In the last few articles, Jonathan had shown his fervent dedication to live according to principle, regardless of what the results may have been. Though he knew that his father was liable to react to him violently, he also knew that out of love for David and out of love for Saul, he needed to do something. Thus, he determined to speak to his father.
Nevertheless, though he came to his father because of principle, not the results, Jonathan still did what he could to achieve the best possible outcome. Before he came to Saul, he must have spent time thinking about how he could say what needed to say and somehow change his father’s mind. With a gentle and yet firm approach, an approach which demonstrated the apostle’s phrase of “speaking the truth in love”, Jonathan was able to turn his father’s mind back to happier and more faithful days, reminding him of the firm confidence that he had once had in God.
In doing so, and with God’s blessing, Jonathan’s effort turned Saul’s heart. The stubborn and envious king began to rethink his feelings towards David and solemnly pledged that he would repeal his decree to kill him. David would live. For the next while (days, maybe even months), life in Saul’s court returned to how it had been before. David periodically came before Saul to soothe his mind, and Saul appreciated his presence. Perhaps it would have even seemed as though Saul’s love for David returned.
With joy in his heart, Jonathan would have thanked the God of Israel for his success with his father, and perhaps even believed that the time of violence towards David was past. Sadly, if this was the case, then Jonathan was wrong. Unbeknownst to him, Saul’s murderous streak had returned, and though he had made a vow that he would not kill David, Saul simply couldn’t hold to what he had promised. David had fought another battle with the Philistines, winning a great victory, and likely winning more of the hearts of the people. David’s growing popularity was something that Saul couldn’t stand — and as David played his soothing music before him, Saul didn’t feel soothed. His fingers would have tightened around his javelin and the urge to kill the young man would have begun to overtake him. Suddenly, he threw the javelin at David, and the young shepherd’s safety was once more in question:
“And 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. And 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. 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” (1Sam 19:8-10).
This was now the second time that Saul had tried to kill David in this way. It was as though Saul’s oath of David’s safety had never even existed. With this violent action towards him having resumed, David knew that he was no longer safe in Saul’s court. Fearing for his life, David ran from the king into the night, eventually coming to his own home. Unfortunately, this was one of the first places that Saul thought to look for him — telling his servants to watch David’s house and kill him when the morning came. In great distress, Michal, David’s wife, who somehow knew of her father’s plans (how did she know?), told David that he needed to flee that very night: once the morning came it would be too late:
“Saul 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” (1Sam 19:11).
Not knowing what lay ahead, David heeded the warning of his wife, being secretly dropped down to the ground from one of their windows. From there, likely wondering if he would ever see Michal again, David ran to a place where he knew that he could find sanctuary, the house of Samuel the prophet:
“So 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” (1Sam 19:18).
All throughout the land, Samuel was a respected man. He had been the spiritual leader of the entire nation: “Behold, here I [Samuel] am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness” (1Sam 12:1-3). Surely David thought that he would be safe with the old seer. But Saul’s hatred had lost all restraint; for a time his lethal thinking towards David had been withheld by his vow, but with that already broken, Saul had nothing to keep him back. He had missed with the javelin, he had failed to kill David in his own house — and so he would do whatever he needed to do to finish the job, even if it meant invading the house of his former mentor.
But, things wouldn’t be so easy for Saul. With each group of messengers that Saul sent to Samuel’s house to capture David, the Spirit of God came upon them and they began to prophesy, rendering them totally unable to apprehend the son of Jesse:
“And 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. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied.” (1 Sam 19:20-21).
Three groups of messengers were sent and three groups of messengers began to prophesy. Finally, in exasperation, Saul decided to go himself: he would find David and kill him at Samuel’s house, if that’s what it took. Nevertheless, the same thing that happened to the messengers happened to Saul:
“And 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. And 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?” (1Sam 19:23-24).
Just as with the messengers, the Spirit of God came upon Saul and he found himself unable to capture David — he was moved by the spirit and spoke the words of God. Tragically, even this powerful experience had no effect on the hardened king. The spirit of God had been absent from his life for so long: “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him” (1Sam 16:14). Its reappearance should have caused him to think about why it had departed from him for so many years. Yet, even more, the exact same thing had actually happened to Saul before, and this instance would have no doubt reminded Saul of his previous experience prophesying. Just after Samuel had anointed him, the very same thing had taken place:
“And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Sam 10:10-11).
Those days were surely better times for Saul. It was during those days that Saul was “little” in his own sight: “And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?” (1Sam 15:17). He had much more humility than he had in his later years. In was during those days that God was able to work with him and able to accomplish a “great salvation” against the Ammonites. Once again, Saul had another experience in his life, which, just like his conversation with Jonathan a few verses prior to him chasing David, should have caused him to stop and think. Saul should have thought about why it was that the spirit of God had left him for so long. On top of that, he should have been reminded of his life back when the same thing had happened to him before — he should have been reminded of how different and how much better it was when he acted in humility. Sadly, this event seems to have had little effect upon Saul. His hatred towards David burned just as strong as ever, and David, in desperation and fear, feeling as though he was not even safe with Samuel, fled back to Gibeah to the only other tangible source of comfort that he knew, his dear friend Jonathan.
Such is the context of one of the most moving events in all of the Scriptural record. In the next few articles, we will examine the story of David and Jonathan’s parting, in which two of Israel’s most spiritually-minded and faithful men were separated because of the envy of a foolish king. The story begins with David earnestly trying to convince Jonathan of Saul’s revived intentions; progresses to the two mens’ plan for revealing Saul’s schemes; moves on to the implementation of that plan; and finally shows the future king and the prince together as they realize that David can no longer stay in Gibeah with Saul. It’s a touching story of friendship and service, in which Jonathan shines forth as an example of how to bring comfort to a friend whose faith is wavering and who simply has no idea what to do.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One