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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T S A M U E L</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Immediately after David's marriage, which one would have hoped would
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secure him Saul's affection, we find his troubles coming upon him
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faster than ever and Saul's enmity to him the cause of all. His death
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was vowed, and four fair escapes of his from the hurtful sword of Saul
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we have an account of in this chapter: the first by the prudent
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mediation of Jonathan
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>),
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the second by his own quickness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>),
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the third by Michal's fidelity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:11-17">ver. 11-17</A>),
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the fourth by Samuel's protection, and a change, for the present,
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wrought upon Saul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:18-24">ver. 18-24</A>.
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Thus God has many ways of preserving his people. Providence is never at
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a loss.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Saul's Jealousy of David; Jonathan's Intercession for David.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1058.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants,
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that they should kill David.
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2 But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan
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told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now
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therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning,
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and abide in a secret <I>place,</I> and hide thyself:
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3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field
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where thou <I>art,</I> and I will commune with my father of thee; and
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what I see, that I will tell thee.
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4 And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and
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said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against
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David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his
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works <I>have been</I> to thee-ward very good:
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5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine,
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and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou
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sawest <I>it,</I> and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin
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against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?
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6 And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul
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sware, <I>As</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> liveth, he shall not be slain.
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7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those
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things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his
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presence, as in times past.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Saul and Jonathan appear here in their different characters, with
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reference to David.</P>
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<P>
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I. Never was enemy so unreasonably cruel as Saul. He spoke to his son
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and all his servants <I>that they should kill David,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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His projects to take him off had failed, and therefore he proclaims him
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an out-law, and charges all about him, upon their allegiance, to take
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the first opportunity to kill David. It is strange that he was not
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ashamed thus to avow his malice when he could give no reason for it,
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and that knowing all his servants loved David (for so he had said
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himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+18:22"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 22</A>),
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he was not afraid of provoking them to rebel by this bloody order.
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Either malice was not then so politic, or justice was not so corrupted
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as it has been since, or else Saul would have had him indicted, and
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have suborned witnesses to swear treason against him, and so have had
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him taken off, as Naboth was, by colour of law. But there is least
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danger from this undisguised malice. It was strange that he who knew
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how well Jonathan loved him should expect him to kill him; but he
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thought that because he was heir to the crown he must needs be as
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envious at David as himself was. And Providence ordered it thus that he
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might befriend David's safety.</P>
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<P>
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II. Never was friend so surprisingly kind as Jonathan. <I>A friend in
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need is a friend indeed.</I> Such a one Jonathan was to David. He not
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only continued to delight much in him, though David's glory eclipsed
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his, but bravely appeared for him now that the stream ran so strongly
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against him.</P>
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<P>
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1. He took care for his present security by letting him know his danger
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>Take heed to thyself,</I> and keep out of harm's way." Jonathan
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knew not but that some of the servants might be either so obsequious to
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Saul or so envious at David as to put the orders in execution which
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Saul had given, if they could light on David.</P>
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<P>
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2. He took pains to pacify his father and reconcile him to David. The
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next morning he ventured to commune with him concerning David
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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not that night, perhaps because he observed Saul to be drunk and not
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fit to be spoken to, or because he hoped that, when he had slept upon
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it, he would himself revoke the order, or because he could not have an
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opportunity of speaking to him till morning.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) His intercession for David was very prudent. It was managed with a
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great deal of the meekness of wisdom; and he showed himself faithful to
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his friends by speaking good of him, though he was in danger of
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incurring his father's displeasure by it--a rare instance of valuable
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friendship! He pleads,
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[1.] The good services David had done to the public, and particularly
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to Saul: <I>His work has been to thee-ward very good,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Witness the relief he had given him against his distemper with his
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harp, and his bold encounter with Goliath, that memorable action, which
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did, in effect, save Saul's life and kingdom. He appeals to himself
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concerning his: <I>Thou thyself sawest it, and didst rejoice.</I> In
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that and other instances it appeared that David was a favourite of
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heaven and a friend to Israel, as well as a good servant to Saul, for
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by him <I>the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel;</I> so
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that to order him to be slain was not only base ingratitude to so good
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a servant, but a great affront to God and a great injury to the public.
