April 1

April 1

1 Samuel 18–20

Scripture Text: 1 Samuel 18:1–20:42

Series: Read the Bible in a Year

After David slayed Goliath, King Saul was either simply impressed with the lad’s bravery and skill, or he was weighing the possibility of a future without himself as king. Would the slaying of a giant whom the rest of Israel’s army, including the king, would not meet on the field of battle be the beginning of Saul’s removal from the throne? If so, poor Saul does not understand the gravity of his situation. Samuel had informed him quite bluntly that the Lord had rejected him from being king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:26 ). This may be understandable on a few levels, notably that the king cannot recall who David is, though it was David who played the lyre so skillfully that it brought some peace to Saul. Also note that “Saul loved him greatly” (1 Samuel 16:21) and made him his armor bearer yet he does not seem to know who David is after his defeat of Goliath. Perhaps the weight of his failing kingship has begun to confuse his thinking. 

In the midst of this troubling story, Saul’s son, Jonathan, himself a great warrior, becomes fast friends with David. A demonstration of the depth of that friendship is Jonathan stripping himself of a prince’s robe, his armor, and his weapons and giving them to David. This was tantamount to saying David is the rightful heir apparent to the throne instead of Jonathan, son of the sitting king. Whether or not Saul understood the undoing of his father’s reign, Saul’s son is not denying the bald facts. 

Further evidence of Saul’s declining state of mind is his increasing enmity toward David. David has soothed him, won a decisive battle for him, and is best friends with his son, but Saul is progressively more hostile toward David, as though doing in David will reverse the Lord’s decision. No matter his determination, David will be king, though Saul only suspects the possibility. The king’s ire may have been enough to frighten away ordinary men, but David remains faithful to the Lord’s anointing. Indeed, Saul makes him Israel’s military commander, perhaps as a way of getting rid of David in battle. However, the Lord gives David success, and the people sing of his triumph, which Saul, of course, takes offense though the people did not likely intend any slight. Saul promises his daughter to David, possibly knowing what a problem she might become to him. Saul sets out to kill David himself but Jonathan warns David, which angers the king with his own son that he attempts to kill him too.   

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