The Opposition – 1 Samuel 18-19

God’s choice to replace King Saul on the throne, the young David, quickly encountered a new enemy – King Saul himself.

 ² So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. 1 Samuel 19:2 (NKJV)

Saul quickly went from rejoicing at David’s victory over Goliath to an intense jealousy of him.  Saul suddenly harbored a deep fear of David taking the throne and the kingdom away from him.

God had already warned King Saul through the prophet Samuel that God had chosen another to replace him.  Once Saul figured out that David would be the one, he tried any number of methods to kill David off.  He personally threw or lunged at David with a spear on multiple occasions, trying to pin him against the wall to murder him.  He sent David on dangerous suicide missions against the Philistines to get them to kill David off.  Finally, he sent “messengers” to track David down and kill him wherever he could be found.  But God continually protected David, often through the brave actions of Saul’s noble son, Jonathan.

Jonathan had a great faith in God, as evidenced by his earlier attack on the Philistine garrison.  He recognized that the hand of God was with David, a noble and faithful man like himself, so Jonathan did everything he could to help him. Jonathan did this despite realizing that David would one day take his own place as the next king of Israel.  He accepted this as God’s will and did whatever he could to preserve David and to protect him from Saul’s demonic attacks.

A thousand years after this, Jesus Christ would be born in David’s hometown to reign on David’s throne as King of the Jewish people, their Messiah.  The existing king, Herod, learned about this from visiting wise men from the East, and like King Saul, tried to kill Jesus to preserve his own place on the throne.  Herod misled the wise men and told them to bring any information on Jesus back to him, intending to have Him killed.

⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”  Matthew 2:8 (NKJV)

When the wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem, they fell down and worshiped Him, and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod and then warned Joseph to flee with his family to Egypt to escape King Herod’s intention to kill the Child.  In his anger, Herod ordered the killing of all young boys in Bethlehem below the age of two to try to eliminate any potential competition to his throne.  Little did the evil Herod realize that the throne of Jesus would be for the whole world throughout eternity and was not intended to replace any existing government until the end times.

Thus, these two rightful heirs to the eternal throne of David faced deadly peril as soon as they came onto the scene.  A demonic jealousy and rage consumed both King Saul and Herod, bringing them to the point of murder. This murderous spirit would fill both kings for the remainder of their respective reigns.

Reflection

God extends an invitation for all to enter His Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ.  But like both David and Jesus, we may face demonic opposition as we prepare to enter the Kingdom of God.

But God is faithful.  He will deliver us through any trials and tribulations that may come against us as we open our hearts to Him.

Lord, we place any and all opposition we face today before You, asking for Your complete deliverance, safety, and freedom.  Help us to walk in freedom and peace as we seek to follow You. May Your Name be praised!  We ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.