be more accurately translated as "harmful", "damaging", "destructive", "harassing", "crippling", "detrimental", "disadvantageous", and so on. The Lord is not evil and He does not tempt anyone with evil. He's simply letting Saul be who he is: who he is without the godly influence of the Holy Spirit on his life. Saul didn't want to submit his life to the Lord and obey the Lord but that probably caused his conscience to nag him because he was brought up in a culture that acknowledges the Lord and models their government after His laws. Saul didn't want his conscience bothering him so he had to harden his heart over and over until he became deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit urging him to repent. His conscience doesn't bother him at all anymore. Now, without the protection of a relationship with the Lord, his carnal nature is in charge of him. He is apparently a naturally suspicious person given to wild fancies of thoughts and prone to allowing his emotions to control him. But these problems were kept somewhat at bay while he still maintained a casual relationship with the Lord and associated with the prophet Samuel who was a godly counselor to him. These problems were also pushed back a bit by his association with David, at least at first, because David was a godly presence in the household. But now he's alienated him too. There's no one who can constrain his madness, not even his son Jonathan. Jonathan will keep trying to reason with his father but Saul will lose respect for him because he won't be able to understand why Jonathan doesn't care about someday becoming king. Saul can't relate to a man who isn't ruled by ambition and pride and greed, so he will completely disregard everything Jonathan has to say on the subject of David.
Join us tomorrow as we see how carefully the Lord planned every aspect of David's life, providentially making sure he married Saul's youngest daughter instead of the eldest daughter whom Saul originally promised him. Saul's eldest daughter was not in love with David but the youngest, Michal, is. She will take David's side against her father and save her husband from yet another attempt to take his life.
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