And Saul sent messengers to 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 wilt be put to death.
Saul's hatred has hardened into a plan: watchers around David's house, and death set for dawn. Why did God let it come to this, and what was David doing inside while the killers waited?
One writer sees a pattern in this night. The enemy stays quiet until the believer starts winning.
A fresh victory of David's re-awakens the evil spirit that had taken control of Saul. As long as the believer does not trouble Satan by victories won over his followers, his hostility stays asleep. But his deadly hatred soon wakes up. We see this hatred against David at the very moment when the gracious relief he brings the king seems to subdue the evil spirit. A moment comes, then, when the only thing the believer can do is to flee, to escape like a bird out of the fowler's net. Now David's death is fixed and final. Michal's natural affection for David moves her to help him in her own way. God uses here the human feelings that stirred her.
Jonathan had helped David before. He is not the only instrument God has.
God is never limited in His resources. So He had instruments other than Jonathan for the help of His persecuted servant. Michal used a trick to help David escape when Saul would have murdered him in his bed. Samuel sheltered him at Naioth when his own home was no longer safe.
Psalm 59 carries the note "when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him." David answered the deadline with music. (The writer quotes the psalm itself in an older English translation.)
Saul's messengers were prowling round the house, like dogs greedy for their prey. David was far from afraid. He expected their defeat and disappointment with scorn. He rejoiced in the power of the Lord and His mercy. And he prepared a song for the morning that Saul had appointed for his death — "But I will sing of your power, yes, I will sing aloud of your mercy in the morning, to you, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy."
The same psalm shows what David did not pray for.
The account in this chapter has its counterpart in Psalm 59, written when Saul sent men to watch David's house to kill him. Saul's messengers were men of blood, gathered against him. They went round the city during the night. Meanwhile David was lifting his heart in prayer to the Lord. He looked to Him for deliverance, sure that He would be gracious toward him. They sought his life not for any wrong he had done, but because he belonged to the Lord. For the moment he does not ask the Lord to kill his enemies, or to kill Saul, so that David's people may not forget these things. The godless king must stay alive until the patience of the Lord's anointed has had its perfect work.
Michal's warning saved David's life. Commentators weigh her motive differently.
Michal clearly loves David. But that love does not seem joined with genuine faith here. Still, we would not brand her as being entirely like her father. Her act involved deception, which we do not excuse. It has some likeness to what Rahab did, when she sent the spies away in peace. But Michal does not seem as loyal in heart as Jonathan. Still, her scheme shows at least her willingness to help her husband, and he escapes safely.
One writer sees the same escape repeated much later in the Bible.
Saul sends to his daughter's house, David's wife, to take David, but Michal lets him down through the window, reminding us of Paul's escape from the plotting of the Jews in Damascus. What a unity underlies all truth, whether it is the hostility of the natural heart or the path of faith through the world!
- The plot. Saul's hatred wakes when David wins. He sets a deadline for morning and turns David's own house into a trap.
- The warning. God was not limited to Jonathan. He used Michal's affection — real love, though not clear faith — to get His servant out alive.
- The night. While the watchers circled the house, David prayed and sang. They hunted him not for his sin but because he belonged to the Lord.
- The restraint. He did not ask for Saul's death. The godless king stayed alive until the patience of the Lord's anointed had done its full work.
- The outcome. Driven from home, David escapes through a window and finds shelter with Samuel at Naioth.
And Michal let David down through a window; and he went, and fled and escaped.
Saul has posted men outside David's house with orders to kill him at daybreak. The escape that follows raises three questions: was flight a failure of faith, who stood behind the rescue, and how did David spend that night?
One writer marks this night as the turn in David's whole life:
David was driven from the court and looked for shelter in his house. At once Saul sent messengers "to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning." His wife, Saul's daughter, told him of the danger and he escaped. From that night he never again had a settled home while Saul lived. This is history. Psalm 59 gives us much more. According to its title it was written when Saul's plot was discovered, and with knowledge of the men Saul sent.
Was running away a failure of faith? One writer points to what woke Saul's rage again, and to the one move David had left:
A fresh triumph of David's re-awakens the evil spirit that had taken control of Saul... A moment comes, then, when the only thing the believer can do is to flee, to escape like a bird out of the fowler's net. Now David's death is decreed, and nothing will reverse it. Michal, moved by her natural affection for David, comes to his help in her own way. God used here the human feelings that stirred her.
