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1 Samuel 25

25 Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

²Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

⁴When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, ⁵David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. ⁶And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! ⁷Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. ⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

⁹So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

¹⁰Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. ¹¹Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

¹²So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. ¹³Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. ¹⁵But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. ¹⁶They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him.”

¹⁸Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. ²¹Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. ²²May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”

²³Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. ²⁴So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. ²⁵Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. ²⁶Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. ²⁹Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. ³⁰And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, ³¹that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

³²Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! ³³And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. ³⁴For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” ³⁵So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.”

³⁶Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. ³⁷So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

³⁹So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”

⁴¹Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴²So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. ⁴³David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives.

⁴⁴But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

1 Samuel 25

Dear God, I had a thought occur to me several years ago that I thought of this morning when I thought about this story again. What would David have been like if he had been the judge who succeeded Samuel instead of the king who succeeded Saul? I can’t answer that question so I suppose there isn’t too much point in asking it, but it does make me wonder how David’s mindset as king or, in this case, king-apparent influenced his actions. Power corrupts.

I don’t like the David in this story, but it does show just how human he is. I want to judge him for being entitled and self-righteous. For being ready to kill Nabal because of a perceived slight or disrespect. But when I put myself in his shoes, I can see how he got there.

He had just spared Saul’s life and there might be a part of him that wonders if he did the right thing.
He had just lost Samuel, the man who anointed him as future king and was a support to him in his exile. The person with more credibility in the land that anyone else who was on his side.
He was probably having to deal with discontent among his men because they had let Saul go and they were still on the run.
He was probably tired and hungry and just…well, he was probably not to be messed with at this point.

Then he asks someone for help and he’s not only declined but insulted. That was the last straw. He was ready to throw down. And then a servant of Nabal’s figures out what’s about to happen to Nabal and everyone else in the clan, including himself, and he goes to Abigail to see if she can perhaps fix the situation. Abigail fixes it, and when she finds Nabal he is drunk and partying with his friends. She probably walked in and thought, “Oh, you boys would have been easy-pickens for David and his men. You sit there arrogantly now, but if not for me you’d be dead.” How many times do we need that spouse to save us from ourselves? I know I’ve certainly needed my wife’s wisdom and help throughout my life. She’s so good.

Finally, Nabal dies. He seems like from the story that you smite him for David. Then David takes Abigail and another mysterious woman as his wife as well. And Saul sees that David isn’t coming back so he gives Michal in marriage to someone else. And from Saul’s perspective, this is okay because as far as he knows, David threatened to kill Michal if she didn’t do what he asked way back in chapter 18 when David escaped from Saul the first time.

Father, even when I’m experiencing hardships, help keep me from self-pity and self-righteousness. Help me to consider my life worth nothing to me. Help me to lean into you, accept your comfort and strength, and then face what’s in front of me. Help me to lean into how you bless me through my wife. Help me to be that sort of blessing for her.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

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Posted by John D. Willome on June 11, 2025 in 1 Samuel

Tags: Abigail, Ahinoam of Jezreel, bible, David, Faith, God, Jesus, Michal, Nabal, Samuel

1 Samuel 19

03 Jun

19 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. ²So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. ³And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you.”

⁴Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. ⁵For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

⁶So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” ⁷Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.

⁸And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.

⁹Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. ¹⁰Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹²So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. ¹³And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head. ¹⁷Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?”

And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”

¹⁸So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” ²⁰Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ²¹And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. ²²Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, “Where are Samuel and David?”

And someone said, “Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³So he 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. ²⁴And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 19

Dear God, we get a lot about Saul here. First, we see his insecurity and jealousy. Then we see his relationship with Jonathan. We also see his relationship with Michal. Finally, we see how he is still, like it or not, subject to you and your power. And I’ll add this one thing about David. He is still winning victories with your power and not his own. Yes, maybe he was in there a little with the victories over the Philistines, but on the big stuff like escaping Saul, it was your power that saved him in Naioth in Ramah.

At the end of the day, Saul was completely motivated by keeping his job at any cost. It’s like a president in a country that finds an excuse to suspend elections so they can stay in power. It happens all the time. He has the power. He doesn’t want to let go of the power. He doesn’t want to share the power. And then when you hold on to power that long, you start to get paranoid and everything looks like a threat.

Okay, so that is on a grand scale. What would that look like in my life? For my job, am I willing to objectively consider when it might be time to leave for the good of myself or the organization? Or is everything I do a way of hanging on to something that gives me safety and security? On the home front, am I willing to make my own life submissive to my wife and let her career or what you’re calling her to do to take over our priorities?

