1 Samuel 18 vs 10-30

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verse 10

·    We covered the distressing spirit a few studies ago so I won’t revisit that now… Or maybe just a bit… Notice, no speak of the distressing spirit when Saul was with the people in the battle. Notice, no speak of the distressing spirit when Saul was trying to help David by giving him his armor. Notice when the distressing spirit comes upon Saul? After he has pouted. When he is in the flesh. After he has succumbed to his own blindness again.

·    Many would blame the dancing women or the would-be king for giving a cause to the distress upon Saul. No one is to blame other than Saul. And if you and I would go that path with our own selves, my how some would make incredible progress…

·    We’re also not told what this bit about prophesying means coming from Saul. This, however, is a solid proof text that prophesying is simply speaking forth truth and not always accompanied by signs and wonders or even wisdom from God. How do we know that? The Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and yet here he is prophesying…

·    The Pharisees prophesied. The high priest prophesied. The donkey prophesied… Anyone that utters the truth of the Word of God is prophesying. All truth that God would have us to know is contained in the complete and thorough and inexhaustible Word of God. Is there truth outside of the word of God? Sure. For example. The law is that all stop at stop signs. Is that true? Of course. Is it in the Bible? No. And that’s just a dumb example. The point is that folks pursue so much outside of the word of God and in so doing you may discover that cars stop at stop signs, great work! HA! But all prophesy is simply speaking forth the Word of God.

·    Now, when you are distressed, what’s in your hand? Saul, the blind, the unwise…, a weapon. Some, a beer. A cell phone with video after video or scroll after scroll. A credit card for some. When you are distressed, what’s in your hand? It’s a sure sign of your own maturity… How about a Bible? How about a pillow? Some that are distressed just need some rest. How about the hand of your spouse? There’s something the enemy has chipped away from us and completely taken from the up-and-coming generation. When we need connection, we turn to our phones rather than instigating a conversation with our spouse or with someone who loves God and loves us… Saul has a spear in his hand, very unwise…

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verse 11

·    Whatever you put in your hand you will use. Oh, it’s just a spear, it makes me feel a bit better about myself, but he ends up throwing it at someone who loves him, someone who has served him and is trying to serve him… It’s ridiculous. If the Word of God is in your hand, you’ll use it. If an article on how to connect with your husband or your wife is in your hand, you’ll use it. If a list of things that are encouraging to your wife that you should say is in your hand, you’ll use it… So many, so so many think they are so wonderful and so not the problem and yet man these things are so simple, and dude, you are the problem!

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verses 12 – 16

·    Saul demotes David. To his own addition to fear and to his own degradation. Terrible leadership. Absolute blindness. Foolish and unaware, and the source of all his troubles. Yet, I bet you can’t tell him anything without being opposed…, or having a spear thrown at you. Don’t Saul your situation. David behaves wisely, behaves wisely, behaves wisely and the Lord is with Him… Saul fears him…, and all Israel and Judah love him… Why? Because he has decided to lead well. Determined to not be blind but to be aware. Resolved even to his own hurt to shun foolishness and God is with him.

·    Now, the next couple of chapters are 10 years of David suffering. Living in caves, running from Saul…, that’s the cost. Saul lives in the castle for the next 10 years as a result of his behavior but he does so in a lesser form of himself… David lives the next 10 years in caves and on the run, and the Lord is with him. Which would you rather have…?

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verses 17 – 19

·    So, this is a bit of a trap. Saul is making good on his promise to give his daughter to whoever killed the Philistine, Goliath, but in the giving of his daughter there would be a price to pay. Dowry was required in that day for the hand of someone’s daughter in marriage. Dowry was something of honor and respect, relaying that she is certainly worth whatever price named by the father. A message from the to-be groom that he will pay a price, willingly sacrifice for the privilege of marrying her… Seems unfair to me. I’m standing up for men’s rights!! Women should pay to marry men! This is unfair! OK, off my soapbox!

·    Dowry was a sort of insurance policy in that day. A bit of pre-paid alimony. That if something goes wrong in the marriage and he writes her a certificate of divorce, as only the husband was permitted to do, then the dowry would take care of her the rest of her life, since her estranged husband would not be doing so. But here’s the trap. The more prestigious the family of the fair maiden, the higher the worth of the dowry must be… David comes from a poor family and would definitely not have the means to pay the dowry for Merab…

·    So, Saul sets it in his mind to request a dowry that would require the life of David… Setting him against the Philistines as we will see in the coming verses…

·    Now, check this out. Just a few moments ago, maybe yesterday, the day before, last week…, Saul was hurling spears at David and would have liked to pin David to the wall. And in his next breath he is offering his daughter. This is what my grandmother would have called, “low class.” Why? Because what Saul had done to David goes unacknowledged, undealt with, and unsettled. It’s low class. Low spiritual IQ. Low EQ (emotional quotient). This is not how you treat people.

