Devotions

They Also Prophesied

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David has the “Spirit of Yahweh” since being anointed in 1 Samuel 16:13 so has no fear and in 1 Samuel 17:48 “David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine” and killed him. Saul needs the army to see him reward his new champion but is jealous of David so he publicly offers his daughter in marriage to David, but privately sent a message in 1 Samuel 18:25 “‘The king desires no bride price except for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.’ (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of the Philistines.)”. David meets the challenge, and Saul’s next attempt to have David killed also fails so David flees to Samuel. Three times “Saul sent messengers to capture David” beginning in 1 Samuel 19:20 and each time, the messengers begin to prophesy and fail to capture David. Finally, Saul himself goes in 1 Samuel 19:23–24 “and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night” and was not able to carry out his plan to kill David. 

David Ran Quickly to the Battle Line

1 Samuel 17:48-58
David is out in front of the army of Israel and the Philistine is out in front of his army. They are separated only by the battle line. You may have heard someone say, “Don’t cross that line!”. The battle line was the only thing separating these two armies from conflict and no one had dared cross it until in

1 Samuel 17:48 When the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

but David did not come empty-handed, he took the weapon he knew, his sling and in

1 Samuel 17:49 Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung it. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

Goliath wasn’t dead, this was certainly a severe head wound, but David had to make a sure end to this enemy so, in

1 Samuel 17:51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Now that the whole Philistine army is fleeing away, the army of Israel finds courage and in 1 Samuel 17:52 “The men of Israel and Judah got up, raised the war cry, and pursued the Philistines”.

Even though David had stood before the king and had been called his armor bearer and we find in

1 Samuel 16:22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor in my sight.”

Saul was the king and there were many around him. And as it often happens with people in position and with power, Saul really had no idea who David was and it hadn’t mattered to him. Now though, David had defeated their enemy in front of everyone, now David is noticed, now Saul wants to know in

1 Samuel 17:58 Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

What More Can he Have but the Kingdom?

1 Samuel 18:1–9

Because Yahweh Was With Him

1 Samuel 18:10–16

 

My Hand Will Not be Against Him

1 Samuel 18:17–30
Saul is threatened by David’s success but there was also the political expectation that the one that killed Goliath would be rewarded as the men of the army had been saying in

1 Samuel 17:25 “It will be that the man who defeats him, the king will make him very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter in marriage and will make his father’s house free in Israel.”

So Saul offers a prize to David, his “older daughter Merab” in 1 Samuel 18:17, but Saul knows their tradition and David has no dowry for a kings daughter. Saul then offers Merab to another, and we see the political mind of Saul at work. But David is still a problem for Saul so he offers his second daughter Michal and it seemed like a good arrangement for all in

1 Samuel 18:20 “Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, so they told Saul, and the matter pleased him”.

but Saul’s intention was to put David in a position where he would be killed in

1 Samuel 18:21 And Saul thought, “I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.”

Some also say that “Saul may view Michal as a snare because she practices idolatry (see 19:13)”.1

Saul makes sure he is then seen publicly as generous by all the people but then he plots behind the scenes to destroy David. Saul sends his servants to privately convey the price that David must pay for this arrangement in

1 Samuel 18:25 Then Saul said, “This is what you must say to David: ‘The king desires no bride price except for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.’ ” (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of the Philistines.)

No one expected that David could meet this demand, but in

1 Samuel 18:27 And David got up, and he and his men went and struck down two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they presented the full number to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as his wife.

Now though, is a turning point, no more secret schemes, David becomes a public enemy in

1 Samuel 18:29 Saul was threatened by David still more, so Saul became a perpetual enemy of David.

He Will not be Put to Death!

1 Samuel 19:1–7

He Struck the Spear Into the Wall

1 Samuel 19:8–16 

They Also Prophesied

1 Samuel 19:17–24
David is running for his life after Saul’s messengers had come to kill him in 1 Samuel 19:11. So he goes to the one to the one man he trusts in

1 Samuel 19:18 So David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.

Saul is still seeking Davids life so people were looking for David so in

1 Samuel 19:19 And it was told to Saul, “David is in Naioth in Ramah.”

But as Saul had sent messengers to kill David, now “Saul sent messengers to capture David” in 1 Samuel 19:20, as they came into the presence of Samuel and the prophets, “then the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied”. Saul’s messengers were powerless to cause harm. Three times Saul sends messengers and three times the messengers fall into prophecy themselves and are not able to carry out their mission to capture David for Saul so in

1 Samuel 19:23–24 So he (Saul) went there to Naioth in Ramah and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Saul goes himself intent on killing David, “The king attempts to kill David approximately 16 times (see 18:11, 17, 25; 19:1, 10, 11, 15, 20–21, 22; 23:8, 15; 24:2; 26:2).2

but no one can stand in the presence of the spirit of the Lord and “The Spirit of God came upon him also, rendering him helpless, lest he should commit some dreadful crime against the one of God’s choice. So intense was Saul’s experience of ecstasy that for twenty-four hours he was unconscious, lying stripped and naked, yet he prophesied”.3

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • 1 Samuel 17:48–58
  • 1 Samuel 18:1–30
  • 1 Samuel 19:1–24

References

  • 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Sa 18:21). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
  • 2. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Sa 16:21). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
  • 3. Baldwin, J. G. (1988). 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 8, p. 143). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.