Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.” So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped.
Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes.
— First Samuel 19:11-13
When David fled from Saul, he went to his house. Saul sent messengers to watch for him and kill him in the morning. David’s wife, Michal, warned him of their plot and let him down through a window so that he might escape (1 Sam. 19:12). She put an image in the bed in place of David and a cover of goat’s hair where his head would have been.
Why did David have an image in his home? In the Bible, such images are forbidden and usually are idols. It seems that a thing that God hates was used to save David’s life.
Adapted from David: After God’s Heart, page 57.
Tomorrow: “Seeking Refuge with Samuel (1)”