History · Chapter 19 of 31

1 Samuel 19

Saul openly orders David's death, but Jonathan intervenes and briefly reconciles them. War and jealousy return; Saul hurls his spear again, and David flees. Michal lowers David through a window and deceives the messengers with an idol in the bed. David escapes to Samuel at Ramah, where Saul's messengers, and finally Saul himself, are overcome by the Spirit and prophesy, so David escapes once more.

What happens in 1 Samuel 19

Saul tells Jonathan and his servants to kill David, but Jonathan warns his friend, reminding him that David risked his life to save Israel. Saul relents and swears David will not die, and Jonathan restores him to court. But when war returns and David triumphs again, the tormenting spirit comes on Saul, who hurls his spear as David plays the harp; David slips away, and the spear strikes the wall. Saul sends men to watch David's house and kill him in the morning.

Michal warns him and lowers him through a window to escape, then places a household idol in the bed with goat's hair, telling the messengers he is sick. David flees to Samuel at Ramah and stays at Naioth. When Saul sends messengers to seize him, the Spirit of God comes on them and they prophesy; twice more this happens, and finally on Saul himself, who strips and lies prophesying all that day and night.

1 Samuel 19 in context

This chapter intensifies Saul's murderous obsession and begins David's years as a fugitive. Jonathan's mediation and Michal's daring rescue show David protected by those closest to Saul, even his own children. The strange scene at Naioth, where the Spirit overpowers Saul's assassins and Saul himself, revives the earlier proverb about Saul among the prophets, and shows God sovereignly thwarting Saul's designs.

David's flight sets the stage for the wilderness chapters that follow.

Main themes of 1 Samuel 19

1 Samuel 19 (KJV)

1And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. 2But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: 3And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. 4And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: 5For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? 6And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. 7And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. 8And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. 9And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. 10And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. 11Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. 12So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. 13And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. 14And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 15And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. 16And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. 17And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? 18So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. 19And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 20And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. 22Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. 23And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

Verses to carry from 1 Samuel 19

“And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.”1 Samuel 19:6

“And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.”1 Samuel 19:10

“So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.”1 Samuel 19:12

Reflection

Though innocent, David was hunted, yet God guarded his life through friends, family, and His own Spirit until the appointed time. When you are opposed unfairly, remember that God preserves His own for His purposes. The same Father who protected David watched over His Son until the hour of love had come.

A prayer from 1 Samuel 19