1 Samuel 31:7

New International Version (NIV)

When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

For Meditation

Jealousy never pays good dividends. It never gladdens the heart nor lightens our burden. Neither does jealousy satisfy. On the contrary, jealousy rewards the afflicted with sour grapes. It makes the heart heavier and increases our load of care. It is like scooping fire with your bare hands. It will burn you. In my sixty plus years lifetime, I have never seen jealousy work for any human relationship. It has always destroyed it and eventually, turned on the person who embraced it. Solomon asked a question about jealousy that is relevant here: “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Prov. 27:4).

It starts in very subtle ways – a cursory comment somebody made about another person at lunch time that you all laughed about. Later at your desk, it begins to open up in a different way. You try to dismiss it, but it grows tentacles and entangles your reason. Something becomes clear to you now. “O, I see! So that’s why …?” The object of that comment at lunch now becomes the focus of your imagination and you ascribe every bad intention to them. Your once favorite friend or colleague, brother or sister, husband or wife, or neighbor’s name becomes distasteful to you and the battle for recognition begins. Every thought about our object of jealousy becomes negative and soon the thoughts lead to a change in behavior towards the object. Before long, a wonderful relationship is destroyed. Casualties could be surprising and numerous, but the one person who gets burned the most is the person who hugged that deed of the flesh called jealousy (Gal. 5:20).

That was the story of King Saul. He had his problems with God before David came along and killed Goliath (1 Sam. 17:49-50). The women welcomed the victorious army home with a joyful song and dance: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (18:7). That was it. The seed of jealousy had been sown. Cut it how you may. The bottom line is Saul’s jealousy led to all the suspicion and growing fear of David. Because Saul could not take his eyes from himself and his bruised ego, he went down the road of self-destruction by going after David’s life. Finally, Saul ended his life on the sharp edge of his own sword. But make no mistake here.

Saul’s problem was not about David. It was about his own careless and worldly ways, impatience, and lack of devotion to the things of God. Those things are the most fertile grounds for jealousy, and the fruit it bears could be deadly. That’s why only God can handle it (Ex. 34:14). So, leave it to Him.