1 Samuel 18: Jonathan Loves David
1 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
Jonathan finds a kindred spirit in David. “A beautiful scene opens this chapter. Jonathan, the man of faith, loves David. He was about 40 years old and David about 17.” (Arno Gaebelein) The brave soldier “who had himself done great exploits, naturally admired the youthful warrior who had slain the Philistine giant, and also admired the modesty of his speech when he returned with the head of Goliath in his hand.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
“The soul of Jonathan was knit”— “literally ‘chained itself’” (Kiel)— “with the soul of David,” etc. —” “A similar phrase is used of Jacob’s special love for his youngest son Benjamin in Genesis 44:30— ‘his life is bound up in the lad's life.’”(Peter Pett) This love transcends earthly pursuits.—
“and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” “To the conception of firmness is here added the idea of innerness of friendship, the complete identification of essence of two souls.” (Erdmann) “This union of souls is from partaking in the Spirit of Christ.” (Matthew Henry) ”This was not a worldly friendship in which one, in loving another, in reality loves only himself and his own personal interests, but one of a higher nature, which formed the uniting bond. They loved each other truly in God, to whose service they had devoted themselves in the hours of holy consecration, … and friendship which thus grows up and blossoms, rooting itself in a similarity of sanctified dispositions, takes a first place among our earthly blessings and possessions.” (Preacher's Homiletical Commentary)
“Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore... So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.” “Probably, Jonathan had previously occupied that position; but now that David is called to supplant him, Jonathan is not jealous of him, but he loves him as he loves his own soul.”(C. H. Spurgeon)
Jonathan was heir to the throne yet he made a covenant with David. "From then on these two would be closer than brothers." (Peter Pett)
And he willingly gave him “his robe, his garments, his sword, his bow and his girdle. Thus he stripped himself of all for David’s sake.“ (Arno Gaebelein) "The mention of several weapons, which together make a complete war outfit, suggests that Jonathan wished to honour David as the military hero.… His clothing David with his own war-dress sets aside the barrier which his rank and position would raise between them in the first instance on the common ground of the theocratic chivalry, as whose representatives they had come to love one another." (Erdmann)
He gave also "his robe, his garments." "An instance of more touching and tender friendship is not recorded on the page of history, nor even in works of fiction.”(Coke), that is until we come to the Ultimate love of Jesus for His people. “Jesus indeed stript Himself of His robes of glory, when He put on the garment of mortality, and as the apostle beautifully speaks, for our sakes became poor that we through His poverty might be made rich. Precious Redeemer! what love of Jonathan is to be named with thine? 2 Corinthians 8:9.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
I too have heard the voice of Jesus. Sure we all have read the Scriptures, but He has individually spoken to me thus, revealing His love FOR ME and manifesting in my love for Him. “Doctrines have their proper place, and conduct which is pure and godlike will necessarily flow from it; but the essence of true Christianity consists... in the devotion of the human heart to a Person— a personal God revealed in Jesus Christ.”(Biblical Illustrator)
1 Samuel 18: Saul Hated David
6 Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. 7 So the women sang as they danced, and said:“Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”
“David the anointed is the obedient servant and conducts himself wisely (v.5). [Yet] The days of suffering and exile are now rapidly approaching.” (Arno Gaebelein) “And how preferable was this love [of Jonathan] to the gnawing jealousy of Saul. How happy it tended to make Jonathan, while envy made his father wretched.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
“‘Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine,’ that is Goliath.— ‘that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments.’ “Women share deeply in a common calamity by war; they usually are ravished, abused, slaved; they therefore greatly rejoiced, as there was reason, when the enemy was vanquished. See Exodus 15:20, 11:34.” (John Trapp) David had turned the tide. “‘So the women sang as they danced, and said’—‘answered one another’; singing by parts alternately.— ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’; so they said, because David killed Goliath, which was the principal cause of all the following slaughter of the Philistines.” (Matthew Poole)
"Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" Saul tried to keep for himself what God had given to another. “Samuel had told Saul that God would give his kingdom to another (1 Samuel 15:28), and Saul discerns the signs that David may very well be the man.” (L. M. Grant)
9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.
“Saul eyed David” — “looking askance” (Keil) or “sourly” (Luther) at David "from that day and forward." He “watched all his movements with suspicion and jealousy. And this fact may well account for the king’s failure to reward David and his father’s house according to all that he had promised the one who would succeed in slaying the insolent Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:25.” (Daniel Whedon)“The problem was Saul’s desire to be popular with the people more than with God.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
He could have served God by loving him (as Jonathan did) and grooming him, along with his firstborn son, for the possibilities of succession. Perhaps he knew of Samuel’s anointing of David. Then his sins would be greater. “It is the enmity of Saul which we are to consider— its beginning, its rapid growth, its deadly purpose.”( Biblical Illustrator)
This is the enmity of the children of wrath with the children of God. "The reason for this is very revealing: 'Jehovah was with David, and was departed from Saul.'" (G. Campbell Morgan) David showed no such inclination for mutiny. “It was only the facts of his character and ability that spoke to both Saul and the people…” (L. M. Grant) very differently.
