1 Samuel 19-20 (God's Sovereign Protection)

Let's open up to the book of 1st Samuel.

Tonight we're going to be looking at two chapters.

That's 1st Samuel chapter 19 and chapter 20.

So if you have the New King James Version, you'll see that chapter 19 is labeled

Saul persecutes David and then chapter 20 is titled

Jonathan's loyalty to David.

But the theme that I see running through these chapters, both of them, is how

God is sovereignly providing for and protecting David.

So the relationships that he formed in the previous chapter between

Jonathan, Saul's son, and Michael, Saul's daughter, you know, you would

think being best friends with like the prince and being the king's son -in -law, you would think

David would be in with the royal family, right?

But of course that's not the case.

And why is that?

Well, it's all because of that darn song.

You know, hopefully that doesn't offend you, me saying darn, but you know, you remember

the song, right?

They were on their way back from the battle and the women came out of all the cities

rejoicing and they had their tambourines and they were singing.

And I think Saul really loved how that started out.

The first verse of the song they sang, Saul has slain his thousands.

And I'm sure Saul, you know, felt pretty good about that until he heard the second

verse.

So Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands,

at which point Saul just came totally unhinged, you know, and from that

point on Saul is jealous, paranoid, violent.

He tries to kill David with his spear.

He's going to do it again here.

And then he actually throws his spear and tries to kill his own son.

So Saul has entered into the downward spiral.

And it said that everything now is really going to work against Saul and for David.

So let's listen along.

We'll look at the whole chapter.

First Samuel chapter.

19, starting in verse one.

Now Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants that they should kill David.

But Jonathan, Saul's son delighted greatly in David.

So Jonathan told.

David, my father, Saul seeks to kill you.

Therefore, please be on your guard until morning and stay in a secret place and hide.

And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are.

And I will speak with my father about you.

Then what I observe, I will tell you.

Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul, his father.

Let not the king sin against his servant,.

Against David, because he has not sinned against you.

And because his works have been very good toward you.

For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine.

And the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel.

You saw it and rejoiced.

Why then will you sin against innocent.

Blood to kill David without a cause?

So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan and Saul swore.

As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.

Then Jonathan called David and Jonathan told him all these things.

So Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as in times past.

And there was war again.

And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a mighty blow and

they fled from him.

Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house

with his spear in his hand.

He was playing music with his hand.

Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul's presence.

And he drove the spear into the wall.

So David fled and escaped that night.

Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning.

And Michael, David's wife told him, if you do not save your life tonight,

tomorrow you will be killed.

So Michael let David down through a window and he went and fled and escaped.

And Michael took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goat's hair for his head and

covered it with clothes.

So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick.

Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David.

Bring him up to me in the bed that I may kill him.

And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed with a cover of goat's hair for

his head.

Then Saul said to Michael, why have you deceived me like this and sent my

enemy away so that he has escaped?

He said to me, let me go.

Why should I kill you?

So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that

Saul had done to him.

And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naath.

Now it was told Saul, take note, David is at Naath

in Ramah.

Then Saul sent messengers to take David.

And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as leader over them,

the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers and they prophesied likewise.

Then Saul sent messengers again the third time and they prophesied also.

Then he also went to Ramah and came to the great well that is at Siku.

So he asked, where are Samuel and David?

And someone said, indeed they are at Naath in Ramah.

So he went there to Naath in Ramah.

Then the spirit of God was upon him also.

And he went on and prophesied until he came to Naath in Ramah.

And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner and

lay down naked all that day and all that night.

Therefore they say, is Saul also among the prophets?

Okay, so let's just focus in on those last few verses, Saul and his messengers

prophesy.

And really this is unexpected.

You remember Saul prophesied at the beginning of his ministry after being ordained by Samuel.

But you wouldn't think that he would do it again here after Saul has become

so wicked.

Now he's prophesying.

It just doesn't make sense, right?

Well, I think it shows you who is in control.

God can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants, whenever he wants.

So the Lord uses the Holy Spirit to overwhelm Saul in

order to protect David.

So Saul and his men are kind of overwhelmed, overtaken by the Holy Spirit.

They prophesy.

And this statement that Saul laid there naked all day and night.

Most commentators believe that based on the Hebrew word, that it was just the outer

garments.

Basically he stripped off all of his Royal attire.

So this is like God's way of saying to the King in front of

everybody, you're not the King anymore.

So Saul is not only humbled, he's probably humiliated by this act.

So why did Saul go there in the first place?