Jonathan had been God's instrument for David before. Two others step in now:
God is never limited in His resources. So He had instruments other than Jonathan for the help of His persecuted servant. Michal used a trick to help David escape when Saul would have murdered him in his bed. Samuel sheltered him in Naioth when his own home was no longer safe.
Writers do not treat Michal as a simple heroine.
Michal clearly has love for David, but it does not seem to be joined with genuine faith here. Still, we would not brand her as being entirely like her father. Her act, with its deception, which we do not excuse, has some points of likeness to Rahab, who sent out the spies in peace. But she does not seem as loyal in heart as Jonathan. Her plan shows at least her willingness to help her husband, and he escapes safely.
Another writer looks at her motive:
Why did Michal not tell Saul frankly that she did not want her husband killed? Clearly her love for David took second place to her fear of Saul. She lied to her father, telling him that David had threatened to kill her if she did not let him go.
Psalm 59 shows what David was doing while the messengers circled outside.
While Saul's messengers were prowling round the house, like dogs greedy for their prey, he was far from afraid. He expected their defeat and disappointment with scorn. Rejoicing in the power of the Lord and His mercy, he prepared a song for the morning that Saul had appointed for his death: "I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning."
One writer sees the same escape repeated much later, in Paul's flight from Damascus:
Saul shows that it was not a passing passion, but the renewal of a relentless hatred with a definite purpose. He sends to his daughter's house, David's wife, to seize David, but Michal lets him down through the window, reminding us of Paul's escape from the plots of the Jews in Damascus (Acts 9:23-25). What a unity underlies all truth, whether it is the hostility of the natural heart or the path of faith through the world!
David was already the anointed king. His road to the throne ran out of a window.
So David, though anointed king of Israel, had to endure the hatred and scorn of the ruling power. All who could see his moral worth loved him... David knew he was anointed king, but Saul held the throne. He was quite content to wait on God and to accept His timing meekly... His way to the throne lay through many sorrows and difficulties. He, like his blessed Master, was called to suffering first, and glory afterwards.
- Hatred — Saul's move is not a passing temper but a settled purpose. David's victories wake that hatred instead of soothing it.
- Flight — There are moments when the believer's only move is to escape like a bird out of the fowler's net, and this was one.
- Helper — God is never short of instruments. Beyond Jonathan, He had Michal's window and Samuel's shelter ready.
- Weakness — Michal's rescue was real but mixed. She had love without faith, and fear of her father strong enough to make her lie.
- Song — While Saul's men circled the house, David prepared praise for the very morning set for his death. Suffering first, glory afterwards.
And Michal took the image, and laid it in the bed, and put the net of goats' [hair] at its head, and covered it with the coverlet.
Saul has posted messengers around David's house to kill him at daybreak. Michal, David's wife, buys him time with a dummy in the bed — and the object she uses is a household idol.
The Hebrew word behind "image" is teraphim. The same object turns up in other homes in Scripture:
This is a Hebrew word in the plural. It refers to household idols, like the ones Rachel stole from her father. There, as in other places, the word appears as "images," with "teraphim" in the margin (Genesis 31:19, 34, 35). Michal the wife of David had one in her house, and laid it in the bed when David escaped (1 Samuel 19:13, 16). Micah also had them in his house, and regarded them as "gods" (Judges 17:5; 18:14-20). People used them in some way for divination — for seeking hidden knowledge. They stand among the images and idols that Josiah cleared out of the land.
The verse reports, in passing, that such an object stood in the house of the man of God. One writer asks how it got there and what it cost:
This passage also shows us that there was an image (a teraphim) in David's house. Certainly, David did not worship it, but its presence allows us to conclude that he put up with it… The image (teraphim) ranks below the idol. It is a household god of lower rank. People give it a certain importance, and even consult it at times. Such superstitions quickly lead to true idols… Often the believer lacks the energy to drive these causes of stumbling out of his family. Each one of us must watch this carefully, even though, like Jacob and David, we may think they have no influence over our own life. Michal, Saul's daughter, had clearly brought the image into David's household, and so she became a snare to the man of God.
Michal wanted David alive. But what she reached for shows where her trust lay:
Michal, to gain time for David, had put a "teraphim" in David's bed (v. 13). This was an image in human form. It was truly idolatrous, yet Israelites too often used it alongside the worship of God. Poor Michal! She did not know the power of God, nor did she have real faith in His faithfulness. She thought it necessary to at least partly trust in idols! But we all may too easily become skilled at practising deception.
