Tag Archives: 1 Samuel 18-20

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2024 Bible Study — Leaders Whose Desire Is to Serve God Do Not Worry About Others Getting the Honor

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 18-20.

After David defeated Goliath, as King Saul and his army, including David, returned to Gibeah, the women in the towns they passed through praised Saul, but praised David even higher.  King Saul became jealous of David.  Saul’s jealousy of David is evidence of his lack of faith in God.  If Saul had been a leader who put God first in his life, he would not have been bothered by someone else receiving greater honor from the people than he did.  A leader who is serving the Lord does not mind when others get the credit, or are seen as more important.  They are not even worried if it becomes obvious that someone else will replace them as leader.  A leader who is serving God only cares that the people they are leading also follow and worship God.   If they are the leader God desires for His people, God will keep them in that position.  If God removes them from that position of leadership, it is because God has someone better in mind for that position…and the leader who is serving God desires that the people they are leading have the best possible leader, even if it is not themselves.  On the other hand, David did not particularly seek honor, as evidenced by his unwillingness to marry King Saul’s older daughter.  It was only after Michal, Saul’s younger daughter, fell in love with David that he was willing to become King Saul’s son-in-law.  David sought to do God’s will and knew that he did not need to strive after the position God wanted him in because he knew that God would put him there when the time was right.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2023 Bible Study — Why Did David Refuse To Marry Saul’s Older Daughter, But Consent To Marry His Younger One?

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 18-20.

On a couple of occasions in this passage it says that an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul.  The idea that an evil spirit might be from the Lord bothers me, so I looked at the translators notes.  They mention that the word translated as “evil” might also be translated as “harmful”.  I am much more comfortable with the idea that a harmful spirit was sent from God upon someone.  Each time this spirit came upon Saul he attempted to kill David right then and there.  The implication being that when these incidents happened, Saul’s personality changed on a dime and he acted in a way uncharacteristic for him.  It struck me today that there seems to be a relationship between the occasions when the evil, or harmful, spirit came upon Saul and the times when he prophesied along with a band of prophets.  One of those latter times happened when Saul pursued David after David fled to Samuel.  However, a similar thing had happened after the first time Saul and met with Samuel before he became king.  I was really hoping that once I wrote about these things I would have some insight into all fit together, but that did not happen.

I had always thought that David was ambitious and that his reluctance to marry Saul’s daughter (first one and then a second one was offered to him as his wife) was because he was aware of Saul’s plans to use it against him.  Today, as I read this, I felt like David’s reluctance to become Saul’s son-in-law was actually out of humility.  Yesterday, I noted that David’s comments about Goliath to members of Saul’s army were perhaps meant to encourage someone to stand up to Goliath in the name of God.  In a similar fashion, it occurred to me today that David’s reluctance to become Saul’s son-in-law was because he genuinely did not believe he was a prominent enough person for that role.  Or, perhaps the reason that David was willing to marry Michal, when he had resisted marrying her older sister Merab was because Michal actually wanted to marry him, while Merab would only have done so because she had no choice.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2021 Bible Study King Saul, A Study In Bad Leadership

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 18-20.

The stories told here are recounted so as to communicate to us how God was with David, but they tell us some other things about both David and King Saul.  First, reading between the lines we can see that David treated those around him well, leading them to love him.  This led King Saul to be jealous of David, which tells us that King Saul did not treat people similarly.  Both Saul and David were charismatic people who others just naturally liked and looked to for leadership.  But as time went on, people came to fear King Saul, whereas David became ever more beloved (something which we see continue when he became king).  I think I have touched on this before, but I want to point out that King Saul’s behavior towards David (and as we later see towards others) reflects his abandonment of and by God.  Actually, it is even more than that.  King Saul had come to see his leadership of Israel as being about him, not about what was best for the people of Israel.  Leaders who see their position as being about what’s in it for them, hate and fear anyone else who is loved by the people, especially when that person focuses on the best interest of the people.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2020 Bible Study — Serving God When Those Above Us Mistreat Us

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 18-20.

