Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 18; 1 Corinthians 5-6
Before I get to something more serious, I just have to say that the immature part of me always finds the end of this chapter hilarious. Saul, in trying to get David killed by the Philistines, offers David his daughter for a wife for the dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins. So David, in his evident excitement to marry Michal, brings him back 200 Philistine foreskins. If this was anything else, I don’t think I would find it as funny as I do, but I just picture David and his men collecting the dowry and his men asking, “Hey, so, we’ve already cut off 100 of these, do we really need to keep doing this…?” Or maybe they walked into a Philistine garrison and announced, “We’re here for your foreskins! You can give them to us peaceably, or we can take them by force, it’s up to you!” It’s one of those stories in the Bible that is easy to just read past, but when you stop and try to imagine how it actually went down, things get weird…
Anyway, aside from the fact that I giggle like a middle schooler when I read this chapter, there is actually something worth paying attention to. We have already talked about the contrast between Saul and Jonathan in terms of their faith and trust in the Lord, but here we see a practical outworking of that contrast in their reactions to David.
Jonathan, as Saul’s son, is prince and technically heir to the throne (though God did tell Saul already that his line would not retain the kingship), but what does he do when he recognizes that David is God’s man? He gives David his robe, armor, sword, bow, and belt. This is not Jonathan rummaging around in the closet for a spare set of clothes as a gift for David, this is Jonathan handing over to David his royal claim. The robe, armor, and belt would have been made for him and likely made or embellished with royal/family colors, imagery, or symbols. And in terms of the weapons, we were previously told that among the Israelites, only Saul and Jonathan had swords. So while there has been some passage of time since that statement, it is not like in action movies set in ancient times where there are just racks of swords sitting against every wall for Jonathan to pick up another weapon. This was a big deal and an incredible show of humility and faith. Jonathan so fully trusted that the Lord’s ways were better that he willing handed over his claim to the throne to David when he recognized what God was doing.
And now contrast Jonathan’s faith and humility with Saul’s reaction to David. When the army returns victorious the people are singing, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Rather than reveling in Israel’s victory, or being willing to share the spotlight with the man who stepped up to do what even Saul himself was too afraid to do, Saul gets angry and immediately starts plotting against David, trying to kill him. He tries to spear David through a couple times, and when that doesn’t work he puts him in positions to get killed by the Philistines, but each time he pulls through. Unlike Jonathan who recognized what the Lord was doing and got behind it, Saul recognizes what the Lord is doing and does everything in his power to fight against it because he isn’t willing to set aside his own pride and his own agenda.
So when God’s plans don’t quite line up with yours, how do you respond? Do you have the trust and humility of Jonathan to be able to lay your own plans down, knowing that His will always be better, or do you pridefully dig your heels in unwilling to let go of your own ways like Saul?
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