·    If you have wronged someone, make it right. If you tried to make it right, or think you have made it right, and it’s still not right, go make it right again. Not fair, someone says, doesn’t matter. You’re the one that wronged them… Make it right, until its right.

·    Certainly, before you try to make nice. That’s how friendships are sunk. Not damaged…, sunk. Irreparable, friendship changing, or friendship ending damage. To be close to and trust restored with someone who will not put in the work to make right what they have done wrong, and even worse, to try and move on without doing so…, leaves a scar upon the character of the offender.

·    Oh, the mature can move on but there will never be a bond like before… Why? Only fools bond with low class character companions. There will always be a cautionary protective layer there…, and on the part of the mature, that is wise. So, make things right. Put in the work until it’s settled, then offer your daughter…  

·    Saul’s character is anemic. Seen in this trap he sets and also that he doesn’t fulfil his word. For some reason Merab is given to Adriel. And it was probably because Adriel was a better strategic advantage to Saul in terms of joining their families together… We aren’t told. But at any rate, Merab is not given to David…

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verses 20 – 21

·    Not sure what was wrong with Michal that Saul said that she would be a snare to David, however, we would see later in 2 Samuel 6:16, “Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” And then later we read, in 2 Samuel 6:23, “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” So perhaps Saul had watched her grow up and seen in her this bitterness that comes out eventually against David…

·    It brings up an interesting concept…, gents, before you ask her to marry you, perhaps it’s wise to meet with her father, yes to ask permission to ask for her in marriage, but also to ask him what it is you should know about his daughter, in terms of how he thinks she will be to her future husband… Pretty wise indeed!

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verses 22 – 24

·    Saul setting up David… His whole plan is to have David killed by accepting Saul’s invitation to marry his daughter through the required dowry…

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verse 25

·    What on earth is wrong with Saul? Not only is this a death sentence, but it’s a humiliation! For David to bring back the bodies of 100 Philistines is already enough of an insurmountable requirement, but to do this? Disgusting. Revolting. They didn’t have latex gloves in those days… What David would have to do would be demeaning and reprehensible. It may even ruin him in the eyes of the populous… The men at least would loathe him for this… And especially the Philistines because this was the mark of the Jew (circumcision)! Saul probably thinks he is clever, he is smart…, whatever he thinks of himself, he is disgusting…

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verses 26 – 27

·    David could have raised an issue with Saul that Saul could very well not get out of. Saul had already committed his daughter to David for the killing of Goliath. His dowry was a fifty-pound severed head! Not sure what to ascribe to David for this but he doesn’t exercise his right, he submits to Saul’s request…

·    And I don’t connect what David did to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:41, “Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” That’s not an appropriate connection in my perspective because we are talking about killing. Enemies, yes. Philistines, yes… But still killing. So, I can’t make the connection.

·    What David is doing however is brilliant. It is strategic. He’s probably not overthinking this, just doing what he believes he should do. Leaders are like that…, what he’s doing is taking control, showing control of his situation. Saul gives him a task, he over delivers. He is completing his own task, not Saul’s.

1 Samuel Chapter 18 Verses 28 – 30

·    So, there you go. Now you know that Saul didn’t fear David because David was the great and mighty warrior. Truly, so was Saul. Saul feared David because David wouldn’t, I submit to you he couldn’t, relinquish true power over him! Yes, he could order him around, but because David did have the Lord and because David did conduct himself wisely, Saul could never upper-hand him! This was the source of Saul’s fear.

·    People will manipulate you, exert explicit authority over you, even set you up to take a fall…, AND, I am confident that David is not overthinking any of this… He isn’t staying up every night charting out all the possible things he could do in reaction to Saul, he is simply ensuring his heart is securely and squarely aligned with God. If you do that, your wise navigation becomes almost effortless, and your success becomes inevitable.

·    I didn’t say painless… I didn’t say it becomes without battles and enemies…, but wisdom is known by her children. David steps into the challenges, he doesn’t avoid the blows of his enemy, he is able to take each one in stride and come back stronger…, that’s the result. And it will be the same with you.

·    If God shows David to be His favorite, if God does something with and in David that He won’t do in you, then God is a liar. Peter said in Acts 10:34, “In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality.” Galatians 2:6 says, “God shows personal favoritism to no man.” How is it that you avoid battles, discomfort, inconvenience, being shamed and outwardly controlled by others? Walk in the flesh. How is that you overcome evil with good…, and by overcome, I mean Saul saw that the Lord was with David. David slew the giant. David defeated the Philistines time and time again. David’s name because highly esteemed. David could not be upper-handed by Saul… Walk in the spirit. Wisdom says of herself in Proverbs 8:21, “I cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries!”