David and Michal

1 Samuel 18-19

After the slaying of Goliath by David, David and Jonathan, the son of King Saul, became good friends but King Saul was afraid of David and David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him, All Israel and Judah loved David.

One day Saul said to David that he would give David his oldest daughter, Merab, to be his wife, but at the time when Merab should have been given to David, she was given to another. And Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and he was pleased about that because Saul thought that if he gave Michal to David, this might be a way to bring trouble to David. And so Saul sent word to David that before David could have Michal for his wife, Saul required him to kill 100 Philistines.

And so David and his men went and killed not 100, but 200 Philistines and when Saul learned of this, he gave Michal to be David's wife. And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal loved him, but Saul was even more afraid of David and became David's constant enemy.

Saul told his son Jonathan, and all his servants, that they should kill David, but Jonathan was David's very good friend, and he told David what Saul's plans were. And then there was war again and David went out and fought with the Philistines until they ran away from him, and one day Saul threw a javelin at David, but he slipped away and escaped that night. And so Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning:

but Michal, David's wife, told him "If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you shall be slain." So Michal let David down through a window: and he fled and escaped. And Michal took an image (probably made in the form of a man) and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goat's hair for his pillow and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said "He is sick." And Saul again sent the messengers to see David saying "Bring him up to me in the bed so I may kill him." And when the messengers were come in there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his pillow.

And Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me so, and sent away my enemy so that he could escape?" and Michal answered "He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill you?"

So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel and told him everything that Saul had done to him. And David and Samuel went and lived in Naioth.

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Note that Michal lied to Saul about why David was able to escape.. perhaps if your children are older you could discuss this..

Memory Verse: 1 Samuel 18:14 "And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him."

Questions:
1 Why did Saul fear David?
2 Who was the first daughter that Saul was going to give to David for his wife?
3 Why did Saul want to give Michal to David as his wife?
4 How did Michal help David to escape?
5 Where did David go after he escaped?

Answers:
1 Because David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him.
2 Merab
3 Because he thought that it might be a way to bring trouble to David
4 She let him down through a window and made an image and got a pillow of goats' hair to fool the messengers into thinking that David was sick.
5 He went and told Samuel about everything that had happened and they went to live in a place called Naioth.

Vicki Gross/Oct'04