A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Samuel were staying, he too began prophesying. Once again an earlier proverb from the life of
Saul became a popular joke among the people, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (v. 24)
Perhaps remembering how Jonathan had earlier convinced Saul to preserve David’s life,
the fugitive left Ramah and appealed to Jonathan for help. Initially, Jonathan did not believe his
father was involved in a plot against David’s life, but agreed to protect David until the charge
was proven. It was two days later that Saul realized his son Jonathan had helped David escape.
The king’s wrath was then directed toward his son. “Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by
which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David” (20:33).
His father’s attempt on his life left Jonathan in deep emotional turmoil. In anger, he
stormed out of the room and refused to eat that day. That anger later turned to grief as he thought
of his friend David who was the primary target of Saul’s wrath. These emotions were mixed with
a sense of shame, not only because he had been publicly humiliated by his father, but because his
father had also humiliated him by his angry outburst. Also, Jonathan was torn apart emotionally,
knowing he would have to separate himself from his dear friend in order to better protect him
from his father.
The next day, David and Jonathan met according to their prearranged plan. In their
moving moments together, two of the closest friend that have ever been, parted company. So
emotionally charged was the atmosphere of that meeting that David wept uncontrollably for
some time. As they parted, they renewed their promise of mutual friendship, not only for their
lifetime on earth, but for eternity. For the rest of his life, Saul would spend much of his time
hunting for David to kill him. And for the rest of his life, Jonathan would be loved more by
David than by any other person on earth.
While David’s years wandering as a fugitive from Saul were trying times for the man
who would be king, this was also an era in his life when many of the psalms were written. While
many of the psalms were difficult to place in a definite historical context with absolute certainty,
there are several in which contextual titles or details within the psalms themselves suggest the
historic background of their composition.
Just as on at least two occasions David escaped direct attempts on his life because Saul
hurled a javelin at him, so David had at least two occasions in which there could be no question
that David could have killed Saul had that been his desire (24:4; 26:7-12). On both occasions,
David’s close advisors urged David to kill Saul, arguing the act would have been in harmony
with God’s promise to give David the throne. But on both occasions, David refused to lay his
hand against the one God had anointed as king of Israel. Ironically, it was in a battle with the
Philistines, the very enemy of Israel which Saul had hoped would kill David, that King Saul and