Introduction:
Overview:
The whole of chapter 18 can be summarised by the two words “Love and Hate”
The characters in this section of Scripture are all described and aligned based
on how they feel about the young giant slayer, David.
1-4 Jonathan, the firstborn son of Saul expresses his devotion, friendship and
love for David, the lastborn son of Jesse. The crown prince binds himself in a
covenant of friendship and loyalty to the shepherd turned cheese delivery boy
turned military hero.
Twice in that paragraph it says that Jonathan “loved him as his own soul.” (v1,3)
anam cara
!
Jonathan loved David
5 David continues on in Saul’s service full-time (he would not let him return to his
father’s home v2) and is put in charge of military detachments. And because of
God’s continual favour on him, he was winning victory after victory. This certainly
caused people to notice. It was “good in the sight of all the people and also in
the sight of Saul’s servants.”
So the men that David was leading looked at him with favour and love.
!
The soldiers loved David
6-7 The women of Israel were also quite fond of David, they sang and danced
about the victories of Israel, for much of the time period that 1 Samuel covers
Israel has been on the defensive against the Philistines and the Ammonites and
other hostile armies, and now, finally, it seems as if they have the upper hand.
They have something to sing about! and as they sang and danced, they
mentioned the king of Israel, and his chief commanding officer. Women in Israel
celebrate by singing songs of victory. (Exodus 15, [Bible in a year reading from
this week] ,Judges 11 etc) they are singing joyfully. When there is a victory that is
accomplished for you, you tend to sing joyfully. This is why Christians sing, on
earth and in heaven.
!
The Israelite people loved David.
8- until ch 31:6 Saul hates David.
From this moment until Saul’s dying breath he is consumed with hatred, anger,
fear, envy, jealousy and nearly every other negative emotion imaginable, and
they are all directed towards David. It becomes his all consuming passion to
destroy David.
In this chapter he tries to kill him with a spear (v11) through dangerous military
missions (v13) he tries to destroy him through emotional manipulation of his
daughters, he thinks that Michal (his younger daughter) will become snare to
David (v21), so he insists that she marry him.
He also comes up with a ludicrous dowery, specifically designed to put David in
harms way, “Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.” (v24)
V29 says that “Saul was David’s enemy continually” and thats the truth!
!
Saul hated David
20 - Michal, the daughter of Saul loved David.
We see that Saul doesn’t pay much attention to the emotions and desires of his
daughters, using them as tools to advance his aims. But the narrator / storyteller
of this story makes sure to point us in to the inner life of Michal. She really did
love David. (only time this is said in the OT) Later in the story we see that their
relationship really does get complicated and hard, but at this point she has a true
and sincere and pure love for her future husband. (v20,28)
!
Michal loved David.
30 - The Israelite people loved David. In battle against the Philistines he
protected the promised land, and the people who lived on it. His name was
highly esteemed. V30. “all Israel and Judah loved David” v16.
!
The Israelite people loved David.
So the overarching theme of this chapter is that David is rising in the estimation of
all that are around him. He was the neglected forgotten lastborn son of Jesse in
chapter 16, but now, after the events of ch17 his name is on the lips of all kinds of
people. He is sung about by cheerleaders, he is honoured and respected by
princes, he is cheered and saluted by soldiers, he is loved by his princess bride,
and more important than all of that, he has the favour of God upon his life.
The LORD was with David (v 12, 14, 28)
The opposite of the powerful king Saul is nothing compared to the empowering
support and anointing that David had from the king of Kings, the Lord of Hosts.
For the next decade of David’s life he will learn to lean on God for support in a
way that he never had to before. His preparation with the bears and lions taught
him to trust in God, his encounter as he stepped out to battle with Goliath taught
him to trust in God. Each of those were brief encounters, now for ten years, he
will lean on God like never before.
Theme - the crippling Envy of Saul.
There’s a cluster of negative emotions and sins that have settled deep in Saul’s
heart.
Desperate need for the approval of others, a painful insecurity that divides the
world into friends and foes, and a crippling jealousy and a murderous envy.
As I mentioned last week; Saul had no relationship with God at this point in his
life. God’s thoughts and estimation of Saul meant little to nothing to him. Because
God’s thought didn’t factor into Saul’s self-estimation, what other people thought
of him became chief.
The Apostle Paul said that 10 For am I now seeking the favour of men, or of
God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I
would not be a bond-servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
If we care deeply about what God thinks about us, then we will care very little
about what others think.
