1 Samuel 19:16
And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the quilt of goats' hair on its head.
Sermons
David's Escape from CourtB. Dale 1 Samuel 19:8-18
MichalB. Dale 1 Samuel 19:11-17














The women mentioned in the Books of Samuel are, for the most part, distinguished for their eminent piety. But what shall be said of Michal, the wife of David? She was a daughter of Saul, inherited much of his temperament and disposition, and (unlike Jonathan) was without the religious principle by which they might have been controlled and sanctified. She was -

1. Impressionable and impulsive. Fascinated by his personal appearance and popularity, the young princess "loved David," and made no secret of her affection; but she does not appear to have perceived anything of his highest qualities. The relation of husband and wife, no less than that of friends, is firmest when sanctified by common faith and love toward God.

2. Capable of a noble action. Under the influence of strong feeling she warned David of his danger and aided his escape, at the risk of her own life.

3. Designing and deceptive. Her quick wittedness devised the means of escape, deceived the messengers of Saul to gain time, and invented a ready story to disarm her father's wrath. Her fear of her father was greater than her love for truth; and her love for her husband greater than her hatred of sin. "She could tell lies for David, but she had not the courage and the faith to go with him into suffering, or to tell the truth for him" (W. M. Taylor).

4. Superstitious. Teraphim (1 Samuel 15:23). See Bible Dictionaries. It is not said that David knew of her possession of these idolatrous objects.

5. Changeable and wayward. During the wanderings of David she was given in marriage to Phalti, apparently without reluctance (1 Samuel 25:44); and (as appears when restored to David) "she had evidently gained his affections; he most likely had won hers" (2 Samuel 3:16).

6. Proud, jealous, and scornful. Proud of her birth and rank, jealous of her rivals, Abigail and Ahinoam (2 Samuel 6:16, 20-23; Blunt, 'Script. Coincidences,' p. 126), and scornful toward her husband. "She despised him in her heart."

"Preceding the blest vessel, onward came,
With light dance leaping, girt in humble guise,
Israel's sweet harper; in that hap he seemed
Less and yet more kingly. Opposite
At a great palace, from the lattice forth
Looked Michal, like a lady full of scorn
And sorrow"


(Dante, 'Purg.' 10.)

7. Unspiritual, and destitute of sympathy with the feelings of boundless gratitude, joy, and adoration expressed before the Lord. - D.

So Michal let David down through a window; and he went, and fled, and escaped.
In this passage there is a minute account of an appalling danger to which David was exposed.

I. GOD'S SERVANTS ARE FREQUENTLY EXPOSED TO ALARMING DANGERS.

1. This danger came at an unexpected time. David was now the king's son-in-law, a great hero in the eyes of the nation, and beloved by all the people, and yet Saul thirsted for his blood.

2. This danger proceeded from a powerful enemy. Saul was himself a formidable antagonist, but he also had many servants, watching to do his bidding.

3. The danger assumed an alarming aspect. The king's assassins had tracked David's steps to Gibeah, and surrounded the palace, and apparently guarded every way of escape. The dangers to which David was exposed are typical of the dangers that beset God's servants now. We are surrounded by dangers ovary moment. Many dangers arise from natural onuses. Many dangers arise from spiritual influences: personal habits, social engagements, and Satanic agency.

II. GOD'S SERVANTS ARE FREQUENTLY WARNED OF APPROACHING DANGER. Before God destroyed the old world He warned Noah, and commanded him to prepare an ark for himself and family. Before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah He revealed His purpose to Abraham, and warned Lot of the impending danger. Before Herod sent forth to day all the children that wars in Bethlehem God warned Joseph in a dream, not to return to his own country. Before Saul had completed his plan far the murder of David, "Michal, his wife, told him saying: If thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain."

1. David's warning came from different sources. Jonathan and Michal warned David. Intimation of approaching danger comes in many ways. By dreams, suggestions, and Divine impulses. God speaks clearly by His word, earnestly by His son, and constantly by His Spirit.

2. David's warning demanded immediate attention.

3. David's warning led to decisive action. He listened to his wife and saved his life. Our safety depends upon decisive action.

III. GOD'S SERVANTS ARE FREQUENTLY DELIVERED FROM IMPENDING DANGERS. The context shows that God delivers His servants in four ways.

1. By friendly mediation. Jonathan's prudent and persuasive intercession softened the king's obduracy. God can touch the hearts of our bitterest enemies.

2. By personal watchfulness. Saul had made the most solemn profession of reconciliation; but David kept his eye upon Saul's javelin, while his fingers were upon his own harp. The enemy of our souls never slumbers; whether we watch or not, he watches.

3. By conjugal fidelity. Saul gave David Michal "to be a snare to him," but she proved a protector. "The devil is sometimes outshot with his own bow."

4. By Divine interposition. The path marked out for David was dark and dangerous, but God saw him, led him, and defended him.

(J. T. Woodhouse.)

People
David, Jonathan, Michal, Samuel, Saul
Places
Jerusalem, Naioth, Ramah, Secu
Topics
Bed, Behold, Bolster, Cushion, Entered, Goats, Goat's, Hair, Household, Idol, Image, Mattress, Messengers, Net, Pillow, Pillows, Quilt, Teraphim, Thereof
Outline
1. Elkanah, a Levite, having two wives, worships yearly at Shiloh
4. He cherishes Hannah, though barren, and provoked by Peninnah
9. Hannah in grief prays for a child
12. Eli first rebuking her, afterwards blesses her
19. Hannah, having born Samuel, stays at home till he is weaned
24. She presents him, according to her vow, to the Lord

Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Samuel 19:16

     5155   hair
     5157   head

1 Samuel 19:9-17

     5086   David, rise of
     5890   insecurity

1 Samuel 19:11-17

     5744   wife

1 Samuel 19:13-16

     7384   household gods

Library
The Exile Continued.
"So David fled, and escaped and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done unto him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth" (1 Sam. xix. 18)--or, as the word probably means, in the collection of students' dwellings, inhabited by the sons of the prophets, where possibly there may have been some kind of right of sanctuary. Driven thence by Saul's following him, and having had one last sorrowful hour of Jonathan's companionship--the last but one on earth--he fled to Nob, whither
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Why all Things Work for Good
1. The grand reason why all things work for good, is the near and dear interest which God has in His people. The Lord has made a covenant with them. "They shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jer. xxxii. 38). By virtue of this compact, all things do, and must work, for good to them. "I am God, even thy God" (Psalm l. 7). This word, Thy God,' is the sweetest word in the Bible, it implies the best relations; and it is impossible there should be these relations between God and His people, and
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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