After David killed Goliath, King Saul loved him, for a great deliverance was won for the nation of Israel that day. But his admiration was short-lived. As soon as the maidens began singing of the victory and attributing to King Saul mere 1000s of dead enemy soldiers while crediting David with 10,000s, Saul became unreasonably jealous. No doubt this was due to his fear of losing his throne, for Yahweh had already rejected him and told him He was choosing someone better than him.
A number of events, in which Saul attempted to murder David himself, or put him in a precarious position such as to cause his death, had happened which, despite Saul's evil plans, ironically exalted David in the eyes of all Israel and Judah, and which stoked the fires of Saul's jealousy even more.
Finally, one night, Saul stationed men outside David's house to murder him in the morning, but Michal, David's wife and Saul's daughter, helped David escape through a window, even though she falsely blamed David to keep herself out of trouble with her dad.
David fled to the prophet Samuel. Sometime during all this David wrote Psalm 59, for the title of the psalm reads, "For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Saul sent soldiers to watch David's house in order to kill him. To be sung to the tune 'Do Not Destroy!'"
The first 4 verses match the stated title's context perfectly:
1 Rescue me from my enemies, O God. Protect me from those who have come to destroy me.
2 Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers.
3 They have set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there waiting, Lord, though I have not sinned or offended them.
4 I have done nothing wrong, yet they prepare to attack me. Wake up! See what is happening and help me!
In that psalm, David prays something very interesting that gets fulfilled in a curiously strange and quite humerous way. He prays against his pursuers, saying in verse 11:
"Don't kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield."
The answer to this prayer happens while David is with the prophet Samuel. For while he is safely there, Saul finds out and sends soldiers to arrest David but let's see what happens by reading 1Samuel 19:19-24:
19 When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy. 21 When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time. 22 Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. "Where are Samuel and David?" he demanded. "They are at Naioth in Ramah," someone told him. 23 But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth! 24 He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel.
Thus, quite literally, God protected David from the murderous rage of King Saul by fulfilling David's words: "[not] kill[ing] them... [but by]... stagger[ing] them with [His] power, and bring[ing] them to their knees..."
Even in such life-threatening circumstances, the Lord is not without a sense of humor in His means of faithfully answering and delivering His own.
