1 Samuel 18-20: David’s Trials, Saul’s Jealousy, and Jonathan’s Faithfulness

Chapter Summaries

1 Samuel 18: Friendship, Jealousy, and Attempts to Destroy David

Following David’s victory over Goliath, Jonathan’s soul was “knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Samuel 18:1). Jonathan made a covenant with David and gave him his robe, garments, sword, bow, and girdle (1 Samuel 18:3-4). These actions explicitly demonstrate Jonathan’s love and covenant commitment. Scripture does not explicitly say that giving these possessions constituted a formal surrender of his right to the throne.

Saul kept David with him, and David conducted himself wisely in the responsibilities Saul assigned him. Saul placed him over the men of war, and David was accepted by both the people and Saul’s servants (1 Samuel 18:2, 5).

Trouble arose when the women celebrating Israel’s victory sang:

“Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
1 Samuel 18:7

Saul became very angry. He interpreted the greater praise given to David as a threat to his kingdom and “eyed David from that day and forward” (1 Samuel 18:8-9). The contrast is plain: Jonathan loved David, while Saul increasingly regarded him with suspicion.

The following day, “the evil spirit from God came upon Saul,” and Saul prophesied in his house while David played the harp. Saul cast a javelin, intending to strike David against the wall, but David escaped twice (1 Samuel 18:10-11). The passage records both the spiritual affliction and Saul’s murderous intention. It does not authorize speculation about the precise nature of Saul’s prophesying.

Saul feared David “because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul” (1 Samuel 18:12). This agrees with the earlier statement that the Spirit of the LORD came upon David and departed from Saul (1 Samuel 16:13-14). These statements concern God’s dealings with these men in the setting of Israel’s kingship. They should not be made into a claim that a New Testament believer can lose everlasting life.

Saul removed David from his immediate presence and made him captain over a thousand. David continued to behave wisely, and Israel and Judah loved him because he went out and came in before them (1 Samuel 18:13-16).

Saul then offered David his elder daughter Merab, urging him to fight the LORD’s battles. Saul’s concealed purpose was that the Philistines would kill David (1 Samuel 18:17). David answered with humility concerning his family and position. When the time came for Merab to be given to him, she was instead given to Adriel the Meholathite (1 Samuel 18:18-19).

When Saul learned that Michal loved David, he saw another opportunity to endanger him. Saul required a dowry of one hundred Philistine foreskins, intending that David should fall by the Philistines. David and his men killed two hundred Philistines, fulfilled the requirement beyond the stated number, and Saul gave him Michal as his wife (1 Samuel 18:20-27).

The chapter closes with Saul recognizing that the LORD was with David and that Michal loved him. Saul became still more afraid and remained David’s enemy continually. David continued to behave more wisely than Saul’s other servants, and his name was highly esteemed (1 Samuel 18:28-30).

Chapter emphasis: God’s presence with David did not prevent opposition, but Saul’s schemes did not overturn God’s declared purpose concerning the kingdom (1 Samuel 16:1, 12-13).

1 Samuel 19: Open Hostility and Repeated Deliverance

Saul openly instructed Jonathan and his servants to kill David. Jonathan, who “delighted much in David,” warned him and then spoke to Saul on his behalf (1 Samuel 19:1-3).

Jonathan’s defense rested on David’s conduct. David had not sinned against Saul; his works had benefited the king; and he had risked his life against the Philistine when the LORD worked a great deliverance for Israel. Jonathan asked:

“Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?”
1 Samuel 19:5

Saul listened and swore, “As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.” Jonathan brought David back into Saul’s presence (1 Samuel 19:6-7). This reconciliation was followed by another attempt on David’s life, demonstrating that Saul’s oath did not produce consistent obedience.

After another victory over the Philistines, David was playing before Saul when “the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul.” Saul again tried to pin him to the wall with a javelin. David escaped and fled that night (1 Samuel 19:8-10).

Saul sent messengers to watch David’s house and kill him in the morning. Michal warned David and let him down through a window. She then placed an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with a cloth. She told Saul’s messengers that David was sick (1 Samuel 19:11-14).

When the deception was discovered, Michal told Saul that David had threatened her. Scripture records her statement but does not say that David actually made such a threat (1 Samuel 19:15-17). Likewise, the presence of the image does not establish that David worshiped it. The text gives no such statement.

David fled to Samuel at Ramah and reported everything Saul had done. David and Samuel then stayed at Naioth (1 Samuel 19:18).

