1 Samuel 19:4 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant [David].’ You can read that too quickly, so that your eyes pass over that little word ‘sin’. What a word to use to a king! Jonathan is bold enough to say it: ‘This would be a sin against God, and you would be guilty before God.’ ‘Let not the king sin against his servant … because he hath not sinned against thee.’ Sin! The word would have sent a shudder down Saul's spine. You didn't go telling the king he was about to sin, but Jonathan does. He tries to reason with his father. ‘Because his works have been to thee-ward very good.’ ‘He has saved you, father. You were at the head of the army when Goliath issued his challenge. You couldn't respond to him, and you couldn't find anyone who could. And you were likely to have to relinquish everything, and appear the coward and the weakling before all your country, because you had absolutely no answer to the Philistine challenger. And this young man delivered you completely, saved you, your kingdom, your reputation, everything. And now you are about to kill him!’ So he reasons very powerfully with his father. ‘For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel.’ You saw it, father, and you rejoiced. ‘Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?’ He was very straightforward with his father. He said, ‘It is not justified; it is not right; it will be a crime in the sight of God. He hasn't planned anything against you; he hasn't done anything. His works towards you have been extremely good.’Then he goes further: ‘You should be ashamed of yourself’, he virtually says, ‘For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel’, and you saw it, and you rejoiced. So why are you going to sin against innocent blood to slay David without a cause? Had Saul been defeated by the Philistines, then he would have lost his life, undoubtedly. So Jonathan is saying, ‘You know, you owe your life to David, and what are you doing killing him?’ He heaps it onto Saul to make him feel as bad as he possibly can. He knows that, for all his father is about to murder, he has still got a conscience. It is still there. By speaking so directly he risked his father’s wrath if his conscience did not start to work, but he proceeds anyway.