Saul went there to kill David, but God intervenes and Saul just

ends up flat on his face.

And it's just a display of God's power, his sovereign protection of David.

Okay.

And chapter 19 ends with this question.

I'm going to spend a moment on this.

This question, is Saul also among the prophets?

Does anyone want to answer that?

Is Saul one of the prophets?

Yes or no?

Well, let's turn to Matthew chapter seven.

Matthew chapter seven, in answering that question, I think a lot of people would just be inclined to say, no,

of course, Saul is not one of the prophets.

The prophets were men of God and Saul was too wicked to be a prophet.

But then there's another side of him, right?

Saul, you know, he started out well, he was humble.

And even later on, when he goes bad, he still seems to have these moments of clarity where he

feels sorry.

So some have described Saul as having something like a split personality.

He's the Lord's anointed, he prophesies, but then he's a murderous tyrant.

And it's difficult what to make of him at times.

Matthew Henry commenting on this passage, he makes an interesting statement.

He says, this confirms that serving in ministry is in itself, no

proof of conversion.

He writes, many have great gifts and yet no grace.

They prophesy in Christ's name and yet are disowned by him.

Saul prophesied though his heart was set against the Lord.

Therefore it is possible to do great things for the church and yet be

unconverted.

We must trust in Christ for salvation, not in what we do,

not in what we do in his name.

Okay.

So Matthew Henry expresses here, what is probably the majority report, this

idea that Saul was not saved.

Now that's not really old Testament language.

That's more new Testament terminology to talk about.

Saul is either being saved or lost, but either way, bottom line, Saul is

either with the Lord today in heaven, or he isn't.

Some believe he is, some don't.

The argument would be for people who think that Saul was converted,

people would say that, yeah, he was the Lord's anointed.

He did have the Holy Spirit come upon him.

He did prophesy.

He professed that he believed in the Lord.

And then before he died, and you might not be convinced of this argument, but people will point

out how before Saul died, he went to visit the witch at Endor who brought up Samuel from

Sheol or paradise.

They say Samuel was in paradise.

And yet, what does Samuel say to Saul?

Tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me.

So some have argued that's similar to when Jesus told the dying thief on the

cross, today you will be with me in paradise.

Well, that's what Samuel said to Saul.

You will be with me where I am.

And of course, Samuel was in a place of blessedness.

So that's an argument that Saul was actually converted, but most probably would

disagree with that.

So I'm sure some people fall on one side, most fall on the other

side.

But if that's true, okay, here's why I bring that up.

If Saul was saved, then I think you could say, yes, he was

among the prophets, just as David was also a prophet.

You don't typically think of the kings as being prophets, but David was

king, but certainly in the Psalms, he prophesied.

So David really was a prophet.

So my contention is, if, and it is a big if, I grant you that, but

if Saul was converted, truly converted, then yes, he

was among the prophets.

But if not, if he was not converted, then no.

And we're going to read what Jesus said in just a moment, but this is just the theory that I have.

Perhaps this is why questions in the Bible like this are left

unanswered.

That was Saul, you know, truly, was he a prophet?

Was he not?

Was he converted?

Was he not?

Look at Matthew 7 .21.

I think the Bible sometimes intentionally leaves a little mystery there.

Jesus says in Matthew 7 .21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the

kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your

name and done many wonders in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice

lawlessness.

So we see that there are people who serve going back to Matthew Henry's point.

There are people who serve in the ministry.

They might hold church office, just like Saul held a legitimate Old Testament office as king,

but there are people they serve.

They may even hold office.

They even prophesy according to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

They prophesy and yet Jesus says, I don't know you.

I also think of the prophet Balaam.

He was another, you know, interesting figure.

Seemed to be conflicted.

Saul seems like there's some conflict going on within him.

There's a little part of him that is sorry for what he does.

But I think of Balaam, if you remember, we went through the story of Balaam while studying

the book of Numbers.

Both Saul and Balaam, they seemed committed to their rebellion.

Balaam certainly appeared to be a false prophet and yet at the same time, God put his words in

his mouth.

And that's what the Lord is doing with Saul.

If Saul is unconverted, which is the high probability that's true, but

even if he is, God is putting his words in his mouth.

So Saul, as wicked as he was, the Holy Spirit definitely

came upon him.

And this question just hangs there.

Is Saul among the prophets?

And honestly, I'm not not really sure.

So let's turn back to 1 Samuel chapter 19.

But this whole idea of Saul prophesying and how God, God did use

him without question.

