The battle between the Philistines and Israelites had just ended. David was victorious over Goliath. The Philistines had run back to their own country, not willing to be the servants of the Israelites. However, God had given them the victory through David.

Saul, upon seeing this, what does he do next?

• 1 Samuel 18:1-4
  1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
• Saul’s son would become best friends with David. He would give him his clothing, his sword. It was a sign that they were brothers for life.
• Saul would bring him into his own house. He would not return back to his own place anymore to take care of sheep. He would be the armourbearer of Saul and lead in the battles. His quiet life as a shepherd boy and being insignificant or obscure were over.

1 Samuel 18:5
And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

• Saul set him in charge of the men of war. He was promoted very quickly. It was obvious to everyone around that David was fit and able to lead and to fight as well.
• Just when we thought that the life of a shepherd boy was just quiet and peaceful, we realise that it was also a good training ground to be a man of war.

But because of the position that was given to David from Saul, he would win many battles for Israel. Look how the Israelites would respond.

• 1 Samuel 18:6-9
  6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
• When they came back from battle, the women would sing and give David more credit than they would give to king Saul. And because of this, king Saul began to become wary of David. He already knew that he would not be king of Israel anymore, that God had rejected him and had chosen someone else.
• And so as he heard those praises ascribed to David, the spirit of jealousy began to rise in his heart. He began to figure out God’s purposes and designs – that David must be the one that will succeed him on the throne.
• He began to watch him very closely.
• You know jealousy or envy is a very deadly disease. Especially when held in the heart of the unconverted. We will see to what lengths it will drive king Saul.
• The Spirit of God was no longer striving with him. And it would ultimately blind him and lead him to persecute David, simply because he was the better man.
• We must be so careful that we don’t help envy and jealousy in our hearts. It opens the door of heart for Satan to come in and will eventually lead us to hatred against every good thing. This is what happened with Saul.
• Let’s keep reading first.

1 Samuel 18:10-11
10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

• Because of the jealousy that Saul held in his heart, it opened the way for an evil spirit to come and trouble him. And so David was called in to play some soothing and peaceful music to calm him down.
• But in the midst of his harp playing, seemingly out of nowhere, Saul tries to kill him with the javelin that is in his hand.
• That is what jealousy will drive you to do. It makes you unreasonable!
• David had done nothing wrong. He had done all that Saul had asked him to do. Saul was the one that had promoted him. Saul was the one that asked him to go out and fight. And all David had done was obey Saul and fight the battles of the Lord.
• Yet because of all this, Saul became jealous! Jealous for no good reason except that David was the better man. Though Saul didn’t know that David had already been anointed king, he could already perceive that David would make the better king already.
• So how did Saul feel?
• 1 Samuel 18:12
  And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.
• Saul was afraid. He was afraid because he knew that David was better than him. He was afraid because he saw that the Lord was with David and not with him.
• He was probably losing sleep over it. He was constantly thinking about it. It was consuming his life and making him look at David in a different way.
• The man who had just killed Goliath. The man that was going out to fight for you. He was slowly becoming someone that Saul feared and even despised.

Saul forgot that God was the One that had given him the kingdom. God was the One that had made him king!

• But Saul was so insecure, he had lost sight of God, that he was afraid that David would take the kingdom away from him.
• He seemed to forget about God’s will in this matter.
• His kingship was a gift from God. And so no one could take the kingdom from him unless God had allowed it.
• What Saul should have been doing was focusing on himself and not on David.
• Galatians 6:4
  But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
• Saul’s focus was wrong already.
• The responsibility that Saul had was to make sure that he stayed in the midst of the will of God. But because the Spirit of God was not with him, his focus was different. He tried to use human methods to maintain his kingdom and kingship. He resorted to murder.
• This is a reminder to us that we ought to do our best to walk with God, walk in His will and to serve Him with all our hearts. And we should leave the rest in God’s hands. Let whatever happens to happen. For if God is with us, He will guide us and do what is best for us as well, even though we may not perceive it at that time.

1 Samuel 8:13-16
13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. 15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

• Saul has David removed from his presence. It was probably too much to bear for him to be nearby.
• David senses that something is not right and so he behaves himself even more wisely than before. God is with him and guides him. And as a result, Saul is even more afraid. Imagine, being afraid of someone who is faithful to you, simply because they are the better man.
• And to make matters worse, Israel and Judah loved David very much as well! Everyone was probably relieved that finally they had someone they didn’t have to be afraid of. Saul was getting out of control. Throwing javelins at people for no good reason!
• Friends, this is what jealousy does!