Michal's trick buys time, and she follows it with a second lie when she is caught. Scripture tells the story plainly, but it does not approve it:
And Michal practised a deception. Like Rachel, she had teraphim — the idol-images in wide use among the Chaldeans and other nations. Jehovah had forbidden them, and yet people used them in secret (Judges 17:5; 18:14). Michal's image must have been fairly large. She arranged it in the bed and then told the messengers, "He is sick." When they uncover the trick, she lies again and says that David threatened her life. The Scriptures record these wrongs, and that is only proof of how honest they are. The Holy Scriptures never approve such things. In all these attempts on David we also see a foreshadowing of the attempts made on the life of our Lord.
The same chapter shows two people helping David, and they do not help him in the same spirit. Michal covers herself by telling Saul that David forced her hand:
Michal avoids her father's wrath by acting before him as though she were one of David's enemies, forced by his threats to let him escape: "He said to me, 'Let me go. Why should I kill you?'" (v. 17). How different her heart is from Jonathan's! He openly defended the one he loved dearly, at his own risk and peril.
Commentators differ on how hard to be on her. One calls the deception inexcusable, yet allows that her plan at least shows she wanted to save her husband (Samuel Ridout).
Saul had meant this marriage as a trap. The escape it produced also produced a psalm:
Saul gave his daughter Michal to be David's wife, thinking in this way to trap him. But she became David's deliverer. This called forth Psalm 59. David had faith that God would laugh at his enemies: God was his defence and the God of his mercy.
- Image. The object was a teraphim — a household idol. Rachel stole such images, Micah kept them as gods, and Josiah later cleared them from the land.
- Tolerated. It stood in David's home. He did not worship it, but he put up with it — and lesser superstitions lead on to real idols.
- Trusted. Michal loved David but did not know the power of God, so she leaned partly on an idol to save him.
- Told, not blessed. Scripture reports her trick and her second lie without approving either. Recording a sin is proof of honesty, not approval.
- Delivered. Saul's trap became David's rescue, and the night produced Psalm 59, where the credit goes to God as his defence. The attacks on David also foreshadow the attacks later made on the life of Christ.
And Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, He is sick.
Saul's men stand at David's own door, and the word that meets them is that the man they want is ill in bed. Who really lay there? And how did God keep His anointed alive while armed men watched the house?
Saul's hunt had moved from the throne room into David's bedroom. Notice what the king now calls his own son-in-law.
Michal did not get what she wanted by telling Saul's messengers that David was sick. Saul was so set on killing him quickly that he ordered his servants to carry David to him in his bed. Of course they then found out the trick, and Saul was angry with his daughter for helping her own husband! Instead of calling David her husband, Saul calls him "my enemy," which was not true, for David had no hatred toward Saul.
The shape under the covers was a teraphim — a household figure. One writer explains both what such an object was and how it came to be in the home of the Lord's anointed at all.
This passage also shows us that there was an image — a teraphim — in David's house. David did not worship it, but its presence shows that he put up with it. Strictly speaking the teraphim was not an idol, and Scripture keeps the two apart… It ranks below an idol. It is a kind of household god. People treated it as important and even asked it for guidance at times. Superstitions like this soon lead to real idols… Often a believer lacks the energy to clear such traps out of his family… Michal, Saul's daughter, had clearly brought the image into David's home, and so she became a snare to the man of God.
Michal's words at the door were a lie, and another lie followed. One writer asks what it means that the Bible reports them at all.
God had forbidden such images, yet people used them in secret (Judges 17:5; 18:14). Michal's image must have been fairly large; she laid it in the bed and then told the messengers, "He is sick." When they uncovered the trick, she lied again and said that David had threatened her life. Scripture records these wrongs, and that is one proof of how honest it is — yet it never approves them. In every attempt on David's life we see a foreshadowing of the attempts later made on the life of our Lord.
Michal wanted her husband alive. Commentators differ over how serious the object in the bed was; this writer calls it plainly idolatrous, and asks what Michal was trusting in.