God used him.

God can use anyone.

But God even used Saul for some good.

I think it's just a reminder of how people and situations sometimes can be

complicated.

You know, sometimes we want it to be easy where somebody is just all bad, all the time, 100 % bad.

They're just lost.

And it's rarely that simple or that someone is all good, all the time.

Well, God is, Jesus is, yes.

But with human beings, there's a mixture of of good

and bad.

Now, you know, theologically, we say, you know, there's none righteous, no, not one.

But there's a little part in every person.

Romans 2, God's law is written on our hearts.

There's a little part in every person who maybe wants to do

the right thing, even though man in his natural condition is sinful and the heart

deceitful.

There is this internal conflict going on within everyone.

And that's certainly true with Saul.

Why was Saul so wicked?

Well, it's because he had unlimited power.

You ever noticed that some of the most evil people throughout history, they all seem to have one thing in common.

They're like dictators and, you know, men who have been given absolute power.

Saul wasn't a tyrant originally, certainly when he was younger, working

for his father.

When we first see him, he was not that evil man back then.

Saul didn't become that way overnight.

It was a series of bad decisions and growing bitterness after having to face the

repercussions of those decisions.

So whether or not Saul is saved, lost, whatever, prophet or not among the prophets,

here's the thing.

With him, with Balaam, whoever it is, it's not my job.

It's not our job to stand as their judge.

Those questions and decisions are left up to the Lord to decide.

It's our job to read this, to learn from it, and try to teach and warn

and help others.

Look at 1 Samuel 19, starting in verse one.

It says, now Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David.

So Jonathan told David saying, my father, Saul, seeks to kill you.

So we see here that God is protecting David and he's using Jonathan to do it.

The Lord anointed David as king.

Therefore, the Lord is going to watch over David so that he can become king.

You can't become king if you're dead.

So God is going to protect him.

So again, this is the theme that I'm seeing in these chapters, the sovereign

protection of God.

And here it comes in the form of this friendship between David and Jonathan, and

then later through David and Jonathan's sister, Michael.

More about her in a moment.

But Jonathan's reaction to his father is this.

Verse four, Jonathan says to Saul, let not the king sin against his servant,

against David, because he has not sinned against you.

Jonathan knows the type of man his father is, and yet Jonathan's willing to go to bat for David.

I think he knows he's putting himself at risk.

Is he putting himself at risk?

Yeah, big time.

So Jonathan's a man of God, much more so than his father.

And because Jonathan is a man of God, he knows the commandments.

And what's the commandment that Saul would be breaking here?

Right.

And what commandment number is that?

Just to quiz you.

Six.

Right.

Right.

Six.

Okay.

So Jonathan, he not only knows the sixth commandment, he wants to follow it and he wants

other people to follow it.

He certainly wants his father to follow it because he knows not only does he love David, he knows

if Saul were to do something to David, I mean, what's God going to do to Saul?

I mean, Saul's already in trouble.

So he doesn't want God's judgment falling upon his father.

Although I think he probably realizes it's already in process.

First John three, verse four gives us the definition of sin.

That sin is defined as the transgression of God's law.

So when a person does what God says not to do, or when they don't do what God

says they must do, that violation of the law is called sin.

And in the original language, do you know what sin is?

It's can be translated as what missing the mark or wandering,

straying off, off course.

So Jonathan says to the king, let not the king sin against his servant against David, because

he has not sinned against you.

So Jonathan talks to his father.

Uh, Saul must've been having a good day because he agrees.

It doesn't take that much convincing.

What does Saul say?

Verse six, the king doesn't just agree.

He swears an oath.

He says, as the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.

Of course, the Saul keep this oath.

No, not at all.

Which again, only increases his guilt later on.

Uh, but then in verse eight, so it seems like things have, have worked out.

Saul agrees.

Okay.

I'm not going to do anything.

And then verse eight, what happens?

Uh, war breaks out in Israel.

So now here's the good thing about it.

Saul now has to focus on his real enemies instead of the enemies.

He's just kind of made up in his mind because he thinks David is out to get them.

David just wants the throne.

He's going to lead a coup.

None of that's true.

So war breaking out now, uh, the focus is off of David at least for a while.

And of course, David does what David, what David does.

He's victorious in, in battle verse nine.

However, the demonic spirit or that, what does it say in your Bibles?

Distressing spirit.

Okay.

The distressing spirit, uh, comes back.

So now again, Saul is afflicted.

And what happens when Saul is afflicted by the spirit?

