Day 23: 1 Samuel 18:17–30

Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on (vv. 28–29).

Saul felt many things toward David, but the most consistent emotion was jealousy. Few experiences are more miserable than being the subject of someone’s unleashed jealousy. Perhaps the only thing worse is being the one in whom the jealousy rages. As we travel along, we will see some of the suffering that jealousy showered on the lives of both Saul and David.

We know, interestingly, that God reveals Himself to be a “jealous God” (Exod. 20:5). But His is a selfless jealousy motivated by love. He is jealous on our behalf—jealous for us to know Him, to be kept from evil, to be ready for our Bridegroom. Saul’s jealousy of David, however, was anything but holy.

In 1 Samuel 18, we see an amazing and disgusting picture of what jealousy can do in our hearts. Saul had promised his daughter to the man who would fight Goliath, so he offered his oldest daughter, Merab, to David. If David had been interested in social climbing, he certainly would have jumped at the chance, but he deferred. So Saul married Merab to another man. Michal, however—Saul’s second daughter—was in love with David.

The king hatched a plan. Possibly he thought that the Philistines would go to extra lengths to kill David if he was the king’s son-in-law. Saul offered Michal to David in marriage, but David had no dowry. So Saul took his plotting a step further:

Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam. 18:25).

So our David is married, having accomplished this daunting task. We know little about his bride Michal, but Saul considered the marriage a way to destroy David (v. 21). Can you imagine the evil in the heart of a man who would use his own daughter as a pawn in a personal vendetta? Saul obviously had high hopes that Michal would be the death of David, but David had something much greater than high hopes. He had a Most High God.