God offers protection to His people, often in the form of other people.
As a young hero David quickly became despised by the jealous King Saul. His victory over Goliath had propelled him into the minds of Israel, a reality Saul grew increasingly uncomfortable with. This, of course, culminated with Saul’s attempts at taking David’s life.
Psalm 59 is a beautiful song where David recounts God’s faithfulness in protecting him from the hand of Saul during a time when Saul tried to kill him in his own house. Over and over again in that simple song David credits God as His protector. He concluded the song by singing, “You, O God, are my fortress” (Psalm 59:17).
1 Samuel 19 is a wonderful chapter that gives us the background to David’s song (Psalm 59). It is here we discover that, while God was the ultimate one to protect David, He offered that protection through people He had placed in David’s life. Here is a list of who protected David, along with how they protected him.
I believe God longs to use similar relationships to protect us today.
1. A Friend - Jonathan
Jonathan first protected David by giving him wise counsel. Good Christians will wisely select their friends, friends who are able to counsel them from the Scripture. “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Proverbs 12:26).
Jonathan also protected David by going to his father and pleading on David’s behalf. This type of action is often called intercession in the Bible. Intercession is, of course, a wonderful picture of prayer. It is good for Christians to select friends in their lives who will pray and intercede for them before God.
2. A Wife - Michal
David had a far from perfect relationship with his first wife, Michal, but in this story she protects him wonderfully. She does this first by honoring her husband. Instead of siding with her father, Saul, by delivering David into his hand, she sides with her new husband.
She also helped David escape. She let him down through a window. She took an image and some goats hair and made it look like David was in his bed sleeping. She even made excuses for David when the messengers of Saul arrived. She helped her husband. Good men will allow their wives to help them become better men.
3. A Mentor - Samuel
David, in fleeing, ran directly to Samuel. Samuel was the old prophet and priest of Israel. He had anointed David as its future King. Samuel would provide spiritual counsel and advice to David. Samuel could speak into David’s life like no one else could.
It is good, as a Christian, to have spiritual leaders in our lives who are willing to tell us the difficult things. Samuel could provide something for David that Jonathan and Michal couldn’t.
4. The Supernatural - The Spirit
At the end of 1 Samuel 19 we discover a wild story where the Spirit of God intercedes and protects David. It is not a stretch to say that this protection was both spiritual and supernatural. When we cry out to God for his protection, we are open to the idea that, as we are spiritual men and women, God may provide and protect us in very supernatural ways, seen and unseen. We do not, after all, “wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness,” so it should come as no surprise that we look to God’s unseen protection in that spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12).
To David, all of this was from God. In reflecting upon this chapter in his life, he could only confess “God is my defense.” (Psalm 59:17, NKJV). Let us allow God to protect us through the people He has placed in our lives.
