Useful Bible Studies > 1 Samuel Commentary > chapter 19
Saul wanted to kill David so much that he told his officials to search through Israel for him. Then Saul received the report that David was with Samuel at Naioth.
The report caused a serious problem for Saul. Everyone in Israel, including Saul, knew that Samuel was a very holy man. In 1 Samuel 12:18, God answered Samuel’s prayers in a very impressive manner, so that all the people were afraid of Samuel.
Saul sent a group of men to Naioth, not to kill David but merely to arrest him. Probably Saul realised that nobody would dare to hurt David in front of Samuel. However, when the men brought David back to Saul, Saul would have another opportunity to kill him.
That was what Saul wanted; but it never actually happened. Instead, when the men arrived in Naioth, they saw a wonderful event. Samuel was leading a group of prophets (holy men) as they prayed. Perhaps David was among them. As they prayed, God’s Holy Spirit came powerfully upon them. They were prophesying; in other words they spoke words that came from the Holy Spirit. Probably those were words to praise God rather than to tell about future events. The Holy Spirit did not just come upon the prophets - Saul’s men had this wonderful experience too. They knew the power of God in their lives; they spoke the words that the Holy Spirit directed them to say. It was similar to the experience that Saul himself had in 1 Samuel 10:10.
The result was that Saul’s men were unable to arrest David. We do not know whether they still even wanted to arrest David after that experience. These things happened to two more groups of Saul’s men also. God himself was protecting David.
Next part: Saul prophesies (1 Samuel 19:22-24)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.