The Certainty of God's Deliverance - 1 Samuel 19

As I was preparing for this sermon I began to think about what Moses must have been thinking when the Egyptians were bearing down on them and the Red Sea was in front of them.

How disappointed he must have been! God had performed all those miraculous signs and wonders only for the Egyptians to re-enslave them before the Red Sea. It was completely hopeless!

Hopefully no one has ever tried to chase you down in order to take your life, but the truth is, we’ve all felt trapped and hopeless due to trials, opposition, and suffering we’ve experienced!

We’ve all felt that sinking feeling that Moses probably felt knowing that every minute he sat there, was another minute the Egyptians gained ground on them.

And I think our passage this morning is very similar. In 1 Samuel 19, David finds himself in a hopeless situation. King Saul, driven by jealousy and rage, had determined to take David’s life, despite the fact that David had not done anything wrong.

David is sort of like Harrison Ford from the movie, The Fugitive. He’s an innocent man on the run.

Which has to be an incredibly discouraging position to be in. The most powerful man in all of Israel wants you dead. Where do you go? Who do you turn to?

Scripture reminds us that in those hopeless moments God has promised deliverance for his people. The Lord isn’t distant or indifferent to your struggles. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sympathetic Savior who delivers his people out of the muck and the mire of life. He’s come to proclaim liberty to the captives and good news to the poor.

Which is precisely what we see in 1 Samuel 19. Despite all of Saul’s scheming, despite the overwhelming odds against David, despite the most hopeless of circumstances, God continually delivers David.

But our passage this morning reminds us of several things: First, we’re reminded that trials are inevitable (vv. 1-10), second, we’re reminded that God’s deliverance is certain (vv. 11-17), because, lastly, God is sovereign over all things (vv. 18-24).

Chapter 19 is really an extension of chapter 18. Saul has become increasingly obsessed and jealous of David. And his jealousy has metastasized into a desire to murder him. He wants David dead. He threw spears at David in chapter 18, he wanted him to marry Michal so he could send him on suicide missions against the Philistines. Everything Saul has tried up and to this point has not worked against David.

I. Trials are Inevitable (vv. 1-10)

In our passage this morning we read about one of David’s great trials in life: the fact that Saul wanted him dead. It’s incredibly unfair because David has only done things to help the Kingdom of Israel. He killed Goliath and has risked his life countless times in battle against the Philistines. You would expect the King in Israel to support and encourage him, but instead, King Saul wants him dead.

Throughout 1 Samuel, we’ve seen Saul’s downward spiral. He rejected God which brought upon him God’s judgment. And where his desire for David’s murder wasn’t entirely clear, he now openly acknowledged it. He told his own son, Jonathan, along with his servants that he wanted David dead.

But Jonathan immediately recognized a serious problem with Saul’s desire to kill David – he hasn’t done anything wrong! David wasn’t a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination, he was a sinner just like the rest of us, however, he hadn’t done anything that deserved capital punishment.

Saul wanted David murdered, and Jonathan understood just how evil of a desire it was. And so, Jonathan took it upon himself to go try and reason with his father.

You have to remember that Jonathan and David had covenanted their loyalty and friendship to one another. However, this goes deeper than simply having your friend’s back. Jonathan is trying to prevent his father from acting upon his sinful, evil, desires. To kill David would be incredibly unjust.

After encouraging David to go into hiding, Jonathan resolved to speak directly to his father in verses 4-5.

“Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”

Jonathan’s defense of David hits all the key points. David has only done good things for you. He killed Goliath. He saved Israel. When David killed Goliath you rejoiced just like everybody else! David has done nothing wrong.

As the commentator Dale Ralph Davis pointed out, Jonathan used rational, moral, and theological reasoning to defend David.

And at first, it seemed as though Jonathan’s defense of David made a difference. Because Saul then said, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” And for a while, everything returned to normal. David was back playing music for Saul and fighting against the Philistines.

But David has this one glaring fault that Saul could never seem to get over. David was successful at everything he did. In verse 8 we read about David’s high crime and misdemeanor: “[he] fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him.”

Once again, David protected the people of Israel from their enemies. But it was more than that because David’s success was a tangible reminder that God’s favor was upon him. While Saul on the other hand, was regularly experiencing God’s displeasure and judgment. That’s what’s going on with the harmful spirit.

