Matthew Henry comments on this chapter. He said, God has many ways of preserving his people. Providence is never at a loss. Hear now the reading of God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible word. 1 Samuel 19, starting at verse 1. And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul, my father seeketh to kill thee. Now, therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning and abide in a secret place and hide thyself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art. And I will commune with my father of thee. And what I see, that I will tell thee. And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee word very good. And he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swear, as the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. And Jonathan called David. And Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul. And he was in his presence as in times past. And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and slew them with a great slaughter. And they fled from him. And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul. as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand, and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall, and David fled and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers unto David's house to watch him and to slay him in the morning. And Michael, David's wife, told him, saying, if thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain. So Michael let David down through a window, and he went and fled and escaped. And Michael took an image and laid it in the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick. And Saul sent the messengers again to see David saying, bring him up to me in the bed that I may slay him. And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster. And Saul said unto Michael, why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michael answered Saul, he said unto me, let me go, why should I kill thee? 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 Naof, and it was told Saul, saying, behold, David is at Naof in Ramah. And Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And it was told Saul, 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. Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sekou. And he asked and said, where are Samuel and David? And one said, behold, they be at Naoth in Ramah. And he went thither to Naoth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God was upon him also. And he went on and prophesied until he came to Naoth in Ramah, 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, is Saul also among the prophets? Thus far, the reading of God's inspired word, 1 Samuel 19, profitable for us. May the Lord bless us in it. This passage has God's preserving of his people, specifically of his anointed king. God's providence is very kind to the people of God because of our union together with Christ, and God employs various means and methods to secure the safety of David. Verses 1 through 7, providence used Jonathan's prudent mediation, one who went between two parties. Now notice Saul spake to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. Remember before, what was he doing? Well, I'll give you to my daughter, and then you'll have to go get the foreskins of the Philistines, and then you'll die in battle, or I'll exalt you to a king and a captain, or excuse me, not a king, a captain over 1,000, and then you'll get killed fighting the Philistines. Now what is he doing? No more imaginations, it's all out on the table. I want this guy dead, he says. The Geneva Bible notes say, before Saul sought David's life secretly, but now his hypocrisy grows to open cruelty. Saul was a hypocrite, now he's a murderer. This is the black chain of reprobation. Saul has given himself over to work wickedness, and so it goes from bad to worse. Now notice Jonathan's response. Did he say, well, Romans 13 says, if your king tells you to do something, you should always do it. Nanner, nanner, wear your mask. Is that what he said? Jonathan actually went and told David and told him exactly what his dad was doing. He's seeking to kill you. And then he tells him how to hide himself, how to avoid this tyrant. Now I notice here there is a time when it becomes lawful to defy a murderous order. If you are commanded to do something that is sinful according to God, you must not obey. I don't care what man tells you to do it or what woman or yourself tells you to do it, you must not obey. Jonathan disobeys lawfully. There is a time and place to resist. to disobey, to violate an order from a superior, and not because we're ill-informed and we don't know what God says, but as Jonathan, he knew what God said. He knew the law of God. There is innocent blood in David and you're going to shed it. So he is going to disobey the order and he's going to appeal to his superior as we read. Verse four, let not the king sin against his servant, against David. Jonathan is wise as a serpent, but innocent as a dove. Should he respect his king and his father? Yes. Even if he's a tyrant? Yes. So he speaks respectfully. He tries to correct the problem that leads otherwise to the loss of his total authority. What is that? Commanding people to do evil. So he identifies it. Here's the problem. You're going to sin against your servant. Now notice he doesn't say David first. Which servant? Against David. So he adds that as an afterthought. He's very wise in the way he presents his case. He will reprove his dad, but he will do so indirectly, gently correcting his erring father. In fact, older men in the church, Timothy was told as a young pastor, he was to appeal to them as a father, not to rebuke them sharply as if they were his superior or inferiors, but to recognize these men are older than I am, I should treat them with respect. And so here, this is my father, Jonathan is doing, and so I will respect him, I will show him deference, even if I'm going to have to correct him, I'm not gonna do it full, both guns blazing, shoot him down, no. He does it indirectly, he does it gently. He hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee word very good. Now these are both good reasons to treat David well that Jonathan presents, but they're also aggravations of the sin. If you murder him and maybe he's rebellious and disobedient, he does evil to you, I can understand. But if you murder him and he has done you nothing but good, what does that say about you? That says you are a massively wicked murderer. He doesn't come out and say this, but he's presenting the case for it. That's what he's doing, gently appealing to his superior. Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood to slay David without a cause? Why are you doing this? Again, it's a question intended to arouse the answer. Well, I shouldn't, I shouldn't do this. It's what we call a rhetorical question. In fact, later Ahimelech the priest will say much the same thing to Saul in chapter 22 verse 14, who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law and goeth at thy bidding and is honorable in thine house. He's obedient, he's honorable, he does good to you, why are you going to chase him down? And so here as well. Now Saul, to his credit, at least temporarily, hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan. This was not sincere. This was like the dew that comes down on the grass in the summertime. You get your shoes wet if you walk in the grass early in the morning in the summer. What happens when it's about 10 o'clock and the sun's up? Where's the dew? Vanishes, doesn't it? Gone. You can't find it. Everything's dry. That's his virtue, the virtue of Saul. It's like that morning dew. The Bible says that Ephraim's goodness was like the dew of the morning. It showed up for a minute, gone. Soon as the heat hits it. Saul even goes so far as to swear by the name of Jehovah, as the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. Will he keep that oath? Will he keep that vow? Will he do what he said? He will not. Then Providence uses David's quickness in verses eight through 10. David slew the Philistines with a great slaughter. They fled from him. And how does Saul respond? Is he happy about that? No, he's on his downward spiral and so he gets demon possessed over David's success. The evil spirit from the Lord was upon him, his spirit of envy. Now we've seen this scene before, haven't we? Saul's got a javelin and an evil spirit. David has a harp and he's playing. What do you think's gonna happen? He throws the javelin against the wall seeking to murder David and David once again flees. This time he doesn't come back. There is a limit and David is wise. He's respectful. He'll come back. He'll return and do his duty. But he realizes now he's trying to kill me. So he flies or runs away from a tyrant. That is a lawful action to do. You may actively resist. You may plot to overthrow, or you may run away. Those are all lawful actions to do against a tyrant. And then verses 11 through 17, we have Providence uses Michal's fidelity. Verse 11, Michael David's wife told him saying, if thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain. She is loyal to her husband. This is a credit to her. She loves David, we read about that in the previous chapter, but here her love demonstrates itself in seeking for his welfare and doing good to him and giving him good counsel. The king has an evil course he's pursuing. And it seems that he expects his daughter to help him with this, but rather than help her dad, she chooses the right priority, I will help my husband. Now, this is always the case that the husband is the top priority for his wife above her parents, but especially if the parent says, kill your husband, are you supposed to do that? No, I'm coming to kill your husband. Well, she's going to tell him about it. Now, Michal takes an image or terrafim, literally, and she laid it in the bed. Now, she may have been a secret or semi-open idolatress. She seems later to manifest an unbelieving spirit in 2 Samuel 6. Remember, she's cursed. David's out dancing, they're bringing in the ark, and she mocks him, and she speaks against him in his zeal for God. So she doesn't seem to be necessarily a very godly person, as we'll see here in a moment. She has teraphim in her house. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, what does she do? She lies. Now we call this an officious lie. That's where a person tells a lie in order to protect someone else. The other way of describing this is as follows. Let us do evil that what? Good may come. I'm going to violate the moral law so that I can have some good result. Matthew Henry says the following, my call can by no means be justified in telling a lie and covering it thus with a cheat. God's truth needed not her lie. And in fact, our larger catechism asked the question, what are the duties required of us in the ninth commandment? The preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, appearing and standing for the truth, and from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly and fully speaking the truth and only the truth in matters of judgment and justice and in all other things whatsoever. Now what's different between her and Jonathan, Jonathan goes and secretly tells his friend David how to escape and what the plot is and that's lawful. But then when he comes to his father, what does he do? Well, he shoots straight with him, doesn't he? He tells him, this is a sin you're going to commit. Look at all the good David has done. Do not sin against innocent blood. Or wherefore will you sin against innocent blood? So what Jonathan does is innocent and harmless, but also shrewd and wise. What Michal does is shrewd, but