“David, Serving wisely”
1 Samuel 18:1-16
Vs. 1-4 Knit together in love.
Vs. 5-9: Handling the adversity of adoration
Vs. 10-16 Pinned to the wall
Intro.
It has been said, “You will know what kind of servant you are when you are treated as one.” We begin a new chapter in David’s life, which will last some 15 to 20 years where we will see him as a servant on the run. The chapter before us also introduces us to one of the most remarkable stories in the Bible, the friendship between David and Saul’s oldest son Jonathan. These two themes running right on the heels of David’s remarkable victory of faith over the giant Goliath suggest some very important truths about our own lives.
- Though the world may always speak of our victory over the giants we face, they do not define our lives. They may very well inspire others to slay their own, but the truth of the matter is we don’t fight with giants every day.
- This brings me to the 2nd truth: “If these watershed events don’t define our lives, what does?” Well, I suggest to you that faithfulness in the insignificant, the unseen, and the mundane! The sheer volume of chapters devoted to these things in David’s life compared with his slaying of Goliath ought to teach us that (one chapter compared to 14). What defines our lives in the end is not visible victories but those everyday events that we lived through that corrected our course, changed our lives, and most importantly, sanctified our character! It is in these things and our reaction to them that will in the end prepare us for eternity.
- Finally, if you and I are fortunate enough to learn the truths I’ve just shared, God will grant us others whom our souls will be forever knit together with. In the New Testament, the Greek calls this fellowship and uses the word “koinonia” to describe it as it means “things shared in common.” Paul uses this word in Phil. 3:10, where he prays that he “may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” It is during these types of experiences that such knitting together occurs, isn’t it?
My prayer is that you and I will learn these truths and that He will knit our souls together as we do!
Vs. 1-4 Knit together in love
- Vs. 1 It is here that we are told of the cause of Jonathan’s friendship with David. It happened at the conversation that David was having with Jonathan’s father, Saul, in which he was present. The topic was David and his victory over Goliath, but apparently there was something in the words that David spoke that changed how Jonathan felt about David. I say this because Jonathan would have known of David; he was the young shepherd boy who became the worship leader to sooth his father’s troubled heart. Jonathan was at least five years older, perhaps more, the oldest son of Saul, which made him the crown prince of a privileged family.
Finally, he commanded 1/3 of the Israeli army and was himself a twice-decorated war hero (13:1-4, 14:1). Yet as Goliath had shouted twice a day for 40 days for a champion to come and fight him, there is no mention of Jonathan’s desire to stand up for the reputation of God’s people or the honor of God. It seems as though the distressing spirit that had come over his dad had sucked the courage out of the nation, including Jonathan. So as Jonathan listened to David’s humble confidence in the Lord and the lack of boasting in himself, Jonathan’s heart was inspired.
Perhaps, as Jonathan listened, his trust in the Lord was renewed as he heard not what David had done but rather what God had done. There was an instantaneous knitting of the center of his emotions, intellect, and will with that of David. So as David spoke of his love for the Lord because of the Lord’s love for him, Jonathan’s heart became soothed, as had his fathers. I suggest to you Christian that worship can be heard in the way and word’s a person speaks about his Lord far more than in the melody. Whereas Saul had listened only to the melody, Jonathan had listened to the message!
There are those today that would make something out of this love that was erotic and lustful in nature, but such a thought reveals the perversion in which men think today that love for one of the same sex has to be sexual. David was a man after God’s own heart, and in Lev. 20:13 God had clearly spoken about this saying, “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” Simply put, David could not have been any more a man after God’s own heart; if this was a sexual relationship, then Jesus could be our savior if He was not Who He claimed to be “God the Son”!
Vs. 2-3 David’s physical address changed that day by not his heart home. They placed him in the palace away from his father’s house, but David had his heavenly Father on the throne of his heart, and he never lost that shepherd’s heart.
By all expectations, Jonathan was the future king and not a bad one at that; he was brought up to be the king; he had proved himself in battle as a king; there had been nothing to suggest that he was disqualified to be king, which to me speaks tremendously of his character. David had none of those things; in fact, he was only three generations removed from his Moabite grandmother Ruth. In 23:17, Jonathan says to David, “You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you.”
Jonathan’s choice to surrender what was by all rights his was quite obvious, as in 20:30–31 Saul speaks to his son, saying, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom.” So apparently Jonathan was told by David of what God was doing for the throne of the nation. You see, as true as all those things were of Jonathan, there was one thing David had that he could never have: “God’s call and anointing to be king!”