Father, I fell bad for Michal and Jonathan. I wonder if they had any conversations with each other about their father and David. I’m sure they did. Siblings back then didn’t necessarily have the same relationships as siblings of today, but since David as such a key touchpoint between the two of them I’m sure they talked about all of it. I am sorry that Saul put them in this situation. But it is a reminder that bad parenting doesn’t necessarily lead to bad children just like good parenting doesn’t necessarily lead to good children. For my part, help me to not be like Saul. Help me to see what you are calling me to do at any given moment. I legitimately don’t feel like it is time to move on from my job. I don’t feel like my work there is done. And I think I am doing my best to make sure my wife’s calling is as important, if not more so, than my own. So I’m not really feeling convicted today, but I am pledging to you that I want to keep these things in mind. I want to follow your call even if it leads to my discomfort. Even if it costs me the things that make me comfortable. I want to be in the middle of your will, regardless of what it costs me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

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Posted by John D. Willome on June 3, 2025 in 1 Samuel

Tags: 1 Samuel, bible, David, Faith, God, Jonathan, Michal, Samuel, Saul

1 Samuel 18:5-30

02 Jun

⁵So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. ⁶Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷So the women sang as they danced, and said:

“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.”

⁸Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. ¹¹And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

¹²Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. ¹³Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. ¹⁵Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸So David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

²⁰Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”

²²And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” ²⁴And the servants of Saul told him, saying, “In this manner David spoke.”

²⁵Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; ²⁷therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

²⁸Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; ²⁹and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy continually. ³⁰Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

1 Samuel 18:5-30

Dear God, the thing that came up over and over again in this chapter is that David behaved wisely. He respected Saul and didn’t try to usurp him, which he could easily have done. He certainly had enough credibility built up with the people that mob mentality would have supported him overthrowing Saul. But then there would be civil war within the country and the people wouldn’t be focused on their enemies. And as I’ve seen others point out in their writings, David would have lost the high group and left himself vulnerable when he became king. He will protect your anointed like he will hope to be protected later.

As for Saul, he was an absolute mess. Things were spinning out of control around him. He wasn’t worshipping you at all. Not even trying. He was worshipping the idol of his throne–the thing that you gave him out of the blue. The thing given, not earned. And he knew that. I think it might be the “not earned” part that made him so insecure about it. David was building a ton of credibility among the people and even in his own eyes as he worked his way up the ladder. But Saul could only see the threat. He didn’t see the successes against his real enemies. He didn’t see the life as king David was helping him sustain. And he suspected the worst of David because our suspicions of others are aroused by the knowledge of ourselves. He knew that if he were in David’s position he would have surely tried to become king. Why wouldn’t David? Because at this point in his life, David was avoiding idols and simply worshipping you and doing what he felt you were calling him to do.

I would be remiss is I didn’t mention Michal. She seems like an innocent pawn in this story. We will see later that she will help David escape and earn her father’s wrath (and she’ll lie to her father to save herself as well). And she will make mistakes. But when I read these stories, I think about a teenager who is infatuated with someone. It’s kind of sweet if not a little sad.

Father, a lot of this is coming back to idolatry. As I look at these stories, it feels like Saul is holding onto something he knows he’s already lost and he is only making matters worse. And David is still looking for you and to you. He has nothing to lose so instead of trying to take something that belongs to someone else, he is living an obedient life, day by day. Help me to do that. Help me to live an obedient life today. I want to be your servant and let the world know I love you more than anything else.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

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Posted by John D. Willome on June 2, 2025 in 1 Samuel

Tags: 1 Samuel, bible, David, Faith, God, Merab, Michal, Saul

Fathers of the Bible — Saul (Part 2)

