Saul’s Jealousy Of David

 1 Samuel  18:1-19:24                                                                                                    Lesson 11

Key verse 18:16                                          By Kevin E. Jesmer 4-30-15

“But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them on their campaigns.”

This passage deals with Saul’s tragic life tormented by evil spirits, and how God began to train David and mold him as a man after God’s own heart, through Saul’s persecution.  Everyone loved David–with one exception, Saul. When King Saul heard the women singing David’s praises, jealousy overcame him. The Spirit of the Lord left Saul. From that time, to the end of his life, he hated and feared David. When he became jealous of David, an evil spirit entered him and he tried to kill David. How can that be? Who would ever want to kill loyal and courageous David? When the Spirit of God leaves people anything is possible. But God was always faithful to protect David. Through this passage may God give you his Spirit so that you may love and not hate and may he protect your heart from the demon of jealousy. May you also experience and trust God’s protecting hand, as you serve him, growing through every hardship of life.

Part 1: Saul’s Fall From Grace

First, let’s reflect on Saul’s fall from grace. Saul was a handsome man, a head taller than all other men. He was a pleasant young man, obedient to his father. He had some humility to him as well, for when Samuel revealed that he intended to make Saul king of Israel, Saul said that he was the least man from the least clan of all the clans of Benjamin. (9:21) When Samuel went to Mizpah, to anoint Saul as king before the people of Israel, Saul hid himself among the baggage. He acted as if he were a truly humble man. Saul initially seemed to be an ideal man to be king of Israel.

But his human qualities were not enough to lead God’s people. He needed God’s help and the transforming power of the Spirit of God. In the initial stages of his reign, some people did not have confidence in Saul, as the Ammonites rode rough shot over the Israelites (10:27-11:1). But God would change him and he would gain the peoples’ confidence. At a critical moment, the Spirit of God came upon Saul in power. (10:9; 11:6) He drafted people from all over Israel and made a fighting force gather as one man. Blessed by the Spirit of God, Saul rescued the city of Jabash from the hand of Nahash the Ammonite. The people were very happy. They rallied around Saul as their king.

Soon after Saul seized power as king, he became proud and foolish. He did not fear God. He ignored the words of God. When the Philistines besieged Israel, his people became fearful and apprehensive and most of them were looking for hiding places. When Saul saw that their situation was critical, for the sake of saving himself, like superstitious people do, he did something he should not have done. He offered up the burnt offering himself, violating the priestly office. (13:8-10)

God had no other choice, but to abandon Saul. He sent his servant, Samuel to deliver the message that the Lord had abandoned Saul as king and sought a man after God’s own heart, for Saul had not kept the Lord’s command. (13:13,14) Yet, God gave Saul a second chance, to completely destroy the Amalekites, in the hope of restoring his position. But Saul did not obey God again. (15:1-35) What happened when Saul was rejected by God? The spirit of the Lord departed from him, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. (16:14) When it comes to leadership, it doesn’t matter how one looks, or how “humanly” humble they appear. What matters is their fear of and love for God and their desire to obey him in the tough times. Saul lacked these qualities.

Part 2: David Was Loved By All People

In contrast to Saul, all people of Israel loved David. Their love for David reached from the top to the bottom. Jonathan, the king’s own son became one in spirit with David and loved him as he loved himself. (18:1) Not only Prince Jonathan, but also Princess Michal, the youngest daughter of King Saul, fell in love with David with just one glance. In everything he did, David had great success because the Lord was with him. All Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns. (18:14-16) The young David became a national hero and the focus of love of his people. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. How did David become such a great man?

First, David had courageous faith in God. In chapter 17 we learn that all the people of Israel were harassed by Goliath, the Philistine champion, when he challenged them to come out and fight. None of the Israelites dared to challenge Goliath. All of them trembled in fear, not because they had no soldiers, but because they had no faith. But David, full of faith and love for God, came to the front lines of the battle field on an errand from his father to see if the brothers were well. He found in thier situation, that no one was willing to challenge Goliath. So he volunteered to fight Goliath in a dual. King Saul wondered what this young man would do to the giant, Goliath.

David revealed the basis of his immense courage. David said to Goliath, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from this Philistine.” (NIV; 17:36, 37a) David thought he would rather die than see Goliath defy the armies of the living God. David believed in God, that God would rescue him from the hand of Goliath as he delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. He trusted in God, because God had come through for him again and again. When the boy David confronted Goliath, Goliath looked down on him, saying, “You are a mere boy with a stick.” Then David retaliated, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (17:45) He stood up so boldly to a national enemy and defeated him! The people of Israel loved David because of his courageous faith.