Saul sent three groups of messengers to take David. Each group encountered the company of prophets, with Samuel standing as appointed over them, and each group prophesied when the Spirit of God came upon them (1 Samuel 19:19-21).

Saul then went himself. The Spirit of God came upon him also, and he prophesied on his way to Naioth. The account says that he stripped off his clothes, prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked throughout that day and night (1 Samuel 19:22-24). The narrative describes divine intervention that interrupted his pursuit. It does not state that Saul repented or that his relationship with David was restored.

Chapter emphasis: The LORD restrained those seeking David’s life through means beyond David’s control. Saul’s royal authority could not overcome God’s power.

1 Samuel 20: A Covenant Tested and a Painful Parting

David went to Jonathan and asked what he had done to deserve Saul’s determination to kill him. Jonathan initially maintained that Saul would not kill David and would not conceal such a purpose from him. David explained that Saul knew of Jonathan’s affection for him and could therefore keep the matter from him (1 Samuel 20:1-3).

David described the danger plainly:

“But truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.”
1 Samuel 20:3

Jonathan offered to do whatever David requested. They arranged for David to remain absent from the king’s table during the new moon observance. Jonathan would explain his absence, observe Saul’s response, and communicate the result to David (1 Samuel 20:4-10).

David asked Jonathan to deal kindly with him because they had entered “a covenant of the LORD.” He also declared that if there were iniquity in him, Jonathan should kill him himself rather than deliver him to Saul (1 Samuel 20:8).

Their plan included an explanation that David had requested permission to attend a family sacrifice at Bethlehem, while their stated arrangement was for him to hide in the field (1 Samuel 20:5-6, 24). The account records this strategy without presenting deception as a command or a moral standard for believers.

Jonathan solemnly promised to disclose his father’s intentions and help David escape if Saul intended harm. He said, “The LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father” (1 Samuel 20:12-13).

Jonathan also requested continuing kindness toward himself and his household:

“But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever.”
1 Samuel 20:15

Their covenant extended beyond their immediate circumstances to their descendants (1 Samuel 20:14-17, 42). David’s subsequent kindness to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth is explicitly connected with Jonathan in 2 Samuel 9:1, 7.

Jonathan arranged an arrow signal to communicate whether David could safely return or needed to depart. David would wait near the stone Ezel, and Jonathan would shoot arrows while a lad gathered them (1 Samuel 20:18-23).

On the first day of David’s absence, Saul said nothing, supposing that David was ceremonially unclean. On the second day, Saul questioned Jonathan. When Jonathan gave the agreed explanation, Saul erupted in anger (1 Samuel 20:24-30).

Saul declared that Jonathan’s kingdom would not be established while David lived and demanded that David be brought to him to die. Jonathan asked what David had done to deserve death. Saul then cast a javelin at Jonathan, making his intention unmistakable (1 Samuel 20:31-33).

Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and did not eat that day. Scripture specifically says that he was grieved for David because Saul had shamed him (1 Samuel 20:34).

The next morning, Jonathan gave the danger signal through his instructions concerning the arrows. After sending the lad back to the city, Jonathan met David. David bowed three times, and the two men kissed and wept together, “until David exceeded” (1 Samuel 20:35-41).

Jonathan’s farewell placed their covenant before the LORD:

“The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.”
1 Samuel 20:42

David departed, and Jonathan returned to the city.

Chapter emphasis: Jonathan’s covenant faithfulness endured when defending David brought him into direct conflict with his father and placed his own life in danger.

Key People and Places

• David: Jesse’s son, anointed by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:12-13. In these chapters he serves Saul, becomes Michal’s husband, escapes repeated attempts on his life, and maintains his covenant with Jonathan.
• Saul: Israel’s king. His jealousy of David develops into repeated, explicit attempts to kill him.
• Jonathan: Saul’s son, who loves David, makes a covenant with him, intercedes for him, and warns him of danger.
• Michal: Saul’s daughter and David’s wife. She loves David and helps him escape through a window.
• Merab: Saul’s elder daughter, offered to David but given to Adriel.
• Adriel the Meholathite: The man to whom Merab is given (1 Samuel 18:19).
• Samuel: The prophet to whom David flees. He stands as appointed over the company of prophets at Naioth (1 Samuel 19:18-20).
• Abner: Saul’s military commander, present beside Saul at the new moon meal (1 Samuel 14:50; 20:25).
• Jesse: David’s father, mentioned in connection with David’s family and Saul’s references to him as “the son of Jesse.”
• The Philistines: Israel’s military enemies. Saul attempts to use David’s warfare against them as a means of bringing about his death.
• Ramah and Naioth: Ramah is where David goes to Samuel; Naioth in Ramah becomes the setting of the prophetic encounters that interrupt Saul’s pursuit.
• Bethlehem: David’s family town, named in the explanation Jonathan gives for his absence.
• The stone Ezel: The landmark near David’s appointed hiding place (1 Samuel 20:19).
• Sechu: The location of the great well where Saul asks about Samuel and David (1 Samuel 19:22).

