1 Samuel 19: Lessons From God’s Deliverance of David from Saul

Introduction: In 1 Samuel 19, God delivered David from Saul’s schemes, his direct attacks, and the attacks of his men. Saul had become like Satan in his jealousy at being second to David’s Spirit-led success. “The one thing Saul cannot stand in his servants is their success. Like Satan, Saul does not take well to being in second place (see Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28).” (Robert L. (Bob) Deffinbaugh 16. David’s Divine Deliverance (1 Samuel 18:30-19:24)).¹ Thus, Saul’s attacks on David and God’s deliverance should be seen as a foreshadow of Satan’s attacks and your need for deliverance. In this chapter, God reveals seven lessons about His deliverance.

First, after Saul’s subtle efforts to kill David failed, he openly conspired to kill David. The devil also still conspires to kill or harm God’s people. From this, God reveals that He wants you to turn to Him for your deliverance from evil. Second, God used His believer Jonathan to help deliver David from Saul’s first conspiracy. From this, God reveals that He uses His people to love and help to deliver those in need. This means God also wants to use you to help deliver the needy and the oppressed. Third, Saul made a temporary vow to cause David no harm. But he would soon break this vow. From this, God reveals that He wants you to trust in Him and not in government or people for your deliverance. Fourth, after he gave in again to his jealousy, Saul tried to kill David with a spear (his third time total). From this, God reveals that He can deliver you by being your shield against evil when you submit to Him. Fifth, David’s wife showed faith in standing up to her father and helping David escape. But she then turned to an idol to deceive the palace guards. From this, God reveals that He does not want idols to corrupt your faith in His deliverance. Sixth, after he escaped, David sought refuge with Samuel and then a group of prophets. Together, the prophets thwarted three attempts of the palace guards to arrest him. From this, God reveals that He wants you to also seek protection and deliverance in the Body of Christ where others can pray over you. Finally, when Saul’s men failed, he went to try to seize and kill David. But he also failed. God also humbled him in the process. David later wrote a Psalm to celebrate his deliverance. From this, God reveals that He can deliver you from any evil. Like David, He also wants you to give Him praise and thanks for your deliverance.

1. God Wants You to Turn to Him for Your Deliverance from Evil. 1 Sam. 19:1(a).

Saul’s conspiracy to kill God’s anointed David. After his secret plans to kill David failed, Saul directed both Jonathon and Saul’s servants to kill David. “^1aNow Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death.” (1 Sam. 19:1(a)). Saul was jealous of David’s anointing. He at first tried in secret to kill David by ordering David to kill 100 Philistines and desecrate their bodies by removing their foreskins. Even if David killed 100 Philistines, Saul assumed that the Philistine nation would retaliate in mass for having their soldiers’ bodies’ desecrated. But Saul’s plan backfired. David became a hero to the Jews. He became a legitimate heir to the throne by marrying Saul’s daughter, and the Philistines respected and feared him (1 Sam. 18:25-30). Now that Saul’s secret plans to defeat David had failed, he conspired openly to kill him.

Saul told Jonathan about his desire to murder David²

Joseph’s brothers’ also conspired to kill him out of jealousy. Like Saul, Joseph’s brothers also conspired to kill Joseph out of jealousy. “¹⁸When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. ¹⁹They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer! ²⁰Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!’” (Gen. 37:18-20; Jer. 12:6). “My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi, like the torrents of wadis which vanish,” (Job 6:15). “I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons.” (Ps. 69:8).
The Jewish leaders also conspired to kill Jesus out of jealousy. The Jewish elders and leaders also conspired to kill Jesus out of jealousy because of His anointing: “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mk. 8:31; 9:31; 10:33; Matt. 16:21; Lk. 9:22). “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.” (Matt. 12:14; Mk. 14:1).
Satan also tries to kill God’s people out of jealousy. Satan is also jealous of the anointing that Jesus offers to His beliefs. Thus, he conspires with his demons for ways to destroy you. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8). “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;” (Lk. 22:31). “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Cor. 2:11). “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”’ (Rev. 12:10). Like David, you are in need of God’s deliverance from evil.
Have faith in God to deliver you. David had faith in God for his deliverance from the many sources of evil in his life. “And David said, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Sam. 17:37(a)). God also wants you to be assured that Jesus will deliver you as well. “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Tim. 4:18).

