Our passage today continues to describe the hatred that Saul had for David which we examined in our study last week. Even though Jonathan and all Israel loved David deeply, Saul could not stand him. Saul hated David so much, because the demonic presence that had overtaken Saul was violently opposed to the Spirit of God that was on David, that Saul tried to murder David twice with a spear (1 Sam. 18:10 – 11).

Although Saul had been warned by Samuel that his kingdom was going to be torn from him and given to a neighbor who was better than him, instead of submitting to God and surrendering the kingdom to David, he chose to be filled with hatred towards David as he gave into the demonic presence that had taken hold of him (1 Samuel 15 – 16); Saul literally had become a blood thirsty, murderous, maniac instead of loving the one true king of Israel.

The challenge for us from last week was to think deeply about the ways we act out of rebellious hatred instead of obedient love towards the One True King – Jesus. You might remember that David is merely a prototype of the Christ, the Messiah, the King who is to come in the person and work of Jesus.2 The question for us is this: “do we love the One True King or do we hate him?”. Take a look at the text for this week with me…

17Then Saul said to David, “Here is my eldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’S battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

20Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23And Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” 24And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” 25Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. 

28But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, 29Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually. 30Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.

That question from last week is still the main question for us this week. When you and I come face to face with the One True King – Jesus – we have a choice to make: we will either love him in our obedient devotion to him, or we will hate him in our defiant rebellion against him.3 Saul obviously chose the latter; he chose to hate the One True King. No matter how many times David served Saul, and regardless of Israel’s growing love for David, Saul could not help but to hate him. Notice Saul’s hatred towards David in his first hate-filled scheme in verses 17 – 19.

#1: SAUL’S FIRST HATE-FILLED SCHEME (VV. 17 – 19)

In this first hate filled scheme, Saul offers the hand of his oldest daughter to David in marriage so long as David continues to fight God’s battles courageously for Saul (v. 17). That proposition would be all fine and dandy if the second half of verse 17 did not clue us in on Saul’s thinking where we read that he thought to himself, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” The bottom line here is that since David had evaded Saul’s deadly spears, Saul figured it would be better anyways if the Philistines did the job for him.

I think Saul thought David would jump all over the opportunity to officially become part of the royal family through marriage and that David would eventually be murdered by the Philistines as he fought to win the hand of Saul’s oldest daughter. We should also be reminded of the rumor that was circulating around when David showed up to fight Goliath in chapter 17. You may remember that some people were saying that the king’s daughter would be given to the man who defeated Goliath.

But even back then, David turned up his nose at the thought of some earthly reward for fighting the Lord’s battles. Here in this part of the story, Saul’s first hate-filled scheme gets overturned because David is not a man who can be bought. David’s response to Saul is full of humility when he says in verse 18, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father’s clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”

Verse 19 then tells us that Saul’s oldest daughter was then given to another man, probably out of spite for David since Saul’s first hate-filled scheme was upended by David’s humility. The bottom line here in this first episode is that Saul’s hatred is contrasted with David’s humility.

Humility is a very attractive and godly character trait; one that should have caused Saul to love David. But when someone is blinded by pride, humility looks like weakness. So, Saul – misinterpreting David’s humility for weakness – tries a second hate-filled scheme in verses 20 – 27.

#2: SAUL’S SECOND HATE-FILLED SCHEME (VV. 20 – 27)

In this second hate-filled scheme to murder David, we learn in verse 20 that “Saul’s daughter Michal loved David” and when Saul heard about this, he could not contain his excitement in verse 21 because he thought that if he gave Michal to David in marriage, Saul could then devise a new murder scheme where she became “a snare for” David once again with the Philistines.

So, through a series of conversations in verses 22 – 25, Saul proposes that David marries Michal, David again exhibits great humility when he says in verse 23, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” David’s humble response leads Saul to deceptively set the “bride price” at “a hundred foreskins of the Philistines” because he sought to “make David fall by the hand of the Philistines” (v. 25). So, here is Saul, the master deceiver, dangling some bait in front of David as he whispers his deceptive promises with his belly on fire at the prospect of David’s ultimate demise. What a scoundrel!

Now David, knowing nothing of Saul’s deceitful little hate-filled scheme, takes the bait in verses 26 – 27, he gathers his men and he goes to war against the Philistines and he brings back not one hundred but two hundred Philistine foreskins and he wins the hand of the woman who loves him dearly. Sounds like a scene straight out of the Princess Bride to me!!!

But make no mistake, Saul’s hatred has not only been contrasted with David’s humility (twice now) but now it has been contrasted with David’s immense courage; not to mention the fact that David literally paid twice the price for his bride! David literally has twice the humility and he is willing to pay twice the price for his bride!!

One would think that Saul might come to his senses at this point. But the truth is, Saul’s hatred for David only needs one more nail in the coffin to ensure that it continues until his dying breath. Think with me about Saul’s continuing hatred of David in verses 28 – 30.