Michal, to buy time for David, had put a "teraphim" in his bed (v.13). This was an image in human form, idolatrous in itself, yet Israelites too often used it alongside the worship of God. Poor Michal! She did not know the power of God, and she had no real faith in His faithfulness. She thought she had to put at least some trust in idols! But any of us can quickly become expert at deceiving people.
Her brother Jonathan faced the same father and chose a different way.
Michal escapes her father's anger by acting as though she were one of David's enemies, forced by his threats to let him go: "He said to me, 'Let me go. Why should I kill you?'" (v. 17). How different her heart is from Jonathan's, who openly defended the one he dearly loved, at his own risk and danger.
David's rescue did not rest on the quality of the people who helped him.
God is never limited in His resources. So He had others besides Jonathan to help His persecuted servant. Michal's trick let David escape when Saul would have murdered him in his bed, and Samuel sheltered him at Naioth when his own home was no longer safe.
While Michal spoke at the door, David was doing something else.
The account in this chapter has its counterpart in Psalm 59, written "when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him." While Saul's messengers, violent men gathered against him, went around the city through the night, David was lifting his heart to the Lord in prayer. He looked to Him for rescue (vv. 1-2), sure that He would be gracious to him (v. 10). They wanted his life not for any wrong or sin of his, but because he belonged to the Lord.
- Danger — Saul's hatred followed David from court to camp to his own bedroom. The king now called his loyal son-in-law "my enemy," though David bore him no hatred.
- Prayer — while armed men circled the house, David asked God to rescue him. They hunted him for no wrong of his, but because he belonged to the Lord.
- Rescue — God is never short of resources. When Jonathan could no longer help, Michal's trick and then Samuel's shelter at Naioth kept His servant alive.
- Flaw — Michal loved David, but she did not know the power of God. The figure she laid in the bed was a household image, tolerated in the home of the Lord's anointed.
- Verdict — Scripture records both lies without ever approving them. Every attempt on David's life points forward to the attempts made on the life of our Lord.
And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may put him to death.
Saul's messengers come back with word that David is too sick to move, and the king answers: carry him here, bed and all. The excuse meant to buy time only proved how fixed Saul's purpose was, and it raises a question: who was guarding David that night?
Michal's story about David's illness should have stalled the arrest. Saul's reply shows the man giving the orders.
Michal did not gain what she wanted by telling Saul's messengers that David was sick. Saul was so determined to kill him quickly that he ordered his servants to bring David to him in his bed. Then, of course, they discovered the trick, and Saul was upset with his daughter because she had helped her own husband. Instead of calling David her husband, Saul calls him "my enemy," which was not true, for David had no hostility toward Saul.
David was already gone, and Saul kept hunting.
David runs away. Saul shows that this was not a passing burst of feeling, but the return of that relentless hatred which had a settled purpose.
Saul already knew whom God had chosen. That knowledge fed his hatred instead of cooling it, and it made the quarrel bigger than one man.
He knew that the kingdom had been given to David by God, and he hated him all the more. It was rebellion against God, as well as hatred of David. It was the enmity of man's king against God's anointed — the same feeling that said, when Jesus, the true Heir, came, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance."
Psalm 59 names this night in its opening note: "when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him." It lets us hear David's own voice.
Saul's messengers, men of blood gathered against him, went round the city during the night. All that time David was lifting up his heart in prayer to the Lord. He was looking to Him for deliverance, sure that He would be gracious toward him. They were after his life not for any transgression or sin of his, but because he belonged to the Lord.
Saul had fixed a morning for the killing. David got ready for that same morning in his own way.
While Saul's messengers were prowling round the house, like dogs hungry for their prey, he was far from afraid. He looked on them with scorn and expected them to fail and be disappointed. Rejoicing in the power of the Lord and His mercy, he prepared a song for the morning that Saul had appointed for his death.
David's prayer that night stopped short of asking for Saul's death.
For the moment he is not asking the Lord to kill his enemies, or to kill Saul. The wicked king must stay alive until the patience of the Lord's anointed has done its perfect work. Later God will destroy the enemy to establish his reign.
The rescue came through Michal, and commentators differ on how to weigh what she did. Some stress that God was behind it:
Michal, moved by her natural affection for David, comes to his help in her own way, God using here the human feelings that stirred her.
Others stress that using her is not the same as approving what she did.