Evening Repost: 1 Samuel 18: Hatred Breeds Murderous Intent
10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.
“The day had been a time of public triumph, and yet one of the chief actors goes home to a sleepless couch, because he thinks that another has received higher honour than himself.” (The Pulpit Commentaries)
“The evil spirit comes now over the unhappy king in quite a new form. Hitherto, when the dark hour came upon Saul the madness showed itself in the form of a dull torpor, a hopeless melancholia, an entire indifference to everything connected with life, as well in the lower as in the higher forms. This earlier phase of the soul’s malady has been exquisitely pictured by Browning in his poem of ‘Saul.’ NOW the madness assumes a new phase, and the king is consumed with a murderous jealousy, that fills his whole soul, and drives him now to open deeds of ruffianly violence—now to devise dark plots against the life of the hated one.“ (C. J. Ellicott)
And he prophesied, “probably, talking wildly and foolishly” (C. H. Spurgeon)— “a bastard imitation” (C. J. Ellicott), not according to the Word of God already spoken concerning the kingdom, because there is no light in him (Isaaih 8:19-20). "He was beside himself; made prayers, supplications, and incoherent imprecations:” (Adam Clarke) something like this, “God will preserve my kingdom and my life eternally; and He will in like manor destroy my enemies.”
“When the evil spirit came upon him he prophesied. This has been hard to understand to some. Several translators have translated ‘raved’; but that cannot be done, for the word prophesy is the same as in chapter 5:5... Now there is besides a divine inspiration, also a satanic inspiration. Certain cults which claim restoration of certain gifts claim inspiration, which has often been traced to the influence of demons. Saul uttered words which were the result of the indwelling evil spirit.” (Arno Gaebelein)
“And Saul cast the spear,”— “the Alexandrian MS. of the LXX. and the Chaldee Version translate the Hebrew here ‘lifted the javelin.’ The probable meaning of the verb in this place is ‘brandished,’or ‘aimed’ [in his heart.] It is hardly credible that if he actually threw it, David would have trusted himself a second time in the king’s chamber.” (C. J. Ellicott)—“‘for he said,’ in his heart, determining in his mind: ‘I will smite David even to the wall with it’; he determined to cast it with such force and violence, that it should pierce through David, and enter into the very wall, by the side of which David was...” (Gill) thus fulfilling his own prophesy.
We now witness attempts “from the side of Satan to do away with him from whose loins the promised seed, the Redeemer, was to come. The Lord shielded David and Saul was afraid of him, because the Lord was with him.” (Gaebelein) “‘And David avoided out of his presence.’— So did our Saviour often, when his enemies sought his life. [Luke 4:30 John 10:39]” (Trapp) Yet: “David, guileless, brave, honest, trustful, was not afraid of Saul...’” (Spurgeon) remaining at his post as long as possible.
“Compare David, with his harp in his hand, aiming to serve Saul, and Saul, with his javelin in his hand, aiming to slay David; and observe the sweetness and usefulness of God's persecuted people, and the barbarity of their persecutors.” (Matthew Henry) We want but to minister the Word.
“What an awful account doth the Scripture give of this unhappy man. No mercy from God, no deliverance from enemies, no services of friends, can work upon Saul's mind. The last state of that man, on whom Satan hath power, is worse than the first.“ (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
The words of the prophets of Jehovah actually come to pass. Yahweh will indeed preserve His friends— the righteous; yet He will destroy His enemies— the wicked. Concerning all of His servants, David wrote:
“The Torah of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.
The wicked spies upon the righteous and seeks to kill him. Yahweh will not leave him in his hand or let him be condemned when he is judged. Wait for Yahweh and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.” (Psalm 37:31-34)
Repost After Walk: 1 Samuel 18: David Behaved Wisely In All His Ways
12 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. 15 Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
“‘Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him,’.... Protecting and preserving him, prospering and succeeding him, giving him victory over his enemies, and favour among the people; the Targum is, ‘the Word of the Lord was for his help.' Procopius Gazaeus interprets it of the Holy Ghost, whose grace was vouchsafed unto him.” (John Gill)— “but had departed from Saul.” He was now completely void of the Power which had once been his. He was no longer Yahweh’s anointed king of Israel. Yes he had the kingdom, but the stem of Jesse had God’s Spirit, whom Samuel had anointed as king.
“So next, Saul sent David out from the palace, evidently so he would not be a constant aggravation to the king.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) He made him a captain of a small troop, being “aware that mortality in the field could be very high, especially for men like David who led from the front.” (Peter Pett)
But the vastly better part of the army was under Saul directly. So thus “he went out and came in before the people,"... on military expeditions, “which implies a clear, honest testimony: he had nothing to hide.
We were before told that he behaved himself wisely (v.5), now it is added ‘in all his ways.’” (L. M. Grant)— civil and religious duties.
