Join Pastor Jack Hibbs as he delves into the powerful story of David and King Saul in 1 Samuel 19. Witness a tale of faith under pressure, loyalty tested by jealousy, and the spiritual conflict that arises when God’s will clashes with human insecurity. Discover how David’s reliance on God amidst threats and the ungodly ambitions of Saul offers timeless lessons for our own journeys of faith. As Jonathan becomes a peacemaker in the rift between Saul and David, there’s much to learn about friendship, trust, and divine purpose.
When a man or a woman has not got in their thoughts, they go nuts. You say, well, I’m sure they start foaming at the mouth and start chewing on trees. No, that comes later. They first make stupid decisions.
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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. What if 2026 wasn’t about doing more, but about knowing God more? This January, we’re featuring one of the most powerful and timeless books on Christian faith, Knowing God, written by J.I. Packer. Now, this classic has helped millions of believers move from knowing about God to actually knowing God personally. With deep biblical insight and heart-centered focus, Packer invites you to explore God’s character, his love, and what it really means to walk with him. It’s not a quick read. It’s a life-changing one. Start your year with truth that will reshape your mind, strengthen your heart, and deepen your faith.
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That’s Knowing God by J.I. Packer. Get your copy for a gift of any amount at JackHibbs.com. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called First Samuel and a message titled A Fugitive Faith. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and he was the first of its prophets. So here in Chapter 19, we’re going to see that David’s faith was under pressure. You see, King Saul, because of his own jealousy, he was out to kill David. But David, though loyal to Saul and to God, he’s got to flee for his own life and enter a long time of being tested in the wilderness, a time where faith not only thrives in times of comfort, but also in times on the run. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that David’s fugitive faith is in God’s hands, and it’s a time of trusting God even when circumstances feel hostile or threatening. David’s fight is not just a physical one, but it’s a spiritual one as well. This shows us that we also have got to rely on God, especially in times of trouble. Now, with his message called A Fugitive Faith, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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Father, we come and Lord, we ask that as we look to the chapter that’s before us in Samuel, we pray God that you would ignite our hearts to glean out of it what each individual here today, tonight, needs to hear. Lord, we know that your Bible tells us and warns us clearly that no scripture is given for private interpretation. But Lord, we know that you collectively work in and through your word to meet every person’s situation. So Father, this evening, we pray that you would lift from your pages this written word, eternal, these truths you have known forever. That God, you would wish, you would desire, you would have it be so that the Holy Spirit tonight would instruct us in a real, true relationship with God. And Lord, that if there’s anybody here tonight that does not yet know you personally, that tonight, somehow, through the word, through the message, Lord, you would call them. We invite you to do that, and we’ll be glad, Lord, to respond to your move, to your work. In Jesus’ name, amen. Why don’t you grab your Bibles and turn then to 1 Samuel chapter 19. 1 Samuel 19, and if you remember our time together, David, after having killed Goliath the giant, who stood somewhere between nine feet six and 10 feet four inches tall, from that time on, there had been a problem. And that problem was the girls throughout Israel pushed a song to the top of the top 10 list And that song was, Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens of thousands, or a lot of them. And so Saul, being the carnal man that he is, could not handle the fact that somebody was getting the accolades and the attention. It freaked him out. He’s the king. He’s the man. And in Saul’s eyes, he saw himself as a legend. And he motored about throughout the kingdom, consulting nobody but himself, calling all the shots, and would only go to say the prophet Samuel when in trouble, but was pretty much a man that would do his own thing. He was stubborn and he was self-willed. And if you remember, he was the king that Israel was never supposed to have. Did you know that? Israel… was