2. God Uses His People to Love and Help to Deliver Those in Need. 1 Sam. 19:1(b)-5.

Jonathan protects David from his father Saul’s evil plans. Saul’s evil plan to kill David failed because the love of God was in his son Jonathan: “^1b But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. ²So Jonathan told David saying, ‘Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; if I find out anything, then I will tell you.’ ⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, ‘Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. ⁵For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?’” (1 Sam. 19:1(b)-5). If Jonathan were a man of the flesh, he would have supported Saul’s actions because he had the most to lose from David’s rise to power. Jonathan was Saul’s firstborn son and heir to the throne (1 Chron. 9:39). But he was led by the Spirit to make a covenant with David out of agape love (1 Sam. 18:3). As part of his covenant, he handed to David the symbols of his future claim to the throne. These included his royal robe, his sword, his bow, and his belt (1 Sam. 18:4). Like Jonathan, a Spirit-led leader must not covet power (Dt. 17:16; Ex. 20:17; 1 Cor. 6:10). Jonathan saw that his father was about to make the same mistake that Cain did when jealousy caused him to murder Abel (Gen. 4:8). Thus, he pleaded with Saul not to break the Sixth Commandment against murder (Ex. 20:13; Dt. 5:17). Jonathan not only showed loved toward David but also to his father by seeking to prevent him from sinning.
Love those in need and help to deliver them as you would want to be delivered. As a Spirit-led man, Jonathan put his own interests aside and loved David as he would want others to love him. This is God’s second greatest Commandment: “The second is this, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mk. 12:31; Lk. 10:27; Matt. 19:19; 22:39; Ro. 13:9; Ja. 2:8; Lev. 19:18). “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ (Gal. 5:14). “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (Jo. 13:34). “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” (Jo. 15:12). “This I command you, that you love one another.” (Jo. 15:17). “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;” (1 Jo. 3:11). When others pose a threat to you, do you show them love in your response?
Submit to authority, unless your authority directs you to engage in evil. As Saul’s subjects, they were bound to follow his directions. But these verses show that there are limits to when believers must submit to authority. Like Jonathan, believers must never submit to authority if it involves evil. For example, the midwives refused Pharaoh’s order that they kill the Jewish babies at birth (Ex. 1:17). Daniel also refused to obey an edict that he not pray to God (Dan. 6:13). The Apostles also refused to obey evil. “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.”’ (Acts 5:29). When society rejects God’s Word and his morality, will you resist and defend the Word?
Restore one another in love. Jonathan is also a role model in how he sought to privately restore his father out of love. “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” (Matt. 18:15). “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1). When others around you sin, do you judge them or seek to privately restore them in love?
Jesus also loves you. Jesus has such an intense love for you that He died a brutal death so that you might live. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jo. 3:16). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Ro. 5:8; Jo. 15:13; 1 Jo. 3:16). How are you showing appreciation for His love?

3. God Wants You to Trust in Him and Not in Government for Deliverance. 1 Sam. 19:6-7.

Saul’s temporary vow not to kill David. Moved by the Spirit through Jonathan’s love, Saul made a vow not to kill David and temporarily restored him. “⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, ‘As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.’ ⁷Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as formerly.” (1 Sam. 19:6-7). But Saul would soon break this vow. Having already broken the Tenth Commandment against coveting and the Sixth Commandment for attempted murder, he would soon break the Third Commandment by failing to keep his vow (Ex. 20:7; Dt. 5:11).
A broken wedding vow or other promise profanes God’s name. Isaiah warned about those “Who swear by the name of the Lord . . .” and call upon “His name,” “But not in truth nor in righteousness.” (Is. 48:1-2). Both your words and your conduct can take the Lord’s name in vain. When you enter a vow you are to make a vow using God’s Holy name: “You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.” (Dt. 6:13). But Jesus warns us that the consequences of a broken vow to God are so serious that we should not, in many cases, make them at all (Matt. 5:33-37). When you break a vow, you take the Lord’s name in vain. Thus, you are warned not to “swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God.” (Lev. 19:12). You may have made a wedding vow before God or a vow not to engage in a certain sin again. Have you stayed faithful to your vows?
God alone will deliver you from the evil one. As a recurring theme, God shows through Saul that you cannot trust in rulers or in government for your deliverance. God wants you to put your faith and trust in Him alone: “Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.” (Ps. 146:3). “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.” (Ps. 118:9). “O give us help against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain.” (Ps. 60:11). Do you trust in God alone to deliver you?

4. God Can Deliver You By Being Your Shield Against Evil. 1 Sam. 19:8-10.

Saul tries to kill David for the third time, but David escapes. Saul’s vow was not rooted in any fear of God. Thus, the moment David became successful again in combat, Saul’s jealousy returned, and he broke his vow and tried to kill David. “⁸When there was war again, David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled before him. ⁹Now there was an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. ¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.” (1 Sam. 19:8-10). This was sadly the third time that Saul tried to kill David out of jealousy. “¹⁰Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand. ¹¹Saul hurled the spear for he thought, ‘I will pin David to the wall.’ But David escaped from his presence twice.” (1 Sam. 18:10-11). The fact that David remained and trusted Saul after two spear attacks and his directions to others to kill him testifies to his incredible loyalty. David previously calmed Saul’s heart and drove away the evil spirit through worship music (1 Sam. 16:15-23). David tried to again calm Saul’s troubled soul with worship music (1 Sam. 19:10). But this failed because David was the source of Saul’s jealousy.

God protected David from Saul’s attempt to kill him³

Guard your heart against sin, or the devil will entrap you. Saul should have known where he was weak in the face of the temptations caused by his jealousy. Before Cain killed his brother out of a similar jealousy, God warned him that Satan was waiting to pounce on his evil heart: “. . . sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Gen. 4:7(b)). “. . . and be sure your sin will find you out.” (Nu. 32:23(b)). Solomon warns: “For jealousy enrages a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance.” (Prov. 6:34). It is more deadly than wrath: “Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Prov. 27:4). “For jealousy enrages a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance.” (Prov. 6:34). James also warns: “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” (Jam. 3:16). Thus, Paul warns “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,” (Ro. 6:12). “When we surrender self-control, whether by anger, greed, drugs, or sexual immorality (to name a few examples), we open ourselves up to satanic or demonic influences.” (Robert Deffinbaugh).⁴ Have you guarded your heart from evil?
When you submit to God, He will deliver you by being your shield against evil. God protected David three times from Saul’s spear attacks. He also protected David against Goliath’s attack from a giant spear (1 Sam. 17:7). He also protected David in his many battles against the Philistines. In all these instances, David trusted God to provide his spiritual armor: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:11-12). When you wear God’s armor, no weapon can harm you. “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; . . .” (Is. 54:17). God also promises to be a shield to all who submit to Him: “As for God, His way is blameless; the word of the LORD is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.” (2 Sam. 22:31). “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” (Prov. 30:5). Jesus invites you to seek His protection (Matt. 6:13). If you submit to Him, He will be a hedge of protection against any evil.