“His great success only increased Saul's fears; but both ‘Israel and Judah loved David,’ now that in this higher command they had full opportunities for judging of his high qualities. Thus again his removal from his place in Saul's bodyguard only served to make him better known...” (Pulpit Commentaries)
“And, young man, you also will be wise if God is with you, and you will be able to behave yourself wisely, discreetly, prosperously, as the word seems to mean. Even when malicious eyes are fixed upon you, they will not be able to find any fault in you if the Lord is with you. You will win favor where you least expect it, if you do but so live that God can be with you, if you keep the vessel of your nature so pure that the Master can use it. May it be your portion and mine to have it said of each of us, ‘The Lord was with him’!” (C. H. Spurgeon) Oh Lord Jesus, you know how I am tempted to have fits or outburst as Saul, but Lord help me to behave wisely, as David. Enable me to love You and keep Your Commandments by an in dwelling of Your Holy Spirit.
Repost After Walk: 1 Samuel 18: David Married Michal
17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18 So David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19 But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife. 20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”
22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23 So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” 24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, “In this manner David spoke.” 25 Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
And Saul said " Behold mine elder daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant and fight the Yahweh’s battles.” “She was [already] due to him before by promise, for killing Goliath; yet he that twice inquired into the reward of that enterprise before he undertook it, never demanded it after that achievement... For Saul thought, ‘Let not mine hand be upon him.' Saul did not kill David, because he durst not for fear of the people; or, as Kimchi thinketh, lest he should afterwards have been brought into question for murder." (John Trapp)
But he being not trustworthy gave Merab to another. Yea, lo: “Now Michal, Saul's daughter [youngest], loved David”, “because of the comeliness of his person, his gallant behaviour, his wise conduct, and the general esteem and reputation he was had in, as may be supposed: ‘and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him’; not that his daughter loved David, or that he should be his son-in-law, but that he should have an opportunity, as he hoped, of destroying David.” (John Gill)
Saul said, ‘I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." "Saul had already determined the condition on which he would give his daughter to David; that he should slay one hundred Philistines: this he supposed he would undertake for the love of Michal, and that he must necessarily perish in the attempt; and thus Michal would become a snare to him.” (Clarke)
“And Saul commanded his servants, saying, ‘Commune with David secretly,’ as if they did it without the king's knowledge, ‘and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee; now, therefore, be the king's son-in-law.’ The offer was pure hypocrisy, and all the more revolting since it was a part of the king's scheme to destroy David through Michal's love.” (Paul E. Kretzmann)
And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” Here: “David dwells upon this fact of his utter inability to give the expected costly offering for the princess.” (C. J. Ellicott) David had not been awarded according to his his deeds by king Saul— “great riches” as well as the king’s daughter. (1 Samuel 17:25) And David’s own words, he was poor in earthly things and held in low esteem by the king. How can this be?
“Then Saul said, ‘Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any gift or dowry— as Shechem offered Jacob called Israel for Dinah in Genesis 34:11-12— “but” rather “one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.” So rather than a exchange of goods, the king feigned a desire to take vengeance on God’s enemies, here represented as his own. He desired one hundred Philistine foreskins, “to cover his malice against David with a pretence of zeal for God, and for his people, and for the covenant of circumcision.”(Matthew Poole) “But Saul [only] thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.”
26 So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; 27 therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
The plan had the desired effect of stirring David's zeal for God. “‘So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to he the king's son-in-law.’ Besides the great honour, David, not suspecting any malicious purpose on Saul's part, may have hoped that this relationship would put an end to the miserable state of things which existed between him and Saul. He harboured no treasonable purposes, and would have gladly served Saul faithfully if he had been permitted.” (The Pulpit Commentaries) “Even before the days were full, i.e., before the time appointed for the delivery... David delivered twice the price demanded.“ (Keil & Delitzsch)
“Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife” being “distinguished by the basest treasons and plots for David’s destruction; by a shameful breach of public faith in giving his daughter to another, and by a murderous hypocrisy in giving David promotion and partial command, solely with a view to procure his death. Ah, Saul, thy counsel shall not stand; the persecuted shall rise, and thou shalt fall; for the Spirit of Glory is departed from thee, and rested on him. Caleb, whose faith gave Achsah to Othniel, shall make thy perjury ashamed.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
1 Samuel 18: David Exalted Among the People
28 Thus Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; 29 and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy continually. 30 Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.
“So God is the defence of those who trust in his name.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
“Thus Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David,” yet still he made himself his enemy—“'and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him;' and therefore [he] could entertain no hope of making use of her as an instrument of his ruin.“ (John Gill)— “and Saul was still more afraid of David” — because Providence had visibly favored him, by not only defeating the conspiracy against his life, but through his royal alliance paving his way to the throne.” (Jameison-Faussett-Brown)
“So Saul became David’s enemy continually”—“all the days of his life.” (Paul Kretzmann) “Thus his evil spirit urged him ever forward to greater and greater hardness of heart.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
“‘Then the princes of the Philistines’— incensed “by David’s late action- ‘went out to war’— to fight with the Israelites.” (Joseph Benson) Whenever they went, “David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul.” Thus what Saul had meant for his harm, as the brothers of Joseph, God meant for his good.—“so that his name became highly esteemed.” “His name was found on everyone’s lips, from the smallest to the greatest.” (Peter Pett)