Don’t Kill Saul – He Might Be Your Best Friend!

1 Samuel 18:10-11 (KJV) And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. [11] And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

1 Samuel 18:29 (KJV) And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s enemy continually.

1 Samuel 19:1-2 (KJV) And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. [2] But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:

1 Samuel 19:9-10 (KJV) And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. [10] And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

1 Samuel 23:8-9 (KJV) And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.  [9] And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.

1 Samuel 23:14 (KJV) And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

1 Samuel 23:25 (KJV) Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

Pursue: a primitive root; to run after (usually with hostile intent; figurative [of time] gone by) :- chase, put to flight, follow (after, on), hunt, (be under) persecute (-ion, -or), pursue (-r).

1 Samuel 24:1-6 (KJV) And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.

[2] Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. [3] And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. [4] And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. [5] And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. [6] And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.

1 Samuel 26:2-4 (KJV) Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. [3] And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. [4] David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.

David had great respect for Saul, in spite of the fact that Saul was trying to kill him.

Although Saul was sinning and rebelling against God, David still respected the position he held as God’s anointed king.

David knew he would one day be king, and he also knew it was not right to strike down the man God had placed on the throne.

If he assassinated Saul, he would be setting a precedent for his own opponents to remove him some day.

Romans 13:1-7 teaches that God has placed the government and its leaders in power. We may not know why, but, like David, we are to respect the positions and roles of those to whom God has given authority. There is one exception, however. Because God is our highest authority, we should not allow a leader to pressure us to violate God’s law.

Although Saul pursued David – In David’s eyes Saul was not the enemy.

Although pursued by Saul David drew his strength from God.

God encouraged him.

David’s friends strengthened him.

David needed to stay “prayed up”…

At every turn David needed to enquire of the Lord’s will…

Later in life after Saul died – David became king.

However, during the time Saul pursued him it is said that David behaved himself wisely, and then David behaved himself more wisely.

Now that David did not have an adversary – he became week and lethargic spiritually.

2 Samuel 11:1 (KJV) And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

David became so successful that he no longer felt that he had to go out to battle…

Enter Bathsheba…

David had become so deceived (comfortable as a result of not having a Saul to keep him on the right track) that he committed adultery and murder.

The Prayed-up David would not have been tempted.

The pursued David would not have succumbed to temptation.

David… Don’t kill Saul he might be your best friend…

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Adversary: an opponent (in a lawsuit); specially Satan (as the arch-enemy) :- adversary.

Vigilant: to keep awake, i.e. watch (literal or figurative) :- be vigilant, wake, (be) watch (-ful).

Seeking: to seek (literal or figurative); (in a bad sense) to plot (against life) endeavour, enquire (for), seek (after, for, means).

Devour: katapino,  kat-ap-ee’-no; from Greek 2596 (kata) and Greek 4095 (pino); to drink down, i.e. gulp entire (literal or figurative) :- devour, drown, swallow (up).

Sometimes our enemies are not – our enemies that is…

Saul – Paul in the New Testament had a “thorn in the flesh…”

He sought its removal – but God had a better plan.

2 Cor. 12:6-10 (NLT) I have plenty to boast about and would be no fool in doing it, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it. I don’t want anyone to think more highly of me than what they can actually see in my life and my message, [7] even though I have received wonderful revelations from God. But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud.  [8] Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. [9] Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. [10] Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Enemies – calamities – torment – thorns – Saul’s

Aren’t they all the same thing?

But wait…

As long as there is a Saul – you will keep praying and seeking God.

I am not suggesting that we make friends with Saul…

I am however suggesting that we stop complaining about Saul and thank God for him…

1 Cor. 10:13 (NLT) But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.