But of course, it’s highlighting the spiritual disparity between David and Saul. David loved the Lord and the favor of the Lord was upon him. While Saul had continually rejected the Lord and his displeasure and judgment was upon him.

Saul of course knew that God was with David – and that was the underlying source of his hatred for David. Saul’s murderous hatred for David wasn’t about his annoying personality, or his great military prowess, there’s a spiritual component to all of this that is frankly very easy to overlook.

You know, one of the grave evils of those who espouse a Christianity is nothing more than perpetual health, wealth, and prosperity is that you shouldn’t experience trials, pain, or suffering. In fact, they teach that suffering is the symptom of a lack of faith.

If only you had more faith, then you'd be healthy, rich, and successful. The unfortunate medical diagnosis, the disintegration of your family, those are not the result of our sin-sick fallen world, but of your lack of faith.

There’s something appealing about that teaching because it puts you in the driver seat. Everything you experience is the result of the decisions you’ve made. And that’s even true to a certain extent, but how many things do we experience in life that were not the result of anything we did wrong!

Isn’t that exactly what’s going on in our passage? David hasn’t done anything wrong! He volunteered to fight Goliath. He’s risked life countless times for Israel. He’s done everything that Saul has asked him to do only for Saul to want him dead. How unfair is that?

There's a tremendous temptation to view these sorts of events as nothing more than inconveniences in our lives, without ever pausing to ask, “is there a spiritual component to this? What does God want me to see here?”

After all, Christians are not promised lives of ease and comfort, Christians are promised to face trials. Remember what Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” He also said, “In this world you will have tribulation.” Jesus never promised lives of ease and comfort, rather, he promised trials, pain, and suffering for those who follow him. After all, if our Savior experienced trials, pain, and suffering, then those who follow him shouldn’t expect to be exempt from it!

Trials are an inevitable consequence of following Jesus Christ. But of course, Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, for I have overcome the world.”

II. God's Deliverance is Certain (vv. 11-17)

We’re promised to face trials and at the same time, we’re promised deliverance from those trials.

But in our passage, things kept getting worse for David didn’t they? It looked like Jonathan was able to talk some sense into his father, only for Saul to go back on his word.

And in verse 11, Saul sent some of his henchmen to stake out David’s house and kill him. But his own daughter, Michal discovered the plan and ultimately deceived Saul’s men.

It’s difficult to understand what she used and exactly how she did it, but she made an “image” or a dummy in their bed while covertly helping him escape out the window. When the men were ready to take David, she told him that he was sick in bed.

They executed the same plan as Ferris Bueller.

But consider the implications here. Saul wants David dead so badly that he’s not even safe in his own house. If it wouldn’t have been for Michal’s quick thinking David would have been captured and killed.

Again, the whole thing is rather depressing, isn’t it? Because David didn’t do anything to deserve this!

One of the more interesting facts about 1 Samuel 19 is that David pours out his heart to God in Psalm 59. If you have your copy of God’s Word, flip over to Psalm 59.

The heading to Psalm 59 says, “To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.”

Hopefully, that sounds familiar! David begins Psalm 59 in this way:

“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; 2 deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.”

David understood the spiritual nature of his experience. He understood that he wasn’t fighting against flesh and blood, but against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

David understood that if he was going to be delivered from Saul and those who sought his life, God was going to have to intervene. If success, victory, and deliverance God was going to do it. In fact, he knew that that was going to be the outcome!

Look at what David wrote in Psalm 59:10:

“10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.”

David expected triumph, victory, and deliverance! Does this mean David was being presumptuous? Was he arrogant because he expected to triumph?

For David, was deliverance simply about evading his enemies? Or was there more to it than that?

Imagine being stranded on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean, when out of nowhere a lifeboat pulls up at the last possible moment and pulls you onboard. But then the life boat just stayed permanently out at sea without ever bringing you ashore. Is that deliverance?

Would the people of Israel have been delivered from Egypt if they permanently stayed in the wilderness and never reached the promised land? Of course not!

For David and for the Christian too we must recognize that deliverance and salvation isn’t just about escaping your immediate circumstances, complete deliverance, salvation, is about reaching your final destination! We’re pilgrims in this barren land heading towards our heavenly home.

