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David-Saul Seeks David’s Death
August 1, 2020

Last week, we saw how David became hunted by Saul and that his only his friendship with Jonathan, son of Saul, stood between David and certain death. As time went by, Jonathan found himself more at odds with his father over the fate of David, who had the favor of God and would be the next king of Israel. Continuing with the study, David had just fled from Saul and found that Saul had followed him to Naioth in Ramah. David was able to get away once more and then met up with Jonathan and was perplexed why Saul would still want to take his life. Jonathan reassured David that his father would not take David’s life without first sharing with Jonathan and that Saul had given Jonathan no such indication.

David and Jonathan talked about Saul and David made the point that Saul was not sharing everything with Jonathan, and that this could result very easily in the death of David. Together they devised a plan to fully understand Saul’s intentions. Knowing that the start of the month would require a meal with Saul, David asked Jonathan to explain his absence from the king’s table, that David needed to return to his family for a yearly sacrifice. David explained that this would serve as a test of the intent of Saul. If Saul was fine with the explanation of David’s absence, then Saul would be at peace with David, but if Saul was angry with David’s absence, then David would know Saul wanted him dead.

David also considered the idea that perhaps he had done something worthy of death and if this were the case asked that Jonathan be the one to take his life. Jonathan told David that he had done nothing worthy of death and reaffirmed that if Jonathan knew that Saul would try to harm David, Jonathan would let David know. Jonathan then suggested they go out to a field, and they did. While out there Jonathan told David with God as his witness he would get a sense of how his father felt for David, whether it be good or bad, and that if he determined Saul wanted to do evil to David, he would let David know so David could depart in peace and be protected by God as Saul had been protected by God. Jonathan only asked that David show kindness to Jonathan, and that David would never seek revenge against Jonathan’s descendants. Both Jonathan and David swore an oath on this agreement, and Jonathan made David swear twice because they were close like brothers.

Figuring out how to handle the feast of the new moon which would be the next day, it was a monthly gathering of those close to Saul. Jonathan suggested David stay away in the fields for three days and on the third day he would come to the stone Ezel where Jonathan would shoot three arrows and send a boy to fetch the arrows. If Jonathan told the boy to look for the arrows between where the boy was and the palace, David would know it would be safe for him to return to the palace, but if the boy was told to look for the arrows beyond where he was, David would know it was not safe to return to the palace and instead, he should flee. Jonathan knew that through God, there would always be a bind between the two even if they never saw one another again. David hid himself in the fields and the feast of the new moon came. At first, Saul just thought something might have delayed David, but by the second day Saul was asking Jonathan about David. Jonathan lied where David was telling his father that David had returned to his family for a sacrifice in Bethlehem.

As a result of Jonathan’s lie, Saul became angry. He told Jonathan that David was a direct threat to not only Saul’s reign as king, but a future reign of Jonathan. He told Jonathan to go get David so David could be put to death. Jonathan asked his father why David needed to die and what he had done to deserve this fate. This pushback from Jonathan kindled rage in Saul who took his Javelin and threw it at Jonathan. This got Jonathan’s attention and he realized death was the only option that Saul was thinking regarding David. Jonathan was very angry and left the table because he felt like his father had dishonored him.

The next morning, Jonathan went to the field to shoot the arrows at the agreed time with David. Jonathan told the boy to run into the field and began to shoot an arrow. He told the boy that he had to look beyond him and to hurry up and find the arrow. The boy returned to Jonathan who gave him his archery equipment and told the boy to return the equipment to the city. As soon as the boy had left, Jonathan went to the field and David came out of hiding, and bowed himself three times before Jonathan. Both were emotionally upset about what had happened, with David being more upset than Jonathan. Their close bond of friendship would be no more as it would be a friendship of distance. Jonathan told David it was time for him to go and told David that God would be between them during the upcoming years. David left, and Jonathan returned to the palace.

1 Samuel 20:1-42
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee; The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father. And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth. But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever. So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty. Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table. Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

David went to the city of Nob and met Ahimelech the priest who was concerned that David had arrived by himself without an entourage. David lied to Ahimelech and told him that Saul had sent him secretly on business. David told Ahimelech to give him the bread and Ahimelech told him there was only holy bread and that he could only give this to David if David had not been sexually with a woman during the past three days, which was not a problem for David because he had been in hiding in a field. With David’s explanation, Ahimelech gave David the holy bread

In Nob that day was Doeg, a servant and chief herdsman of Saul. Knowing this and aware he had traveled without any weapons, David asked Ahimelech if there were any available weapons for him to take, and the only weapon was Goliath’s sword. David gladly took Goliath’s sword. Goliath’s sword in hand, David fled to Achish the king of Gath. David sensed that the servants of Achish perceived him as a threat and not wanting to die did not act boldly and instead acted like he had lost his mind and even drooled for show. Achish did not want this person in his house.

1 Samuel 21:1-15
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

After leaving Achish, David fled to the cave Adullam, and when word got back to Jesse and his brothers they went to meet David. Along with his own family were those who were down and out on their luck. Soon, David had an army of four hundred men. Word got back to Saul that David’s location was known. Saul reminded everyone that they should not be disloyal to him because of promises made by David. It was at this time that Saul found out that Ahimelech had given David the sword of Goliath.

With this information, Saul had brought to him Ahimelech and his entire extended family. Saul wanted to know why Ahimelech had conspired against him, and the priest told Saul there was no more faithful servant that David. This did not impress Saul and he ordered all the priests to be killed and that day eighty-five priests were killed. One of the sons of Ahimelech, Abiathar was able to escape and fled to David telling him how Saul had killed the priests. David realized that when he saw Doeg at Nob that he would tell Saul and it would result in death for the priests. David felt like he was responsible for their deaths. He invited Abiathar to stay with him because he knew Abiathar would be killed by Saul, and there would be safety in staying with David.

1 Samuel 22:1-23
David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold. And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And 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 honourable in thine house? Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD'S priests. And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

David would go on to fight many battles sometimes against enemies like the Philistines, and Saul would seem to be in hot pursuit.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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