Love and Loyalty—Hatred and Fear
1 Samuel 18:1-30
Turn to 1 Samuel 18. Last week we left David after his victory over Goliath, as he made himself known to Saul. And we know from 1 Samule 16, that David was in the palace of Saul as he would comfort Saul when an evil spirit would torment him. And what the narrator relates to us in 1 Samuel 18 are the emotions of five major characters, David, Saul, Jonathan, Michal, and the people of Israel in general. And there is much talk about love in this chapter, specifically love towards David. So, let us go through this chapter as I will again paraphrase it for you, as I trust that you have read it, as we pay attention to the many emotions in our story.
1 The souls of Jonathan and David are knit together. 3 So Jonathan cut a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. 4 Jonathan gave David his robe. 5 David prospered in battle. 6 And when David returned from striking down the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with gladness, and with musical instruments, 7 they sang as they were merry and said, “Saul has struck his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” 8 Saul became very angry, so (vs 9) he looked at David with suspicion from that day on. 10 Then an evil spirit came upon Saul (vs 11) so he hurled a spear at David and (vs 15) Saul dreaded him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David. 17 Saul devices a plan to have David marry his daughter Merab, 18 but David seems to say “no” and so she marries someone else. 20 but Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David, 21 and Saul is pleased with this for he thought that this would pit the Philistines against David and so he convinced David to marry Michel. 25 But the price tag is one hundred dead Philistines, but Saul’s plan is that David will die in battle. 27 Yet David returns after killing 200 Philistines. 28 So David gets Michel and becomes the hero in Israel.
So, we have read in this story that Jonathan loved David (vs 1); all Israel and Judah loved David (vs 16); Michal loved David (vs 20, 28); all Saul’s servants loved David (vs 22); and we know that David loved Jonathan (2 Sam 1:26). Whereas Saul was angry toward David (vs 8); was suspicious of David (vs 9); was afraid of David (vs 12, 29); dreaded David (vs 15); and schemed against David (vs 25). And all these emotions were caused or at least magnified by one major event, the killing of Goliath. And we can understand this as Israel had been in terror for six weeks, as their demise was rather certain, until David rescued them from their fate. You can imagine the reaction of all the people when the news spread, that David was the one who killed the great Philistine. And the strange thing with David is that just prior to all this, he was little known, even among his family he was considered very ordinary. This was not a Wayne Gretzky who was known as the next Gordie Howe. When, at the age of ten, scored 378 goals and had 517 assists in one season. And when he was sixteen, he was already breaking most Ontario Hockey League records of eighteen- to twenty-year-olds. But nobody knew about David. So, let’s begin with this relationship between:
David and Jonathan
The story begins with this great relationship between these two. And one of the reason’s is that it is so unique to the reader is that David is the one who has been anointed as king, and he is the one who has done for Israel what Saul should have done, fought Goliath. And then we have Jonathan, who is the king’s son, and in the eyes of the majority of Israel would be the next king. I guess it would be necessary just to comment at this point, that unlike what has been suggested by some modern commentators that there was some kind of sexual relationship between Jonathan and David, as we read in 2 Samuel 26 that David’s love for Jonathan was more wonderful that the love of a woman. Yet an improper relationship between them is indicated no where in the text and is only something that some would suggest given the climate of our own culture. And I want to give you quickly three reasons why the text gives no indication of an improper love relationship. One, the same Hebrew word for “love” can mean and is used in the Old Testament for friendship, loving foreigners, loving a neighbour. Two, when David expressed his love for Jonathan, he is simply expressing the great commitment they had for each other. And three, endorsing a sexual love between two men would go directly against Old Testament law and even more importantly for us, it would contradict Paul’s teaching against homosexuality in Romans 1.
Obviously, these two men were very good friends, as they were willing to sacrifice for each other. Jonathan had many times defended David, and later, Jonathan saved David’s life. Got Questions Ministry wrote that rather than being evidence for a homosexual relationship in the Bible, the account of David and Jonathan is an example of true biblical friendship, as true friendship, according to the Bible, involves loyalty, sacrifice, compromise, and yes, emotional attachment. And the Bible tells us that everyone loved David, except Saul. And it is rather remarkable that Jonathan loved David, as it was Jonathan earlier in the account that was the mighty warrior, as we have already read how Jonathan had defeated many Philistines before this. In other words, if Jonathan had a reason to “feel” jealous about David as his father Saul did, he had a good reason. Yet we read from the beginning that Jonathan was knit (vs 1) to the soul of David. And that term being knit together likely means that they really enjoyed each other greatly. You know those relationships, where you just enjoy the company of someone that you are relaxed with, and you just spend a lot of time laughing together and likely having much in common.
