ESV Chronological Plan, Day 95 | 1 Samuel 19-20, Psalm 59

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read 1 Samuel 19:1-20:42 and Psalm 59:1-17

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

How to avoid the hostile, harmful person. There are many times where we might misunderstand another person and their motives, and so we attribute harmful intentions to them that they don't have. But there are also situations where someone does genuinely hold bad intentions for us, and in that kind of situation we need to protect ourselves. But how can we discern whether this is the case? David was in this situation with Saul. On one hand, Saul put David at the head of his armies, made him his son-in-law, welcomed him into his court, allowed him to have a good relationship with his son Jonathan, and even allowed for the people to sing about David's accomplishments in more glowing terms than his own. By all accounts, Saul sounds like a pretty great guy! Privately, though, (1) Saul kept putting David in increasingly difficult situations where he was being set up to fail--that David succeeded through those attempts, gaining greater notoriety in the process, was no thanks to Saul. (2) In this reading we find that those close to the hostile person share that the person is expressing their hostility in private. Jonathan and Michal have no reason to lie, and so David should believe them. (3) David also has had to navigate repeated overt attempts to do him harm, as he has twice had to avoid Saul pinning him to the wall with a spear, despite whatever niceties happened between those two events, or possibly explanations after the fact that Saul was just playing around and knew David could get out of the way in time. (4) Things get to the point where the outward action of the secret hostility of the other party is predictable, as soldiers show up to David and Michal's apartment right about the time when they figured something was going to be done to David. In 1 Samuel 20, David actually starts using the predictable hostility of Saul to establish a test that makes this hostility fully apparent not just to him but to Jonathan as well. And finally, (5) David had finally realized that the hostile party was trying to control all of his movements and relationships, and keep him off balance, as he had to deal with men watching his house and making surprise visits to his apartment--likely for "security reasons," or having representatives come to observe him while he was spending time visiting with Samuel, or being welcomed into Saul's personal circle while at the same time having Saul speak negatively about him to others (1 Samuel 19:1), or extending kindness to him while suddenly withdrawing it in unpredictable ways, as when David had originally been set to marry Saul's oldest daughter Merab (1 Samuel 18:19). This is only taking into account what David himself would have seen, not including the words of the author who explicitly states that Saul "was David's enemy continually" (1 Samuel 18:29). Given all of this, David was justified in seeing through the fake niceness of Saul, and removing himself immediately.

God is our strength in the midst of hostility. In the midst of the confusion and mixed signals that David was getting from Saul, when he was pretty sure that he needed to get out, he wrote in Psalm 59 that God was his strength. Whatever we go through with other people, our relationship with God is the one that matters. He will make things clear in time.

Faithful is a friend in the midst of hostility. Throughout all of this, David also had his friendship with Jonathan tested. Because Jonathan committed to doing good to David even when it did not benefit him, and even continued when it created difficulty between Jonathan and his father, David had all the proof he would ever need that Jonathan was genuinely his friend. The tests for a genuine friend -which we can not engineer ourselves, or that would make us a bad friend- are the opposite of the tests of hostility above. Does that person set you up to do well? Do other people report that the person shares good things about you? Does that person do good to you even though they aren't getting anything out of it? Can you actually predict that that person will be helpful or kind when you need them to be? Does that person help you to feel stable, free, and well supported? Then keep that person around, as David did to Jonathan.

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? IN OUR ACTIONS, we can remove ourselves from situations or relationships where repeated, covert hostility may be bringing harm into our lives. In doing so, we can lean on the strength provided by God, and on the genuine friendships that God brings our way.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean