1 Samuel 14:20
And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture. And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
The deliverance at Michmash came through Jonathan, the king's son who feared the Lord, chosen as the instrument to deliver Israel. He was moved by a divine impulse to make a secret attack with only his armor-bearer, believing that the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few. His armor-bearer was also a man of faith and prayer, and together with earnest prayer they sought to know God's will. They set a sign to test it, then passed secretly down into the gorge between the armies and climbed by a difficult path to a cliff deemed inaccessible. Entering the Philistine camp, they slew the surprised sentinels.
Angels protected Jonathan and his armor-bearer and fought beside them. Their attack was followed by a miraculous earthquake, and the panic of the Philistines followed upon that assault. When Saul and his men assembled and reached the battle, the Philistines were already in confusion by the Lord's intervention. They did not recognize their own comrades but mistook one another for Israelites and enemies. Turning their swords against their own forces, they killed their own men, and there was a very great rout.
Saul and the Israelites with him then assembled and joined the fight while the Philistines were being routed. Israelites who had joined the Philistines and others who had been hiding came out and joined the pursuit. The fleeing Philistines suffered heavy losses as Israel pressed the pursuit. The defeat was the Lord's deliverance, displaying God's power and bringing glory to His name rather than credit to Israel's righteousness, valor, or wisdom. By it He kept Israel's enemies from boasting over God.
God gave this deliverance without giving Saul the honor of it, because Saul had disqualified himself by his presumptuous offering. God permitted the crisis with the Philistines to rebuke Saul's perversity and to teach Israel humility and faith.