And (vs 1) Jonathan loved David as his own soul. And this expresses more than just an enjoyment of each other. This now gives the idea of a commitment to each other that would last. This is like the words “I do” in a marriage ceremony, that through all the things that we will face in life, we will never break our commitment to each other. And this is why it tells us next that (vs 3) Jonathan cut a covenant with David. And though we do not completely understand what such a covenant would mean for these two men, we do get hints of this later. In 1 Samuel 20:8, David said to Jonathan, therefore show lovingkindness to me. And then David reminds Jonathan of the covenant, as he says, for you have brought me into a covenant of Yahweh with yourself. So, this covenant must mean a pact with each other that they would always love, always protect, always be committed to each other. And then Jonathan gives to David his robe (vs 4). We can likely assume that this robe was likely of greater value than David could ever afford on his own and would likely be a sign to others that David and Jonathan had a special relationship. It is interesting to note here that when Samuel warned Saul that the kingdom was being taken away from him, it tells us (15:27) that Saul grabbed part of Samuel’s robe, signifying that the kingdom was being torn from him. And here, Jonathan gives his royal robe to the next king, David. Next, we encounter:
David and Saul
“And Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father’s house.”
1 Sam 18:2 (LSB)
This likely aligns with the later half of 1 Samuel 16, where David was brought into the palace to play the harp for Saul. And back then we read that Saul loved David, which was likely after his encounter with Goliath, but prior to all the praise that David was receiving from people in Israel.
“So David went out wherever Saul sent him and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war.”
1 Sam 18:5a (LSB)
Here we see that not only was David acting as Saul’s music guy, but because he had become such a great warrior, killing Goliath, he was also used in the king’s service in battle. And there must be some time here between David’s rise to fame by killing Goliath, and his accolades at the end of 1 Samual 17 where it says that Israel pursued the Philistines and plundered their camps (17:53). This would account for a time when Saul had David placed in some strategic leadership. And we are not given how long this may have gone on, this pursuing of the Philistines. When we read it, we assume that it was in the course of the day, but it must have been some time here, weeks or months when David is leading. And now David is returning and his fame with Goliath and his other battles is becoming known (vs 6). And we would perceive Saul as feeling pretty good about himself promoting David, making himself look good in having such a great warrior in his army, until David starts to get the accolades that Saul is not receiving.
“And it happened as they were coming, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with gladness, and with musical instruments. And the women sang as they were merry and said, ‘Saul has struck his thousands, And David his ten thousands.’ Then Saul became very angry, for this saying was displeasing in his eyes; and he said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?’”
1 Sam 18:6-8 (LSB)
Nothing worse, is it, when someone else gets the praise, when someone else scores the goal and you did all the work in setting him up. Well, in this case, when David scores the goal and you were the one who sent him out on the ice. Boo-whoa, pitting me! What about all I did? Nothing worse than when you play first base in Elim 2-pitch. You cheer and you cheer, and you run your heart out, and then someone like Scott Oosterhof swings once and gets a home run and gets all the accolades! Kidding aside, this is a real event that can happen, can’t it? It certainly can rear its ugly head in church circles where someone may be gifted in an area, and then someone else comes along that is better. Good to be thankful for those who are gifted in leadership, and yet they rejoice when someone younger comes to the forefront. I witnessed this firsthand from Pastor Phil Stairs who so graciously saw the younger Pastor Rick Baker taking more leadership as they ministered together. And they remained such good friends and Rick led Phil’s funeral service. Yet here Saul was the warrior, and he did have his share of victories and praises, but now David becomes the main man. I bet the fact that David was a great harpist didn’t bother Saul at all. It was that David was receiving praise for his wartime greatness, something that Saul thought he should be the one receiving praise for.
It would be interesting if these women knew the trouble they were causing. Maybe if they changed the words of their song slightly so that David was still positioned under Saul. I did smile when I read that these women came with this song to David. No, (vs 6) the women came out singing and dancing to meet King Saul. Talk about in your face! Sounds like they were wanting to rub this in a little. And that is the problem of being at the top, that even if you are Wayne Gretzky, at some point Alex Ovechkin is going to break your record. Even if you are the most heralded entertainer, actor, or singer, or the top athlete in any sport, you just have to wait a few years and someone else will be better. Or if you’re the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning champions of football, for a few seasons, until the Philadelphia Eagles come along. Just five chapters earlier we read that “all Israel had heard the news that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines.” In other words, he was at the top of his game, until David had killed his tens of thousands. And (vs 8) Saul was very angry and (vs 9) he kept an eye on David from that day on. It was like Saul went to bed at night and what was in his mind? was all this praise about David, David, David. And Saul would wake up in the morning and all he could think about was this praise to David, David, David. Alistair Begg said:
“Jealousy will destroy a marriage, disrupt a family, bust a business, neutralize a sports team, create absolute chaos in a church leadership, and reduce a church family to bare bones.”