The phrase here “made a covenant” is literally “cut an agreement,” which speaks of the slaying of an animal, cutting it into it, then both parties had to walk between the two separated halves. The object of this exercise was to say that nothing would ever separate their agreement except death.
Vs. 4 Jonathan then surrendered all that was his to David, and by doing so he was saying, “David, you and not I will be the next king; God’s hand is upon you, and as such, these things given to me by birth belong to you by God’s anointing!” As far as Jonathan was concerned, there was no greater calling than to be next to the man whom God had anointed, even though it was not him! Imagine this in your own life; place yourself in Jonathan’s shoes for a moment; the kingdom is at your feet, and all your life has been building to the moment when you will receive what you have worked hard for.
Then along comes another; he is less of a man than you; he has not the experience, education, and upbringing as you. Ah, but he has the clear presence of God in his life, and you know he is the one that God has called to do what you thought was to be yours. What do you do? What costs are you willing to pay to see God’s will be done? The hardest things to give up for God are not our possessions but our dreams and ambitions.
And so Jonathan revealed that what he loved more than the throne was the Lord, and nothing was greater than seeing what the Lord wanted to come to fruition. Jonathan’s love was stronger than any ambition, envy, or jealousy. It is interesting that the armor that Saul tried to give David did not fit, but the armor that his son Jonathan gave him was a perfect fit.
The reason for this is that Jonathan and David were the same size, and more importantly, so were their hearts! As for David, though his best friend willingly gave up his right to the throne, he would still have to wait 15-20 years before it would be his. It is one thing for someone to give you their armor and make it fit, and a far different thing for you to wait for God to put it on you! David would learn patience and wait for the hand of God to do what He had promised that He would do!
Vs. 5-9: Handling the adversity of adoration
Vs. 5 Four times we are told that David behaved “wisely,” and what is interesting to me is that he did so both in adversity as well as adoration, the latter being the most difficult. I find it easier to watch my step during difficult times than I do when things are going well. How about you? So how did David handle his new promotion? Well, we are told that he “went out wherever Saul sent him.” David didn’t let this go to his head and say, “Hey, look, Saul.” I don’t do music or whatever errand you may have; I only do giants. So when you come to another one of those you can’t handle, let me know! ”
No, David behaved wisely, and whatever Saul sent him to do, David gave it his all so as to make sure that Saul would benefit from his sacrifice. This only furthered Saul’s appreciation of David, and so he promoted him to general over the army. Now remember David is only in his 20s and has had very little battle experience, and yet the way in which David conducted himself from the foot soldier to the fellow commanders all accepted him. That’s no small task, is it? It tells us that David was not trying to please men; he was only trying to please the Lord!
Vs. 6-7 David’s behaving wisely led to his further popularity, which is a greater test of a person’s character than any other thing we will face. It has been said that “Crucible is for gold and silver, but a man’s heart is tested by the praises he receives!” Does such praise humble us or puff us up? There was a practice of the women to greet the victorious army with singing and dancing, and apparently Saul had very much enjoyed the praise. The passage is very exact here and tells us that this song and dance routine happened “as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine.”
Did you notice that? “They were coming home,” that would be Saul, the army, and David, but it was David and not Saul that had slaughtered the Philistine. Now David was no doubt blessed to hear their words, but he did not let those words go to his head and change his opinion of himself. All those years of faithfully tending his father’s sheep, and not one time did those sheep or his family ever get up and sing and dance at his obedience. So David did not expect praise, nor did it move him from doing what he was supposed to do.
Apparently this song moved to number one on the hit parade, and the ascribing of only 1,000 to David’s 10,000 began to really bother Saul. It is said that “envy is the pain we feel when others achieve what we believe belongs to us!” Back in 15:28, God had already told Saul that the kingdom was already to be another’s, but he still believes it is his. Someone has noted that in every human heart there is a sign that reads, “Please make me feel important.” The world is consumed with this sign and buys and does things continually to impress people who really don’t care because they too are consumed with the same sign!
Saul’s reaction to what at best was generous praise, and David’s reaction reveal the truth that although many people can stand up under adversity, most will find themselves collapsing under success! David handles popularity and criticism the same as he lived his life only based upon what the Lord thought of him and not what people thought of him. Paul wrote to Timothy and said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Tim. 6:6)
It is a frightening thing when a king can be threatened by a man he has appointed under him! Saul’s envy and jealousy lead to anger, and his anger will lead to attempted murder, and his failure to kill will only drive him to more fear! What should have Saul done? Well, he knew the Lord had disqualified him, so he should have stepped aside as his son had.
