1 Samuel 19:7-13
Verse 11 Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.”
Yesterday we left David having just witnessed the interaction between the king and Jonathan and from what he could tell it went well. Jonathan comes to him and confirms that his father is back to looking kindly on the shepherd. David doesn’t seem hesitant at all about once again joining the kingly family at meals and such. This must have made Michal happy too to have her father once again looking kindly at the love of her life.
The peace didn’t last for too long because it wasn’t long before it was time to go to war again. Fighting Philistines had become second nature to David and his war record spoke for itself, the Philistines knew David’s name and would rather flee than fight him. But this success didn’t ensure the reclaimed love of the king.
Once again the troubling spirit came upon Saul and caused him to despise David. The fact that it was David playing the instrument to soothe him only reminded the king that David was a blessing because of the Spirit of the Lord being upon him. It wasn’t long before that hate for David built back up to a boiling point. The fact that Saul was sitting in his home with his spear in hand should be troubling enough to us. Sitting around the house with a weapon in hand is not normal, even for a king. As his hate reaches its boiling point Saul bursts and throws the spear at David. David dodges and the spear sticks into the wall.
David went home to his wife and when Saul sends men to watch the house she knows that it isn’t safe for her husband to be there and tells him to leave so that he won’t be killed. He takes the advice of his wife and escapes out the window during the night. Michal’s way of protecting her husband shows us something about her that is a slight problem for David in their marriage. She uses an idol to make it look like he is in bed. This shows us that she had at least one large idol in the home and she turns to it to save her husband.
Despite David’s devotion to the Lord, he didn’t run his house as a home where the one true God was alone worshiped. This is the first hint we have that though David was a man after God’s own heart, he didn’t lead his family to be a family after God’s own heart.
Making It Personal
How important is a Christian home to you? What do you do to ensure the home to be one that pleases God? Are there any idols in your house that need to be removed?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you live in a home where Jesus is the only one worshiped? How can you help make sure that only Jesus is worshiped? What kinds of idols do people worship other than Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, forgive us for ways that we allow other things in our homes mean more to us than You. Help us to live as a family that shows You to those around us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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