Since Saul is not able to kill David, he sees his popularity rising amongst all the people, Saul tries to come up with a different plan.

• 1 Samuel 18:17
  And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD’s battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.
• Saul promises his daughter Merab to be David’s wife if he would continue to fight the battles of the Lord.
• He is hoping that somehow in battle he would be slain by the Philistines. Again, a fruit of jealousy. But God is with David and continues to protect him. No harm comes to him.
• This is such a comforting thought for us. There are so many unseen dangers. People do things to us, or ask us to do things, for the wrong motives sometimes. But yet God can see and perceive. And if we are faithful to Him, we need not to be afraid. For He will overturn the wickedness of others and watch out for His faithful servants. He will turn the curse into a blessing.
• 1 Samuel 18:18-19
  18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? 19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.
• David is true to what Saul requested. But eventually Saul’s daughter Merab is given to someone else. But all was not lost.

1 Samuel 18:20
And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

• Though Merab was given to someone else, Saul had another daughter, Michal, who loved David.
• So Saul hatches another plan.
• 1 Samuel 18:21
  And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.
• It’s something again to do with fighting against other nations. Saul is hoping that David would fall again by the hand of someone else.
• What was the price for David to take Michal, Saul’s daughter, to be his wife?
• 1 Samuel 18:25
  And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
• Saul wanted to have 100 foreskins of the Philistines. He wanted David to fall by the hand of the Philistines. But God was with David.

1 Samuel 18:26-27
26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son in law: and the days were not expired. 27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

• God would protect David and even fight for him.
• Saul asked for 100 foreskins of the Philistines. But David would go the extra mile. He would give 200 foreskins of the Philistines instead, just so show how much he wanted to fulfil the kings wishes and also to prove him worth to marry the king’s daughter.
• This time Saul could not go against his promise and try and give his daughter away to someone else.
• So you see friends, even though evil people plot and try to hurt and do all they can to make us work harder, if God is with us, He will strengthen us to fight, He will give us wisdom, He will be with us to guide us. We have nothing to be afraid unless we are walking against the will of God.

It was obvious to Saul, and to the whole nation, that God was with David.

• Everyone was rejoicing except king Saul. Every day that passed by, it was becoming more and more obvious that this was the man that God had chosen to replace him as king.
• 1 Samuel 18:28-29
  28 And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him. 29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s enemy continually.
• Because of that, Saul became even more afraid of David because he knew that he could do nothing against him if God was with him.
• And so the Bible says that Saul became David’s enemy. And it’s not because David hated Saul, but that Saul hated David.
• David had done nothing except be faithful to God and to his country. Yet he was hated by the king himself.
• As a result:
  • 1 Samuel 18:30
    Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.
• David behaved himself even more wisely. He made sure that he did not give Saul any real reason, except his jealousy of him, to hate him. He wanted to be sure that he was innocent. He was careful in every which way.

Did you know that the Bible tells us that this will happen in the future as well?

• 2 Timothy 3:12
  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
• If we live godly lives, people will one day persecute you.
• All you need to do is look at the life of Christ. He was the spotless Son of God. He did no sin. He was perfect in all His way, in all His words, in everything!
• Yet he was persecuted relentlessly. He had enemies on all sides. Why? Because of jealousy. He was made to suffer and eventually put on a cross, simply because He was the better man.

Joseph, in the book of Genesis, is also another such example.

• He didn’t do anything wrong. He was faithful in his home, but was hated by his brothers and so they sold him as a slave to Egypt.
• He was faithful in Potiphar’s house. He even ran from evil, ran from sleeping with Potiphar’s wife, but he was repaid with a prison sentence because of the wife’s lie.
• He was righteous, yet because of that he was hated and persecuted.
• All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

What we must learn today, is that we must behave ourselves wisely just like David did before Saul. We must be righteous. We must not give our enemies any valid reason to persecute us or to speak evil against us. If they speak evil against our good deeds, so be it. But let it not be that we are in the wrong, and so we are simply suffering the just punishment of our own actions.

Let us make sure that God is with us and that we are walking in His will and His way. If we are assured of that, then no matter the persecution, we have the assurance of God’s presence and also assurance that He will watch over us and carry us through.

This was the beginning of Saul and David’s precarious relationship. He was already part of the family through marriage. David was the leader of Saul’s armies. He was well loved by the whole nation. But things were soon to take a turn for the worse. And he needed to be sure, above all else, that God was with him every step of the way.