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Theme: The LORD’s King is loyal to God’s people; honour him

Remember Saul and Jonathan’s military exploits. At the beginning of his reign, Saul mustered Israel to fight against and defeat Nahash the Ammonite (11:1-15). He then went on to fight against the Philistines (1 Samuel 13:1-4) where Jonathan boldly attacked an outpost resulting in widespread panic (14:1-15) and giving Israelite forces a chance to drive the Philistines from the land (14:16-23). Saul also fought valiantly against other enemies around Israel: Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah and the Amalekites (14:47-48).

Remember Jonathan’s loyalty and Michal’s betrayal. Jonathan was quick to recognise David as the rightful king (18:1-4). He loved David and assured him of his loyalty. He defended David’s name at risk to his life (19:1-7; 20:24-34) and went to encourage him when he was a fugitive (23:16-18). Michal by contrast lied about David and claimed that he threatened to kill her (19:17). She was unwilling to show loyalty to him when it came at a cost to herself.

Why would the shield of Saul be rubbed with oil (v21)?
Shields were typically covered in oil so as to prevent enemy combatants from grabbing hold of it in hand to hand fighting.