Alistair Begg, The Lord Was with Him
The Apostle James wrote that wherever jealousy and selfish ambition occur, there is disorder and evil. And then of course, Saul’s jealousy turns to hatred, as all Saul is thinking is, I hate that guy. And in this case, there was nothing that David has done against Saul. But our evil emotions do not necessarily have to have a good reason, especially if we may feel pity for ourselves or we are being driven by jealousy. And it is odd that we read (vs 12) that Saul was afraid of David. Here Saul is the one with the spear. Here Saul is the one with the throne. And he is fearing the young shepherd-boy. But there is such a difference here between the two men, as the Spirit of God had left Saul, and then we read twice (vs 12) Yahweh was with David and (vs 14) Yahweh was with him. And in this case the people saw this as well, and they must have seen the success of David over Saul.
And it is significant that the passage (vs 16) that all Israel and Judah loved David, as we are already seeing a rift between Israel and Judah that will become apparent after David’s son Solomon. But here it was not just David’s tribesmen that loved him, but all the tribes of Israel loved him, all the Conservatives, Liberals, and Democrats. Now if we were asked to consider each of the characters in our story, what would we say? David, the faithful, humble, hero. Jonathan, the devoted friend of David and sensible son of Saul. Saul, the unpredictable king, insecure, jealous, and evil. And this comes to light again as David is the one who has delivered Israel. And then we read:
“Therefore Saul turned him away from his presence and appointed him as his commander of one thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.”
1 Sam 18:13 (LSB)
So, then it may surprise us that Saul would do this:
“Then Saul said to David, ‘Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife.’”
1 Sam 18:17a (LSB)
Now we had heard the previous promise of Saul last week that whoever would kill Goliath would be given the king’s daughter. Yet now it seems to come with another condition, middle (vs 17), “I will give her to you as a wife; only be a man of valour for me and fight Yahweh’s battles.” Yet we also know that this was only for the purpose of David hopefully getting killed in battle, end (vs 17), “For Saul thought, ‘My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.’” In other words, her may have been thinking, sure, David had a lucky shot at the big Philistine, but let’s have him tackle thousands of them, So, now, not only is Saul against David, but he is actually pulling for the Philistines in battle.
“But David said to Saul, ‘Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?’ So it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.”
1 Sam 18:18-19 (LSB)
What is not clear in these verses is whether David refused the offer as he says, who am I? And chose not to marry Merab. Or if Saul simply reneged on his offer. Now it would seem that some time passes as (vs 20) introduces something more to the plot, and this is the love that Michal had for David. Now when we read (vs 20) that Michal loved David and it was told to Saul, my response if I was reading this for the first time would be to think that Saul would blow up, but he is good with this.
“And Saul said, ‘I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.’ Therefore Saul said to David, ‘For a second time you may be my son-in-law today.’”
1 Sam 18:21 (LSB)
This would also confirm that the reason that Merab was not given to David was more to do with David’s refusal than Saul’s unwillingness, as Saul seems quite happy at this point to try again. And when we read that Michal loved David, we do not know for sure how devoted this was, though she will try to protect David next week. In other words, Michal may have loved David for what he had accomplished, and being married to him would bring great honour to her, hard to know. Whereas Jonathan’s love for David was due to his great commitment to David. And his devotion is really proven as his support to David, if anything, would steal some of the honour that would have been his if Saul’s line of kingship had continued. Certainly, Jonathan seemed to support David whether he gained from it or not. And so, Saul makes sure that this time the plan will work and does not hesitate to say whatever he needs to say to benefit himself.
“Then Saul commanded his servants, ‘Speak to David secretly, saying, “Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; so now, become the king’s son-in-law.”’”
1 Sam 18:22 (LSB)
Well, we know that David agrees, and Saul is glad to propose the challenge to David, with one goal in mind, that David would be killed in battle. As it would seem that Saul was certain that David would jump at the opportunity to fight the Philistines, as Saul knew him well. And I do like the way in which Saul tried to get these men to entice David.
“Then his servants told David these words, and it was right in the eyes of David to become the king’s son-in-law.”