Michal used a trick. Like Rachel she owned teraphim, the idol-images so widely used among the Chaldeans and other nations. God had forbidden these, yet people still used them in secret (Judges 17:5; 18:14). Michal's image must have been fairly large; she laid it in the bed and then told the messengers, "He is sick." When the messengers discover the trick she lies again, saying that David had threatened her life. That Scripture records these wrongs is evidence of its honesty; but the Holy Scriptures never approve such things. In all these attacks on David we also see a foreshadowing of the attacks later made on the life of our Lord.
Saul's men came for the bed and found no David in it. That became the pattern of David's whole exile.
No one had been allowed to touch him; and though there was only a step between him and death, God occupied that step, and no one was allowed to harm him.
- Hatred hardens. Sickness was no obstacle to Saul; he simply ordered the bed carried to him. What looked like temper was a settled purpose that no excuse could deflect.
- Hatred aims higher than it knows. Saul knew God had given the kingdom to David, and hated him for it — the same enmity that later said of the true Heir, "Come, let us kill him."
- Hatred meets prayer. While the watchers circled the house, David asked God for deliverance. They wanted his life not for any sin of his, but because he belonged to the Lord.
- Hatred meets song. He prepared a song for the very morning Saul had fixed for his death, rejoicing in God's power before any rescue had arrived.
- Hatred meets God. Between David and death there was only one step, and God occupied that step. The messengers found only an image in the bed, because God let no one touch His anointed.
And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in the bed, and the net of goats' [hair] at its head.
Saul's men come back with a new order: carry David to the king, bed and all. They pull back the cover and find a dummy. Two questions follow. Why was an idol-image in David's house? And what do we make of the wife who saved him by lying?
Saul pushed harder, and the trick collapsed.
Michal did not get what she wanted by telling Saul's messengers that David was sick. Saul was so determined to kill him quickly that he ordered his servants to bring David to Saul in his bed. Then of course they discovered the deception, and Saul was upset with his daughter because she had been helpful to her own husband! Instead of calling David HER HUSBAND, Saul calls him "my enemy," which was not true, for David felt no hatred toward Saul.
The word behind "image" is teraphim. It was a household figure, and one of them sat in David's own home.
This passage also shows us that there was an image (a teraphim) in David's house. David did not worship it, but its presence shows he put up with it… A teraphim ranks a little below an idol. It is a kind of household god, treated as having some importance, and people even consult it at times. Such superstitions soon lead to real idols… Often a believer lacks the energy to clear these stumbling blocks out of his family. Each of us must watch this closely, even if, like Jacob and David, we credit them with no influence over our own life. It seems Michal, Saul's daughter, brought the image into David's household, and so she became a snare to the man of God.
Commentators differ on how serious the object was. One treats it as milder than a true idol. Another calls it plainly idolatrous and points to Michal's trust in it.
Michal, to gain time for David, had put a "teraphim" in David's bed (v.13). This was an image in human form. It was truly idolatrous, yet Israelites too often used such things alongside the worship of God. Poor Michal! She did not know the power of God, nor did she have real faith in His faithfulness. She thought she had to put at least part of her trust in idols! And any of us can become skilled at deception all too easily.
Caught out, Michal had to answer her father. She chose a story that cleared her and made David the threat.
Michal escapes her father's anger by acting as though she were one of David's enemies, forced by his threats to let him go: "He said to me, 'Let me go. Why should I kill you?'" (v. 17). How different her heart is from Jonathan's. He took up the defence of the one he dearly loved, in the open and at his own risk.
The Bible reports the whole episode without praising the method. One writer draws out what that honesty proves, and what the attacks on David point toward.
Michal used a trick. Like Rachel she had teraphim, the idol-images so widely used among the Chaldeans and other nations. The LORD had forbidden these, yet people still used them in secret (Judges 17:5; 18:14). Michal's image must have been fairly large; she laid it in the bed and told the messengers, "He is sick."… The Scriptures record these wrongs, and that is one proof of their genuineness; but the Holy Scriptures never approve such things. In all these attacks on David we also see a picture of the later attacks on the life of our Lord.
Men watched the house all that night. Psalm 59 carries a note tying it to that very night, and it shows what David was doing while they watched.
The account in this chapter has its counterpart in Psalm 59, given "when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him." Saul's messengers were violent men, banded together against David, and they went round the city through the night. While they did, David was lifting up his heart in prayer to the Lord. He looked to Him for rescue (vv. 1-2), sure that He would be gracious to him (v. 10). They were after his life for no transgression or sin of his, but because he belonged to the Lord.
