How to Handle the Rollercoaster of Life
(David & Michal)
By Pastor Matt Black
Bible Text: 1 Samuel 19:1-17
Preached on: Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 7pm
Tabernacle Baptist Church
7020 Barrington Road
Hanover Park, Illinois 60133
Website: www.GodCentered.info
Introduction: Tonight I want to talk about “How to Handle the Rollercoaster of Life” by looking at David and his new wife Michal.
We read in 1 Samuel 18:27, that “Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.” David secured a home for his wife to be in Gibeah where Saul was from.[1] There would have been a great wedding day. David as a national hero was getting married to the princess. All the people would have rejoiced. A feast would have been prepared by friends and family.
I. David knew the Great Heights of Having a Home! The praise of a wonderful spouse is not what keeps a person strong. A good marriage is wonderful, but it is not the goal of this life. Whether a person is married or single, we are to be sanctified in whatever state we are in. David knew the great heights of having a home. He was to be married to the king’s daughter. Who knows how often he had thought of this day? A wedding day is very special.
According to Deuteronomy 24:5, “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken”. But David would not have a year or even a few months with his beloved new wife Michal. David would soon find out that his life was in great danger. His married life was about to be disrupted!
Application: What we are going to see is that David didn’t hang his happiness on his marriage. And if you hang your happiness or your lack of happiness on your marriage or your singleness, you’ve got your focus all wrong! Happiness does not come from another human being. True happiness comes from knowing the Lord!
A. Look at David’s marital pressures! Up to this point, Saul tried to bring about David’s death secretly, but now Saul goes public and basically makes it open season for David’s life. We read in 1 Samuel 19:1, “And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.” Here is an explicit order that everyone who was loyal in Saul’s family or in Saul’s royal court had now had an obligation to bring about David’s death!
Once Jonathan got word of his father’s plot to murder David, he told David right away. We don’t know exactly how it happened, but perhaps David was enjoying the company of his new wife at home when David gets a knock at the door of his home in Gibeah. He opens the door to find his best friend, Jonathan. And we read Jonathan’s words in verse 2, “Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself”.
David had to leave the arms of his new wife to go and hide himself in a “secret place”. This secret place is said to be a “field” in verse 3. Now you are probably thinking of a nice grassy field, but this word refers actually to a wilderness. Gibeah was a very rocky terrain, and there would have been rocky crags and many hiding places between the rocks there in Gibeah near Saul’s royal home.
I can’t imagine David slept much that night. It is quite probable that David left that night as he knew he was being hunted. What pressure there must have been between David and Michal. He left the arms of his new wife and found a good hiding spot possibly in a cave under the scattered rocks. Can you imagine the trust David had to have in God? As morning dawned David was not in his comfortable bed with his new wife, but instead hiding under the cold rocks of Gibeah! What a roller coaster!
B. Now look at the pressure David faced as far as his future. There as David lay under the rocks of Gibeah his life was hanging in the balance. Would he live or die? What about Michal? David’s best friend Jonathan would have a roller coaster of a conversation with King Saul.
Early that morning, as planned, Jonathan asked his father Saul to go for a walk in that same rocky field. Jonathan would lead his father near to David’s hiding place so that David could overhear their conversation.
Jonathan was willing to say what needed to be said! It’s not always easy to confront someone, but Jonathan was brave and very careful, and he was standing up for David’s life!
And in verses 4 through 7 we get the entire conversation:
“Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee–ward very good: 5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?” Jonathan reminded Saul of all the good David did in serving Saul and killing Goliath. And Saul, who had just ordered David’s execution, was now moved by Jonathan. Infact we read in verse 6 that “Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.”
Saul comes to his senses for a time and actually swears an oath to the Lord, “Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, [DAVID] shall not be slain” (verse 6). He promises to the living God that He will not kill David.
After Saul was on his way back to the palace, David emerged from hiding to speak with Jonathan. We read in verse 7, “And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things.” And after they talked this over, we read in verse 7b, “And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past”.
So Jonathan was able to restore a bit of peace again to Saul’s home. David is restored back to his home with Michal, and he’s back in the royal palace. Everything is good again. And then it gets even better…
II. David knew the Great Heights of being a Hero!
A. David continued having a great national fame.
We read in verse 8, “And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.” David has all this power and success and admiration from the people. God gives David victory after victory. David’s fame becomes greater with each victory. But with every success, Saul’s jealousy rises!
All the while, David trusts in God. David is such a great warrior, but he also continues to humbly play the harp for Saul. David returns from war to play beautiful music in Saul’s court.
Just imagine David in Saul’s court, praising the Lord with his music, praising the Lord in his heart for his new home and new wife, and all the victories he’s been given by the Lord. All the while David is in range of Saul’s javelin. And all the while bitterness and jealously and hatred is filling Saul’s heart. Saul completely forgets his vow that he made to the Lord that he would never harm David again.
We read in verses 9-10, “And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. 10 And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.”
The royal guards were dispatched to David and Michal’s home to keep them under surveillance until morning.
We read in verse 11ff, “Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.”
Michal loves David. She risks everything to save her new husband. She created a plan for David to escape. Verse 12, “So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.” David is forced to flee back to his home and his new wife.
All that night, Michal worked her plan. A pillow of goat’s hair would make a good look alike from a distance. She had an idol for David’s face, and covered this contraption with a cloth. Verse 13, “And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.”
In the morning, Saul sent messengers to his daughter. Verse 14, “And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.”
When Saul heard that David was sick, we find out in verse 15 that the king ordered David to be carried on his bed in to his presence so that he might have the pleasure of personally killing David. Saul says, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him”.
Of course, the royal guards find Michal’s disguise. Verse 16, “when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. 17 And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?”
Michal diverted the wrath of her father by lying and saying that she had to do this because David had threatened her life. What a mess!!
B. Despite David’s national fame, David was not a fugitive!
It is amazing that David has 11 years of being a fugitive, and the Bible uses 14 chapters to cover them. The Holy Spirit chose to record David’s 40 years as king in only 38 chapters. Not only that, but from these fugitive years, we have many at least 73 Psalms from the pen of David.
III. What can we learn from the constant roller coaster of David’s life? He goes from his new home to the crevices of the rocks. He goes from being a famous hero to a forgotten fugitive. It is interesting that David’s days as a fugitive are covered more in depth than his days as King. What’s the point? It is as if God is saying: What God is doing in David’s fugitive years is more important than his days as king.
Conclusion: One of the most difficult things for a believer to do is to stand still. When Moses came up to the Red Sea with the people of Israel, we read in Exodus 14:13, “Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day”. It’s hard to stand still and trust the Lord! But the Lord has never yet failed! Genesis 18:14, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” David’s years in the wilderness as a fugitive were not easy, but they trained him to be king. Moses had his 40 years with the sheep before he went to Egypt.
We saw the roller coasters that David dealt with in his life. We began tonight with a question. How can we handle the roller coasters of life? I think that question is best answered with Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Like David, let us trust in a God who promises to direct our paths!
Closing Hymn: 19 My Jesus, I Love Thee