1 Samuel 19

Study Guide 30: 1 Samuel 16-31 THE MAKING OF A MAN Overview Israel’ s years of frustration came to an end with the death of Saul. God “ sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of his people” (1 Samuel 13:14). David’ s appearance marks the dawn of Israel’ s ancient glory. During the life of David and his son Solomon, the covenant promise that obedience will bring showers of blessing was fulfilled. These significant chapters of 1 Samuel relate the story of David’ s early years, and help us grasp the nature of the often painful process that God takes us through to prepare us for leadership. Many events of these years can be correlated with many of David’ s psalms, so that we can trace not only the outward circumstances but the inner emotional journey taken by this youth destined to be Israel’ s greatest king. PSALMS. Hebrew poetry does not rely on rhyme or rhythm, but on the repetition and rearrangement of thoughts. This means that Hebrew poetry, unlike our own, is uniquely suitable for translation into any language! Another feature of the Psalms is their expressiveness: this poetry is a window on the soul. David and others freely share their emotions, and reveal their inmost thoughts. Whenever we study events in the life of David, it is important to look to the Psalms to understand what is happening inside as well as out.

Commentary Greatness is something many people desire but few understand. Usually we recognize the great only after they have achieved. We call them “ great” after their military victories have been won, their administrative skills have brought success, or their talents have gained awards. What we see is the finished product, not the process. So we tend to romanticize greatness. The same thing happens in the Christian realm. The new believer, who dreams of the day he will do great things for God, or the individual who yearns for the day he will live a victorious life, have both romanticized spiritual greatness. They have missed the point that quality and character are forged in experience. Greatness comes only through a process that always contains an element of pain. Too often we Christians yearn for the product — but try to avoid the process! In our rebelliousness we may miss the pathway that God intends us to take; the pathway that leads to maturity and to spiritual significance. One of the advantages of a careful study of these passages of the Old Testament is that they counteract our romanticism. We may tend to hit only the highlights: to envision David merely as the shepherd boy who killed Goliath and went on to greatness. But the Scriptures draw us into a careful account of David and his greatness — and expose the suffering that marked his early life. We have two rich sources to help us understand David’ s growth toward greatness. The first is the historical account of his life, found in 1 and 2 Samuel, in 1 Kings and in 1 Chronicles. The second source is the psalms that were written by David himself. These psalms portray David’ s rich emotional life, and reveal his attitudes and feelings at various stages of his life. We need to probe and explore both the historical and poetic sources, for David is the key to understanding the greatest period of Israel’ s national greatness. Even more, we need to probe and explore because David stands as a spiritual model for you and for me. Like us, David was a man who often failed, who was subject to temptation and to sin. Like us, David knew despair and fear, doubt and loneliness. Like us, David had a personal relationship with the Lord — and found in that relationship the secret of living above and beyond his potential. As we explore David’ s life in this and following units, we’ ll study those qualities which can lift you and me to whatever greatness God calls us to in our own roles in life — in our work, in our homes, our churches, our circles of friends. In this study, we will come to better understand the process through which God is now at work to make us great.

