1Samuel chapter 18 comments

 1Samuel 18:1 ¶  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2  And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. 3  Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4  And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. 5  And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

 

Here it is shown that David and Saul’s son, Jonathan, would become the best of best friends with an affection for each other that united them. Anyone who has had a friend they’ve journeyed through thick and thin would understand this. Men who have shared combat together can share a bond, on occasion, like this bond between David and Jonathan. Women who have shared life struggles with a friend can understand how close two people can become without sin.

 

King Saul makes David a permanent member of his court. David and Jonathan make a covenant of friendship between them. David is honored by Jonathan with important gifts and the people and Saul’s servants accept him as the king’s man. However, we are about to see that things go wrong right away due to Saul’s paranoia and pride.

 

1Samuel 18:6 ¶  And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7  And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8  And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9  And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 10  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. 11  And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

 

The people glorify David and Saul is very jealous and paranoid. In his envy of David’s popularity he accused David in his own mind of wanting to take his kingdom from him as Samuel had indicated would happen although Saul probably did not know who was anointed by Samuel at first. So Saul would eye David with suspicion from then on. Saul even tried to kill David under the influence of a disembodied mind called an evil spirit, a spirit bent on malicious behavior.

 

1Samuel 18:12 ¶  And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. 13  Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14  And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. 15  Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16  But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. 17  And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD’S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 18  And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? 19  But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. 20  And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21  And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain. 22  And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king’s son in law. 23  And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? 24  And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. 25  And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26  And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son in law: and the days were not expired. 27  Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. 28  And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him. 29  And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s enemy continually. 30  Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.

 

We have King Saul paranoid and terrified of David because he realizes that God’s blessing is on David. Saul removed David from the court and placed him in a battle command. This only made Saul more afraid when he saw how circumspectly and wise David would act. Still, Israel as a people loved David. Saul gave David his daughter, Merab, but David declined the generous offer and she was given to another man. Saul’s hope was that the Philistines would kill David in battle.

 

David finally accepted another of Saul’s daughter’s, Michal, whom Saul hoped would result in his destruction. You’ve read the sneaky double-dealing of Saul and of his demand for a dowry from David of a hundred Philistine foreskins which, of course, meant a battle.

 

David was not killed. He and his men succeeded in bringing the required and, I might add, pretty gross dowry to Saul. The word tale in verse 27 means the count. Think of a bank teller and God’s charge to Abram in Genesis 15:5 to tell the stars, if he could.

 

David was making a great name of himself as a warrior and as a commander.