1 Samuel 20–24
David lies, feigns madness, and flees Saul—was it sin? A 1 Samuel 20–24 study.
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Key Topics & Theological Discussions:
• Does David and Jonathan's new-moon strategy reflect a lack of faith or God-given wisdom? (1 Samuel 20)
• The descriptive vs. prescriptive distinction — and why we don't have to whitewash David to call him faithful
• Is deception always sin? Wrestling honestly with the Ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:16)
• Protecting innocent life: the Hebrew midwives, "the Nazis at the door," and Psalm 34's reflection on David feigning madness
• Subtlety vs. lying — Samuel, the heifer, and the sacrifice at Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16)
• The bloody consequences of deceit: the massacre of the priests at Nob
• Fear, faith, and whether David viewed his promised kingship as conditional (1 Samuel 21)
• What David taking Goliath's sword does — and doesn't — reveal about his spiritual state
• David's ragtag followers: the distressed, the indebted, the bitter in soul (1 Samuel 22)
• Keilah and the question of genuine contingency: does God speak of a future He never decreed? (1 Samuel 23)
• Fatalism vs. Calvinism, secondary causes, middle knowledge, and the divine decree
• A cut robe and a convicted conscience: David refusing to harm the Lord's anointed (1 Samuel 24)