The Early Years: 1 Samuel 16-17; Psalms 19:1-14; Psalms 23:1-6; Psalms 29:1-11When we first meet David, we see him in the spotlight. David had come with food to Israel’ s encampment, where a citizen army was drawn up to fight the Philistines. But the whole army was immobilized by fear of a giant, Goliath, who was some nine feet tall and magnificently proportioned. Goliath had challenged Israel to send out a man for single combat. All Israel feared the giant’ s power. Young David, probably still in his teens, was amazed. Certainly no pagan defying the army of the living God had a chance of victory! The Lord would deliver the man who accepted the challenge. Saul heard about David’ s remarks. David was sent to the tent of this man who, as leader and the largest man in the nation, had been chosen to fight Israel’ s battles for them (1 Samuel 8:20). When David was brought before the king, he boldly affirmed that he would fight the giant and kill him. As a shepherd, David had battled lions and bears to preserve his sheep. Surely the Lord would deliver David from the hand of the Philistine giant, for David was going in the Lord’ s name, to battle now for His sheep! We know the story well. David came without armor to meet the massive warrior. With a shepherd’ s sling, David hurled a stone which killed Goliath. Taking the giant’ s own massive sword, David then cut off his head. The demoralized Philistines fled, pursued by the triumphant Israelites. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Boys and girls are familiar with the David and Goliath story. Here’ s a way to help them remember and rely on God’ s help in their own difficult situations. Let your index finger or thumb represent David. Let any young children who volunteer pretend to be Goliath. Ask: “ Do you think giant Goliath can beat my tiny finger?” Then “ wrestle,” letting the child grip your finger or thumb, and press his or her hand down. Explain. “ My finger is much smaller than you are. But my finger is connected to my whole body. My finger is strong, because the body it is attached to is bigger than you. It was like that with David and Goliath. Goliath was bigger. But David was one of God’ s people, connected to God. God helped David win over Goliath. “ When you are afraid of something or someone who seems too big for you to win over, grab hold of your own finger (or thumb), and remember. You are connected to God too. God will help you win when you do what pleases Him.” The scene of David’ s triumph is not the beginning of his story. That beginning is rooted in the silent years David spent as a shepherd. It is rooted in the fear David must have felt of the wild beasts around him, and in the courage that was tested over and over again as David went out to meet his challenges. It is rooted in David’ s growing awareness and trust of God. Insight into that beginning is also found in God’ s earlier word to Samuel. When Samuel was sent to anoint David as Israel’ s future king, Samuel had looked admiringly on David’ s tallest brother. God reminded His prophet: “ The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). David, though handsome, was not an impressive figure. But during the lonely years of shepherding, David had developed a heart for God. He learned to see God as his Shepherd (Psalms 23:1-6), sensing in his own care of his sheep aspects of God’ s care for His people. Living in the open, David also sensed God’ s greatness through His creation. Later David wrote: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Psalms 19:1This same theme is often echoed in David’ s psalms. For instance, in Psalms 29:1-11 David calls on men to ascribe glory to God for all that He reveals of Himself in nature. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. Psalms 29:3-4The silent formative years, the weeks spent alone in the hills and valleys of Palestine tending sheep, deepened the youth’ s sense of God’ s greatness and power. David’ s heart responded to creation’ s revelation. His eyes saw the glory of the Lord. Measured against this vision of the Lord, whose majestic voice spoke in the thunder, David saw Goliath in true perspective. The giant was merely a creature. The Lord is God. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Divide your group into three teams. Each is to study one psalm, and develop from that psalm a series of statements about the writer’ s concept of God. That is, how does the psalm writer view God, or think about Him? When the teams have finished, ask each to describe the writer’ s concept of God for the others. Then read aloud the familiar story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-54). Ask: “ How does David’ s concept of God, expressed in these psalms and developed during his early life as a shepherd boy, relate to this familiar Bible story?” Then discuss: “ What is our personal concept of God? How does our concept of God affect the way we respond to the giants (challenges) in our own lives?”