to be unlike all nations on the face of the earth. All the other nations on the face of the earth had kings, had rulers. But God had decreed that Israel would not have a king. God had decreed that they would follow God, that they would listen to God, and that the people would be governed by God, and that Israel would be not a democracy, not a republic, not a A socialistic government, not anything of man, but it would be a theocracy that God would occupy the place of president, prime minister, and king. It was God’s country. It was God’s nation. But the people demanded, remember they cried out and they said, give us a king like all the other nations who can go in and out in front of us and fight our battles. And that’s where you make your first mistake. And that’s where the nation made their first mistake, to find a man to fight their battles. Saul was a man who didn’t care about God’s will. He didn’t consult God. So now we come to chapter 19 of 1 Samuel, and we enter into a portion of scripture where Saul is on the last throws, as it were, of his lunacy. He’s insecure. Now listen, he’s insecure, he’s jealous. He’s rejected God, so God’s rejected him. Now, because of the rejection of God, because God was rejected by Saul, now an evil demonic spirit is tormenting Saul. Now the guy is as whimsical and unpredictable and capricious as a Saddam Hussein. The guy is whacked out because of insecurity and because of jealousy. That will do it every time. And on top of it, he’s a man in authority and power. Oh, Lord, that’s a terrible combo. A man in power who’s insecure. That’s a scary thing. And history is riddled with lunatics like that. Herod the Great, 4 feet 11 tall. The Roman Empire said it was safer to be Herod’s dog or his pig than to be his wife or his children. He killed them all because he felt that they were threatening his realms. Terrible. Well, 1 Samuel 19. The scriptures tell us here, verse 1, we start here. It says, Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard until morning. and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe I will tell you. We’ve learned about Jonathan’s love for David. David’s love for Jonathan. Jonathan being the son of Saul. And as this story begins to unfold, Jonathan is a man, you can mark it down in your margin, is a godly, wonderful, holy man. How he came from the loins of Saul is hard to imagine. but he’s a godly guy and he loves David. Jonathan looks at David and sees the integrity. And if you remember how when David killed the giant and how David conducted himself and how David went out on battles, remember our last time together, David went out, Saul was trying to get him killed. So he sends David out to go get 100 foreskins as a dowry for the wedding of Michal, his wife or to wife to be. David comes back with how many? 200. And Jonathan sees this guy’s incredible enthusiasm. You’d have to have enthusiasm to bring back 200 foreskins. We’ll be moving right along. But Jonathan sees this soldier, this warrior, this man of God, and his heart’s knit to him. He sees a character in David that’s in some ways much like his own, but nothing like his father, Saul. And there’s a unity there. There’s a connection. The character of Saul, pathetic. The pathetic thing, as we advance through this chapter, Saul is getting worse and worse, but he justifies his position more and more. And when somebody is like that, you can’t tell them anything. because they’ve justified their weird view of other people. They have rehearsed, listen, people who are like this will create in their mind a falsehood or a false scenario. They will rehearse it so much in their head that it will become reality to them and they’ll die at the stake defending a lie, a propaganda to self that they’ve created. It’s for them reality now. Saul is crazy. And somehow I believe he’s convinced that David is a detriment now to the kingdom. But he’s the only one who sees this divine revelation. You see, it’s all wrapped in God. It’s all wrapped in religion. I’ve got this view. God spoke to me. And I’m supposed to tell you that you are this or you are that. And Saul would love to convince his forces and his son that David’s an evil man. that David must die. That’s how the flesh works. Don’t ever… As far as I know, this is an original quote. God must have given it to me. It’s one of the first few original thoughts I’ve ever had in my life. But it came at a time when I needed it, and God gave it to me, and it was this. God told me, Jack, don’t ever underestimate a man’s ability to justify himself. A man will go to great lengths to justify his own self. He’ll lie, cheat, steal, and murder to justify himself. And that’s the heart of Saul. Jonathan, what a wonderful man.