Main Doctrinal or Spiritual Themes

God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Accountability

Saul repeatedly seeks David’s death, yet his plans fail. The intervention at Naioth especially displays God’s power over the king and his messengers.

Nevertheless, Saul remains morally responsible. Jonathan expressly identifies killing David without cause as sin against innocent blood (1 Samuel 19:4-5). God’s sovereignty never makes Saul’s murderous conduct righteous.

The references to an evil spirit from God must be received as written, without suggesting that God Himself commits evil or tempts people to sin. James 1:13 states that God “neither tempteth he any man.”

Jealousy and the Fear of Losing Position

Saul’s response to the women’s song reveals resentment over David receiving greater praise (1 Samuel 18:7-9). His statement to Jonathan shows concern for the continuation of their kingdom (1 Samuel 20:31).

The practical warning is direct: another person’s usefulness or recognition must not become an excuse for resentment. Proverbs 14:30 declares, “Envy the rottenness of the bones.”

Covenant Love and Faithfulness

Jonathan’s love produces concrete action. He warns David, speaks in his defense, investigates the danger, and keeps his promise despite Saul’s anger.

Their relationship is explicitly described through love, covenant, kindness, and an oath before the LORD (1 Samuel 18:1-4; 20:8, 14-17, 42). The text presents faithful friendship; it gives no basis for assigning a sexual relationship to these men.

God’s Presence Amid Trouble

The LORD was with David, yet David faced jealousy, violence, separation, and uncertainty (1 Samuel 18:12-15; 20:3).

These chapters therefore do not support the idea that faithful service guarantees comfort or popularity. God’s presence and serious earthly trouble can occur together.

Spiritual Manifestations Are Not Proof of Repentance

Saul’s prophesying at Naioth is explicitly recorded, but his repentance is not. The event should not be presented as evidence of a changed heart when the passage makes no such claim.

Nor does this Old Testament event establish a continuing prophetic gift for churches. Its stated setting concerns Samuel, the prophets, Saul, and God’s intervention during the pursuit of David.

Loyalty Must Be Governed by Righteousness

Jonathan identifies his father’s proposed action as sinful and challenges his demand for David’s death (1 Samuel 19:5; 20:32).

The application is that loyalty to family or leadership does not require participation in wrongdoing. Believers must obey God above human demands when those demands contradict His Word (Acts 5:29).

Practical Applications or Lessons

1. Rejoice when God uses someone else. Saul’s response to David’s praise warns against measuring personal worth by comparison. Another person’s faithful service should occasion gratitude rather than envy.
2. Practice faithfulness in assigned responsibilities. David repeatedly behaved wisely while serving under a hostile king (1 Samuel 18:5, 14-15, 30). Difficult circumstances do not remove a believer’s responsibility to act carefully and honorably.
3. Defend others with facts. Jonathan pointed to David’s actual conduct and the absence of a just cause for killing him (1 Samuel 19:4-5). Avoid repeating accusations that have not been established.
4. Do not confuse a promise with lasting obedience. Saul swore that David would not be slain and afterward again attempted to kill him (1 Samuel 19:6, 10). Conduct must be considered alongside words.
5. Recognize that seeking safety can be appropriate. David fled repeated attempts on his life. These accounts provide no basis for treating his escape as a failure of faith.
6. Keep commitments when they become costly. Jonathan’s fidelity brought his father’s anger upon him. Faithful friendship involves more than affection when circumstances are easy.
7. Do not excuse every action of a person God uses. The narrative records deceptive statements without commanding believers to imitate them. Scripture’s account of an action must be distinguished from Scripture’s approval of it.
8. Bring grief and uncertainty under God’s authority. David and Jonathan wept, but their farewell still acknowledged the LORD and their obligations before Him (1 Samuel 20:41-42). Sorrow does not cancel the duty to remain faithful.
9. Remember the seriousness of life’s uncertainty. David’s statement that there was “but a step” between himself and death arose from actual danger. It also supplies a sober devotional reminder to use the life and opportunities God has given us faithfully.