not innocent. She engages in a sin in violation of the ninth commandment in order to preserve the life of her husband, David. God doesn't need her help. Let us avoid this officious lying, self justification, doing evil that good may come, or supposing that God's truth needs our lies. You can't trust yourself, you can't trust other people who tell officious lies. We're going to see in a second, was she a trustworthy speaker about David himself? No, she was not. Now notice, bring him to me in the bed that I may slay him. Wait, wait, wait, he's on his sickbed, Saul. Now you want them to pick up the bed, bring him to you so you can kill him in his sickbed? You see how wicked this man has become. He's become barbarous and cruel, weak and demonic, prepared to murder his most valuable asset, who is presumably sick. He's not moved with pity for this man, David. He's moved to cruelty. Michael then perpetrates a fraud and it is discovered, verses 16 and 17. And notice what she says about David. How could you do this? You know, how could you betray me? Well, Michael answered Saul. He said unto me, let me go. Why should I kill thee? See what she's saying about David? She lies to save him. But what does the lying lip do? Does it ever speak truth? No, lies, lies, lies. Now she'll lie to blacken his reputation. Once she lied to save him, now she lies to condemn him. You see, you can't trust a lying lip. One lie leads to another. She has to continually dig to get herself out of the hole, but what does it do? Gets you deeper in the hole. Why should I kill thee? David said, no such thing. But Jonathan in contrast speaks the truth. Even if he has to conceal things he's doing, he's not gonna come out and lie to his dad. Oh, I never told David anything. Oh, David said he was gonna kill me if I blah, blah, blah, whatever, no. Let us beware of officious lies and let us beware of officious liars. If an officious liar will lie to save you, they will lie to slander you as well. Truth is cast out in both cases. I will not speak the truth. I will tell this lie, this little white lie, I think. No, that's not what we're to do. We're to speak the truth and only the truth in all matters whatsoever. Then Providence uses Samuel's protection and a temporary change in Saul in verses 18 through 24. David came to Samuel to Ramah, also called Ramathim Zophim. This is the city Elkanah was from. We saw this in chapter one, verse one, and verse 19 of the same chapter. Samuel dwelt there and went on circuit to the various cities of Israel, and then he'd come back to Ramah, chapter seven, verse 17. David tells Samuel all that Saul had done to him. There is a time to speak evil of others. There are occasions when you must tell. Samuel is a judge. He's a prophet. He's a counselor to David. He anointed him as king. He knows the word of God. So David tells him, oh, what should I do? How do I handle this? To receive instruction in the law of God from Samuel, the prophet. Samuel was a confident or a confidant, as they say, to share his burden with. Then he and Samuel, that is David and Samuel, went and dwelt in Nioth, a place of safety and quiet, a place of fellowship. The school of the prophets was there, and it was told Saul. Now Saul gets lots of information against David. Chapter 22, verses 9 and 10, 23, verse 19, 26, verse 1. People just like to snitch on David all the time to ingratiate themselves with this lunatic Saul. Samuel was appointed over the prophets. He was their president, you might say. Now remember, Samuel has been retired for some time from civil government, but he is not retired in the sense that we think. Well, now are my days of idleness. I can kick my feet up on the beach. I don't have to do anything. Is that what Samuel does? No. He has a school of the prophets. He teaches these men in the word of God, in the oracles of God, in the law of God. And the Spirit is at work among these prophets. Verse 20. When Saul sent messengers, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul. And they also prophesied, almost by an irresistible force. God changed their minds and their wills. Why did they come? To prophesy? They came to kill, to murder. But God altered their wills, directing them to do those things not within their spiritual power to do. God has control of these things. Saul sends a second and a third round of messengers with the same result. And then Saul in verse 22 goes himself. Notice verse 23, the spirit of God was upon him, that is Saul also. And he went on and prophesied until he came to Nioph. The king's heart, Solomon says, is where? In his own control, in the heart, in the hand of God, Proverbs 24 verse one. Now, early on in Saul's life, if you'll recall, he prophesied as well. Chapter 10, verses 9 through 11 of this book. He was then a humble man, moved upon by the Spirit of God. Now, what is he? Brain sick, lunatic, murderous, envious, demonic, scheming, depressed. That's what he is now. And yet, God gives him a taste of what could be. What could you be, Saul? Well, you could be a prophet. You could be a man overcome by the spirit of God, but will he? No. Saul will be his brain-sick, lunatic self. He gave himself over to a reprobate mind to work wickedness. but God overcame him for a time in order to preserve his servant David and he lay down naked all that day and all that night. Now again, The clothing of a king signifies his regal office. So for him to take his clothing off, what is he saying? I'm going down again. God is humbling him. God is bringing him back to those early days, before he ascended the throne, when he was among the prophets. Is Saul also among the prophets? As they said in the early period of his life. Let us take heart. God rules over all. Our adversaries will be confounded in the end, even if not in this life. And thus far the exposition of the book of First Samuel chapter 19.