24 Feb

Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David, told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields. I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.” The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the Lord brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!” So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.” Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before. Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed. But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal. “I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.” David now fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan. “What have I done?” he exclaimed. “What is my crime? How have I offended your father that he is so determined to kill me?” “That’s not true!” Jonathan protested. “You’re not going to die. He always tells me everything he’s going to do, even the little things. I know my father wouldn’t hide something like this from me. It just isn’t so!” Then David took an oath before Jonathan and said, “Your father knows perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself, ‘I won’t tell Jonathan—why should I hurt him?’ But I swear to you that I am only a step away from death! I swear it by the Lord and by your own soul!” “Tell me what I can do to help you,” Jonathan exclaimed. David replied, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. I’ve always eaten with the king on this occasion, but tomorrow I’ll hide in the field and stay there until the evening of the third day. If your father asks where I am, tell him I asked permission to go home to Bethlehem for an annual family sacrifice. If he says, ‘Fine!’ you will know all is well. But if he is angry and loses his temper, you will know he is determined to kill me. Show me this loyalty as my sworn friend—for we made a solemn pact before the Lord —or kill me yourself if I have sinned against your father. But please don’t betray me to him!” “Never!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You know that if I had the slightest notion my father was planning to kill you, I would tell you at once.” Then David asked, “How will I know whether or not your father is angry?” “Come out to the field with me,” Jonathan replied. And they went out there together. Then Jonathan told David, “I promise by the Lord, the God of Israel, that by this time tomorrow, or the next day at the latest, I will talk to my father and let you know at once how he feels about you. If he speaks favorably about you, I will let you know. But if he is angry and wants you killed, may the Lord strike me and even kill me if I don’t warn you so you can escape and live. May the Lord be with you as he used to be with my father. And may you treat me with the faithful love of the Lord as long as I live. But if I die, treat my family with this faithful love, even when the Lord destroys all your enemies from the face of the earth.” So Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, saying, “May the Lord destroy all your enemies!” And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty. The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid before, and wait there by the stone pile. I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target. Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back. If you hear me tell him, ‘They’re on this side,’ then you will know, as surely as the Lord lives, that all is well, and there is no trouble. But if I tell him, ‘Go farther—the arrows are still ahead of you,’ then it will mean that you must leave immediately, for the Lord is sending you away. And may the Lord make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.” So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat. He sat at his usual place against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him and Abner beside him. But David’s place was empty. Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.” But when David’s place was empty again the next day, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse been here for the meal either yesterday or today?” Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Please let me go, for we are having a family sacrifice. My brother demanded that I be there. So please let me get away to see my brothers.’ That’s why he isn’t here at the king’s table.” Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!” “But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David. The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows. “Start running,” he told the boy, “so you can find the arrows as I shoot them.” So the boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. When the boy had almost reached the arrow, Jonathan shouted, “The arrow is still ahead of you. Hurry, hurry, don’t wait.” So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master. He, of course, suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the signal. Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town. As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from where he had been hiding near the stone pile. Then David bowed three times to Jonathan with his face to the ground. Both of them were in tears as they embraced each other and said good-bye, especially David. At last Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn loyalty to each other in the Lord’s name. The Lord is the witness of a bond between us and our children forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan returned to the town.
1 Samuel 19:1-7,11-17,20:1-42

Dear God, I don’t know if these stories are as much about Saul’s parenting as they are about a deranged king, but Jonathan and Michal has to deal with him as a dad so I guess they are fair game for this little series.

I guess the thing I’ve always admired about Jonathan is that he wasn’t threatened by David. He was okay with not being king. Saul, on the other hand, was consumed with the thought of David replacing his family as king.

I’m sure that at some point after Samuel’s anointing and David’s arrival Saul had dreams of his lineage being the king of Israel forever. He probably looked at his boys and their boys and already had their succession order figured out. It’s part of our vanity. Part of our sinful nature seems to be to want to be known from a fake and power standpoint. If we live a quiet faithful life, we consider it a waste. We must leave our mark!!

I suppose Saul could have responded differently to Samuel’s speech about you taking the kingdom from him (1 Samuel 15:28). He could have submitted to it. He could have asked Samuel, okay, what do I do now? But there’s no way he could voluntarily let go of that power and it poisoned him from then on. Outside of Lyndon Johnson, no president of the United States has ever not run for a second term, and I’m sure some of them considered it.

Then there is how his children were forced to respond to him. They had to lie. They had to hide and scheme. How would their lives have been different, or even better, if they had been able to yield to David’s throne. If David had not been on the run from Saul and living in exile, would Jonathan have lived longer? Would Saul?

Father, as I parent my children, help me to do it in the moment. As I express love and support for them, help me to detach my ego from it. I don’t want anything to get in the way of what you need me to do for them. And I know I’ve failed at this in the past. I’ve felt sorry for myself more times than I can count. I’ve even had bouts of it this weekend. But that does them no good. It does me no good. And it brings you no glory. I am very sorry for the ways in which I am like Saul and look to my children to feed my ego.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

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Posted by John D. Willome on February 24, 2020 in 1 Samuel, Fathers of the Bible

Tags: David, Jonathan, Michal, Saul