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knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord (Phil. 3: 8, 9). When the soul is knit to the Lord,
when we love Him as our own soul, then that love cannot be satisfied until it yields up its
all. We read in the next chapter that Saul also "stripped" himself. He had heard of
David's escape from the trap which he had set, and now, when he learned that David was
at Naioth in Ramah, he sent messengers to take him. These messengers, however, failed
in their errand and joined the ranks of those who were prophesying. This happened three
times over, so that eventually Saul himself went to apprehend him. But in verses 23 & 24
we read:
"The spirit of God was upon him also and he went on, and prophesied until he came to
Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in
like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night" (I Sam. 19: 23, 24).
Jonathan's act was voluntary, Saul's was involuntary. The A.V. reads: "He lay down
naked", but the margin tells us that the Hebrew is the word "fell", and refers the reader to
the case of Balaam in Numb. 24: 4--"Falling into a trance"--where the same word is
used. Neither Balaam nor Saul voluntarily obeyed the Lord. All men, whether prompted
by love, or driven by power, must one day recognize the Lordship of Christ. All men
must be stripped of self-righteousness, but all such stripping will not be voluntary and
will not therefore necessarily involve union with the Saviour. All men will at length
recognize their sinnership, but although Saul three times uttered the words: "I have
sinned" (15: 24, 30, and 26: 21), it was not a confession that accompanied salvation.
He did not forsake his sin or truly turn to the Lord.
The reader should examine for himself those sections indicated in the structure by
references to "the son of Jesse", "the sword of Goliath", and "the Lord's anointed'.
We shall have to pass these passages by without comment, so that space may be
found for the sections indicated by the letters E and E.
These two sub-divisions
occupy a very considerable part of the whole passage, namely, 18: 5 - 19: 17, and
21: 10 - 26: 25.
In chapter 18: we find that Saul's jealousy was aroused by the song of the women:
"Saul hath slain his thousands: And David his ten thousands" (I Sam. 18: 7). His first
attempt upon David's life was by a clumsy attack with a javelin. When this failed, he
planned, on two occasions, to involve David in battle with the Philistines--by making
this a condition for the winning of his daughter's hand, although he had actually
promised this as a reward for the destruction of Goliath. In this, too, Saul failed.
Not only did Saul make these two attempts upon David's life, but on two occasions it
is recorded that he realized that "the Lord was with David":
"And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed
from Saul" (I Sam. 18: 12).
And again, in verse 28 of the same chapter: