God's Work with Planet Earth

Once King Saul, the first king of Israel, had disobeyed God’s instructions multiple times, doing things his own way, God withdrew His Spirit and protection from Saul. Saul eventually ordered the slaughter of 85 priests of God and their families, and searched out a witch who could communicate with “familiar spirits” (demons). When he realized he was losing a battle with the Philistines (having been discouraged by a demon disguised as the dead prophet Samuel), Saul told his bodyguard to kill him so he wouldn’t be captured alive. When the bodyguard refused, Saul fell on his own sword, committing suicide. (1 Samuel 28 & 31)

But long before this sad day, God had arranged for David to take Saul’s place. David and Saul both grew up taking care of animals in their fathers’ villages, and Samuel anointed both of them. David was a teenager when Samuel anointed him as king, and when he fought the giant Goliath. Why did the lives of these first two kings of Israel turn out so differently?

How God Sees People

When Samuel came to Bethlehem to visit Jesse, David’s father, he had to be discrete about the purpose of his visit. Saul was still king, and Samuel told God he believed Saul would kill him if he knew Samuel was anointing his replacement. (1 Samuel 16:1-2)

As they were worshipping God, Samuel saw each of Jesse’s sons. They were tall, handsome, strong men.

“So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:6-7

This happened with each of Jesse’s sons, until there were none left. Samuel was puzzled and asked Jesse if he had any more sons. Just the boy who’s watching the sheep in the field. This was the one God had chosen. While Judah wasn’t one of the smallest tribes (as with Gideon and Saul), David was the youngest son.

Close Connection to God

David demonstrated a strong desire to follow God’s will. There were nine times recorded in 1 & 2 Samuel where he asked God about decisions he had to make. Most of these were about whether he should fight the Philistines or the Amalekites. But he also asked about whether and where he should go after Saul died, rather than immediately claiming the throne. And he asked about the reason for a famine in Israel. God answered him each time.

David Spares Saul’s life – Twice

There were two times, while David was a fugitive from Saul, that David pulled off outright ninja-like stunts where he could have killed Saul, but spared his life. He showed Saul mercy, even while Saul was persecuting, hunting, and trying to kill him.

The first time, in 1 Samuel 24, Saul came looking for David with 3,000 men. From David’s time as an officer in Saul’s army, he had between 300 to 600 men who followed him while he was a fugitive. Saul saw a cave and went in “to attend to his needs”. “David and his men were staying “in the recesses” of the same cave. While David’s men claimed God was giving him a chance to kill his enemy, David refused to take advantage of this opportunity.

Instead, David crept out and stealthily cut off the corner of Saul’s cape in the darkness. When Saul exited the cave going back to his men, David followed him and called to him. He held up the corner of the king’s robe (showing that he could have killed Saul), and asked why Saul listened to those who said that David wanted to harm him.

After David’s short speech, reasoning with him, Saul felt so bad and so guilty that he wept. But rather than promise not to harm David in the future, he asked for David’s promise not to harm his descendants. So David and his men when back to their wilderness hideouts, very similar to the Robin Hood legends, and Saul went back to the palace.

The second time (1 Samuel 26) was even more of a feat of stealth and bravery. Saul was back to hunting David in the wilderness again. Accompanied by his nephew, Abishai, David crept into the middle of Saul’s camp of 3,000 men in the middle of the night. When they reached Saul’s sleeping place, Abishai begged David to let him run a spear through Saul and pin him to the ground. David refused, and just like the previous time, said that they could not strike down the person God had anointed as king. It didn’t matter that Saul was being a bad actor. In the beginning Samuel had given him God’s blessing, and David refused to assassinate a God-ordained king.

Instead, they took Saul’s spear and water jug, which were right next to his head, while he slept. The next morning, from a hill opposite Saul’s camp, David began calling and mocking Abner, Saul’s general. Why hadn’t he protected the king? He deserved to die for failing in his duty. Where was the king’s spear and water jug? When those items couldn’t be found, David held them up. It dawned on the whole camp that David had been right in the middle of them the night before and could have killed the king easily.

This time Saul promised not to harm David and invited him back to the palace. But David knew better than to believe it, and he and his men went back to their hideouts in the wilderness.

And people say the Bible is boring? These are fascinating stories, but they demonstrate how David was “a man after God’s own heart”. (Acts 13:22) While Saul suspected David would succeed him and tried to murder him many times, David knew Saul was trying to kill him and did not respond the same way, even though he had multiple chances.

God Protected David

There are many cases where David’s escape and survival is credited to God’s intervention, both in the history books like Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, but also in the Psalms that David wrote. Usually the strength and protection was in battle. But there’s a story in 1 Samuel 19 that is a bit surprising.

David had married Michal, Saul’s daughter, after slaying not only the giant Goliath but also 100 Philistines. Saul was hoping the Philistines would kill him, and when that didn’t work, Saul figured his daughter could “be a snare to him”. 1 Samuel 18:21

But that didn’t work either, because Michal actually loved David. So did her brother, Jonathan. Prince Jonathan warned David about his father the king’s evil intentions to kill him. After the second time David dodged Saul’s spear in the palace, he ran to his house. Michal told him he should escape that night, because Saul’s men were coming to kill him in the morning. She let him down out of a back upper window, so the soldiers watching the house didn’t see him leave.

“And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 1 Samuel 19:13-15

I’d like to know where Michal got a man-sized idol/image, because they knew this was violating the second of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:4-6). Saul was furious at being tricked by his own daughter. Someone told Saul that David had gone to Ramah where Samuel lived, and this is where things get supernatural.

Saul sent three different groups of men to arrest David in Ramah, but each time when they got close to Samuel and his students, they lost their minds and started prophesying. We should keep in mind that “prophesying” in the Bible is not always making a prediction about the future. It is Holy Spirit-inspired writing or speech, and it could have been simply praising God.

“So he (Saul) went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night.” 1 Samuel 19:23-24

Incredible! Instead sending the angel of death or striking Saul with lightning, God sent His Spirit to overwhelm Saul so that he could not harm David. Laying down naked for 24 hours like he’d lost his mind must have been humiliating, but it also showed everyone who witnessed this that God is sovereign, even over the king.

This isn’t the only time God humbled a king in this way. In Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, tells his own story. He was warned about his pride, but he attributed his success to himself. So he was humbled and made to behave like an animal in the field for 7 years.

After 7 years, Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity returned, and he returned to the throne and wrote Daniel 4. Only God can make the highest leader on earth go insane for exactly a predicted period of time, and then restore both his mind and his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar knew this.

David’s Preparation

I think it’s interesting that Joseph, Moses, and David were all shepherds before they were raised up as leaders of the people. Jesus is called the Good Shepherd and His people are the sheep. Sheep followed a shepherd, and he didn’t drive them like cows, he led them.

As we explored in the post about Joseph, managing the household of the chief of the pharaoh’s guard, and managing a prison, while still a slave, prepared him to become the prime minister or vice president of Egypt. In David’s case, being in the palace to play music for Saul, and as a warrior fighting Israel’s enemies, and as a fugitive among the Philistines… these experiences all prepared him for his role as the second king of Israel. God allowed David to go through some difficult and trying experiences, which strengthened and molded him into the person he needed to be.