1 Samuel 19:18 Commentary and Bible Study

David is now to be killed by Saul. Saul has made several attempts on his life already. He could turn from fury to kindliness within hours, but now it's different. Now there is a determination and a hatred beyond anything seen before, and Saul unquestionably wants to take his life. It is very difficult for David. You would think he was very privileged. He is head of the military, head of the army. But he has only really been made head of the army of Israel in order, hopefully, to get him killed. That has already been said in the narrative, and Saul, no doubt thought to himself, ‘David is comparatively young and injudicious, and will take risks.’ And Philistine attacks and marauding parties; well, they were very vicious, and the fighting would be very hot, any many deaths, and in those days the leader of the army was supposed to be at the front of every battle. And surely he will lose his life. And besides that, Saul had already instructed his own servants, that is to say the people who particularly loyal to him – and he knew how to buy loyalty; he tells us in these chapters ahead of us how much he gave his loyal courtiers and servants in order to be pledged entirely to him, how he gave them houses and lands and servants and so on, and there were many of them and in the military, and they had already had the orders to assassinate David. How easy that might have been to accomplish in the thick of the battle: to slay your own nominal leader or general, in order to please the king! So David was undoubtedly humanly feeling very undermined: watched and spied upon at court, eyes everywhere, and with unknown potential assassins wherever he went. So one moment you are reading of him behaving himself so wisely and carefully. Yes, leading, when required, his troops with great valour, and yet exercising such wisdom. He doesn't put a foot wrong. There is no reason to find fault with him. He does nothing to offend Saul, who is deeply afraid of him, and jealous of him. Saul has been warned by Samuel that he will lose his life violently one day, and lose his kingdom; that the judgement of God is upon him. And David is seen as perhaps that usurper. David of course has no intention whatsoever of harming Saul, the king, because Saul is God's anointed for the time being. Though he is under judgement, in David's mind it will be for God to terminate his reign or his life in his way, not for David. He is to keep the law and to be very zealous for the protection of God's anointed. He also is God's anointed to succeed him. That is the trouble. That is where the bitterness and the jealousy in Saul comes from. ‘So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him.’ David does the right thing. He goes straight to Ramah and he goes to the prophet Samuel, and he tells him everything that Saul had done. David bore the malice, the plotting, the evil speaking, the flight. He was always preserved, but when he is in this ultimate trouble, to whom does he turn, but to Samuel who anointed him? He goes to Samuel and the school, the company of prophets, and he goes to worship with them, and to consult with Samuel. Perhaps he said to Samuel, ‘Why is this happening? Am I not anointed? Is it ever going to come to an end?’ And Samuel would encourage him. Although there is no record of Samuel's response, you have to imagine that Samuel the prophet gave him the wisest advice, and reassured him, and reminded him of the promises of God and of the things that God had already done for him since his call, since his anointing: remarkable and miraculous things. Possibly he reminds him of his own experiences with the lion and with the bear and his deliverances from them. Certainly he would have spoken to him about Goliath, and the great miracle of that victory and others that followed in its wake against many Philistines. He would have attempted to build David up. But sadly it was to be of no use, because when faith starts to crumble, – even in the most godly and earnest believers like David, who had proved his stand before the Lord – even ministry can't help. Even Scripture reading fails. That’s not a fault of the Scripture; it’s our fault if we not watching like hawks to keep our faith alive. David has fled, and you begin to see a breakdown in that seemingly impregnable faith of David. He knows his position. He has this immense trust in the Lord. He behaves himself so wisely, conducts his affairs so carefully. But now you see a breakdown, and it begins to get to him, and he loses his spiritual view.