If we don’t care what God thinks about us, then we will care very much about
what others think.
Saul, the king, looks to his subjects for his approval and self worth.
Additionally, the song that the women were singing isn’t necessarily putting Saul
down.
Its a hebraic way of speaking, we see it throughout the OT. Amos ch 1-2 for three
transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not revoke punishment,
Proverbs 6, there are six things that the Lord hates, and seven are an
abomination to Him.
Start small_go bigger.
They are simply singing that Saul and David are an unstoppable team. David is a
mighty warrior, and he is faithfully serving his king, Saul.
But the shallow emotional and spiritual state of Saul is shown in the ease with
which he takes offence. They’re not putting him down, but yet he gets bent out of
shape. Also a good self assessment is good from time to time for individual
Christians; “how quickly do I take offence? Am I wounded easily? ”
Essayist David Brooks, picking up on contemporary psychological models for
clinical narcissism, notes that for the narcissist the self image is “the holy centre of
all that is sacred and right” this affects then how the narcissist receives criticism
and personal offence. “If someone treats him slightingly, he perceives it as a
deliberate and heinous attack. If someone threatens his reputation he regards this
as an act of blasphemy.”
Blasphemy is exactly the right word. The reason the offence is so all consuming is
that an attack on one’s god and one’s kingdom - the self image.
Remember; Saul doesn’t care about God anymore, yet he still worships He
worships himself.
As we worship God instead of ourselves, we will find the love of Christ that is “not
easily angered” but instead “keeps no record of wrongs.’ 1 Cor 13:5
So we see Saul’s self focus and insecurities come out.
But of course it is his envy that takes centre stage here and in later chapters.
What is envy?
Here is what what painter says it looks like:
Portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy; Jean Louis Théodore Géricault
(1791–1824)
Envy happens with a person lacks another’s characteristic, blessing, or ability and
either wishes that they had it, or wishes that the other person no longer had it.
Envy, says Joe Rigney, is a feeling of unhappiness at the blessing of others
Envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably, but there are differences
between the two emotions. Jealousy is the fear of losing something that is yours
to another person. While envy is the resentment caused by another person having
something that one does not have, but desires for oneself.
So, again, basically a feeling of unhappiness at the blessing of others.
The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause. - Baltasar
Grecian 17th century philosopher
An envious person finds themselves overwhelmed by emotion when they
realise or are reminded that someone else has something that they do not
have. It could be a physical possession or status or blessing.
Why can they lose weight so fast,
why are they married while I’m still single,
why did they get that promotion at work,
why did their marriage last while mine didn’t,
why do they always look so much better in photos than I do,
why does their kids brain work perfectly normal,
why does that person own a home while I still rent,
Why did they get asked to speak at that conference instead of me?
Why do they get higher marks on their exam when I studied harder?
There is nothing wrong with noticing something positive and desirable about our
neighbours, and working hard in order for us to achieve something similar. I know
of marriages that I want to imitate. I notice good things in them and I work to
implement them in my own life and home. Thats not envy, that is godly imitation.
Envy is more than desire Nelson Aldrich describes envy in this way: It begins with
the almost frantic sense of emptiness inside oneself, as if the pump of one's heart
were sucking on air.
The envious person is gasping and grasping for something to cling on to in order
to survive. There is a strong inward sense that what they have is not enough, they
need more.
Dante’s inferno pictured the envious in hell plodding along weighed down by
cloaks made out of lead, with their eyes sewn shut with metal wire. As grotesque
as this is, the reality is not too distant. An envious person is weighed down by a
self-imposed burden, there is a heaviness that comes from constantly comparing
yourself to other people. And, the envious man or woman does have their eyes
sewn shut. They are blind to the blessings that they do have. Yes, they may lack
a certain desired something, but they are blind to every other blessing that they
have, or, more importantly, what God is teaching them by what He is
withholding or postponing for them.
Aristotle defined Envy as the pain someone feels when they observe someone
else’s good fortune. I would add that it is often accompanied by feeling good
when someone else feels pain.
Galatians 5 lists the fruits of the spirit and then the works of the flesh, envy makes
that list, and I think you can see now.
To get free from envy remember that God is not stingy in blessings, He doesn’t
have a limited supply of them. He is called RICH in blessings. It will not run out.
And there is more for you.
Conclusion
Envy will kill you. It killed Cain (Genesis 4 ) , it killed Jesus (Mark 15:10). But a
God centred view of the world and your life is the cure.