Once again we can be thrown off by our modern way of writing biographies.  The compiler of 1 Samuel takes a story about how David came into favor with Saul and then fell out of favor and weaves it into his account as if it was just a continuation from chapter 17.  Having written that, it does not really connect with the lesson I think we should take from the passage.  As David became more successful serving King Saul, King Saul became more and more jealous of him and sure that David would one day usurp the throne.  Despite this, King Saul arranged for David to marry his daughter.  I would like to note that if David had married King Saul’s older daughter that would have been a clear political move.  Instead, David later agreed to marry Michal, who the passage tells us had fallen in love with him.  This suggests that David married Michal because he was attracted to  her, not because of the political power which came with marrying the king’s daughter.  That is important because it tells us something about David: the people around King Saul who cared for Saul also loved David.  Despite how badly King Saul mistreated him, David never became disloyal.  David only left King Saul’s court when it became obvious that if he stayed, King Saul would have him killed.  This does not necessarily mean that we should stay in situations where we are mistreated.  It does, however, teach us that we should not strike back at those who have authority over us and treat us badly.  If we continue to faithfully serve God in such trying circumstances, others will see and be inspired to serve Him as well.

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2019 Bible Study — David Remained Loyal To Saul Despite Saul Betraying Him

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 18-20.

Today we see the same insecurity which led King Saul to disobey God’s commands lead him to attempt to murder David.  Further we see the same loyalty to King Saul as God’s anointed king of Israel which David later displays when he refuses to kill King Saul.  King Saul perceives David as a threat to his own power and position because of David’s popularity with the people.  Saul attempts to use the ambition he perceives David to have to get rid of him.  By offering David his eldest daughter in marriage King Saul offers David an opportunity to have a legitimate claim to the throne as his son-in-law.  Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but it seems to me that David rejected King Saul’s offer because he did not want to increase the pressure on himself to go after the throne.  Later, after King Saul married his eldest daughter off to someone who was not a potential claimant to the throne, David agrees to marry one of Saul’s younger daughters.  Perhaps my theory is mistaken and David did not wish to marry Merab, Saul’s older daughter, because he did not find her attractive while he found the younger daughter, Michal, attractive, but I believe this passage and others indicate that politics played a role.  David did not want to be a rival to Jonathan, his friend and King saul’s heir, for the throne.

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2018 Bible Study — Anger and Jealousy Lead Us To Our Destruction

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 18-20.

    Sometime after David killed Goliath, Saul began using him for special missions. He was so successful on these missions that Saul made him a commander over a significant portion of his army. During this time, David and Soul’s son Jonathan became friends. David’s friendship with Jonathan was one of two things which should have made Saul realize that David was not seeking to take his throne. The other key factor thing was the fact that David turned down the opportunity to marry Saul’s oldest daughter, and initially turned down the opportunity to marry Saul’s daughter Michal. Saul’s jealousy and hostility to David reflects a style of ruling which played a major role in the downfall of Saul’s dynasty. It seems unlikely that David was the only successful commander whom Saul drove away due to fear that they would try to take his place. Not even the love his son and daughter had for David was lead Saul to rethink his hostility to him. Rather it fueled that anger and made Saul more convinced that David was a threat to him. While Saul, for awhile, had David play the harp to soothe his anger, he never took ownership of that anger and acknowledged that he needed to control it.

Daily Bible Study

April 4, 2017 Bible Study — Characteristics of Good Leaders

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 18-20.

    As David’s fame grew, Saul’s insecurity and jealousy grew with it. Saul’s reaction to David was the opposite of that of a good leader or ruler. A good leader would have been pleased to see David rising in competence, skill, and fame. He would see that as validation of his own skill in finding and grooming skills among his followers. Further, a good leader would be pleased to see someone like David among his followers who could advance the whole organization to the next level. Saul was more concerned about his own position than with the good of the people he ruled over. In this same passage we see Jonathan exhibiting those characteristics of a good leader which Saul lacked. Jonathan liked David because he saw that David was good for the people of Israel. At no point was Jonathan jealous of David. Rather, Jonathan was happy to see David succeed because that meant good things for the people over whom Jonathan had authority.

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April 4, 2016 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 18-20.

    Every time I read this passage I feel bad for Jonathan. All of the accounts we have of Jonathan portray him as a good man with great faith. Yet, because of his father’s failings, he died in battle so that David could become king. The contrast between Saul and Jonathan is interesting. Saul is jealous of David. He justifies his attempts on David’s life by stating that David will become king in Jonathan’s place. Yet, when Jonathan defends David, Saul attempts to kill Jonathan. Jonathan, on the other hand, recognized how God was with David and was willing to be second to David.

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    Another thing which always strikes me in these passages is Saul’s fits of rage. On one occasion, Saul attempted to kill David in a fit of rage, yet a short time later, David is once more in Saul’s favor and being assigned important tasks. In a similar manner, Saul attempted to kill Jonathan, his own son. Yet Jonathan remained his second in command and heir. I think these fits explain why Saul’s dynasty ended with him. However, I also believe that there is a connection between these fits and Saul’s failure to obey God described in earlier passages. It was Saul’s lack of trust in God which led him to have such an explosive temper.