Ratchets of the Bible: The Jealous King Saul
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BACKGROUND (1 Samuel 18-1 Samuel 19): You may know the story of David and the giant, Goliath, but what happens to David afterward is nothing short of ratchet. With the help of God, David kills Goliath for King Saul and Saul is very pleased with David. Saul’s son, Jonathan, is very fond of David, so Saul lets David live in the palace with them and gives David a high rank in the army. David kills many Philistines for Saul and Saul is HAPPY.
But not for long. People start praising David as the superior warrior because God’s anointing is clearly on David as he’s had great victories over the Philistines in many wars. In his jealousy, King Saul tries several times to kill David. He FAILS.
Jonathan finds out and warns David, saying ““My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there” until Jonathan could figure out if Saul really intends to kill David.
Of course, Saul lies and says he would never harm David, so Jonathan brings David back and Saul tries to have David killed again so David goes back into hiding. THIS CYCLE OF DAVID HIDING AND COMING BACK GOES ON MORE THAN ONCE.
Which brings us to:
1 Samuel 20: 24-32 (New Living Translation (NLT))
24 So David hid himself in the field [EDITOR’S NOTE: AGAIN], and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat at his usual place against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him and Abner beside him. But David’s place was empty. 26 Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.” 27 But when David’s place was empty again the next day, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse been here for the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, for we are having a family sacrifice. My brother demanded that I be there. So please let me get away to see my brothers.’ That’s why he isn’t here at the king’s table.”
30 Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!”
he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? 31 As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!”
32 “But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” 33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. [emphasis added]
The Takeaway:
We all want to think the best about people we love, especially those we have known all of our lives (like a parent) or someone who has shown us tremendous kindness in the past (like a mentor). How and Ever, if that person repeatedly tells you and then proceeds to show you that they intend you harm, LISTEN and govern yourself accordingly. Don’t let it take a spear to the head to get your attention.
SPOILER ALERT: Saul dies and David becomes king and God blesses David so much that He sends Jesus to be born of David’s bloodline. So if you’re like Saul and jealous of someone else’s inevitable victory, know that it doesn’t end well for you. Thank God for the blessings He has given to you. Ask God to fill you with joy for the success of others–even your enemies–and for peace about the change in your own circumstances. Figure out what God created YOU and YOU ALONE to do for His glory and do it with your whole heart!
King Saul will definitely make another appearance in this series because his entire life was a ratchet fairy tale; So make sure you SUBSCRIBE and let your friends and fam in on the funnest Bible study ever!