#429 Rabid King

Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”

6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”

7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.

8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.

9 But an evil[a] spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre,10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

11 Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.” 16 But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair.

17 Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?”

Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’”

18 When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.

23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 1 Samuel 19 NIV

Saul is like a Kim Jong-un, a dictator, abusing power and drunk on his position. We should never be so proud or sure of ourselves that we cannot hear those closest to us. If my child tells me what's right then it can still be respectful; their true duty and loyalty is to God alone. They should respect me as He as asked but this should never keep them from telling me the truth. They should never lie or hate someone because I do. It looks for a moment that Saul will listen to the words of Jonathan, a soft answer, and then he will answer with an oath that David lives. Men like to swear, we like to hear ourselves talk, and if I am a fool then I will think myself David or Jonathan, for we like to be the hero as well. If I ever gossiped then I was Saul, if I ever thought myself above learning from my child because I was the parent, then I was less than Saul. Right is truth, no matter the age of the mouth it comes out of, and I have had to apologize to my children on more than one occasion. Jonathan is again the truest sort of friend, both to your face and to your foe the same. Things toned down for a while, and David served Saul as before.

Yet the oath does not stand, and I have to admit again, that I have stated the truth before, the obvious correction, but did not keep myself on that path. Whatsoever things are pure, lovely, true, of virtue and praise, those things did not occupy my mind, but rather vain and corrupt thoughts, a vengeful spirit. Take great care of human worth, that life and death are in the power of the tongue, and if you speak evil of your neighbor you are by that same measure bound. If you speak what is in no way true, any resulting actions of another belong also to you. Saul sends men to David's house, and his wife, who has left father and mother to be one with her husband, protects his body to her father's dismay. Where Jonathan is careful to speak well of his brother in law, his sister adds fuel to her father's insanity. We need to trust the God, Who says, thou shalt not lie, even in these times. 

David seeks refuge and a place of sane reason in Samuel. How can it be that you anointed me, for surely I am a dead man walking? Saul gets word of this and he sends men to take David but each time they profess the truth, in agreement with the prophets. Saul comes himself, but like the man on Gerasene, possessed by legion, Saul can only join in testimony. Like Balaam's ass, don't be confused, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, many will say Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? But He will say, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Lord, please let your servant not have a forked tongue, let not both good and evil come from the same place. Please cleanse my heart, take away my pride, let me bring honor to you and if there be any virtue or praise it belongs with you, for I was lost and dead. Let me always point to you.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.[g]

Retaliation

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[h] let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Love Your Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[i] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5: 33-48