Second, the Spirit of God was with David. 1 Samuel 16:3 reads, “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came on David in power. Samuel went on to Rama.” The young David could not be such a courageous man of faith with his own strength. But when the Spirit of God came upon him in power, the power of God enabled him to overcome his fear and confront the ferocious Goliath. The people of Israel loved David because he was a man on whom the Spirit of God rested. Generally, people like people of outward beauty and wit, with lots of money. But we must know that people admire people of courageous faith, led by the Spirit of God more than anything. Through such a person God is glorified and through whom God’s blessings flow. Such a quality comes from God. (2 Tim 1:7)

Part 3: Saul’s Jealousy Of David (18:1-19:24)

At first, King Saul was moved by David’s heroic feats. He admired David and gave him a high rank in the army and the privilege of eating at the king’s table.  But one event made King Saul angry. When the soldiers were returning home from battle, after David had killed Goliath and led the Israelite army to defeat the Philistines, the women came from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. The women sang a refrain, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” This refrain angered Saul. He could sense the David was greater in the peoples’ eyes than he was. The women’s praise of David drove him crazy. From that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (18:9) When King Saul became jealous, because of women praises, an evil spirit of God came upon him in force. Saul lost control of himself and in the dining room of the palace and hurled the spear toward David to pin him to the wall, not just once, but twice. Men often times compare themselves with other men and struggle with a competitive attitude that set them against each other. Living in jealousy is not a good thing. Why not appreciate and encourage God’s work in other people instead of struggling with them instead?

When Saul was possessed by an evil spirit, he was fearful. He was afraid of David because he realized that the Lord was with David. (18:15) So Saul promised David that he would give his older daughter to him in marriage on the condition that he would serve him bravely, fighting the Philistines once more. This was Saul’s plot to kill David by the hand of the Philistines. (18:17) David refused the offer. Later, Saul offered Michal, his other daughter to David in marriage. He sent him into battle telling David to retrieve something that would put his life in eminent danger. Being persuaded to become the king’s son-in-law, David and his men went out, face the danger and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought 200 Philistine foreskins and presented them to the king and Michal became his wife. Saul’s plan didn’t work. In fact it backfired. David as now his son-in-law and he became even more popular among the people.

Saul’s jealously didn’t end there. He was determined to see David’s life ended. Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David. (19:1) Jonathan informed David that his father was going to kill him. At the same time, Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to the king, ““Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?” (NIV; 19:4-5) After listening to Jonathan, Saul promised that he would not kill David. But Saul was totally out of control. An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as the spear struck the wall. That night David made good his escape. (19:9,10) Saul sent his men to kill David while he was sleeping. But Michal, David’s wife, rescued him. God was protecting David against Saul’s best efforts to annihilate him.

When David made his escape, he went to Samuel, the servant of God, first, and told him all that Saul had done. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah.” So he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they also prophesied. Saul sent a second group and a third group to Naioth to kill David, but they all appeared “high” and began to prophesy. Finally, Saul himself went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon him and he got so high that he stripped off his robes and began to prophesy before Samuel. Saul was not able to destroy David as long as the Spirit of God was with David for God was with David and was protecting him for a great purpose.

Saul stripping off of his robes was also symbolic. It was God’s way of revealing that Saul was no longer fit to be King. Instead he was a demon possessed man. He was a slave of evil spirits. Once, he was anointed by God as king of Israel. He was blessed by God more than he had expected. But he did not remember the grace of God. As a result, the Spirit of God left him, and an evil spirit came upon him in full force. Then King Saul could not maintain his kingship. He became enslaved by jealousy. To become proud or disobedient to God is not a light matter. It opens our hearts to evil spirits. It robs us of all the good things that God has in store for us and brings trouble upon trouble in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It robs God of his glory.

In this passage we learn the importance having the right heart before God. When God blesses us we must maintain humility, thankfulness and an obedient mind. If we do not, evil spirits, such as the spirit of jealousy, will flood our hearts.  When this happens all is lost. We are no longer ourselves and we forfeit all of God’s blessings. We could even become enemies of God and a dangerous person to others, just as Saul became. But when we live as people of God, who are led by the Spirit of God, we can be sources of blessing to others. We can glorify God and be the object of affection to many, and most importantly to God himself. We must always remember that God is with a person who is controlled by the Spirit of God. But who can keep their hearts in such a disposition? We are so prone to pride and rebellion and vices of all kinds. We are prone to be like Saul. Possessing the right heart is made possible by the grace of God. He alone can protect our hearts and make us righteous. May God protect your heart and make you into person led by the Spirit of God, like young David.

Part l: David Was Loved By All People

1. In chapter 18, find the references to those who loved David. (1,3, 16, 20, 28; 13:14) Why did

everyone seem to love David? (17:36,37; 17:57-18:1; 18:5,16)

Part ll: Saul’s Jealousy Of David (18:1-19:24)

2. What did Saul think of David at first? (16:21-22; 18:5) What sparked Saul’s jealousy (18:7-

9) What was the cause of his jealousy? (16:14) What did he do? (18:10,11) What can we

learn from this? What would have been a better response? (Matt 5:43-44)

3. Why was Saul afraid of David? (12, 28-29) How did he plot his destruction? How did his

plot backfire? (12-30)

4. When Saul directly ordered David killed, how did Jonathan defend and protect him? (4-5)

With what result? (19:1-7) Why could Saul not control himself? What did he do? (6-10)

5. Who was Michal? How did Michal help David escape? (11-16) How and why did she

renege? (17)

6. To whom did David go when he fled from Saul? Why? (18-19) What happened to the

people who came to arrest him while he was there? (18-24) Why? What do these events tell

us about Saul? About the seriousness of jealousy? (Exodus 20:17)