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[2.] He pleads his innocency. Though he had formerly done many good
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offices, yet, if he had now been chargeable with any crimes, it would
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have been another matter; but <I>he has not sinned against thee</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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his <I>blood is innocent</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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and, if he be slain, it is without cause. And Jonathan had therefore
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reason to protest against it because he could not entail any thing upon
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his family more pernicious than the guilt of innocent blood.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) His intercession, being thus prudent, was prevalent. God inclined
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the heart of Saul to hearken to the voice of Jonathan. Note, We must be
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willing to hear reason, and to take all reproofs and good advice even
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from our inferiors, parents from their own children. How forcible are
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right words! Saul was, for the present, so far convinced of the
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unreasonableness of his enmity to David that,
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[1.] He recalled the bloody warrant for his execution
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.</I> Whether Saul swore
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here with due solemnity or no does not appear; perhaps he did, and the
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matter was of such moment as to deserve it and of such uncertainty as
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to need it. But at other times Saul swore rashly and profanely, which
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made the sincerity of this oath justly questionable; for it may be
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feared that those who can so far jest with an oath as to make a by-word
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of it, and prostitute it to a trifle, have not such a due sense of the
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obligation of it but that, to serve a turn, they will prostitute it to
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a lie. Some suspect that Saul said and swore this with a malicious
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design to bring David within his reach again, intending to take the
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first opportunity to slay him. But, as bad as Saul was, we can
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scarcely think so ill of him; and therefore we suppose that he spoke as
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he thought for the present, but the convictions soon wore off and his
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corruptions prevailed and triumphed over them.
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[2.] He renewed the grant of his place at court. Jonathan brought him
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to Saul, and <I>he was in his presence as in times past</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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hoping that now the storm was over, and that his friend Jonathan would
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be instrumental to keep his father always in this good mind.</P>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David Escapes from Saul.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1058.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with
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the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they
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fled from him.
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9 And the evil spirit from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was upon Saul, as he sat in
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his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with
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<I>his</I> hand.
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10 And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the
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javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote
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the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that
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night.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here
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I. David continues his good services to his king and country. Though
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Saul had requited him evil for good, and even his usefulness was the
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very thing for which Saul envied him, yet he did not therefore retire
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in sullenness and decline public service. Those that are ill paid for
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doing good, yet must not be <I>weary of well doing,</I> remembering
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what a bountiful benefactor our heavenly Father is, even to the froward
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and unthankful. Notwithstanding the many affronts Saul had given to
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David, yet we find him,
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1. As bold as ever in using his sword for the service of his country,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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The war broke out again with the Philistines, which gave David occasion
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again to signalize himself. It was a great deal of bravery that he
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charged them; and he came off victorious, slaying many and putting the
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rest to flight.
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2. As cheerful as ever in using his harp for the service of the prince.
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When Saul was disturbed with his former fits of melancholy <I>David
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played with his hand,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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He might have pleaded that this was a piece of service now below him;
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but a humble man will think nothing below him by which he may do good.
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He might have objected the danger he was in the last time he performed
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this service for Saul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+18:10"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 10</A>.
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But he had learned to render good for evil, and to trust God with his
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safety in the way of his duty. See how David was affected when his
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enemy was sick
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+35:13,14">Ps. xxxv. 13, 14</A>),
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which perhaps refers to Saul's sickness.</P>
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<P>
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II. Saul continues his malice against David. He that but the other day
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had sworn by his Maker that David <I>should not be slain</I> now
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endeavors to slay him himself. So implacable, so incurable, is the
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enmity of the serpent against that of the woman, so deceitful and
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desperately wicked is the heart of man without the grace of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:9">Jer. xvii. 9</A>.
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The fresh honours David had won in this last war with the Philistines,
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instead of extinguishing Saul's ill-will to him, and confirming his
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reconciliation, revived his envy and exasperated him yet more. And,
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when he indulged this wicked passion, no marvel that <I>the evil spirit
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came upon him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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for when we <I>let the sun go down upon our wrath we give place to the
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devil</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+4:26,27">Eph. iv. 26, 27</A>),
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we make room for him and invite him. Discomposures of mind, though
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helped forward by the agency of Satan, commonly owe their origin to
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men's own sins and follies. Saul's fear and jealousy made him a torment
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to himself, so that he could not sit in his house without a javelin in
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his hand, pretending it was for his preservation, but designing it for
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David's destruction; for he endeavored to nail him to the wall, running
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at him so violently that he struck the <I>javelin into the wall</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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so strong was the devil in him, so strong his own rage and passion.
