David and Saul (1 Samuel 18–27)
After David';s overwhelming defeat of Goliath the Philistine, King Saul took him into his service permanently. However, it was an uneasy relationship because Saul became jealous of the attention Israel';s future king was receiving from the people. What made things worse in Saul';s mind was the fact that David developed a very close friendship with Jonathan, Saul';s own son (1 Samuel 18:1–4). Also, Saul';s daughter Michal fell in love with David and married him (18:20–21).
In a short time, Saul';s jealousy turned to hatred, then his hatred turned into attempted murder. Saul, overcome by a “tormenting spirit,” twice attempted to kill David by throwing a spear at him (1 Samuel 18:10–13).
The circumstances surrounding the election of Saul as Israel';s first king are recorded in 1 Samuel 8–10. Like David, Saul had been anointed by the prophet Samuel and had received three signs confirming his call from God to be king. Saul received the Holy Spirit at that time, which made him “into a different person” (1 Samuel 10:6).
Crazy with fear, jealousy, and anger, Saul went on a campaign of persecution against David, even sending out his servants to find and kill him. David fled to a place called Ramah (1 Samuel 19:12–18), where he stayed for some time with the sons of the prophets. It wasn';t long, however, before Saul found out where David had gone and tried to bring him back.
Jonathan, a loyal friend to David, tried in vain to change his father';s mind toward David. When David found out that his friend had failed, he fled a greater distance from the king — first to Nob (1 Samuel 21:1–9) and then to Gath (21:10–15), a top Philistine city.
This was only the beginning of Saul';s mad obsession with finding and killing David, who seemed only to grow in popularity with the people. Several times Saul seemed to have a bead on David only to have him escape. And on two occasions, David had the opportunity to kill Saul but spared him. “Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday,” David said, “or he will die of old age or in battle. The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed!” (1 Samuel 26:10–11).
Eventually, Saul';s fall from grace led to his death — and the death of his son — at the hands of the Philistines (1 Samuel 31). It was the tragic end of what was once a very promising start for Israel';s first king. David, on the other hand, was about to take his rightful place as the one God had anointed to be Israel';s king.
Study Questions
What was Saul';s response when he found out that his daughter had fallen in love with and married David?
Why do you think David spared Saul when he knew that Saul would have killed him in an instant if the situation were reversed?