But the heart of the problem was a problem of the heart. All could have been different for Saul had he only wanted what the Lord wanted, but because he refused, he slowly began to lose his mind. When is a 1,000 not enough? Well, when someone else has been given 10,000. You see, if the praise of men is what you seek, though they pad your stats and ascribe you a 1,000, it will never be enough.
As a result of this, Saul’s mind is filled with suspicion, and every word and action by David brought a greater fear. Now behind this is the Lord, and what He is allowing to happen will change David for the better and would have changed Saul if only he had allowed it.
Vs. 10-16 Pinned to the wall
Vs. 10 The word “prophesied” is an unfortunate translation, as the word would better be translated “raved in his house like a madman.” It was obvious to David that Saul had gone out of his mind as he was ranting in his speech, so David did what he had been called to do earlier, and that was worship the Lord in Saul’s presence. Now again I marvel at David’s faithfulness, as Saul had made him a general over his army, and yet he picks up a musical instrument and starts to worship the Lord. The same hand that God used to slay Goliath was now being used to soothe a troubled heart. There was worship in David’s heart, but there was violence in Saul’s.
Vs. 11 As David is worshiping, Saul throws the spear and misses David, but notice that it says that Saul attempted to kill David twice and that David escaped both times. This is remarkable for two reasons:
- David did not pick up the spear and throw it at Saul. You see, I think David would have been justified by defending his life, but it was not a matter of what others thought was right; the only thing that mattered was what the Lord thought was right. David will trust in the Lord and not thrust a spear!
- We are told that he did so “twice,” which means that after the first failed attempt, David stayed and tried to sooth Saul by way of worship. I wonder if he changed the song, perhaps thinking that Saul didn’t like the tune. So David dodged two spears, the physical as well as the spiritual, and this further was used to break David into the vessel the Lord would use to rule the nation.
Vs. 12-16 Saul’s inability to kill David only brought about greater fear in his heart. It is interesting that Saul had the spear and missed it, which caused fear, and David has none of these things and shows courage.
The differences between these two men are remarkable in their contrasts:
- Saul is on the decline, yet he has a life of ease but is overwhelmed with madness and fear.
- David is on the incline, but his life is that of hardship, yet he is seen as a man of courage, faithfulness, peace, and praise. It just goes to show you that what is in the heart of a person reveals their true riches!
Saul decides to move David to the front lines with hopes that the move will cause his death, and yet the Lord is with David as he continues to have victory. This causes two results: greater fear in Saul and greater respect of the nation for David. David’s behaving wisely only brought him greater problems, but that did not change his heart!
“Learning to worship in the waiting room.”
Vs. 17-25 The secret treasure of a scarf
Vs. 26-30 The song of praise in the morning
Intro.
As I said last week, chapter 18 marks a transition in David’s life where he will be a servant on the run. The events that started in verse ten will persist for the next 15 to 20 years (through the end of the book). More specifically, that which is gained in Chapter 18 will be completely lost by Chapter 22. David will lose his position, his home, his wife (which he gains in these verses before us), his spiritual mentor (Samuel will be unable to help him), and even his best friend (Jonathan will be unable to come to him) and be driven to a cave alone with the Lord. Why gain these things at all if he is only going to lose them? Why does the Lord allow such things to befall His chosen?
There is a Psalm written by David that holds the answer I believe. The 59th Psalm gives us a clue as to when it was written, as the inscription above the Psalm says, “A psalm of David when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.” This lines up with the words in the 19th chapter verse 11 of 1 Samuel, where we are told that “Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning.”
I have included verses 10-30 of chapter 18 in this psalm as it is here that David is already beginning to experience the “growling of the dogs, all around the city” (psalm 59 verses 6, 14 twice repeat this phrase). So in examining this psalm, we are looking into the very heart of David at the very time that he was experiencing these events (a peek into his diary if you will).
And here is where we learn why God placed His “beloved” in such an ordeal. You see in the Hebrew this psalm contains two almost identical verses (verse 9 and verse 17) eight verses apart. They are the same except for one letter in Hebrew. The difference is really a sound: “shhhh” and “ssss.” This is represented by two letters in the English:
- Vs. 9: “O my strength, unto Thee I take heed (wait), for God is my tower—the God of my kindness” The phrase “take heed,” or as we would say it today, “wait,” is the word “shamar” in the Hebrew. This word is used of a shepherd watching over his flocks. And as such, David is crying out to the Lord in the 9th verse, speaking of patiently waiting as he is learning to trust in his only strength, protection, and kindness, the Lord. Ah, but by the end of the psalm in the 17th verse, there is a one-letter difference, which literally puts an exclamation point on this verse instead of a period.
