David's Preservation From Saul

    David must be king in the room of Saul; therefore none of the plans of his enemy can take his life. Yet, in general, he was providentially preserved ; in the very way in which God usually preserves his people. Saul cast a javelin at him: David escaped. Saul sent him on an errand, that he might perish among the Philistines: David executed the commission, and returned in safety. That the thing was providential, Saul himself was convinced. "And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David." Among the means of safety which Divine Providence prepared for David against the snares of Saul were the love of Michal, and the unexampled love of Jonathan. By the means of his wife and of his friend in the house of Saul, David was generally aware of the dangers that awaited him. These things were merely providential. How could David escape the wrath of the king, when even Jonathan, the king's son, was in danger of his life from his father, for his love to David? In reading the history of David's dangers and escapes from Saul, we read the history of the ordinary Providence of God. By this key we ought to unlock all the escapes of ourselves and the people of God. He who providentially defended David can with equal care providentially deliver us. Nothing is more erroneous, or more pernicious to the comfort of God's people, than to consider the deliverances of his people recorded in Scripture as being extraordinary or miraculous works, without any bearing on after times.