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Perhaps he thought that, if he killed David now, he would be excusable
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before God and man, as being <I>non compos mentis</I>--<I>not in his
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right mind,</I> and that it would be imputed to his distraction. But
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God cannot be deceived by pretences, whatever men may be.</P>
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<P>
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III. God continues his care of David and still watches over him for
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good. Saul missed his blow. David was too quick for him and fled, and
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by a kind providence escaped that night. To these preservations, among
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others, David often refers in his Psalms, when he speaks of God's being
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his shield and buckler, his rock and fortress, and delivering his
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<I>soul from death.</I></P>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa19_17"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him,
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and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him,
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saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt
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be slain.
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12 So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and
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fled, and escaped.
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13 And Michal took an image, and laid <I>it</I> in the bed, and put
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a pillow of goats' <I>hair</I> for his bolster, and covered <I>it</I> with
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a cloth.
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14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He
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<I>is</I> sick.
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15 And Saul sent the messengers <I>again</I> to see David, saying,
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Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.
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16 And when the messengers were come in, behold, <I>there was</I> an
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image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' <I>hair</I> for his bolster.
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17 And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and
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sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered
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Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Saul's further design of mischief to David. When David had escaped
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the javelin, supposing he went straight to his own house, as indeed he
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did, Saul sent some of his guards after him to lay wait at the door of
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his house, and to assassinate him in the morning as soon as he stirred
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out,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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Josephus says the design was to seize him and to hurry him before a
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court of justice that was ordered to condemn him and put him to death
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as a traitor; but we are here told it was a shorter way they were to
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take with him: they were ordered to <I>slay him.</I> Well might David
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complain that his enemies were <I>bloody men,</I> as he did in the
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psalm which he penned at this time, and upon this occasion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+59:1-17">Ps. lix.</A>),
|
|
|
|
when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. See
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:2,3,7"><I>v.</I> 2, 3, and 7</A>.
|
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He complains that <I>swords were in their lips.</I></P>
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<P>
|
|
|
|
II. David's wonderful deliverance out of this danger. Michal was the
|
|
instrument of it, whom Saul gave him to be a snare to him, but she
|
|
proved to be his protector and helper. Often is the devil out-shot with
|
|
his own bow. How Michal came to know the danger her husband was in does
|
|
not appear; perhaps she had notice sent her from court, or rather was
|
|
herself aware of the soldiers about the house, when they were going to
|
|
bed, though they kept so still and silent that they said, <I>Who dost
|
|
hear?</I> which David takes notice of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+59:7">Ps. lix. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
She, knowing her father's great indignation at David, soon suspected
|
|
the design, and bestirred herself for her husband's safety.
|
|
|
|
1. She got David out of the danger. She told him how imminent the peril
|
|
was
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>To-morrow thou wilt be slain.</I> As Josephus paraphrases it, she
|
|
told him that if the sun saw him there next morning it would never see
|
|
him more; and then put him in a way of escape. David himself was better
|
|
versed in the art of fighting than of flying, and had it been lawful it
|
|
would have been easy for him to have cleared his house, by dint of
|
|
sword, from those that haunted it; but <I>Michal let him down through a
|
|
window</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
all the doors being guarded; and so he <I>fled and escaped.</I> And now
|
|
it was that, either in his own closet before he went or in the
|
|
hiding-place to which he fled, he penned that
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+59:1-17">fifty-ninth Psalm</A>,
|
|
|
|
which shows that, in his fright and hurry, his mind was composed, and,
|
|
in this great danger, his faith was strong and fixed on God; and,
|
|
whereas the plot was to slay him <I>in the morning,</I> he speaks there
|
|
with the greatest assurance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. She practised a deception upon Saul and those whom he employed to be
|
|
the instruments of his cruelty. When the doors of the house were opened
|
|
in the morning, and David did not appear, the messengers would search
|
|
the house for him, and did so. But Michal told them he was sick in bed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, if they would not believe her, they might see, for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
|
|
|
|
she had put a wooden image in the bed, and wrapped it up close and warm
|
|
as if it had been David asleep, not in a condition to be spoken to; the
|
|
goats' hair about the image was to resemble David's hair, the better to
|
|
impose upon them. Michal can by no means be justified in telling a
|
|
lie, and covering it thus with a cheat. God's truth needed not her lie.