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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
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Verse 4 says, Thus Jonathan spoke well of David. Can you imagine David hearing this? Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David. Now this is the son counseling the father. This is heir to the throne speaking to the occupier of the throne, Saul. Number one, mark it down in your Bible because number one, he has not sinned against you. Come on, dad, back off. He’s not sinned against you. That’s the first consideration you need to realize. Christian, listen up. If someone’s out pursuing you, if they’re against you, if like David, his faith is going to have to become a fugitive faith, he’s gonna have to run from Saul now for a long time You may be running from somebody because they’re after you unjustly. They may be after you because you deserve it. I’m not talking to you about that. I’m talking about somebody being after you because you don’t deserve it. They don’t like you because maybe God’s using you or because they’re jealous of you or because of who knows what. Then Jonathan, by the Holy Spirit tonight, speaks to you. If you’re jealous or they’re jealous, one or the other, whatever the case might be, number one, He’s not sinning against you, so come on, Dad. Number two, his works have been very good toward you. Listen as Jonathan builds his case. Verse five, third consideration. For he took his own life in his hands. Dad, he risked his own life to fight all these Philistines. Remember, he risked his own life to fight the giant. He killed the Philistine. You see that, number four? Found in verse five, he killed the Philistine. You know who that is. And the fifth argument, the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all of Israel. Sixth argument, you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood to kill David without a cause? So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan and Saul swore as the Lord lives. Oh, mark this down. It’s another empty vow. As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed. Then Jonathan called David and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was in his presence as in times past. You got to see the scenario. All of the players, the three of them, they live in real life today. Number one, you got the lunatic Saul. Number two, you got the guy that’s being pursued. That’s David. In the middle, can you hear it? Can you feel it? You got the Jonathan. Don’t you feel it? Jonathan’s the guy who will go to any length whatsoever. He’s a peacemaker. He’s so sweet about it, though. He hears his dad. His dad makes another empty vow. Oh, as the Lord lives, no harm will come to David. He’s not going to die. Great, dad. He goes and gets David and says, see, you guys can make up now. It’s okay. He’s so hopeful. His heart is right. But it’s not going to work out that way. Jonathan means well. This is yet another indictment against Saul. David is right on. Saul heard that from his son. Jonathan is right on. And you would think with these witnesses… that right then Saul would pause and examine and consider and draw a conclusion based upon reason. You know, you guys are right. And you say, well, Jack, yeah, how come he didn’t do that? I mean, Jonathan makes a great argument. You guys, a couple of chapters ago, we heard a haunting declaration by Samuel saying, God removed his spirit from Saul. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? In Old English, the definition of insanity was a mind without God. When a man or a woman has not God in their thoughts, they go nuts. You say, well, I’m sure. They start foaming at the mouth and start chewing on trees. No. No. That comes later. They first make stupid decisions. They start erring in logic. Logic’s from God. When a man is nuts, when he’s insane, by virtue of rejecting God, he has ill logic. Norman Geisler said years ago, and I love it, that man dies, man dies when God dies. And he went on to explain himself. Man dies when God dies. You say, what does that mean? How can God, God doesn’t die. You’re right, God doesn’t die. It’s true. But in the mind of man, in the mind of a man, God can become as good as dead to that man. The moment that man has God dead in his mind, then that man will go kill another man. Man dies when God dies in the mind of a man. Isn’t that true? In Saul’s mind, God is so far away. He’s powerless. Jonathan, he’d do anything to make up. David, David’s learning. Put yourself in the shoes of David. Put his robe on as you go through this. He’s learning more and more about human life, about authority, about God. And that’s where you and I are right now in our lives. We’re learning more. Isn’t some of it painful? Isn’t it painful? Like David will find out that his own familiar friend will lift up his heel against him when David writes of that regarding Ahithophel. That’s coming. So how can a friend turn in another friend? How can a friend turn on another friend? Happens every day. It’s painful, isn’t it? It’s tragic. And so Saul says, oh, you won’t be killed. Verse seven, then Jonathan called David and Jonathan told him all these things. Look, my dad’s cool with you. Everything’s fine. And so David enters back into the presence of Saul. Remember, by the time we’ve reached this verse now, he’s already, Saul has already thrown the javelin at David before. I don’t know how you, how does that sit with you? Can you imagine going into your boss’s office and while you’re not looking, he goes, hey, can you pour me a cup of coffee? And you pour the cup of coffee in. Oh, what’s that? Oh, fly on the wall. Fly on the wall. Well, you look like you’re aiming at me. Oh, it’s nothing. You think twice about going to that office. Well, verse eight, and there was war again. in the kingdom, in the realm. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a mighty blow and they fled from him. Here you go again. Here comes another album. They’re going to start singing. Saul has killed his thousands, but David kills tens of thousands. God blesses David at battle. David goes out, fights against the Philistines, whips them. That’s Israel’s archenemy. And not only that, not only whips them, but the ones that survived are hightailing it out of there, running. You can hear their armor, their jettison, everything, so they could run faster. And they’re out of there. And David and the army returns back and everyone’s just, praise God, this is tremendous. And what do you think Saul will do? All right, that’s my boy. Every bit of good news that comes into the life of David, Saul’s going to hate him more. Jealousy and insecurity. Evil hearts. God’s hand, though. You know what verse 8 means? God’s hand is obviously on David. Okay? Okay? And by the way, when righteousness advances, friend, listen carefully. When righteousness advances, evil will not be far behind. This is a great thing in verse 8. So expect this. Evil will not be far from you. Far from David. Christian, listen up. I do mean this to be encouraging to you. I don’t mean this in any… condescending way by no means. But for those of you, for those of us who are on what we would call frontline ministry, those of you who are in the call and worship and children’s ministry, and you’re serving in the church, parking lot service, all these things, security service, whatever you’re doing for the Because if righteousness is advancing, evil will not be far behind. It will be nipping at your heels. But here’s the thing. We all struggle with this. Every time in my life, I would assume in your life, when there’s an opportunity to advance the kingdom one more step. And have you all learned, have we all learned that it’s one step at a time? It’s just a bunch of little steps in a battle, but eventually you get to the end.
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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called A Fugitive Faith. Thanks for taking the time to tune in today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called First Samuel. It’s a series that highlights the prophet Samuel who was called by God during one of Israel’s darkest times to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack Sandy writes in and says that she wants to thank you for your bold teaching of the word. It helps her to renew daily. She says, we need you in New York. It’s so sad that the South has so many ministers and the Northeast is a wasteland spiritually. And we’re going to keep you and yours in our prayers. That comes from your sister in Christ, Sandy. I got to attest to that. You’ve been to the Northeast. It’s amazing how it really is at times, it feels like a spiritual wasteland, whereas you go down into the southeast, it’s like churches on every block.
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Yeah, it’s very true. I’ve experienced it myself. Here’s the good news. In this age of modern technology, you can now equal that all out.
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You can level that all out through the media that there is via Facebook. Facebook or Instagram or streaming or teaching channels, YouTube. It doesn’t matter now. Actually, if you’re on the moon and you’ve got a link, you could actually hear a Bible study. But I do know what she means, Davey. There is a drought in the northeast that is something that is visible and you can feel it.
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That said, aren’t we grateful to the Lord that he’s allowed technology to fill that gap and that void? So, Sandy, stay at it.
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And what you could do is share others the link that you listen to us on and invite them to join you, as it were, online.
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But we’re just grateful, Sandy, for your love and for your support.
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So this just hopped into my head. Do you remember the— The astronauts that were stranded in space on the space station? Oh, yeah. The man, there was a man and a woman, he went to church every Sunday, he said.
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Remember that? Yes, that was just recently.
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Yeah, so you really can be anywhere and go to church.
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That’s very good, Davey. I wish I would have thought of that. That’s good.
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Hey, you know, if you’d like to drop a note of encouragement to Pastor Jack, that’d be awesome. He’d really love to see what you have to say about him and how his ministry’s affected your life. So please do that. Go to the Connect tab at jackhibbs.com. That’s the tab labeled Connect at jackhibbs.com. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