Early Advancement: 1 Samuel 18-22 David’ s stunning victory over Goliath brought its reward. David was taken into the household of Saul. There David had already established a reputation as the sweet singer of Israel, for his musical talents had soothed Saul, who was subject to demonic oppression (1 Samuel 16:14-15, 1 Samuel 16:23). Saul’ s question to Abner after David killed Goliath, “ Whose son is that young man?” doesn’ t suggest that Saul did not know his young harpist. Saul’ s question concerned David’ s family line, as David’ s answer reveals: “ I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem” (1 Samuel 17:58). But now David was given military command. Already jealous because of the people’ s praise of David for his victory over Goliath, Saul tried to kill David (1 Samuel 18:10-11). But as a commander, David had a continuing series of stunning successes (1 Samuel 18:12-16). Finally Saul devised a plot to have David killed by the Philistines. Saul sent David into enemy territory, promising his daughter Michal would become David’ s wife if he succeeded. David carried out the “ impossible” mission, and a disgruntled Saul fulfilled his part of the bargain. 1 Samuel 19:1-24 and 1 Samuel 20:1-42 tell of David’ s growing friendship with Jonathan, Saul’ s son. Jonathan knew God intended David to be king. The generous Jonathan gladly accepted God’ s will, and allied himself with David against his father. Finally the situation deteriorated so much that David was forced to flee for his life. This was a time of intense strain for David. He knew great swings of emotion, as his situation alternated between times of public adulation, and periods when he lived as a fugitive. Psalms 59:1-17 tells us of David’ s feelings during this period, as he swings from fear to anger to hope. The psalm begins: Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those evil doers and save me from bloodthirsty men. Psalms 59:1-2Soon David’ s anger was aroused by the injustice of it all. Arise to help me; look on my plight. O Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors. Psalms 59:4-5It seemed incomprehensible to David that God would let his enemies do such things to him. In fact, David was rather upset at the Lord for permitting it! However, David found the strength to endure the growing pressure by reminding himself of who the Lord is, and by reaffirming his trust in God. I will sing of Your strength . . . for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I will sing praise to You; You, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. Psalms 59:16-17David had been anointed king by Samuel. But Saul ruled. David was not ready yet: he had to undergo further testing. Like his descendant, Jesus, David had to learn “ obedience from what He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). God uses stress in this way in all our lives. He does not rebuke our feelings of frustration or fear, or even anger. But God wants us to learn to bring our feelings and needs to Him, and to let the times of testing do their character-building work. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Duplicate Psalms 59:1-17, leaving off the superscription which identifies it as David’ s, “ When Saul had sent men to watch David’ s house in order to kill him.” Ask group members to read the psalm individually and (1) identify the sources of the writer’ s stress, (2) determine how the stress affects him, and (3) list what the writer seems to do in order to deal with his stress. Share each person’ s insights with the group. Then discuss: “ What seems to cause us most stress? How does it affect us? What positive benefits of stress are suggested in this psalm?” Then give a minilecture, outlining the pressures on David during this period of time. Point out that David’ s stress caused him to turn to God. As David found refuge in God, he gained a deeper sense of God’ s love and was moved to praise (Psalms 59:16-17). The pressures in David’ s life forced him to probe to the depths of his relationship with the Lord, and this relationship with God was necessary equipment for his future role as Israel’ s greatest king.