5. God Does Not Want Idols to Corrupt Your Faith in His Deliverance. 1 Sam. 19:11-17.

Michal helps Davis escape, but then uses an idol to deceive her father’s servants. For the second time, Saul broke his vow by trying to kill David. But his daughter Michal thwarted her father out of love for her husband. Michal, however, then turned to an idol to deceive the palace guards. “¹¹Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.’ ¹²So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped. ¹³Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, ‘He is sick.’ ¹⁵Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, ‘Bring him up to me on his bed, that I may put him to death.’ ¹⁶When the messengers entered, behold, the household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷So Saul said to Michal, ‘Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?’ And Michal said to Saul, ‘He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I put you to death?’” (1 Sam. 19:11-17). The love of Saul’s children for David had now twice defeated Saul’s hatred and his attempts to kill David. These verses show that love is more powerful than hatred. Having a love for others is the greatest spiritual gift that you can ever hope to receive: “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13). Yet, David would still suffer from Saul’s jealousy and hatred. He now called David “my enemy” (1 Sam. 19:17). David would first need to escape in an undignified and humbling manner. He would then lose his palace privileges and his freedoms. He would then live as a fugitive in exile from the palace for the next 20 years.

Michal helped David escape from Saul’s assassins⁵

Don’t trust in idols for your deliverance. Like Rahab, Michal betrayed her king to help a wanted man escape down a rope through her window (Josh. 2:2-15). Yet, while Rahab and David fully trusted in God for his deliverance, Michal did not. To give David time to escape, she felt that she needed to also use a life sized idol to deceive her father Saul (1 Sam. 19:13-16). By doing this, she followed in the footsteps of Rachel. Rachel also trusted in her family idols, stole them from Laban, and then deceived Laban when he chased after them (Gen. 31:19-35). Michal also used goat hair to deceive the palace guards. In the Bible, goat hair is a symbol of deception. Jacob’s mother Rebekah used goat hair to deceive Isaac into believing that Jacob was his hairy brother Esau (Gen. 27:16). Her trust in her family idols showed that Michal did not have the same kind of relationship with God that David did. Her idolatry would also later lead her to lose her chance to establish a family (2 Sam. 6:23). “The image was a teraphim, a figurine used as a household idol or as a fertility and good luck charm. In ancient Israel teraphim were intended as help in worshiping the true God. They didn’t think of the teraphim as other gods, but as representing the God of Israel. Clearly God’s people had no business having or using an image like this. We can’t imagine that this image, this household idol, belonged to David; so it shows that Michal didn’t have the kind of relationship with God she should have. This weak relationship with God will reveal itself in Michal as the story of David’s life unfolds (2 Samuel 6:16-23).” (David Guzik on 1 Sam. 19).⁶
God does not want your faith corrupted with idols. In this one chapter, either Saul or his daughter violated four of God’s Commandments. These included the Tenth Commandment against coveting, the Sixth Commandment against attempted murder, the Third Commandment against profaning God’s holy name with broken vows, and now the Second Commandment against idolatry (Ex. 20:4-6; Dt. 5:8-10). Michal’s trust in idols was further a reflection of her upbringing. Thus, Saul shared in this sin as well. An idol is anything that you put your trust in. It can even include images of God instead of God Himself. The best example of how the well-meaning use of an image can turn to idolatry comes from the Jews’ decision to build the golden calf at Mount Horeb. When Aaron built the golden calf, he did not intend to create a new god. He instead tried to use a golden calf to depict Yahweh so that the people could touch and look upon the deity that delivered them from Egypt. “He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” (Ex. 32:4). God did not accept the well-meaning but misguided attempt to worship Him. He told Moses that the Jews’ worship of Him had become corrupted: “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them.”’ (Ex. 32:7). Even though well meaning, their corrupt acts resulted in their deaths (Ex. 32:27). Earlier in the book of 1 Samuel, the Jews also used the ark as an idol: “³When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, ‘Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies.” (1 Sam. 4:3). Their actions caused them to lose the battle, their high priest, his sons, and the ark (1 Sam. 4:10-22). The Jews later misused the bronze serpent as an idol. In a foreshadowing of Jesus, the bronze serpent symbolized God’s power to heal those afflicted from their own sins when they looked upon it in faith (Nu. 21:8; Jo. 3:14). But the people later began offering incense (a symbol of prayer) to the symbol and not directly to God. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, King Hezekiah later ordered his men to destroy this symbol of faith that had become idolatrous (2 Kgs. 18:4). Thus, God does not want you to trust in idols of any kind for your deliverance. This includes necklaces with crosses, beads, pictures of Jesus, His mother or other religious symbols. Any of them can be turned into a good luck charm and an idol if you depend upon them to deliver you. When they do, they corrupt your faith in God for your true deliverance.