#3: SAUL’S CONTINUING HATRED (VV. 28 – 30)

In these final verses, the author wastes no time in explaining that “when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David” and that his daughter loved David deeply, he became “even more afraid of David” and he became “David’s enemy continually” (vv. 28 – 29). To cap things off, we also learn that “David had more success than all” of Saul’s other servants in war against the Philistines and that because of his continued victories, David’s “name was highly esteemed” (v. 30).

Saul is undone in his hatred towards David! Not only does his daughter love David deeply, and not only is David continually victorious and highly esteemed, but you have to notice that Saul does not just see that God is with David (as he already has throughout the story) but now he knows that God is with David (v. 28).4 Everything Saul has attempted to do has backfired on him with a vengeance and now he knows that God is with David.

That knowledge – knowing that God was with David – caused Saul to be David’s enemy continually. We should note that the word “enemy” in verse 29 is the same word used in the Hebrew language for “hate”; Saul will now be David’s hate-filled enemy for the rest of his life.5

It seems ironic to me, that Saul would be so filled with hate for David just because everyone else loved him and just because he knew that the Lord was with him; this is none other than the work of Satan, Sin, and Death, because these ancient enemies have always tried to fill their victims with such hatred towards the Lord that they would seek the death penalty for the Lord’s Anointed.

APPLICATION…

By way of application, we can see that Saul is a pride-filled, arrogant, and cowardly king, who lives on the shirt tails of other successful men. He loves getting all the attention. He constantly lives in disobedience to the Lord. He cannot stand the thought of someone being loved more than him. And he hates David so much that he attempts to murder him multiple times, even though he not only saw but also came to know that the Spirit of God was with David.

David on the other hand exhibits remarkable humility not once but twice. He exhibits striking courage in the face of death as he pays the bride price twice over. And he exhibits sustained victories time and time again, despite the king’s hate filled attempts to murder him. Reminds me a lot of Jesus; Jesus is full of humility, Jesus is full of courage, Jesus is full of the obvious presence of the Living God and Jesus is overwhelmingly victorious!

If you struggle, as I sometimes do, to love Jesus with your entire being, let me offer a few observations that I pray will help your heart to fall in love with Him all over again. Think with me first, about the humility of the One True King…

#1: THE HUMILITY OF THE ONE TRUE KING

Philippians 2:5 – 11 says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

It has been said (by C.S. Lewis I believe) that humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Jesus obviously knew his own value and importance as the Creator and King of the universe. But he did not need to walk around in pomp and circumstance. His humility is fully displayed in his work at the cross of Calvary on behalf of his enemies so that we could become his family.

Like David – better than David – the humility of the One True King – Jesus – is something that is meant to melt and fill our hardened hearts with a deep and abiding love for Him.

#2: THE COURAGE OF THE ONE TRUE KING

Hebrews 12:1 – 4 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

Facing our enemies – Satan, Sin, and Death – requires a great amount of courage. You and I will not muster up enough courage to face those enemies in the trenches of daily warfare unless we fall in love with the One True King who fought courageously on our behalf.

While David fought courageously and paid twice the price for his bride, Jesus, the One True King, paid the infinite price for his bride with every ounce of his own blood. I pray that you would fall in love with Jesus as you observe his courage and if you do, you will be given the courage you need to stand against your enemies day in and day out.

#3: THE VICTORY OF THE ONE TRUE KING

Romans 8:9 – 11 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

The essence of this passage – that if the Spirit of the resurrected King lives within us, then we have complete victory over Satan, Sin, and Death – is a great reminder of the ongoing victory of the One True King in our lives. Because He lives in victory, we too can live in victory.

While David’s ongoing victories cause him to be esteemed by everyone except Saul, the ongoing eternal victory of our One True King leaves Him to be esteemed in and through the lives of those whom he saves. His ongoing victory is ours, friends! Do you love the One True King?

CONCLUSION…

That is the question we are left with once again as we conclude our time together today: Do you love the One True King or do you hate him? If love and hate are more of a mindset than mere emotion, then we really must evaluate where we set our minds on a daily basis. Is your mind set on hating God with your rebellion against the One True King when you get out of bed in the morning? Or is your mind set on loving the One True King through your active, faith-filled, obedience when your feet hit the floor each morning?

The mindset that hates the One True King cannot stand to have anyone other than self, occupy the throne of the human heart. Hating the One True King is rooted in pride. But the mindset that loves the One True King gladly surrenders the throne of the human heart to Jesus every day. Loving the One True King is rooted in the humility, and the courage, and the ongoing victory of Jesus.

That bloody cross, and that empty tomb, and that promise of eternal citizenship with the Father in Heaven, these are the daily reminders we need to continue growing in our love for Jesus. You need to look no further than that bloody cross, and that empty tomb, and that promise of heaven to see the humility, the courage, and the everlasting victory of Christ Jesus on your behalf. Again, the question we are left with is this: Do you love the One True King or do you hate him? – Amen!!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 John, Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 357.

3 Ibid., 357 – 358.

4 Ibid., 363.

5 Ibid.