Commentary - 1 Samuel 19:1-7

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, the simmering pot of Saul’s envy boils over into a public decree. His private fits of rage, previously demonstrated by the throwing of spears, have now metastasized into a formal state policy: David must die. This is the point of no return for Saul. But in the very moment the king’s corruption becomes official, God’s providence is made manifest through the covenant loyalty of the king’s own son. Jonathan, whose heart is knit to David’s, stands in the gap as a mediator and a truth teller. He confronts his father not with rebellion, but with righteous reason, reminding him of David’s faithful service and God’s salvation. Saul, confronted with the sheer irrationality of his sin, relents and swears an oath, bringing about a temporary and fragile peace. This is a story about the madness of sin, the faithfulness of covenant friendship, and the power of a well-spoken word of truth.

Outline

The Text

1 Then Saul spoke with Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.

The mask is now entirely off. Saul’s murderous envy is no longer a private matter, confined to the palace with a spear in his hand. It is now a matter of public policy. He speaks to his son, the heir apparent, and to all his servants, which means this is an official command from the throne. The established order has declared war on God’s anointed. But the very next clause shows us how God’s providence works. The house of Saul is divided against itself. While the father plots murder, the son “greatly delighted in David.” This is not just a casual friendship. The delight Jonathan has in David is a reflection of God’s delight in David. Jonathan’s loyalty is not ultimately to the crumbling house of his father, but to the purposes of God, which he sees embodied in his friend. The battle lines are drawn, and they run straight through the royal family.

2 So Jonathan told David saying, “Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. So now, please be careful in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself.

Jonathan does not hesitate. He does not equivocate. He does not say, “Let me see if I can talk him out of it, and I’ll get back to you.” His immediate reaction is one of covenant faithfulness. He made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul (1 Sam. 18:3), and that bond is now being tested. His loyalty to God and to God’s anointed supersedes his filial duty to obey a sinful command. Notice the practicality of his warning. He gives David concrete instructions: be careful, stay put, hide. This is not pietistic sentiment; this is friendship in shoe leather. He is actively working to preserve the life of the man who, he knows, will one day take the throne that would have been his.

3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; what I perceive, I will tell you.”

Here Jonathan positions himself as a mediator. He will literally “stand beside” his father, placing himself between the wrathful king and the innocent fugitive. He is not running away with David, nor is he abandoning his father. He is standing in the breach, seeking to reconcile. And he promises to be a faithful messenger. “What I perceive, I will tell you.” There will be no spin, no manipulation. This is the integrity that flows from a heart that fears God more than man. Jonathan is a living embodiment of a lesser magistrate, standing up to the tyranny of a greater magistrate, not through violent insurrection, but through a courageous and truthful appeal.

4 Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his works have been very good for you.

Jonathan’s appeal is a master class in how to speak truth to power. He doesn’t begin with accusations. He begins by framing the issue in terms of Saul’s own well being. “Do not let the king sin.” He is appealing to Saul’s conscience and his relationship with God. The issue is not just about David; it is about Saul’s own soul. Then he lays out his case with clarity and logic. First, David is innocent. He has not sinned against you. This is a direct contradiction of Saul’s paranoid fantasies. Second, David has been a positive benefit to you. His works have been “very good for you.” Jonathan is calling Saul back to reality, forcing him to look at the plain facts of the matter.

5 For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great salvation for all Israel; you saw it and were glad. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?”

This is the heart of the argument. Jonathan brings up the single greatest example of David’s faithfulness: the killing of Goliath. He frames it properly, not as David’s great achievement, but as an act of God. “Yahweh brought about a great salvation.” And then he turns the knife: “you saw it and were glad.” He reminds Saul of his own previous reaction. You celebrated this! You rejoiced in the very thing you now seek to punish. This exposes the utter irrationality of Saul’s envy. Sin makes you stupid. It makes you contradict yourself. The final question is devastating. “Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?” He calls the proposed action what it is: a sin against innocent blood. And he points out its groundlessness: it is “without a cause.” There is no rational justification for this hatred. It is pure, unadulterated, demonic envy.

6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.”

For a moment, the truth breaks through. The clarity and righteousness of Jonathan’s appeal penetrates the fog of Saul’s rage. He listens. And not only does he listen, he responds with an oath in the name of God Himself. “As Yahweh lives.” This is the most solemn promise a man could make. On the surface, this looks like a genuine repentance. The king has been turned from his wicked course. But we must be cautious. This is the kind of repentance that comes from being cornered by logic, not from a heart broken before God. It is a response to the force of Jonathan’s argument, not a turning of the soul. It is, as the subsequent events will prove, a temporary ceasefire.

7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as formerly.

Jonathan, the faithful mediator, completes his work. He brings the estranged parties back together. The situation returns to a semblance of normalcy. David is back in the court, serving the king “as formerly.” But we know, and they must have known, that the underlying disease has not been cured. The cancer of Saul’s envy has been momentarily checked, but it has not been removed. This is a fragile peace, a calm before the next, inevitable storm. For now, however, God has used the faithfulness of one man to preserve the life of his anointed, demonstrating that His purposes will not be thwarted by the sinful machinations of kings.

Application

First, we see here the profound nature of covenant friendship. Jonathan’s loyalty to David, rooted in their mutual love for God, is the axle on which this whole story turns. He was willing to risk his father’s wrath and his own inheritance to honor his commitment. This is the kind of loyalty that Christians are called to have for one another. Our primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God and to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and this must sometimes override other natural loyalties.

Second, Jonathan provides a model for speaking truth to those in authority. He was respectful but unflinchingly direct. He appealed to reason, to shared history, and ultimately to God’s law. He did not flatter, and he did not rebel. He simply spoke what was true and right. When we are called to confront sin, especially in those over us, we should do so with Jonathan’s combination of courage and wisdom.

Finally, this passage is a stark reminder of the deceptive and irrational nature of sin, particularly the sin of envy. Saul’s hatred was “without a cause.” He wanted to destroy the very man who had brought him and his kingdom salvation. Sin does not make sense. It is a form of spiritual madness. And Saul’s repentance was as shallow as his sin was deep. He made a great oath, but his heart was unchanged. We must be on guard against such superficial resolutions in our own lives. True repentance is not just ceasing from a particular sin because we are caught; it is a fundamental turning of the heart to God in hatred of the sin itself. And ultimately, we see in David the persecuted innocent, and in Jonathan the faithful mediator, a shadow of our Lord Jesus, who was persecuted without a cause, and who now stands as our mediator before the Father, not to secure a temporary peace, but an everlasting one.