What's, what's the solution?

Call for David call.

We've seen this movie before, haven't we?

Like did, did we just read this a few chapters ago?

Yeah, the same exact thing happened.

Now, in my mind, if I was David, I'd be like, no way I'm not going into play for him.

But you know, David, uh, I guess David's not worried.

So David comes into play, uh, for Saul to soothe his spirit.

And we just get a repeat of what happened last time.

Saul throws his spear at David and what happens?

Yeah, it misses.

David escapes.

There is no way that spear can hit David.

God simply will not allow it.

So the Lord used Jonathan to protect David.

Uh, when the evil spirit was afflicting Saul, the Holy spirit, uh, I believe is protecting David.

Uh, now my call Saul's daughter, she will be used to protect David.

Although we, we see that she doesn't really have that same, you know, kind of upright character as

her brother.

So look at verse 11.

Uh, it's true.

Uh, she does save David's life.

We have to give her that, but she doesn't really do David any favors in the end.

Look at verse 11.

Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him

in the morning.

And my call David's wife told him saying, if you do not save your life tonight,

tomorrow, what.

Yeah, you will be killed.

So my call let David down through a window and he went and fled and

escaped.

And my call took an image and laid it in the bed.

Now the we'll get to what she did wrong in a moment, but Oh, well, this is another thing.

I guess you could say verse 13, the word for image.

Does anyone have a note in their Bible of what that is?

An idol.

Okay.

Is it, is it translated idol or is it just a footnote that says that, does anyone have a Bible that it's

translated idol?

Okay.

Uh, the word is Tarafim and yeah.

And that's basically what it is.

It's like a smaller, uh, figurine or something like a household God.

So if you were with us, a few of you were with our study here in Genesis was that four,

four years ago.

Uh, but if you were there, you might remember how Rachel, uh, stole the Tarafim or the images from her,

uh, father or uncle, uh, was his father Laban, right?

Um, so these were figurines used in worship.

So people would have a, a, a shrine in their home.

So these objects were believed to have some sort of, uh, power.

This basically like superstition, you know, people would have a little area set up and they would have these

images and they would pray in front of them.

Uh, they might burn incense in front of the image and people still have these

Tarafim, uh, today, don't they?

You know, we don't, we didn't use the word Tarafim and most people wouldn't use the word idle.

Uh, but I remember there's a restaurant I, uh, walked by.

I wouldn't eat at a restaurant like this.

Once I see this in the front, it's like, I'm not eating there.

But, uh, I think, I don't think it was a Chinese restaurant or something.

Thai might've been a Thai restaurant.

It probably makes more sense.

But anyways, out front, there is a little like shrine to Buddha.

All right.

So there's some flowers and this little, uh, image of Buddha.

And from what I understand, there is a bowl in front of it and some people will make an

offering and they'll take food or drink and they'll put it in the bowl in front

of, of Buddha.

And they might, you know, I don't know if they say a prayer or say something, you know, touch the statue and all of that is

meant to bring them a good fortune, basically.

Uh, we are probably a little more familiar with the kind of the Roman Catholic, uh,

grotto or whatever.

You have a little shrine, maybe it's in the backyard or, or in the home and they'll have the porcelain statue of

Mary, uh, outside or in the house and same idea, flowers around it.

And you go and you do whatever you do.

You pray, do the rosary, light some incense, and it's there for

protection to bring you protection, good fortune, answer your prayers, whatever.

But still at the end of the day, if it's a, if it's a figurine, if it's an image of

something other than God, and even then we're not supposed to make images of God.

If it's something that you're showing reverence and veneration towards this object or

image or terrapin, you know, it's still, it's still idolatry really, um,

at the end of the day.

So long story short, um, my call seems to be mixed

up in idolatry because she has this, uh, terrapin in her home.

So we're assuming it's hers and not David's because someone who truly was walking

with the Lord would, uh, not have one of these things.

So she sets it up in the bed, uh, basically as like a dummy, right?

Like a, you have scarecrows, you have done who's ever done that.

You probably kids do that.

They put the pillows in the bed and find something that looks like hair and put at the top and always so -and -so's in

bed and they're sick.

Well, that's what she's doing here.

So the dummy is under the bed, the terrapin.

And when Saul's servants show up at the house, she's like, David, he's back to, you see,

he's over there in bed.

He's sick.

So come back tomorrow.

And apparently that worked, but they did come back and you know, you can only do this for so

long.

Verse 15, Saul sends the messengers back the second time they pull the covers back.

