๐ 1 Samuel 18 — Key Summary : ๐ The Chapter That Explains Why Saul Was Afraid of David
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Chapter 17 showed David, with the Lord God with him, defeating Goliath, the Philistine giant.
๐ Key Summary of 1 Samuel 18
Chapter 18 shows what happened to David after his victory:
He behaved wisely in the sight of the people, and his name became highly respected. (v.30)
Saul became afraid of him and remained David’s enemy for the rest of his life. (v.29)
1. The Similarity Between David and Jonathan: A Clear Awareness of Being Chosen ๐
Jonathan’s words:
“Let us go over to these uncircumcised men; perhaps the Lord will act for us. For nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6)David’s words:
“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)
I think Jonathan and David probably connected deeply in this respect.
Jonathan’s victory in chapter 14 and David’s victory in chapter 17 both show their reliance on God. They seem to have shared the same confidence in the Lord.
2. David Was Loved by Everyone — Except Saul
The Bible records that after David finished speaking with Saul, “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” (v.1)
All Israel and Judah loved David. (v.16)
Michal, Saul’s daughter, also loved David. (v.28)
3. Saul Becomes Afraid of David
Saul’s fear begins with envy and jealousy.
After the victory in battle, when Saul and his army returned, the women came out singing:
“Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”Saul became very angry and thought:
“They have credited David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?”From that moment on, Saul began to keep a close eye on David.
Saul attempts to kill David:
When an evil spirit came upon Saul with force, David was playing the harp as usual. Saul had a spear in his hand and tried to pin David to the wall twice, but David escaped both times.
4. Saul Is Afraid of David Because the Lord Was With Him
๐ The Bible records something very important:
“The Lord had departed from Saul and was with David; therefore Saul was afraid of him.” (v.12) ๐
So Saul removed David from his presence and made him commander over a thousand men.
David was given an important position, and he acted wisely in everything he did — because the Lord was with him. (v.14)
→ Saul saw that David was acting with great wisdom, and he was afraid of him. (v.15)
✔️ Saul knew that the Lord who had departed from him was with David, and that David was acting wisely and prospering.
That was why Saul was afraid of him.
๐ The key point is verse 12.
5. Saul Begins to Plot Against David
Saul’s true character had already raised questions even before he became king. After becoming king, his true nature became increasingly evident.
Now, he begins to use methods that are even more difficult to understand.
Saul plans to use his daughter as a trap, making David his son-in-law and putting him in a dangerous situation. (v.21)
He wanted David to be killed by the hands of the Philistines. (v.25)
6. Saul Realizes That His Plan Has Failed
Saul wanted David to die, so he demanded one hundred foreskins of Philistines as the bride-price.
But David killed two hundred Philistines and brought them to Saul. ๐
→ Then Saul realized again that the Lord was with David. (v.28)
→ And the Bible says that Saul became even more afraid of David. (v.29) ๐
๐ And the final verse, verse 30, records:
✔️ Whenever the Philistine commanders went out to battle, David acted with more wisdom than all of Saul’s officers.
So David’s name became highly respected.
๐ Final Thoughts — 1
The fact that Saul hated David and wanted to kill him may certainly have been related to Saul’s own evil nature...
But there was another reason as well:
God was no longer with Saul in the same way, while He was with David.
If we think of Saul as having “lost God’s favor,” the situation becomes somewhat understandable...
But if we consider that it is not something simple or insignificant for God to withdraw His favor from someone, then we also need to look at the path Saul had taken.
After becoming king, Saul failed to obey the Lord’s commands, and the Spirit of the Lord departed from him.
Thus, we see Saul becoming a king who gradually moved in a worse direction because he neglected what should have been his highest priority:
obeying the commands and statutes of the Lord.
Saul overlooked the fact that God’s blessing is closely connected with obedience to His commands and statutes.
๐ Final Thoughts — 2
๐ An Interesting Passage in the Bible (Verses 10–12)
“And the evil spirit from God came upon Saul with force, and he raved inside his house. David was playing the harp as he normally did. Saul had a spear in his hand and thought, ‘I will pin David to the wall.’ Then Saul threw the spear, but David escaped from him twice. The Lord had departed from Saul and was with David; therefore Saul was afraid of him.”
There are two very interesting points here:
The evil spirit sent by God came upon Saul with force!
The Lord was with David! → That is why David was able to escape the spear.
If it was an evil spirit under God’s authority, it would be difficult to think that the spirit itself was simply commanding Saul to throw the spear at David.
Therefore, this passage makes me think that Saul’s intention to kill David should not automatically be attributed to the evil spirit. Rather, Saul himself already had the intention to kill David.
๐ Just because an evil spirit appears in the story, can we therefore place the responsibility for Saul’s actions on the evil spirit?
→ The biblical text does not record it that way.
I find this to be one of the particularly interesting points in 1 Samuel 18.
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