- Vs. 17 “O my strength, unto Thee I sing praise, For God is my tower, the God of my kindness!” Here the phrase “sing praise” (“zamar”) in the Hebrew speaks of worship. I suggest to you that David discover that in waiting upon the Lord, what he believed about the Lord that caused him to wait in the first place is realized, which transforms his heart (one letter over) from waiting to praising the Lord because David has realized that God is his “strength, protection, and kindness.”
Do you see? The Lord allows us to sit in the waiting room of distress so that what we believe to be true about the Lord will eventually be praised because we have personally experienced Him! Thus, you and I are being trained to worship in the waiting room called life!
Vs. 17-25 The secret treasure of a scarf
Vs. 17 In chapter 17:25, as part of Saul’s worldly motivations to fight Goliath, he promised to “give his daughter” to the man willing to go out and kill the giant. Here we see that Saul has some “fine print” upon this portion of the prize, as she would only be rewarded to David if he “be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” It was not the Lord’s battles that Saul wanted David to do for him, but rather his hope that the Philistines would be able to accomplish what throwing his spear at David was unable to do! Saul is a master manipulator, as he has heard what motivates David and now tries to use these two things against him:
- “Be valiant for me”: David had already declared he was willing to fight Goliath for the reproach of Israel. So Saul appeals to David’s sense of patriotism.
- “Fight the Lord’s battles”: Secondly, David had desired to fight Goliath for the honor of God, so Saul appeals to David’s loyalty to the Lord.
Vs. 18 It is not the lack of David’s sense of patriotism nor loyalty to the Lord but rather his humility that causes him to reject Saul’s daughter’s hand in marriage. Amazingly, David’s popularity and notoriety have not gone to his head, as he still sees his life as far short of being worthy of being the King’s son-in-law. In fact, he sees his life coming short in three areas:
- “Who am I?” Instead of saying, “Don’t you know who I am?” David says, “Who am I?” which is to say that David recognized that his character needed further growth and maturity.
- “What is my life?” Instead of saying all that he had done, David looked at his accomplishments and declared, “What is my life?” This reveals with what regard David viewed both the King and the nation.
- “My father’s family in Israel”: Finally David saw his ancestry as not being on the par necessary to be considered royalty.
All of this from David, whom we have seen that Saul’s staff, son, army, and nation sang his praises. How is this possible? Well, this is not some false modesty; rather, David did not see himself in the praises of men but rather in the praise of God! Proverbs 3:34 truly applies here, saying that God “gives grace to the humble.”
Vs. 19 Since David turned down Saul’s offer, Saul decides to see if he can arouse anger and jealousy in David by giving his daughter Merab to Adriel. David could have said, “Hey, that’s not fair she was to be my wife for killing Goliath!” But David had not killed Goliath for the earthly rewards but for the honor of the Lord, so he already had the greatest reward. Had David acted on the feelings that Saul wished to instill, he would have been charged with treason.
In 2 Samuel 21:8, we find out that Merab’s children, by way of Adriel, are killed by the Moabites for an indiscretion of their grandfather Saul when he attempted ethnic cleansing upon them. As you go back to the time of Joshua, you read that Joshua had made an unwise treaty with the Moabites in which they were allowed to live in the land as long as they served the Israelites. In a bizarre twist according to 1 Chron. 8:29-33 and 9:35-39, Saul was part Moabite himself, so he was slaughtering his own relatives.
Vs. 20-21 Having failed twice to manipulate David, Saul soon learns of another opportunity with his younger daughter, Michal, who is attracted to David. As we move ahead in her life, we shall see that she was attracted to David’s popularity, personality, and appearance, but according to 2 Samuel 6, not his heart for the Lord. It seems as though Saul saw the potential for Michal to be a snare to David on two fronts:
- Physically: As we shall see, the price of her dowry is going to again place David in harm’s way.
- Spiritually, Saul knew the heart of Michal was not knit together with the things of the Lord as David’s was.
Saul is not taking “no” for an answer and says, “You shall be my son-in-law today!” You would think that Saul’s inability to manipulate David would be a sign of warning by God to Saul, as he is foiled each time.
Vs. 22-23 Saul is now including innocent servants in his attempt to deceive David by sending out his servants to lie about Saul’s “delight” in David. All the backroom deals and secret handshakes ought to have been a clue that God was not in what he was trying to do against David. Again, David shows that he has not been reading the press clippings of the “Jewish Journal.” Instead, he keeps his ears and eyes upon what the Lord thought of him. The 59th psalm tells us what was going on in his heart as we read what David sang: “I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.”