When this escape route closed, another opened.
God is never limited in His resources. So He had helpers other than Jonathan for His persecuted servant. Michal used a trick to let David escape when Saul would have murdered him in his bed, and Samuel sheltered him at Naioth when David's own home was no longer safe.
- The image — the thing in the bed was a teraphim, a household idol; David did not worship it, but he tolerated it, and it came into his home through his wife.
- The tolerance — what a believer puts up with at home becomes a trap for the family. One writer urges us to clear such things out, even when we credit them with no power.
- The trick — Michal's trick got David out alive, yet she did not know the power of God, and she lied about him the moment her father turned on her.
- The contrast — Jonathan defended David in the open, at his own risk. Michal defended herself by making David out to be a threat.
- The Deliverer — Scripture records the trick without approving it. The real rescue came from God, who is never short of means, and David was praying to Him while the messengers watched the house. These attacks on David also foreshadow the attacks on the life of our Lord.
Then Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I slay thee?
Michal is Saul's daughter and David's wife. She has just been caught helping David escape. Now she stands before her father with an answer ready, and what she says about David never happened.
Saul had married Michal to David hoping the marriage would trap him. One writer shows how that plan backfired, and names the psalm it produced:
He gave his daughter Michal to be David's wife, and thought to trap him this way; but his wife became his deliverer. This is what brought out Psalm 59. He had faith that God would laugh at his enemies: God was his defence and the God of his mercy.
The escape needed a cover story. When the first one failed, Michal made up a second. One writer follows the lies, then draws two lessons from them:
Michal practised a deception. Like Rachel she had teraphim — the idol-images used so widely among the Chaldeans and other nations... She arranged it in the bed and then told the messengers, "He is sick." When they found out, she lied again and said that David had threatened her life. The Scriptures record these misdeeds, and that is evidence that they are genuine. Yet the Holy Scriptures never approve such things. In all these attempts on David we also see a foreshadowing of the attempts later made on the life of our Lord.
Her answer puts David in the wrong and makes her the victim. Set beside Jonathan, the difference stands out:
Michal avoids her father's anger by posing as one of David's enemies. She claims his threats forced her to let him go: "He said to me, 'Let me go. Why should I kill you?'" How different her heart is from Jonathan's! He defended the one he loved dearly, out in the open and at his own risk.
Her love for David was real, and so was the help she gave. The method is another matter:
Michal clearly loves David. But that love does not seem to come with genuine faith here. Still, we would not brand her as being just like her father. Her deception, which we do not excuse, is in some ways like the act of Rahab, who sent the spies away in peace. Yet she does not seem to be as loyal in heart as Jonathan. Still, her scheme shows at least her willingness to help her husband, and he escapes safely.
Her motive was simple human affection. God used even that:
Michal is moved by her natural affection for David. She comes to his help in her own way. God uses here the human feelings that stirred her.
Saul's own words give him away. He will not name the relationship:
Michal did not achieve what she wanted by telling Saul's messengers that David was sick. Saul was so determined to kill him quickly that he ordered his servants to bring David to him in his bed. Then, of course, they discovered the deception. Saul was upset with his daughter because she had helped her own husband. Instead of calling David HER HUSBAND, Saul calls him "my enemy." That was not true, for David felt no hatred toward Saul.
Years later David demanded Michal back. One writer reads her words here as a warning David should have weighed:
Michal had shown no faithfulness to David in 1 Samuel 19:17. She told her father that David had threatened to kill her if she did not let him escape from Saul. Why should he want her returned when she had proven undependable? Was it only his own rights he was thinking about?
- Rescue. Saul gave Michal to David as a trap, but she became his rescuer instead. Out of that came Psalm 59, where David is sure that God laughs at his enemies.
- Deception. She first said David was sick. When that failed, she invented a threat on her life. Scripture records such misdeeds without approving them, and the attacks on David foreshadow the later attempts on the life of Christ.
- Motive. Natural affection, not faith, moved her — and God still used those human feelings to save His servant.
- Contrast. She protected herself by posing as David's enemy. Jonathan defended David in the open, at his own risk. Commentators compare her to Rahab, yet they refuse to excuse the lie.
- Aftermath. Saul calls his son-in-law "my enemy," which is untrue. Michal calls her husband a threat, which is untrue too. David would meet that disloyalty again.