Transcript for:
Day 103: 1 Samuel 18-20, Psalm David and Jonathan: Loyalty Amidst Conflict

Hey Bible Readers! I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. [Music] After David killed Goliath, he was a local hero. Saul becomes very interested  in knowing more about him. And Saul's son Jonathan was also really impressed with how David handled himself through the whole process. When we talk about Jonathan, it's important to be aware of a thing called primogeniture - that's where the firstborn in a family is the one who takes over the father's position. And in this society, it may be a tradition, but it's not a rule. So Jonathan probably has the mindset that he will succeed his father as the king at some point,   but today he gives David some gifts - and it's not clear if these gifts are his way of trying  to indicate that he thinks David should be king instead of him, or if he's just being generous. The local women of the town praised David too. They credit him with winning the war. Normally this credit would go to the king, so when it goes to David, Saul feels threatened. The next day Saul gets a visit from his demon,   and he tries to kill David twice  while David's playing music for him. Saul was afraid of David because God was with David, not him. And these are his first two attempts of at least 16 times when he tries to kill David. Today will basically be a rundown of a lot of Saul's plans and how God boards them all. Saul has no concern for God's glory or what's best for the nation,   he's only seeking to serve himself. Self-focus is like fertilizer on fear - and it smells about the same. Saul's Plan B is to get David away from him and hopefully have him killed by sending him off to war. But that backfires when David succeeds,  because now everyone loves him even more. Saul switches tactics to Plan C - he wants to lure David into marrying his daughter Michal. You might remember from yesterday,  this was supposed to be one of the prizes for killing Goliath, but apparently, Saul backpedaled on that,   and now he's requiring more Philistines  be killed in order to marry Michal -   100 more to be precise - in hopes that David would be killed in the process. David doubles down and comes back  having killed 200 Philistines. All Saul's efforts to destroy David only build him up. Saul also may have hopes that Michal will lead David away from Yahweh,   because according to 19:13, she practices idolatry. Saul's Plan D is to get Jonathan and his servants to kill David. But Jonathan is not having it. He tries to reason with Saul and Saul is like,   "You know what? You're right. I won't try to kill him anymore." Sure, okay. So Jonathan tells David all is well and that he should come back and play music for Saul again. I'm not sure if David believes Saul  or if you just needs a paycheck. But I can't imagine how awkward this is. After David wins yet another war, Saul breaks his word and throws another spear at David. Saul's demon always seems to show up  after David has some great victory on God's terms - being anointed as king,  killing Goliath, defeating the Philistines. David runs, and Saul sends assassins to David's house,   but his wife Michal, who was supposed to be a snare, actually hatches the plot to save him. She puts one of her idols in the bed and pretends it's David, then she lies to the assassins. Michal lies, but to protect a life. In some instances - like with Rahab the prostitute  and Pharaoh's Egyptian midwives -   scripture praises the people who live by faith and aim to be honorable even when the stakes are huge. Meanwhile, David runs to Samuel's house. Saul finds out and sends three rounds of assassins there and also ends up going there himself. But the joke's on him, because God  sidetracks them all with praise and prophecy. This reminds me of when Balaam was hired to curse the Israelites but all he could do was bless them. God is sovereign even over the efforts of an evil king. In that moment, Saul is humbled. David leaves Samuel's house  and goes to see Jonathan,   who still somehow believes his dad's promise not to kill David. I guess he's been out of the loop. David wants Jonathan to see the truth,   and they hatch a plan for him to escape if Saul is still in fact after David's life. David also makes a promise to Jonathan that he will show favor to Jonathan and his family no matter what happens. The next day there's a feast  that David is expected to attend,   but when he doesn't show up, Saul gets suspicious. He asks about David. And this is interesting - Saul won't even speak David's name anymore. He refers to him as "the son of Jesse" from here on out. Jonathan lies to Saul about David's whereabouts 

• and again, it's a lie to protect a human life. But Saul doesn't believe Jonathan. He's furious, and he threatens to take the kingdom away from Jonathan. But God has already told Saul that  the kingdom has been appointed to someone else, so it's not Saul's to give. Then Saul attempts to murder his own son, the heir apparent. Now Jonathan knows that his dad has been lying to him and that David wasn't just paranoid. The next day Jonathan commences with their plan for David's escape. They part ways with tears and blessing and the holy kiss that serves as an ancient near eastern greeting. Then we read two Psalms written by David during or about this time in his life. In Psalm 11, we see that David trusts  God in the midst of the attacks on his life and doesn't doubt God's love for him, despite the testing he's enduring. He also declares his innocence in regard to his enemies' attacks. In Psalm 59, David recounts God's  past faithfulness - this serves to remind him who God is in the present and will be in the future. He preaches the truth to himself in the midst of repeated attacks on his life. There were lots of opportunities for GOD SHOTS today. What was yours? Mine was in Psalm 59:8, where David is talking about his enemies -   who are also God's enemies - and he says, "You, O LORD, laugh at them." The only place scripture mentions God laughing is that His enemies. And His laughter at them is meant to be a comfort to His kids, like it is to David in this Psalm. His laughter serves as a reminder that He's not worried. He's defeated His enemies  who are also our enemies. He's protecting us and defending His name at the same time. The fact that scripture only records God laughing at His enemies   doesn't mean God doesn't have a sense of humor - He certainly does and we see that demonstrated in other ways - like when Balaam's donkey talks to him. God's got jokes! He laughs at His enemies because their plans will never succeed against Him. He's victorious. He's protective, and He's where the joy is! Reading the Bible every day is hard sometimes, but here you are! So if you want to make this process easier for yourself and help increase your chances of not dropping this new habit on the days when things are tough - the best way to do that is to subscribe! That way you don't have to go find us - we come to you, free delivery! All you have to do is click "subscribe". We'll see you tomorrow and every day after that. [Music]