That’s the whole metaphor of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress! Christian is on a journey towards the celestial city. And of course, there were trials along the way, but they never stopped him from reaching his final destination.

And in many ways, the trials, pain, and suffering that we experience in life should help us anticipate that something infinitely better awaits us! Living in this fallen world should make every one of us realize that this cannot be as good as it gets!

In those moments of suffering we must cling to the fact that God has promised so much more. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15: “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

David understood that God could deliver him from his enemies. But even if God didn’t deliver him from his immediate circumstances, God would still deliver him.

How else could David praise God in the valley of the shadow of death? In Psalm 59:16 David says:

“16 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.”

God is David’s fortress in the day of his distress.

Can you say that God is your fortress in the day of your distress? Can you sing praises to God even in the valley of the shadow of death? Or do you take Job’s wife’s advice “to curse God and die?”

If you’re trusting in Jesus Christ for your salvation then your deliverance is certain. It’s guaranteed and it’s because of that you and I can echo the words of the Apostle Paul, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”

III. The Supremacy of God’s Power (vv. 18-24)

What’s absolutely crystal clear from 1 Samuel 19 is that God is going to have to intervene. If David is going to survive, God is going to have to step in.

And of course, that’s exactly what happens. David sought safety with the old prophet Samuel, but it didn’t take long for Saul and his minions to figure out that David’s hiding with Samuel in Naioth.

Then the bizarre happens: everyone begins to prophesy. Saul sends the first group of messengers to pick up David and they prophesy, then it happens a second time, and then a third time, and then Saul goes to pick up David himself and he too begins to prophesy as well!

If everyone was prophesying, you’d expect to learn what the prophetic word was, however, that’s not what happens in our passage. Everyone prophesies but we don’t know anything about the content of the prophecy, which is exactly the point.

It’s not about the prophecy at all. The point of this whole episode is that when David’s back is absolutely against the wall, when it appeared as if there was no hope, it was at that precise moment, God delivered him from the hands of his enemies.

God humbled and disarmed David’s enemies, not through the tip of the sword, but by his Spirit.

Saul even stripped off his royal garments signifying who God was the true King in Israel.

Scripture reminds us that in those hopeless moments—when the odds are stacked against us, when fear is closing in, when it feels like God is silent—He has not forgotten His people. The God of the Bible is not distant or indifferent. He sees. He knows. And He delivers.

That’s exactly what we witness in 1 Samuel 19. David, God’s chosen servant, is under attack. Saul’s jealousy turns violent, and David becomes a fugitive overnight. Saul throws spears, sends soldiers, manipulates family members—he unleashes everything he has. From a human perspective, David is completely outmatched.

But the Lord is not absent. He delivers—not through spectacular miracles or heavenly armies—but through quiet providences: through Jonathan’s loyalty, Michal’s courage, and ultimately through the power of the Holy Spirit, who disarms Saul and his men. Not a sword is lifted by David, yet God brings about a powerful deliverance.

And here’s the truth: David was not a victim of his circumstances, because he was never outside of God’s care. Yes, he was pursued. Yes, he suffered. But he was not defeated, because the Lord was with him. And the same is true for you. In Christ, you are not defined by what’s been done to you, what you’re walking through, or what others have said about you. You are defined by God’s promises and His presence.

The ultimate proof of that is found in Jesus. The same God who delivered David sent His own Son to deliver us—not just from earthly hardship, but from sin, death, and eternal separation from God. Jesus entered the brokenness of this world, bore the weight of our guilt, and rose victorious—so that all who trust in Him might walk in freedom, not fear.

Christ is not a distant Savior. He is the Good Shepherd who walks with us in the valley. He is the Deliverer who breaks our chains. He is the One who steps into the muck and mire of our lives—not to condemn, but to rescue. He proclaims liberty to the captives and gives rest to the weary.

So take heart. Whatever burden you carry, whatever fear you face, you are not alone. Your story is not ruled by chaos or chance. The same God who sustained and delivered David is the God who walks with you today. And in Him, you are not a victim—you are more than a conqueror.

Cling to Christ. Trust His promises. Remember His faithfulness. The circumstances may be hard. The road may be long. But your Deliverer is faithful. And He will never fail His people.