|
|
But she intended hereby to keep Saul in suspense for a while, that
|
|
David might have some time to secure himself, not doubting but those
|
|
messengers would pursue him if they found he had gone. The messengers
|
|
had so much humanity as not to offer him any disturbance when they
|
|
heard he was sick; for to those that are in this misery pity should be
|
|
shown; but Saul, when he heard it, gave positive orders that he should
|
|
be brought to him sick or well: <I>Bring him to me in the bed, that I
|
|
may slay him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was base and barbarous thus to triumph over a sick man; and to vow
|
|
the death of one who for aught that he knew was dying by the hand of
|
|
nature. So earnestly did he thirst after his blood, and so greedy was
|
|
his revenge, that he could not be pleased to see him dead, unless he
|
|
himself was the death of him; though awhile ago he had said, <I>Let not
|
|
my hand be upon him.</I> Thus when men lay the reins on the neck of
|
|
their passions they grow more and more outrageous. When the messengers
|
|
were sent again, the cheat was discovered,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
But by this time it was to be hoped that David was safe, and therefore
|
|
Michal was not then much concerned at the discovery. Saul chid her for
|
|
helping David to escape
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Why hast thou deceived me so?</I> What a base spirit was Saul of, to
|
|
expect that, because Michal was his daughter, she must therefore betray
|
|
her own husband to him unjustly. Ought she not to forsake and forget
|
|
her father and her father's house, to cleave to her husband? Those that
|
|
themselves will be held by no bonds of reason or religion are ready to
|
|
think that others should as easily break those bonds. In answer to
|
|
Saul's chiding, Michal is not so careful of her husband's reputation as
|
|
she had been of his person, when she makes this her excuse: <I>He said,
|
|
Let me go, why should I kill thee?</I> As her insinuating that she
|
|
would have hindered his flight was false (it was she that put him upon
|
|
it and furthered it), so it was an unjust unworthy reflection upon him
|
|
to suggest that he threatened to kill her if she would not let him go,
|
|
and might confirm Saul in his rage against him. David was far from
|
|
being so barbarous a man and so imperious a husband, so brutish in his
|
|
resolves and so haughty in his menaces, as she here represented him.
|
|
But David suffered both from friends and foes, and so did the son of
|
|
David.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa19_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Saul Prophesies before Samuel.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1058.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and
|
|
told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went
|
|
and dwelt in Naioth.
|
|
19 And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David <I>is</I> at Naioth
|
|
in Ramah.
|
|
20 And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw
|
|
the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing <I>as</I>
|
|
appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of
|
|
Saul, and they also prophesied.
|
|
21 And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and
|
|
they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the
|
|
third time, and they prophesied also.
|
|
22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that
|
|
<I>is</I> in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where <I>are</I> Samuel and
|
|
David? And <I>one</I> said, Behold, <I>they be</I> at Naioth in Ramah.
|
|
23 And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of
|
|
God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he
|
|
came to Naioth in Ramah.
|
|
24 And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before
|
|
Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all
|
|
that night. Wherefore they say, <I>Is</I> Saul also among the
|
|
prophets?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. David's place of refuge. Having got away in the night from his own
|
|
house, he fled not to Bethlehem to his relations, nor to any of the
|
|
cities of Israel that had caressed and cried him up, to make an
|
|
interest in them for his own preservation; but he ran straight to
|
|
Samuel and <I>told him all that Saul had done to him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. Because Samuel was the man that had given him assurance of the
|
|
crown, and his faith in that assurance now beginning to fail, and he
|
|
being ready to say in his haste (or <I>in his flight,</I> as some read
|
|
it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+116:11">Ps. cxvi. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>All men are liars</I> ("not only Saul that promised me my life, but
|
|
Samuel himself that promised me the throne"), whither should he go but
|
|
to Samuel, for such encouragements, in this day of distress, as would
|
|
support his faith? In flying to Samuel he made God his refuge, trusting
|
|
in the <I>shadow of his wings;</I> where else can a good man think
|
|
himself safe?
|
|
|
|
2. Because Samuel, as a prophet, was best able to advise him what to do
|
|
in this day of his distress. In the psalm he penned the night before he
|
|
had lifted up his prayer to God, and now he takes the first opportunity
|
|
of waiting upon Samuel to receive direction and instruction from God.
|
|
If we expect answers of peace to our prayers, we must have our ears
|
|
open to God's word.