6. God Also Wants You to Find Deliverance in the Body of Christ. 1 Sam. 19:18-21.

David flees to Samuel, and God protects David from Saul’s men. After David escaped, Saul sent three groups of men to pursue and capture David. Each of these efforts failed after David found refuge amongst the prophets: “¹⁸Now David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹It was told Saul, saying, ‘Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.’ ²⁰Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. ²¹When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.” (1 Sam. 19:18-21). In times of spiritual trouble, David did not find refuge in a desert or in a cave. Instead, he sought out the prophet Samuel in Ramah. The two then went and sought refuge amongst a body of Spirit-led believers in Naioth. As a group prophesying God’s Word, His Word proved so powerful that it overcame three separate groups of men who came to arrest David.
Find refuge and deliverance within the Body of Christ. By “prophesying” the men were not predicting the future. Instead, they spoke God’s Word to rebuke, correct, and restore David’s pursuers. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12). God’s Word is most effective when spoken in agreement with other believers. Thus, you should always look for God’s protection within a group of believers who will pray and speak God’s Word over you “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:25). “But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.” (Heb. 13:22). Hiding in a large mega-church or watching a sermon online does not by itself offer this protection. You need the protection offered through the worship music and the sermon. Yet, you must also be accountable to others who can pray for you, correct you, and uplift you when you are under spiritual attack.

7. God Can Deliver You From Any Evil, So Give Him Praise and Thanks. 1 Sam. 19:22-24.

Saul pursues David, yet God again protects David. When Saul’s men failed in his mission, he assumed that he could take care of David himself. But he also was no match against the Holy Spirit. “²²Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, ‘Where are Samuel and David?’ And someone said, ‘Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.’ ²³He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” (1 Sam. 19:22-24). The Holy Spirit did more than stop Saul. He also humbled him by forcing him to strip off his royal clothes and lay naked for a full day and night. “A man’s pride will bring him low, . . .” (Prov. 29:23; Matt. 23:12; Lk. 14:11). God once gave Saul the gift of prophecy (1 Sam. 10:10-12). By forcing him to prophesy, God showed that He is the King of Kings (1 Tim. 6:15). God gave Saul his power, and He could remove his power at any time.
Have faith that God is stronger than any evil that you will ever face. God wants you to have faith that the Holy Spirit inside of you is greater than any spiritual adversary that you will ever face. “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 Jo. 4:4). “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Ro. 8:31; Ps. 118:6; Heb. 13:6). Samuel later encouraged David that Saul would never capture or harm him: “ Thus he said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also.”’ (1 Sam. 23:17). Satan is as powerless in God’s presence as Saul was before the prophets. Do you also trust in God against all evil?

David found protection from Saul by taking refuge in God⁷

Sing praise for your deliverance. In the Psalms, David later sang praise for God’s deliverance. God wants you to do the same: “¹ Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me. ²Deliver me from those who do iniquity and save me from men of bloodshed. ³For behold, they have set an ambush for my life; fierce men launch an attack against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord, ⁴ for no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me. Arouse Yourself to help me, and see! ⁵You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, . . . ⁹Because of his strength I will watch for You, for God is my stronghold. ¹⁰My God in His lovingkindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes. ¹¹Do not slay them, or my people will forget; scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. ¹²On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be caught in their pride, and on account of curses and lies which they utter. ¹³Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more; that men may know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah. ¹⁴They return at evening, they howl like a dog, and go around the city. ¹⁵They wander about for food and growl if they are not satisfied. ¹⁶But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. ¹⁷O my strength, I will sing praises to You; for God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.” (Ps. 59).