1 Samuel 17:55-58; 18; 19:1-1055And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 56And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. 57And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. (1 Samuel 17:55‑58)
1And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. 2But 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: 3And 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. 4And 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-ward very good: 5For 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? 6And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. 7And 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. 8And 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. 9And 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. 10And 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. (1 Samuel 19:1‑10)
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking
SAUL was very glad that David had killed the giant Goliath. David was brought to Saul, that Saul might speak to him. He came in with the giant's head in his hand. Then Saul said to David, 'Whose son are you, young man?' And David answered, 'I am the son of Jesse, who lives at Bethlehem.'
While Saul was talking to David, there was a person standing near, whom we have not spoken of before; it was the son of Saul. He was a grown-up man, very brave, and very good; his name was Jonathan; he was a prince, because he was a king's son, and the king's son is called a prince.
Jonathan began to love David very much indeed. What could make. Jonathan love David so much? I think he loved David because David was so brave and so good. David had also a very sweet look. Still it was God made Jonathan love David so much. Jonathan told David that he loved him, and they both promised always to be kind to each other. Jonathan gave his own clothes to David, and wore other clothes, and he also gave him his sword, and his bow.
Saul told David that he must not go back to live with his father again, but that he must stay with him. So David and Jonathan saw each other very often. How much that must have pleased them, for friends like to be together.
Perhaps you think that David now was very happy. But there was one thing that soon happened to make him sad. I will tell you what it was.
After the Philistines had been killed in the battle, the Israelites went back to their homes, and did not live in tents any more. Saul, and Jonathan, and David, went to the place where the king lived. As they were going along they saw a great many women, with harps in their hands, and these women played as they went, and sang, and danced. They were singing about David, and how he had killed the Philistines, and they said in their song that David had killed a great many more men than Saul. These are the words they sang, 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
Do you think that David liked to hear these songs? No. David did not wish to be praised. He wished God to be praised. He would have liked to have heard the women say that God had helped a poor shepherd to kill the giant.
But when Saul heard these songs he was very angry: for he wished to be praised, and he could not bear to hear David praised more than himself. 'What,' thought Saul, 'do they say that David has killed more Philistines than I have? Is he braver than I am?' How wicked Saul was! He was envious; he was like Joseph's brothers, and he was like Cain!
Then Saul thought, 'Perhaps David is the man who is to be king instead of me?' Saul remembered that Samuel had told him that God had chosen a better man than he was to be king.
Did Saul guess right? Yes.
Then Saul hated David, and wished to kill David. Saul had those wicked thoughts in his mind when he came back to his own house. Instead of thanking God for His kindness in having helped the Israelites to conquer the Philistines, he was thinking how he could kill David.
The next day after he was come home, God let the evil spirit come into him again. David saw that Saul was ill and unhappy. How did David try to make him well?
He took his harp as he used to do, and began to play sweet music. Now Saul had a sharp thing in his hand, called a javelin; and Saul thought to himself, 'I will throw this at David, and it shall go through his body.' But David saw the javelin coming, and he slipped out of the way; so that Saul did not hurt him. Then Saul threw it at him again, but he could not hurt David. God took care of David.
Everyone but Saul loved David, and this made Saul hate him still more.
David behaved so well, that Saul could not find any fault in him, for which he could punish him. Then Saul told David to take some men, and to go and fight against the Philistines. Why did Saul send David to fight? Saul hoped that the Philistines would kill David in battle. David went and killed a great many Philistines, but no one hurt him. Everybody praised him more, and called him brave. Saul grew more angry. At last Saul told all his servants to kill him; but they loved David, and would not kill him. Still Jonathan was afraid lest some wicked person would listen to Saul, and kill David; so Jonathan told David to hide himself, while he begged his father to stop trying to kill him. So Jonathan said to his father, 'Why do you wish to kill David? What has he done? Did he not once kill the giant? Then you were glad: Why are you angry with him now?'
It was kind of Jonathan to beg for David. It is kind of children to beg for each other when they are in disgrace. Saul promised that he would not kill David. Then Jonathan called David and brought him to Saul, and David was with him as he used to be.
But soon Saul began to hate David again, and the evil spirit was on him still. Then David played on his harp to make him well. Saul had a javelin in his hand, and threw it at David, but David slipped out of the way, and the javelin stuck in the wall.
Now David was afraid of staying any more with Saul; and he ran away that night.
He did not go back to his father; for Saul would have looked for him there, and would have found him; but he hid himself in a great many places. You will hear of many sad things that happened to poor David. But God loved him and took care of him. But Saul was miserable, for he was proud and envious, like Satan.
I wish you, my dear children, to love one another, and not to want people to notice you. I hope you will not envy one another, but be glad when other children are praised.
Questions on Lesson 10
Who was Jonathan?
What first made Saul hate David?
What did Saul wish to do to David?
What did Saul throw at David?
Why did Saul send him to fight against the Philistines?
What did Saul desire his servants to do to David?
Why did they not kill him?
Who begged Saul to be kind to David?
Did Saul promise that he would not try to kill
David?
Did Saul keep his promise?
How did he try to kill him?
Where did David go?