October 2, 2019: Day 18 – I Samuel 18

There is a bit of a conflation of time here as David is seen as returning from killing the Philistine, whom we know to be Goliath, and the women are enamored with him and shout out that he has killed 10 thousand Philistines and Saul, the actual king, had only killed a thousand.  Needless to say this was infuriating to Saul, the king.  They aren’t giving me any credit.  Not that he deserved any credit, but he was the king after all, and he should get the credit whether he deserved it or not.

Saul had promised that whomever killed Goliath would marry his daughter and after one false start David did actually marry Saul’s daughter, Michal, and so becomes the son-in-law of the king, Saul.  As a result of this we see that Saul places him in charge over soldiers who every time they go out they conquer and they win a battle.  Instead of this pleasing  Saul because he now has less enemies today than he did the day before, he becomes afraid of David because he is becoming more and more powerful.  

Why is it that the success of others often is seen as a threat to us?  Why do we feel jealous or of less worth when others do something good?  Why do we evaluate ourselves at times based upon the strength or weakness of those around us?  The converse can also be true.   Why do we sense a twinge of excitement or joy when someone whom we feel is not our ally has a bad day or is facing a difficult time.  Look over Matthew 5:44 and rethink that approach.  

If you look at vs.29 you read that “Saul was David’s enemy from that time forward.”  David’s fame continued to grow, the Spirit of the Lord departs from Saul setting up a combustible atmosphere which can only end with the king losing his reign.  That is coming up.