Years of Persecution: 1 Samuel 23-31 The years following David’ s flight were agonizing ones. Saul, determined to kill David and establish a dynasty, pursued him. Cities which David helped to deliver from Israel’ s enemies were quick to betray their deliverer to Saul to gain the king’ s favor! The continual strain began to tell on the young leader; at times David knew deep despair and despondency. The tremendous stress on David and his response to it are illustrated in the events recorded in 1 Samuel 26-27. Saul received a report of David’ s latest hiding place and rushed there with 3,000 men. The army camped near David; that night he and Abishai, a follower, eluded the sentries and stood over their sleeping enemy. Able to kill Saul with the king’ s own spear, David refused. God had chosen Saul. As God’ s anointed, Saul could not be murdered and the killer remain guiltless. God Himself had to depose Saul, in His own time. David disciplined himself to wait. The next morning David stood on a nearby mountain crag and shouted down to Saul and his general, Abner. He showed them Saul’ s spear which he had taken away to demonstrate that he could have killed the sleeping king. Saul, admitting he was wrong, blessed David and stopped his pursuit. But this change of heart was only temporary, and David knew it would be! Immediately after David’ s inner victory over what must have been a terrible temptation, David thought, “ One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul” (1 Samuel 27:1). As is often the case with us, victory was followed by an emotional letdown. David was in despair. In his despondency, David fled to the land of Israel’ s enemies, the Philistines. He was given a city by one Philistine lord, and from that city he and his men raided distant countries. David let the Philistines believe that his forays were against Israel. Soon David was viewed as a trusted servant of Achish, lord of the city of Gath. Psalms 142:1-7 tells something of David’ s feelings during the time he hid from Saul and lived under the strain of constant persecution and pursuit. Reading this psalm today, we can sense the inner turmoil that David felt at this critical time. And we can see feelings reflected that we ourselves have known in times of stress. I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out my complaint before Him; before Him I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who knows my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to You, O Lord; I say, “ You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise Your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of Your goodness to me. Psalms 142:1-7The years of suffering were forging David’ s character. God was applying pressures to the godly youth; pressures that would mature him into a man. David’ s experiences forced him to plumb the depths of his humanity — and to find that in every extremity God was his only refuge. David often found himself in situations where the temptation to choose the easy way was great. At times David did choose wrongly. But in the great tests — like that moment when David stood over a sleeping Saul — David found the strength to choose what he believed to be God’ s will. It was this strength, this heart for God, which was at the core of David’ s developing character. It was this strength which made David great, as it can make you and me. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT What role did others play in David’ s life during the difficult years? How do others affect us in our times of stress? Have group members look at the following passages that describe the role of others in David’ s life during his years of persecution. Ask each group member to (1) describe the role played by the Bible person(s), and (2) name persons who play a similar role in his or her own experience. The Bible characters and their roles are:

Jonathan(1 Samuel 23:15-18) David’ s men(1 Samuel 24:3-7) Abigail(1 Samuel 25:14-34) Abishai(1 Samuel 26:9-11)After individuals have completed this study, talk about their experience with modern counterparts. “ What do others do that helps us in times of stress? What do others do that is not helpful? Can we see even unhelpful persons as God’ s gifts to us? How?” LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Several psalms are correlated with this period in David’ s life. Ask for volunteers to read one of the following psalms, to correlate it with an event during this period, and to give a report during class. The psalms are Psalms 10:1-18, Psalms 13:1-6, Psalms 27:1-14, Psalms 34:1-22, and Psalms 142:1-7.

