Protection and Prayer
1 Samuel 19:1-24
Psalm 34:7
The angel of the LORD encamps [all] around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
1. David’s protection
1 Samuel 19:1a
[King] Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David.
1st God used Jonathan to protect David
1 Samuel 19:1-7
Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his close friendship with David, told him what his father was planning. "Tomorrow morning," he warned him, "you must find a hiding place out in the fields. I'll ask my father to go out there with me, and I'll talk to him about you. Then I'll tell you everything I can find out." The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. "The king must not sin against his servant David," Jonathan said. "He's never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the LORD brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!" So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, "As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed." Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before.
2nd God used David’s victories to protect him
1 Samuel 19:8
War broke out again after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines. He attacked them with such fury that they all ran away.
1 Samuel 18:16
But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was so successful at leading his troops into battle.
1 Samuel 19:9-10
But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the LORD suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night.
3rd God used Michal to protect David
1 Samuel 19:11-17
Then Saul sent troops to watch David's house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't escape tonight, you will be dead by morning." So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat's hair at its head. When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn't get out of bed. But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, "Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!" But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat's hair at its head. "Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?" Saul demanded of Michal. "I had to," Michal replied. "He threatened to kill me if I didn't help him."
1 Samuel 19:13
Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat's hair at its head.
teraphim
A life-sized object used both for ancestor worship and in magical healing rituals.
1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry (teraphim).
4th God used Samuel to protect David
1 Samuel 19:18-21
So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men, and they also began to prophesy. When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time.
1 Samuel 19:22
Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. "Where are Samuel and David?" he demanded. "They are at Naioth in Ramah," someone told him.
1 Samuel 19:23
But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth!
1 Samuel 19:24
He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, "What? Is even Saul a prophet?"
God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them. ---John Piper, Desiring God,
If I Only Knew Why, December 9, 2015
2. David’s prayer
A psalm of David, regarding the time Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
1st He specifically requested God’s help
Psalm 59:1-5
Rescue me from my enemies, O God. Protect me from those who have come to destroy me. Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers. They have set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there waiting, LORD, though I have not sinned or offended them. I have done nothing wrong, yet they prepare to attack me. Wake up! See what is happening and help me! O LORD God of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, wake up and punish those hostile nations.
2nd He reminded himself that God was with him even while he waited for God to answer
Psalm 59:9-10
You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress. In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me. He will let me look down in triumph on all my enemies.
3rd He sang and worshiped before his prayer was answered
Psalm 59:16-17
But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.
