1 Samuel · chapter 19 of 31
Updated on
1 Samuel 19 tells how Saul orders David killed, but Jonathan defends him and brings about a brief reconciliation. When Saul again hurls a spear at him, David's wife Michal lets him down through a window and fools the messengers with an idol in the bed. David flees to Samuel at Ramah, where the Spirit of God stops Saul and his men.
In 1 Samuel 18 Saul's jealousy of David moved from suspicion to attempts to kill him by trickery. In this chapter the pursuit becomes open: the king wants his son-in-law dead, and David begins a life on the run that will last until Saul's death. The Lord protects his anointed through Jonathan, Michal and Samuel.
Saul tells his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. Jonathan, who loves David, warns him to hide and then speaks well of David to his father, reminding him that David risked his life against Goliath and that killing him would be a sin against innocent blood. Saul listens and swears that David will not be put to death, and Jonathan brings David back into the king's presence.
War breaks out again and David defeats the Philistines. Then an evil spirit from the Lord comes upon Saul, and as David plays the harp Saul tries to pin him to the wall with his spear. David slips away and flees that night. Saul sends messengers to watch David's house and kill him in the morning, but Michal warns her husband, lets him down through a window and puts a household idol in the bed with a covering of goat's hair. When the messengers come she says David is sick, and when Saul orders him brought in the bed, the trick is discovered. Michal tells her father that David threatened her.
David escapes and comes to Samuel at Ramah and tells him everything. They go to live at Naioth. Saul sends messengers, but they see the prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, and the Spirit of God comes on them so that they prophesy too. The same happens to two more groups. Finally Saul goes himself; the Spirit of God comes upon him, he walks along prophesying, strips off his clothes and lies down all that day and night.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jonathan defends David before Saul: he has not sinned against the king, his deeds have greatly benefited him and he risked his life against the Philistine. Jonathan speaks truthfully and courageously to a powerful father, a model of how to plead for an innocent person.
Saul tries to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David slips away and flees. It is the second time this happens, and it shows that Saul is no longer master of his actions; the Lord guards David's life.
Michal lets David down through a window and he flees and escapes. The danger comes even from his own political family, yet God uses his wife to save him, showing that divine protection often arrives through very human means.
The Spirit of God comes on Saul and makes him prophesy until he lies stripped for a day and a night. God stops the king who is chasing his anointed and shows that no human power can defeat his purpose.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That David had not sinned against him, that his deeds had greatly benefited Saul and that he had risked his life in killing the Philistine. — 1 Samuel 19:4-5
Answer: He swore by the Lord that David would not be put to death. — 1 Samuel 19:6
Answer: His wife Michal let him down through a window, and David fled and escaped. — 1 Samuel 19:11-12
Answer: A household idol with a covering of goat's hair, with clothes over it. — 1 Samuel 19:13
Answer: To Samuel at Ramah, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. — 1 Samuel 19:18
Answer: The Spirit of God came on him, he prophesied, stripped off his clothes and lay down for a whole day and night. — 1 Samuel 19:23-24
Jonathan teaches us to speak up for someone who is being treated unjustly, even when that means contradicting a person in authority. We often witness injustice at work, at church or in the family and stay silent out of fear. This chapter encourages us to speak truthfully, respectfully and bravely for the one who cannot defend himself.
The story also shows that God protects his people through unexpected means: a wife, a friend, a prophet. In times of persecution or distress, do not underestimate the help God places in specific people. In your small group, ask whom you can protect or help this week, and give thanks for those who have helped you in hard moments.
1 Samuel 19 ends with Saul lying humbled by the Spirit of God and David safe for the moment in Samuel's house. But Saul has not changed, and David knows he cannot go back. In 1 Samuel 20 he will seek certainty from Jonathan about his father's intentions.
The text uses the Hebrew word teraphim, household figures tied to the religious customs of the time. That Michal had one in her house shows that the faith of Saul's family was not free of practices foreign to God's law. The text reports the fact without approving or commenting on it.
When Saul confronts her, she answers that David told her to let him go or he would kill her. Most commentators understand this as an excuse to protect herself from her father's anger, not a fact. The Bible reports her lie without approving it.
The text says the Spirit of God came on him, but it does not say he had repented or been restored. It is understood as God's intervention to stop Saul at that moment, not a sign of approval. That is why people ask whether Saul is also among the prophets.