Storytime These chapters which give us insight into the process by which David’ s mature character is shaped are filled with exciting stories which convey lessons of their own. Here are a few of these stories, and some of their lessons for us. David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:1-42). Saul was determined that his son Jonathan be king, even though Samuel had secretly anointed David. Despite the close relationship between Jonathan and his father (cf. 1 Samuel 20:2), Jonathan sided with David. He defended David when his father angrily demanded David’ s death (1 Samuel 20:30-31). When Jonathan was convinced that Saul intended to murder David, Jonathan helped David escape. This must have been a very painful dilemma. On the one hand, Jonathan loved and honored his father. His self-interest would have been served by David’ s death. But on the other hand, David was Jonathan’ s friend. And Jonathan’ s sense of right and wrong was violated by his father’ s acts. Jonathan worked through to a godly decision, and won the admiration of countless generations. David is often seen as this era’ s hero. But there is no more attractive or praiseworthy model of a godly man than Jonathan. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Together as a group list the various factors in the situation that must have made it hard for Jonathan to determine what to do. Then ask members to think of any situations in which they were in a similar dilemma, pressured by contradictory factors. Without being specific about their situations, ask members to list the kinds of things they had to consider. Then discuss: “ When in any such dilemma, how does a person go about making a decision? Are there any specific guidelines that can be developed from this chapter of 1 Samuel?” David and Abigail (1 Samuel 25:1-44). When David was rebuffed by Nabal, whose flocks his men had protected, he was furious. In hot anger, he ordered his men to follow him to Nabal’ s house, intending to kill him and every male in his household. But Nabal’ s men explained the situation to Abigail. She acted quickly, gathering food to take to David. When Abigail met David’ s force on the road, she begged his forgiveness, and urged him not to act hastily and “ have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself” (1 Samuel 25:31). David was wise and strong enough to relent, even though he had publicly announced his intention to punish Nabal. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Children can understand David’ s anger. They get angry too. Often boys and girls want to strike out at siblings or friends as well as “ enemies.” Here’ s an activity to use after telling this Bible story that will help children both learn how to be peacemakers, and learn to think before they fight. From cardboard cut out several figures. Also cut out an arm with a clenched fist, to be attached to the figure with a brad so that it can swing up and down. Divide your class into two groups. One group is to list things siblings or others do that make them angry. The other group is to list reasons why it’ s best not to fight. Then give one of the “ fight” group an assembled figure. He is a “ David.” He is to tell one of the reasons why boys and girls get angry, and raise the arm to fighting position. One of the members of the other group is to try to give reasons why it would be best not to fight. He or she is an “ Abigail.” Let the two talk about the problem. When the Abigail gives a reason the David thinks is a good one, he will swing the arm down. This can be repeated with other things that make people angry, and with other reasons for not fighting. David spares Saul’ s life (1 Samuel 26:1-25). When David had an opportunity to kill Saul, he held back. He reasoned, “ Who can lay a hand on the Lord’ s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives . . . the Lord Himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish” (1 Samuel 25:9-10). David’ s trust in God was vividly demonstrated in his restraint. So too was his determination to do right, no matter how another provoked him. The New Testament expresses this principle in a different way. We are to do good to those who persecute us so that we can be like the Lord, who does good to His enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48). How important to learn to do good, even to those who try to do us harm. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Make cardboard circles about the size of silver dollars. On one side write a possible result of acting lovingly to a person who is not kind or good to you. Among the results might be: we become friends, he or she is ashamed, he or she stops trying to hurt us, etc. On the other side write a possible result of taking revenge instead of being loving: we are punished, he gets madder, we fight a lot, he gets hurt, we get hurt, etc. Let boys and girls invent situations where someone is unkind to them. Then play a coin flip game with each situation. The children can take turns flipping a cardboard coin. If it lands on the “ loving” side, read the results, and let them tell some loving act they might do to gain that result. If it lands on the “ not loving” side, read the results, and let them tell an unloving, revengeful act they might do to get those results. Summarize by reminding them that as God was taking care of David He is taking care of us. We don’ t have to hurt people who hurt us. We can be loving instead, as David was, and know that God will guard us.

Teaching Guide Prepare Read one of David’ s psalms from this period and consider how God used difficulties to prepare David for greatness.

Explore

1. In a minilecture, briefly review the stages of David’ s days of preparation for greatness. Use the titles in the book (The Early Years, Early Advancement, Years of Persecution) to structure your talk. Emphasize the importance of process in preparation for spiritual significance. We cannot expect to become great unless we too go through a sometimes painful process of maturing.
2. Or, assign one or two psalms associated with each of the stages in David’ s life to different study pairs. Ask each pair to describe the psalmist’ s feelings at this point in time, his situation, and his relationship with God. Give the minilecture suggested above. But as you finish describing each stage, ask relevant pairs to share what they have found in their psalm that adds insight.

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1. Ask group members to give titles to their own life stages. Share personal stories in groups of four or five. Then discuss in the smaller groups: “ How does my life parallel David’ s? How have my decisions been like his? Unlike his? What is God teaching me in the process He has planned for my life?”
2. Go back over these chapters and locate the critical decisions that David made. Which were wise? Which were unwise? Does a person have to make all right decisions to profit from pressure-packed times? (Note how God redeemed David’ s choice to settle in Philistine territory, and protected him from possible tragic results [1 Samuel 27:2-9].)

Apply Find a verse in a psalm from David’ s years of preparation that expresses just how you feel about your own life just now. Share the verse, and where you are just now in your spiritual journey. Then close, praying for each other that God will use every experience to prepare you for spiritual significance, just as He used every experience to prepare David for greatness.