Pleased To Beat You (1 Samuel 18:20-30)

In the mid-1100s, William Marshal was a young man trying to make his way in England. He came from a low-ranking family and had multiple older brothers, so William had no fortune coming to him.^[1] His father didn’t seem to really care about him all that much. Once, at age six, William was held hostage when an army attacked the family estate. When his captors threatened to kill William, his father replied, “I have a hammer and an anvil on which I can forge better sons than he!”^[2]

Despite his prospects, William grew to be a man of integrity. He embraced the life of chivalry, embodied by bravery, loyalty, and honor.^[3] Competing in tournaments, he showed himself to be a warrior of outstanding prowess, undefeated in his tournament career.^[4]

He was soon appointed to the palace as tutor-in-arms to King Henry II’s young son. Despite the turmoil around the throne, William served loyally. Henry II was a control freak.^[5] He was often at violent odds with members of his own family.

As a loyal knight, William fought the king’s battles. At one point he was accused of unfaithfulness – the accusation was almost certainly false – and was banished from court. A year later he was invited back and he returned to serve again.

He was a fierce warrior, but also merciful. Once, William found himself in a fight against Richard the Lionheart. William unhorsed Richard but spared his life. Later, Richard called William into his service and gave William a noble bride, which “transformed William from a landless knight into one of the richest men in England.”^[6]

William would go on to become a stabilizing force for England and ultimately shape the monarchy as one of the creators and co-signers of the Magna Carta.

In our text, David continues to rise in the ranks as Saul’s reign continues to deteriorate. A process that has been happening for a few passages now. But it’s not just more of the same. Our author is trying to drive home the contrast between these two characters. He wants us to see the contrast between a life full of the Holy Spirit and a life without Him. A life lived in faithful obedience to God and a life lived according to human desires and designs. A life of service and a life of selfishness.

We know this book wants us to contrast Saul and David, to look back and forth at them. The texts will often measure and mirror them in how the story is told. Saul is introduced as an incompetent shepherd, David as a faithful shepherd. In our last text, Saul is shown with a spear in his hand and then we’re told David had a lyre in his hand.

Today we have a similar mirroring. Twice we’re told the same phrase – that Saul was pleased, then that David was pleased. The term means they each saw something as an opportunity.^[7] Literally it means, “It was straight in [their] eyes.”^[8] There comes a moment where Saul and David each say, “This is the straight path to what I want.” But their desires and destinations are very different.

Through their contrast, we have a chance to learn something about the opportunities we’ve set our hearts and minds on and how that impacts not our our future, but the lives of those around us.

1 Samuel 18:20-21 – ²⁰ Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him. ²¹ “I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

Michal is the only woman in the Old Testament who is explicitly reported to have loved a man.^[9] Marriages weren’t really about romantic love. But here’s what’s so sad: Rather than be happy for his daughter that she has found love and that she’s fallen in love with the best possible suitor, Saul’s not happy for Michal, but for himself. He plans to use his daughter’s life for his own, selfish goals.

Parents, our children are gifts from God. They have been loaned to us by the Heavenly Father to tend and care for and to raise up in the Lord. Our kids do not exist to fulfill our unrealized dreams.

We’re told Saul hopes to use Michal as a two-fold trap for David. She would be bait to get him into so much danger he’ll be killed by Philistines. But there seems to be a second layer here. It says, “She’ll be a trap for him and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.”

The word may be snare in your translation. That term is theologically significant. It’s used three times in the Torah to describe the dangers of idols and idol worshipers.”^[10] There is a suggestion here that Saul wants to use Michal to corrupt David, spiritually.

What’s interesting is that the next time we see Michal, she will be placing a household idol in the bed as a decoy so David can escape. Was it hers or was it David’s? It’s hard to imagine David being an idolator, given what we know and have been told so far about him.

But Saul is in this pattern of manipulating and exploiting the people around him for his own selfish gain. And it’s heartbreaking that it has even bled into his relationship with his youngest daughter.

1 Samuel 18:22 – ²² Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.’”

The term used for speaking “in private” means he wants them to be careful to cover up his real intentions.^[11]

Previously, Saul kept his evil plans to himself. So far it has all been in his head, or in the case of the spear, his hands. But now, as he continues down the path of selfishness and jealousy and hate, Saul starts to drag others into his sin. Now he’s ordering innocent people to be a part of his conspiracy.