David would not suggest a bargain price for Michal, as he could never have afforded a dowry for a princess, especially as a man from his background.
Vs. 24-25 David’s reply to Saul’s whisper campaign reaches the ears of Saul, and this time Saul thinks, “I will appeal to both his humility as well as his patriotism by making the dowry 100 hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” Not only is this gross, but a dowry was for two purposes:
- First, it was seen as compensation for lost wages that the young lady supplied while at her parents house.
- Second, it was used for an insurance policy or alimony in advance in case anything happened to the husband that would cause separation from her husband.
In either case, her parents kept the dowry until needed. Now not only is Saul asking for “100 foreskins of the Philippines” gross in light of these two reasons, it does not say much about what Dad thought of his daughter as far as her worth, nor does it say much about how concerned Saul was for her future security.
What it does show is how obsessed Saul is with killing David at any cost. You see, it is a safe bet that David was not going to be able to go talk 100 Philistine soldiers out of their foreskins, selling them on the idea that he needed them so he could marry their enemy’s daughter. So that meant that he was going to have to kill them and then do the deed.
Now it is one thing to kill a soldier; it is another thing to publicly mutilate them so that all of their buddies see what you have done. Now I kind of think that if I were a Philistine and you had killed and then circumcised several of my friends, I would be fighting not only for my life but every inch of my skin, if you know what I mean. This makes David a target and places a bullseye on his back, doesn’t it?
Vs. 26-30 The song of praise in the morning
Vs. 26-27 David had called Goliath an “uncircumcised Philistine” (17:26), so when Saul made this offer, it was pleasing to destroy those who hated the Lord. Saul must have rejoiced that his manipulation had worked, thinking that he would soon be rid of David. Ah, but David saw it as part of God’s plan, and even though he did not need to give a dowry to Saul for Michal, as she was to be his reward for killing Goliath, he was happy to do so. Apparently there was a time frame attached to this as well, as the text says that this was to be done before “the days expired.” This was no doubt done to cause David to be in a hurry so that fatigue and carelessness would further fight against David.
How did David handle this injustice of Saul? Well, by giving Saul double of what he had no right to ask for in the first place! You see, you cannot manipulate a person who is willing to give you more than what you are trying to cheat them out of in the first place. Love always triumphs over the law, doesn’t it? In doing so, we are not giving in to the manipulation; we are giving freely by serving in love, doing beyond what manipulation demands!
That is what Jesus said to do in Matthew 5:40–41. “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” So David comes into Saul’s presence with 200 foreskins instead of 100, and they are counted out in front of witnesses. What else could Saul do but give Michal his daughter to David, thus making him a son-in-law? Now this was not the best dowry to have if you were Michal, but the fact that your husband went and did double what your father had asked speaks of how David valued her.
In fact, the danger and difficulty in obtaining her dowry may have made her feel very loved. In some countries today in which dowries are still exchanged, the worth of the bride is based upon the dowry to the degree that she is called a “four cow, two pig, and ten chicken bride!” Well, Michal would be forever known as a “Two hundred foreskin bride!”
Vs. 28-30 This is quite amazing, as it declares that “Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David.” Next week we will see this more clearly as Saul will be told by Jonathan, his son, not to seek to kill David, and Saul will swear an oath not to, but four verses away again, try to pin David to the wall with his spear. Well, what did Samuel say to Saul back in 15:22–23? “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” Saul’s problem was not that he didn’t know better; it was rather that he did not want to turn from his rebellion!
Look at the progression alone in this chapter of Saul’s hatred for God’s choice in David as we come to these verses, and it literally says that he has become tortured in his anger towards David continually. Even more startling to me is the contrast of words between verses 28 and 29, where verse 28 says that “Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David,” whereas verse 29 says, “Saul became David’s enemy continually.” It was not that Saul was David’s enemy, but David was Saul’s enemy continually.
What these two verses show us is that what Saul hated was not David; it was the Lord who was at work in David’s life, and that somehow David understood this, as in the 59th psalm he writes: “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For look, they lie in wait for my life; the mighty gather against me.”.
Finally, we are told that David’s surgical practice upon the Philistines angered them so that “the princes of the Philistines went out to war.” So this further made David a wanted man, and Saul kept sending him out to battle, but the Lord kept him safe, and all that happened to David was that his reputation grew greater and greater. David learned practically what he already knew by faith, as he writes in Psalm 59:16–17. “I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning, for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my defense, My God of mercy.”