|
|
|
|
3. Because with Samuel there was a college of prophets with whom he
|
|
might join in praising God, and the pleasure of this exercise would be
|
|
the greatest relief imaginable to him in his present distress. He met
|
|
with little rest or satisfaction in Saul's court, and therefore went to
|
|
seek it in Samuel's church. And, doubtless, what little pleasure is to
|
|
be had in this world those have it that live a life of communion with
|
|
God; to this David retired in the time of trouble,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:4-6">Ps. xxvii. 4-6</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. David's protection in this place: <I>He and Samuel went and
|
|
dwelt</I> (or <I>lodged</I>) <I>in Naioth,</I> where the school of the
|
|
prophets was, in Ramah, as in a privileged place, for the Philistines
|
|
themselves would not disturb that meeting,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+10:10"><I>ch.</I> x. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
But Saul, having notice of it by some of his spies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
sent officers to seize David,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
When they did not bring him he sent more; when they returned not he
|
|
sent the third time
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, hearing no tidings of these, he went himself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
So impatient was he in his thirst after David's blood, so restless to
|
|
compass his design against him, that, though baffled by one providence
|
|
after another, he could not perceive that David was under the special
|
|
protection of Heaven. It was below the king to go himself on such an
|
|
errand as this; but persecutors will stoop to any thing, and stick at
|
|
nothing, to gratify their malice. Saul lays aside all public business
|
|
to hunt David. How was David delivered, now that he was just ready to
|
|
fall (like his own lamb formerly) into the mouth of the lions? Not as
|
|
he delivered his lamb, by slaying the lion, or, as Elijah was
|
|
delivered, by consuming the messengers with <I>fire from heaven,</I>
|
|
but by turning the lions for the present into lambs.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. When the messengers came into the congregation where David was among
|
|
the prophets <I>the Spirit of God</I> came upon them, and <I>they
|
|
prophesied,</I> that is, they joined with the rest in praising God.
|
|
Instead of seizing David, they themselves were seized. And thus,
|
|
|
|
(1.) God secured David; for either they were put into such an ecstasy
|
|
by the spirit of prophecy that they could not think of any thing else,
|
|
and so forgot their errand and never minded David, or they were by it
|
|
put, for the present, into so good a frame that they could not
|
|
entertain the thought of doing so bad a thing.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He put an honour upon the sons of the prophets and the communion
|
|
of saints, and showed how he can, when he pleases, strike an awe upon
|
|
the worst of men, by the tokens of his presence in the assemblies of
|
|
the faithful, and force them to acknowledge that <I>God is with them of
|
|
a truth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:24,25">1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
See also the benefit of religious societies, and what good impressions
|
|
may be made by them on minds that seemed unapt to receive such
|
|
impressions. And where may the influences of the Spirit be expected but
|
|
in the congregations of the saints?
|
|
|
|
(3.) He magnified his power over the spirits of men. He that made the
|
|
heart and tongue can manage both to serve his own purposes. Balaam
|
|
prophesied the happiness of Israel, whom he would have cursed; and some
|
|
of the Jewish writers think these messengers prophesied the advancement
|
|
of David to the throne of Israel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Saul himself was likewise seized with the spirit of prophecy before
|
|
he came to the place. One would have thought that so bad a man as he
|
|
was in no danger of being turned into a prophet; yet, when God will
|
|
take this way of protecting David, even Saul had no sooner come (as
|
|
bishop Hall expresses it) within smell of the smoke of Naioth but he
|
|
prophesies, as his messengers did,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
He stripped off his royal robe and warlike habiliments, because they
|
|
were either too fine or too heavy for this service, and fell into a
|
|
trance as it should seem, or into a rapture, which continued all that
|
|
day and night. The saints at Damascus were delivered from the range of
|
|
the New-Testament Saul by a change wrought on his spirit, but of
|
|
another nature from this. This was only amazing, but that
|
|
sanctifying--this for a day, that for ever. Note, Many have great gifts
|
|
and yet no grace, prophesy in Christ's name and yet are disowned by
|
|
him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:22,23">Matt. vii. 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now the proverb recurs, <I>Is Saul among the prophets?</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+10:12"><I>ch.</I> x. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Then it was different from what it had been, but now <I>contrary.</I>
|
|
He is rejected of God, and actuated by an evil spirit, and yet among
|
|
the prophets.</P>
|
|
|
|
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