And here is this image where it says with goat's hair, uh, for the head.

So I don't know.

I probably didn't look very real, but, uh, you know, from a distance, it worked the first time.

So she's, she's busted, right?

She gets caught and I'm sure she's, I wouldn't be if I were her, she's probably a little afraid of her dad

and who knows what he's going to do.

He's going to try to kill Jonathan next chapter.

So you can just never know what Saul's going to do.

So notice how my call responds.

See, Jonathan was willing to defend David and Hey, whatever happens happens.

David's right.

Leave David alone.

You're in the wrong.

Jonathan was willing to do that.

Michael isn't quite willing to do that.

Look at verse 17.

Then Saul said to Michael, why have you deceived me like this and send my enemy away so that he

has escaped.

And Michael answered Saul.

He, as David said to me, let me go.

Why should I kill you?

So what's she saying here?

The new King James isn't as clear as maybe some other translations.

Michael basically said, David threatened to kill me.

I had to let him go.

Now, is that true?

No, it's not true.

Here's the problem with this.

Yeah.

She helped David escape.

But by saying that, you know, up until this moment, Saul had no

reason to be against David.

He had no reason to want to kill David.

But after hearing this now in Saul's mind, he threatened my daughter.

So not that Saul really needs a reason, but, uh, this is, this is not a good thing.

And it kind of, it kind of tells you something about, uh, Michael and really things with her

and David, you know, they don't end up very well.

So David fled verse 18.

Um, and it's, he escaped and he went where he went to.

Yeah.

He went to Rama or Rama.

I say Rama.

And who, why did he go there?

Because who's there Samuel.

Okay.

So he goes and he tells Samuel all the things that Saul has done to him.

And it says he and Samuel went and stayed at Neoweth.

So Saul then sends messengers.

Uh, he knows he finds out where they are.

He sends messengers.

He's not there for Samuel.

I think Saul wants nothing to do with Samuel.

He doesn't want to be in Samuel's presence.

He doesn't want to talk to him.

He just wants to find David and get this over with.

So he sends messengers to try to get David to come back.

But what happens when these messengers remember they're working for Saul, they probably know what they're there to do.

These are men, if not evil men, they're men with evil intentions at the end of the day.

And yet what, what happens to them?

They're, they're overpowered by the spirit of God.

There's this, uh, spirit filled prayer meeting going on or whatever you want to call it.

You know, this assembly where all the prophets are prophesying and Samuel is there kind of presiding

instructing all of these men.

And so powerful was it that the Holy spirit

overtook them.

Verse 20, then Saul sent messengers to take David.

And when he saw the group of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as leader over

them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul.

And they also prophesied.

And when Samuel was told he sent, or when Saul was told he sent other messengers and they

prophesied, likewise, then Saul sent messengers again, the third time, and they

prophesied also.

So he's probably getting a little frustrated right now, but again, it

shows you that God, he's protecting David and God can do whatever he wants and he can

do what he wants when he wants, how he wants.

So what does it mean that they prophesied?

So are they predicting the future here?

Probably not.

Were they preaching?

You know, it's hard to say exactly what they're doing.

Most things they're probably just praising God, you know, forth telling, praising God and Samuel's

overseeing it, instructing them, maybe what to say, whatever's happening, the

spirit overtakes all of these messengers, one group after another.

So finally Saul has no other choice, but to go himself, which is probably the last thing he wants to

do, but he does verse 24.

What does it say that Saul, when he goes there, what happens?

Yeah.

He prophesies as well.

And then he says he strips off all of his clothes, right.

And lays there naked all day and night.

And again, this is probably taking off his royal attire.

So I had said at the beginning, this is God's way of telling Saul and really all who are

there telling Samuel, telling all of the prophets of the nation, everyone in

Israel that's important seems to be here.

So this is God's declaration that Saul is no longer king.

So God has sovereignly protected David and humbled Saul.

And then you get into that, that last statement, how the chapter ends is Saul among the prophets.

Okay.

Let's just quickly go over chapter 20.

After all of that, Jonathan and David then meet, they make an agreement.

Jonathan will find out whether or not it's safe for David to come back.

Uh, because if you, if you want to put it this way, David is like a cabinet member in Saul's administration.

Okay.

So David really is supposed to be there when they have a meeting or when they have dinner here, when they

all get together, David is really supposed to be at the table, but why is he not at the table?

Well, it's obvious Saul's trying to kill him, but he hasn't officially been

exiled yet.

