During our last installment, King Saul's paranoia was reaching critical mass, and it got so bad his son Johnathan had to call his own dad out and basically say this.
"Dad, relax. David is no threat to you. Guy clearly prefers to serve rather than lead, has done everything you ask without fail, and I've been friends with him long enough to know he has no overweening ambition to take your job, so you can quit looking for the number for Assassins R Us concerning the guy."
Saul's response, was, and I quote:
[6] Saul accepted Jonathan's advice and took an oath, "As surely as the LORD lives, he will not be put to death." [7] Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he had done formerly.
(I Samuel 19:6-7 [NETfree])
However, if you thought it was over, then I have a bridge to sell you in a desert.
One day, while David was playing music for Saul, he found himself having to dodge a spear again, and this time Saul wasn't even trying to hide the fact he was trying to ice David, prompting David to flee for his home because it was quite obvious Saul wanted him dead for keeps.
However, it was clear Saul managed to get a contract put out on David's life after all and the hitmen tracked him to his house. His wife Michal was a bit faster on the draw and helped him escape via the window while she pulled the old "switch David with a human-shaped object in the bed" trick. Saul wasn't happy his daughter covered for David, but she covered herself nicely by lying about how David had promised to shank her if she didn't cooperate.
Meanwhile, David continued running to the town of Naioth where Samuel was and told him everything. What happened next was quite literal divine intervention.
Saul heard where David was and sent guys to take him out. They no sooner reached the city limits when they immediately had the spirit of God overwhelm them, and they started preaching his good Word and forgot what they were there for aside from spreading the Will of God. Two more envoys were sent by Saul when the first didn't return, and they too were struck dumb by God's Spirit and instead prophesied about His Glory.
Eventually, Saul was all "If you want something to get done, time to do it yourself."
But no sooner did he hit the city limits, and not only did God's spirit overcome him, but he also stripped naked, lay on the ground before Samuel and basically was rendered a catatonic zombie who could do little more than giving praise to God.
While Saul was basically being forced to literally debase himself before God instead of violating His commands against the crime of murder, David continued running.
What happened next is more than understandable of David:
David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my offense? How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!" (I Samuel 20:1 [NETfree])
Given all the grief David has gone through to this point, those are some pretty understandable questions, and we'll cover more later, but I want to address a few things before we continue:
Saul gave his word before his son and before God he'd let his obsessive hatred of David drop and he lied. His jealousy and hate consumed him and he tried more than once to outright murder someone who had literally served him without complaint. He wanted to turn friends and family against someone who had done no offense to anyone and wanted to destroy them out of sheer spite.
The only thing that stopped that madness from destroying him was God's own intervention, rendering Saul utterly unable to do more than aside from giving the King over all Kings glory.
While it's praiseworthy indeed God proved whom even earthly kings must bow to, it's sad to see how Saul's decline accelerated from such promising beginnings, and in future posts, we'll see how this continues to go downhill.
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