1 Samuel 18:28-29 

New International Version (NIV)

When Saul realized that the Lord was with David … [he] became still more afraid of him.

For Meditation

What did David do to be hated that much by King Saul?

He was a young man on errand from his father to deliver provisions to his brothers in the battlefield. He had no intention to upstage King Saul. He just walked into a situation he knew he could confront in God’s power; so, he did. Goliath’s threats and intimidation that dismayed and terrified King Saul, rather incited a holy anger in him. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam. 17:26) David said.

Saul offered his armor to David, but he couldn’t use it. He had learned to be himself in God’s hands – always trusting and content.  With his sling and five pebbles, David stepped forward against the Goliath. “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (45). One smooth pebble from his sling, and Goliath tumbled face down before David – a great victory for Israel (49-50). So, why was Saul angry and bent on killing David?

David didn’t court Jonathan’s covenant love and the admiration of all the troops and the king’s officers (18: 1-5). Neither did he ask the women to sing his praises (18:7). But those things threatened the King and evoked jealousy and fear in him (8-9).

Jealousy is like cancer. It eats the bones of its victims and turns them into bitter caricatures.  They are never the people you knew before jealousy flushed their hearts with its poisonous sewage and changed their disposition and tendencies. Anger and hatred tumble from their hearts like turbulent waters cascading over a rocky slope into a deep ravine below. Left untamed, jealousy can ruin a life by inciting egregious actions beyond reason. As God warned Cain, “If you do not do the right thing, sin is crouching at your door; you must rule over it” (Gen. 4:7). Don’t get there!

This monster emotion assailed King Saul and turned him against David. His rage was for nothing other than his own spiritual deficiency. He couldn’t trust God and His Omnipotence as David did and triumphed over Goliath. When his armor failed him, he found David to blame as scapegoat. Isn’t it so human?

It’s easy for people to turn on you when they mess up with God. It’s nothing about what you’ve done, but what they’ve failed to do. The good news is that the more they scheme against you as their perceived enemy, the more they realize something strange about you – God’s favor – and they hate it (1 Sam. 18:28-29). Isn’t that wonderful?

God knows your Saul, and your anguished soul is before Him. The more they afflict you, the greater the outpouring of His grace in your life. You may not see it, but the jealous person in your life trembles at your sight, even when they dig their heels in deeper against you. Pray they repent before Mt. Gilboa drinks their blood like it did King Saul’s (31:4).

Shalom