So David is really in this impossible situation.

Like if he's not there, does that acknowledge Gil in Saul's mind, whatever the case.

So David isn't there.

Saul notices he's not there and doesn't think much of it the first time.

But then the second time, uh, Saul, uh, notices, and now he has something to

say about it.

So David and Jonathan come up with this arrangement.

Uh, they set up a signal.

So David is going to hide out in this field and Jonathan will meet with Saul, figure out what's

going on.

And then afterwards, Jonathan will come back to the field and he's going to shoot, you know, an arrow.

And he tells David, okay, if this happens, then you know, it's safe.

But if this happens over here, you know, you need to run.

So that's the arrangement.

Look at verse 24.

Then David hid in the field.

And when the new moon had come, the King sat down to eat the feast.

So Saul notices David's not there.

Verse 27.

He's not there the next day.

Saul says, why has the son of Jesse not come to eat either yesterday,

yesterday or today?

Now, doesn't he know the answer?

Okay.

So Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked permission of me

to go to Bethlehem.

And he said, please let me go for our family has sacrificed in the city.

And my brother has commanded me to be there.

And now if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.

Therefore he has not come to the King's table.

Is that true?

I mean, maybe that happened, but that's not the real reason why he's there.

And Saul knows it.

Verse 30 says, Saul's anger was aroused against Jonathan.

And he said to him, you son of a perverse rebellious woman.

So that's, uh, I think there's a modern equivalent of this.

Uh, you can probably imagine that the Bible is not going to translate it that way.

Uh, you son of a perverse rebellious woman, do I not know that you

have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?

So these are just have to imagine.

These are the real big insults back in those days.

This is what you say.

Verse 31 for as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall

not be established nor your kingdom.

Now therefore send and bring him to me for he shall surely die.

You see what Saul is saying, uh, David, Johnny, Jonathan, you need to realize this.

David is standing in you.

He's not just a threat to me.

He's a threat to us.

He's standing in your way because Jonathan's supposed to be the next King,

the way it would normally work.

So David is standing in the way of what every King wanted to have a dynasty.

So as long as David is alive, Jonathan, you're never going to become King.

Does Jonathan care that Jonathan doesn't care?

Jonathan cares about the Lord.

Jonathan cares about David.

He cares about upholding their covenant.

So Jonathan just wants to do the right thing and he defends David and look at what happens.

Verse 32 and Jonathan answered Saul, his father, and said to him, why should

he be killed?

What has he done?

Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him by which Jonathan knew that it was

determined by his father to kill David.

Okay.

Well, right.

Yeah, right.

If, if, if he's going to throw the spear at Jonathan, he's not going to have no problem killing David.

So verse 34, Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the

second day of the month where he was grieved for David because his father had treated him

shamefully.

So clearly there's no reasoning with Saul at this point, Jonathan.

So he goes out to the field, he shoots his arrow, gives the signal.

David sees that David comes, they meet together.

They say their goodbye.

Remember their best friends and they realized that, okay, we were just, this is probably the last

time we're ever going to see each other.

So they, they embrace, they say their goodbyes, they reaffirm the

covenant.

So Jonathan made a promise and he's going to keep it from this moment forward.

As long as Saul is alive, David is going to have to live the rest of his life.

As long as Saul lives on the run.

And he does.

The Lord also made a promise to David though.

And even though David is on the run, it's going to be a very difficult time for him.

God has promised that he will protect David and David one day

will take the throne.

So in conclusion, this same God that protected David and we see how,

whether it's the Holy Spirit overpowering people in a miraculous way, or just using normal

everyday means, just bringing people into your life that can give you advice or

friends, close friends and family that are there to strengthen you and to encourage you.

And God can use all these things to protect his people.

And God is still protecting his people today.

All of Saul's plotting, every attempt on David's life failed.

Every single one.

Every time Saul threw the spear, he missed.

So if David is a type of Christ, Saul, I don't think I've ever had a type for

Satan, but I mean, if David is the type of Christ, Saul at this point becomes like a type of Satan.

How so?

Paul speaks in Ephesians six.

Okay.

You think of Saul, King Saul, he's throwing the spear, right?

What does Paul say about the devil?

The devil shoots his fiery darts at us, which is why we're commanded

exhorted to take up the shield of faith.

I'll close with verse 42 says, then Jonathan said to David, go in peace.

Since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord saying, may the Lord be between you and me

and between your descendants and my descendants forever.

So he arose and departed and Jonathan went into the city.