1 Samuel 20
God plans to remove Saul from being king (remember how he was impatient and did a sacrifice rather than waiting for Samuel?). Samuel anointed David to be the next king.Saul realizes that David is rising up and the people love him. Saul is jealous and doesn't want to stop being king, so he intends to kill David. Jonathan (Saul's son) can't believe this! He loves David and doesn't realize that his father has plans to kill David.
David and Jonathan are best friends. Jonathan stands to inherit the kingdom after Saul (he is the prince, after all). Do you think it was difficult for Jonathan to value David over the kingdom that he was supposed to inherit? Jonathan could have told Saul where David was, but instead he warns David so he can leave and hide. Would you do the same thing?
1 Samuel 24
David is now on the run. He's in hiding. And he's managed to build up a very loyal army.David and his men are hiding in a cave. And wouldn't you know it, Saul enters that same cave to take a quick bathroom break...
David could easily kill Saul. But he doesn't. He still loves and respects Saul as the king. You can tell because David refers to him as "anointed" and "father".
When Saul realizes that David could have killed him, he weeps. He finally understands that God is going to give the kingdom of Israel over to David. So he begs that David doesn't wipe out his family.
So David makes an oath with Saul not to harm his descendants. Saul went home to his kingdom, while David and his men hung behind. David wasn't ready to take over the kingdom quite yet.
Do you think you'd be able to be righteous like David in that type of situation?
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