1 samuel 19 and 20

Read 1 Samuel 19 and 20 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions for today’s chapters are:

1 Sam 19:1-3 {s} Saul seeks to kill David/ Jonathan warns him
1 Sam 19:4-7 {s} Jonathan reasoned with Saul + king relented/ David returned to Saul’s presence
1 Sam 19:8-10 {p} David prevails over the Philistines / soothes Saul / Saul tries to kill him
1 Sam 19:11-13 {s} Michal helps David escape
1 Sam 19:14 {s} So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”
1 Sam 19:15-16 {s} Saul sent messengers to bring him that he might kill him
1 Sam 19:17-21a {s} David escapes to Samuel/ messengers unable to take him
1 Sam 19:21b-24 {p} Messengers + Saul prophesy before Samuel when they try to take David
1 Sam 20:1-4 {p} David returns to Jonathan: there is but a step between me and death
1 Sam 20:5-8 {p} David’s plan to discover Saul’s intent at the New Moon
1 Sam 20:9 {s} Jonathan: if I knew that my father determined evil toward you, I would tell you
1 Sam 20:10-11 {s} David and Jonathan depart for the field (spies in the palace?)
1 Sam 20:12-17 {s} The covenant of lovingkindness between the Jonathan and David’s house
1 Sam 20:18-23 {s} Jonathan’s plan to communicate secretly to David
1 Sam 20:24-26 {s} Saul noticed David’s absence on the first night of the feast
1 Sam 20:27a {p} David’s place empty on the second night of the month
1 Sam 20:27b-29 {s} Saul inquires after David/ Jonathan implements the test
1 Sam 20:30-31 {s} Saul answers Jonathan with wrath and demands David be brought
1 Sam 20:32-33 {s} Saul cast a spear at Jonathan to kill him
1 Sam 20:34 {s} Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and was grieved for David
1 Sam 20:35-39 {s} Jonathan went to the place appointed/ sent the secret message to David
1 Sam 20:40-42 {p} David and Jonathan part with the covenant between them

The strong themes from today’s chapters:

1 Sam 18:30-19:10 {sx3+p} David the wisest of Saul’s servants, but Saul twice more seeks to kill him
1 Sam 19:11-24 {sx4+p} Michal and Samuel help David escape capture
1 Sam 20:1-4 {p} David returns to Jonathan: there is but a step between me and death
1 Sam 20:5-8 {p} David’s plan to discover Saul’s intent at the New Moon
1 Sam 20:9-27a {sx5+p} The covenant between David + Jonathan/ Jonathan to discover Saul’s intent
1 Sam 20:27b-42 {sx5+p} Saul’s evil intent/Jonathan warns David/ part with the covenant between them

Saul’s jealousy is literally driving him insane. He claimed to Jonathan that the reason he sought David’s life was so that the kingdom would be established for Jonathan; but then in the very next paragraph cast a spear at Jonathan to kill him too! His children are not loyal to him in the matter of David, for both brother and sister, Michal and Jonathan, deceive Saul to help David escape. Even the LORD prevents Saul from capturing the son of Jesse, for Saul’s messengers and even Saul himself, cannot get close to Samuel and David without the spirit of prophecy coming upon them so that their plans are thwarted.

David while but a youth killed his enemy, the Philistine giant, armed with his simple and strong faith in God. But now he is facing a much greater enemy than even a Philistine giant: his own king, to whom he owes fealty, and his own changeable father-in-law, whose word and loyalty cannot be trusted.

But the path for victory for David will be the same for his new greater enemy as it was for the Philistine giant–and this is the lesson God is teaching David through his long battle with Saul. For David’s part, to win he must maintain his integrity and wisdom in walking in the LORD’s ways, and as he does so, Saul’s duplicity becomes even more evident. The battle is not David’s but the LORD’s, and the victory is not in sword and spear, but in reliance and obedience to the LORD God of Israel.

This history of David is teaching us that our warfare does not cease with victory over one giant, but the next, even greater, giant follows on his heels; although it may take a different form to cause us confusion. However, the fruit of the enemy does not change: he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, and if he is seeking those things, then he has made himself our enemy. And our path to victory over every giant, no matter how great, is David’s path to victory. The battle is the LORD’s!