Day 36 – 1 Samuel 19:11-17
Scripture Review
1 Samuel 19:11-17
"Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain." (1 Samuel 19:11)
I find it amazing how planned and patient Saul's sin is. He, "sent messengers...to watch him...to slay him in the morning." My commentary pointed out possible why "in the morning" mattered. Daylight would help them distinguish David from Michal, and it could be made to look publicly justifiable. The danger David faces is no longer at "work," it is at his own house. But we have God's mercy in the warning. "Michal...told him." The warning is plain and urgent: "If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain." Warnings from the Lord often demand immediate attention. When God sends a sober warning through His Word or through a faithful friend, I need to treat it like an emergency and not an option?
"So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped." (1 Samuel 19:12)
The messengers would naturally guard the gate or the normal exit, so the window became the escape route. Look at the simple chain of deliverance, "let...down...went...fled...escaped." No bragging. No fighting in the house. Just a clear, God-provided way out, and David takes it. David's faith obeys reality. He flees when it is time to flee. He escapes because God opens the door, sometimes it's a window.
A wise preacher once noted that God delivers His servants in more than one way. Here I see a wife helping her husband do what is right to live.
"And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth." (1 Samuel 19:13)
The verse gives a minute account on purpose. Something shaped to resemble a man in bed, and the appearance of the hair of a sick man. I don't know why this is comical to me. I can see it play out in my head on a TV show.
"And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick." (1 Samuel 19:14)
Michal's words, "He is sick." This is noted as plain deception.
Fear can push people into sinful shortcuts. Michal is trying to protect David, but the Bible still shows a lie. Good intentions do not magically turn wrong into right. This challenges me to not be tempted to manage the moment with sin.
"And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him." (1 Samuel 19:15)
Saul will not let the matter rest. "Sent...again."
I also see how far Saul will go: "Bring him up to me in the bed." Even weakness or sickness would not soften Saul. He wants to "slay him" personally. Saul had a desire to finish David himself.
Sin does not stay satisfied. A jealousy heart, will demand more darkness, more control, and more damage.
"And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster." (1 Samuel 19:16)
I see the word "behold." The discovery is sudden and undeniable. The scheme is exposed the moment they look closely.
"And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?" (1 Samuel 19:17)
Saul's words reveal his heart, "mine enemy." David is not the enemy of Israel. David has been fighting Israel's enemies. Saul charges Michal: "Why hast thou deceived me so." And I see Michal's response: "He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?" She claims David threatened her life if she did not help him.
Fear and compromise often breed more compromise. One lie can lead to another lie, and then to blame, shifting. Adam and Eve were to first in the Bible to pass blame on one another.
I must keep a clean conscience before God!