1 Sam 18:26a (LSB)
I smile at this that part of the enticement was to become the king’s son-in-law. Anne’s maiden name is Bellinger, but you know I call Anne, Oakie. But sometimes for fun I will call her Anne Baaalinger! And the idea of being Don Bellinger’s son-in-law was nice, it really was, as Anne had a great Dad. Very involved in church ministry, greatly supported me as a son-in-law, and he was loved by many. But it was not at the heart of the plan when I proposed to Anne on Dec 30th, 1980. Now, it would be fun to watch this story as a movie to see the look on Saul’s face after killing, not one hundred Philistines, which was the price-tag—but coming back with two hundred Philistines. And you must give David some credit here as he is somewhat the competitive sort, as this would not have been the most pleasant undertaking. And this shock to Saul reminds me of the story in Esther where Haman believes that he is the one to be honoured, only to find out that his arch-enemy Mordecai is the one who would be honoured. And then we read a strange statement:
“Then Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, so Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.”
1 Sam 18:28-29 (LSB)
Talk about things going from bad to worse for Saul, as he tries to have David killed in battle and yet because of David’s exploits, he is highly esteemed in Israel.
“Then the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David behaved himself more insightfully than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.”
1 Sam 18:30 (LSB)
And of course, his plan included giving the king’s daughter to David, which now makes the presence of David even a greater threat to Saul as David is now part of the family. Well, what can we take from this fascinating story? Much is told to us in this chapter about love and loyalty, and we also learn much about hatred and fear. And if we wanted to simplify the chapter, we could say there was love and loyalty on the part of Jonathan toward David, and there was hatred and fear on the part of Saul toward David. And then we have some others who express a love for David. And then, of course, there is David, who had a love and loyalty toward Jonathan, the people, certainly God, and even toward Saul. And what we need to understand in this story is that David is the chosen king. He is the one whom the Lord has set His heart upon. This is the choice that God has determined for the people to follow.
As we continue in our story, we will see that David will fail in many ways in the role that he was given by God. But we know that the point of the story in the Scriptures is not the greatness of David, but it will be in the greatness of his Successor, Jesus Christ. Yet the key here in our story is God’s choice, and therefore, we see the response to God’s choice here in 1 Samuel 18. And it is not surprising that when David’s Successor comes in the New Testament, Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” And we see many of the same reactions to Christ in the New Testament as we see towards David here in the Old Testament, as many who heard Christ, God’s chosen King, yet reacted by rejecting Him, and many picked up stones to kill Him. And we know that ultimately, they put Jesus on a cross, the Lord’s Messiah King. Listen to the words of Peter as he preached in Acts 4:
“Why did the Gentiles rage,
And the peoples devise vain things?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
Acts 4:25b-26 (LSB)
When Peter preached these words, he was quoting from the Old Testament. In fact, they were the exact words of King David in Psalm 2. We might say, here is the moral of the story, no one can have a neutral stance toward the Christ, God’s anointed King. John Woodhouse wrote that the world would like to think that they can be neutral toward Jesus. For who would want to oppose a Man who did so much good and taught us to love even our enemies, as many today may not describe themselves as a believer, but neither would they describe themselves as an unbeliever. They may say, I am not against Christianity; but neither am I enthusiastically for Christ. But remember Jesus said, whoever is not with Me is against Me. And this comes into view in the story of David, as Saul outwardly opposes God’s choice. Some at least acknowledge some kind of allegiance towards him, but we also need to know that likely many like Saul started out loving David, but it would not last. And the same as with many who followed Christ, it did not last. As we read in John 6:66, “As a result of this many of His disciples went away and were not walking with Him anymore.” Yet while Jonathan loved David dearly and devoted himself to God’s king, there were also those in the New Testament who entered by the narrow door and followed Christ. And this is the only kind of devotion that Christ declares for Himself, as Luke wrote:
“Now many crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.’”
Luke 14:25-27 (LSB)
This is the call to the Lord’s King as there can be no neutrality here. Woodhouse wrote this about David:
“If you did not throw your lot with [David], as Jonathan so gladly did, sooner or later you would fear him and hate him, as Saul so tragically did.”
John Woodhouse, Looking for a Leader 364
Christ is reigning, as Christ the Lord is risen today, for up from the grave He arose. But not many are aware, or not many live as if this were the theme of their lives. A little like David’s anointing, not many were aware at this point. Yet someday David would come to the throne, and some day every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, no one will be neutral. And the question is where is your heart today? Have you embraced the Lord’s Anointed? Do you love Him. Are you loyal to Him? We could say about our risen Lord as Woodhouse said about David, that if you do not throw your lot in with Christ, sooner or later, you will fear Him and hate Him. We need to be reminded of the centurion as He saw the Lord’s King, when he said, surely this Man must be the Son of God. Charles Surgeon said, “You may lose a great deal for Christ, but you will never lose anything by Christ. You may lose for [a] time, but you will gain for [an] eternity.” Let’s pray. Father, we pray that we would consider our hearts this morning, our loyalty to Your King. The One we celebrate this day as the risen King. Therefore, might we be a people who are willing to leave all for our King, our all for God’s chosen. And all God’s people said, amen.