Michal Saves David’s Life
- The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways (FYI: This phrase is not found in the Bible.)
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 NLT
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
However, we can understand what is happening in today’s story.
Today’s lesson includes attempted murder, lies, idols, prophesying, indecent exposure, and more.
1 Samuel 19:11-24 NLT
Michal Saves David’s Life
11 Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” 12 So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
14 When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.
15 But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” 16 But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
17 “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.
“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
18 So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. 19 When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy. 21 When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time. 22 Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
“They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him.
23 But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth! 24 He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?”
Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 19:11-24 NLT
Michal Saves David’s Life
Previous lesson:
Saul Tries to Kill David
1 Samuel 19:9-10 NLT
9 But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the Lord suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, 10 Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night.
11 Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning.
Saul sent troops (agents, guards, men, messengers, officers) to kill David.
Again, Saul wants David destroyed.
- Saul sent troops to David’s house with instructions to kill David.
But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.”
Michal was instrumental in saving David’s life.
Michael, at this point in time, displayed love and faithfulness.
Both Jonathan and Michal (two of Saul’s children) saved David from their father and undermined their father’s plans to eliminate him.
- Michal was instrumental in saving David’s life.
12 So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped.
13 Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
- The Hebrew word for idol (as it is used here) is teraphim.
The teraphim was a figurine or image in human form called a household idol.
Some sources refer to a teraphim as a “household good luck image”.
The Hebrew people appeared to have a strange attraction to these “household idols”.
Michal employed the use of a household god (teraphim) in trickery and out of loyalty for her husband rather than her father.
Josiah said the use of teraphims was a detestable practice.
2 Kings 23:24 NLT
24 Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s Temple.
Zechariah 10:2 NLT
2 Household gods give worthless advice,
Israelites using idols appears throughout the scriptures,
Genesis 31:34 NLT
34 But Rachel had taken the household idols (idols belonging to Laban) and hidden them in her camel saddle, and now she was sitting on them. When Laban had thoroughly searched her tent without finding them,
Judges 17:5 NLT
5 Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols.
The use of household idols appears to be a practice influenced by pagan idol worship.
14 When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.
Michal lied.
Previously in scripture, Rahab also lied to save the two Hebrew spies she was hiding.
Joshua 2:4-5 NLT
4 Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. 5 They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.”
Michal lied to save David.
15 But Saul sent the troops back to get David.
Saul was persistent.
He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” 16 But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
- Idols and lies were used to keep David from being murdered.
17 “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.
“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
Michal lied again.
18 So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him.
Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth.
Naioth in Ramah (verse 19)
A section of Ramah
19 When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy.
What just happened here?
David was saved by “the Spirit of God”.
Saul’s men joined with the group of prophets and being filled with the Holy Spirit (controlled by the Holy Spirit) they no longer sought to capture David.
This seems to imply that the troops, inspired by the Holy Spirit, were acting in an enthusiastic, uncontrolled manner, praising of God.
- The troops sent to kill David were incapable of carrying out their mission.
Editorial comment: “Troops” controlled by the Holy Spirit would appear to us to be acting in a “strange” manner.
21 When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied!
The same thing happened a third time.
- God repeatedly saved David from capture by Saul.
This is “strange” but it could have been worse.
A story from:
2 Kings 1:2-17 NLT
Elijah Confronts King Ahaziah2 One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover.
3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover? 4 Now, therefore, this is what the Lord says: You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’” So Elijah went to deliver the message.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned so soon?”
6 They replied, “A man came up to us and told us to go back to the king and give him this message. ‘This is what the Lord says: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’”
7 “What sort of man was he?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?”
8 They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.”
“Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed.
9 Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.”
10 But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.
11 So the king sent another captain with fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king demands that you come down at once.”
12 Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all.
13 Once more the king sent a third captain with fifty men. But this time the captain went up the hill and fell to his knees before Elijah. He pleaded with him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants. 14 See how the fire from heaven came down and destroyed the first two groups. But now please spare my life!”
15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king.
16 And Elijah said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.”
17 So Ahaziah died, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
At least Saul’s troops weren’t killed.
22 Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
“They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him.
23 But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth!
This was the last time the Spirit of God would rest on Saul.
God is preventing Saul from harming David. He turned Saul’s heart to prophecy and not to harm David.
Proverbs 21:1 NLT
21 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
he guides it wherever he pleases.
Psalm 22:28 NLT
28 For royal power belongs to the Lord.
He rules all the nations.
- Again, God prevented Saul from harming David.
More details:
24 He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel.
- Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Saul tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground.
A very humiliating experience.
The Spirit of God made Saul incapable of killing David.
There was another time previous to this when the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he began to prophesy.
Review the time when Samuel anointed Saul as king.
1 Samuel 10:5-7 & 9-11 NLT
Samuel Anoints Saul as King
5 “When you arrive at Gibeah of God where the garrison of the Philistines is located, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the place of worship. They will be playing a harp, a tambourine, a flute, and a lyre, and they will be prophesying. (Praising God and instructing the people.) 6 At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. 7 After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you.
9 As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart, and all Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he, too,
began to prophesy.
A familiar Old Testament expression relating to empowerment for some God given task.
Saul was being empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the role of King of Israel.
11 When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet?”
- Saul removing his royal garments was symbolic of God’s rejection of Saul as king over Israel.
- In the O.T. the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was not a permanent status.
David knew that the presence of the Holy Spirit could be removed from a person.
Psalm 51:11 NLT
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?”
- The people were witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit working in Saul, however they would not have understood all that was happening.
