1 Samuel 19

Passage overview

1 Samuel 19 is the chapter that begins in earnest as King Saul launches efforts to harm David. Saul’s son Jonathan and daughter Michal, along with the prophet Samuel, protect David in different ways. This chapter shows the dangers David experiences as he lives as a faithful servant of God, and it also reveals God’s providence—where God directly keeps and protects David.

1verseSaul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.

2verseJonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, live in a secret place, and hide yourself.

3verseI will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.”

4verseJonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let 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;

5versefor he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

6verseSaul listened to the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”

7verseJonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

8verseThere was war again. David went out and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.

9verseAn evil spirit from the LORD was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing music with his hand.

10verseSaul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence; and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.

11verseSaul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”

12verseSo Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped.

13verseMichal took the teraphim and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes.

14verseWhen Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

15verseSaul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”

16verseWhen the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.

17verseSaul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”

18verseNow David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth.

19verseSaul was told, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

20verseSaul sent messengers to seize David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied.

21verseWhen Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

22verseThen he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” One said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”

23verseHe went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then God’s Spirit came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

24verseHe also stripped off his clothes. He also prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

The Flow of the Main Content

  • Saul’s order to kill: At first, Saul commands his officials and his son Jonathan to have David put to death (verse 1).
  • Jonathan’s intervention and reconciliation: Jonathan persuades his father Saul so that David gains temporary safety, and it shows David going back before Saul (verses 2–7).
  • Saul’s renewed jealousy and David’s escape: When an evil spirit comes upon Saul, Saul once again attempts to kill David, and David escapes with the help of Michal (verses 8–17).
  • Protection in Ramah: Escaping David stays in Ramah with the prophet Samuel. Saul sends soldiers to arrest him, but instead, the scene depicts how they are overcome by the Spirit of God, and they end up prophesying on their own (verses 18–24).

The Roles and Meaning of the Characters

  • Saul: Gradually losing control, he tries to harm David out of his own anxiety and jealousy, but instead he becomes powerless in the face of God’s sovereignty.
  • Jonathan and Michal: Though they are Saul’s children, they become tools that help David in accordance with justice and conscience of faith, and that follow God’s will.
  • Samuel: As a man of God, he provides David with a place to flee and with protection.
  • God: Throughout the story, God directly protects David and foils Saul’s plans.

Points to Ponder

  • As you consider David, who finds himself in various difficulties including Saul, reflect on how God intervenes in a specific and concrete way. You can see that God’s protection is not merely a practical escape from reality, but providence that goes beyond human plans.
  • Through the actions of Jonathan and Michal, think about what people who believe in God should do—how they should follow justice and faith in whatever situation they find themselves in.

Apply It to Me

  • Let’s look back on whether there were times when, amid threats or hardships in life, God kept and guided me. When fear begins to come in, check how you feel about the people who stand up for you and help you, as well as about God’s help for you.
  • Also, if there is a moment when I need to take action to help someone (like Jonathan and Michal), let’s ask for courage to respond sensitively to another person’s difficulties.