The Day After the Giant Falls

Yesterday we stood in the valley of Elah and watched a shepherd drop a giant with a sling and a stone. And we learned that the battle is the LORD's. Israel did not win that day by being brave. Israel stood frozen on a hillside while a champion fought in their place, and the champion won, and his victory became their victory. That is the shape of the gospel, and it was there in the dirt of Elah a thousand years before the cross.

Now here is the question 1 Samuel 18 and 19 answer: what happens the day after the giant falls?

The army marches home. The women come out of every town with tambourines, singing: "Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 18:7). And that one song lands on two hearts and splits them in opposite directions. Jonathan, the crown prince, the man with the most to lose to David's rise, loves him, makes a covenant with him, and hands him his own royal robe. Saul, the king, hears the same lyrics and starts counting. "And Saul eyed David from that day on" (18:9). By the next morning there is a spear in the air.

From that day forward, the anointed becomes the hunted. That is where our series title stops being a preview and becomes the plot.

As you read these two chapters this week, watch for three things. First, follow the narrator's refrain. Three times he explains everything that happens with five words: "the LORD was with him" (18:12, 14, 28). Every scheme Saul runs crashes into that sentence. Second, count how many people love David. Jonathan, all Israel and Judah, Michal, even Saul's own servants. Then notice the one man in the kingdom who cannot, and ask why. Third, watch who God uses to keep David alive. A friend who speaks up. A wife who thinks fast. A window. God usually keeps His people through people, and most of them have no idea they were the rescue.

And keep one eye on Jesus as you read, because this pattern is bigger than David. Another beloved Son would one day be loved by the crowds, hated by the throne, and hunted without cause. Pilate himself could see "it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up" (Mark 15:10).

One question to carry into Sunday: whose name is hard for you to hear praised? Be honest about the answer. Scripture has a name for what happens in that moment, and Sunday we will hear what God says about it.