In this life we are either walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. We’re either growing the fruit of the Spirit or we’re growing the fruit of sin. And either growth will impact the lives of the people around us. We don’t have palace servants, but we do have spouses and children, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and teammates. When we live like Saul, when we live selfish lives driven by human desire, we will inevitably stumble others, discourage others, even corrupt others. But when we live in the Spirit, our fruit builds them up, blesses them, helps accomplish God’s work in them.

Now, we can’t know someone else’s heart but we can inspect fruit. Sometimes people say “Don’t judge me! Only God can judge me.” That’s true – and He will – but we can judge fruit. Jesus said we’re to be on our guard against wolves who come in sheep’s clothing and that we’ll recognize them by their fruit.

What is the fruit growing in Saul’s life? Deception. Self-centeredness. Unkindness. Manipulation. Coercion. These are not fruits of the Spirit. So what about David?

1 Samuel 18:23 – ²³ Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor commoner.”

Saul is hateful, David is humble. Saul is backhanded, David is candid. And David thinks beyond himself. Beyond than his own potential payday. He says, “Don’t you realize what it means to be a part of the family of the king of Israel? This is no small thing.”

David’s heart was full of thoughts about the greater work of God. His place among the people of God. He wasn’t only thinking of what would be most lucrative for himself. That’s what Saul did.

David says, “I’m a poor commoner.” Which means Saul was not taking care of his people. Let’s not forget Saul had promised to make whoever killed Goliath very rich.^[12] But obviously he did not fulfill that promise. He’s so worried about his own power and his own position that he doesn’t bother to see how he could help others and how the people around him have needs.

We Christians are called and commanded to look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others.^[13] To allow God to use us to meet the needs of those around us. We do that through giving. We do it through serving. We do it however the Lord Jesus asks us to. Reminding ourselves that our lives are not just for what we can get but how God gets to use us how He wants.

1 Samuel 18:24-25 – ²⁴ The servants reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.” ²⁵ Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’ ” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.

The bride price would typically act as a sort of life insurance policy. If the husband died or deserted his wife, this bride price would be used to support her.^[14] According to the Law of Moses, the father of the bride would set the price. The amount would reflect the status of the bride.^[15]

David cannot afford a princess. But Saul is even more motivated to get these two hitched than David or Michal are. So he sets the price not in shekels, but in slaughter. He knew this mission would appeal to David as a warrior. But Saul thinks this is a suicide mission. He has no faith that God will fight for David. Worse, we sense a growing worldliness in Saul’s heart and mind.

One scholar writes, “In this vulgar stipulation Saul was following the custom of other peoples of the ancient Near East who cut off the genitals of enemy soldiers as a trophy of victory.”^[16] Saul really is becoming a king like all the other nations. There’s a base, bloody worldliness in his thinking.

1 Samuel 18:26-27 – ²⁶ When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, ²⁷ David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.

David saw an opportunity. But an opportunity for what? To do what he had already been called and positioned to do. To fight the Lord’s battles. To drive out the enemy. To make the land holy again. To protect the people of God. And now he’ll get a noble wife out of it? Of course he’s willing to go.

When William Marshal was made regent of the king, he used his power to issue what’s known as the Charter of the Forest. It re-established rights of free men which the king had eroded.

Notice: while Saul brought innocent people in his sin, David includes others in victory. And while Saul has not kept his promises to reward David, what does David do? When given this task, he gives double. He goes above and beyond. And it wouldn’t have been easy.

It reminds us of how Jesus called us to live as Christians. He said if someone comes to take your shirt, give him your coat, too. If someone forces you to walk a mile, go with him two.^[17] The Christian life is a life of gracious, personal generosity, doing what we do as unto the Lord, whether the person we’re serving at the moment deserves it or not.

Not only did David go above and beyond, we see he was diligent and purposeful. “Before the wedding day arrived,” indicates that Saul had fixed a certain period of time for this offer to be redeemed.^[18] Saul undoubtedly put a time crunch in order to make David rush and to create more potential for mistakes. But David is doing what he’s already been called to do. And so he’s happy to go on a difficult and dangerous mission because he’s ready physically and spiritually.

1 Samuel 18:28-29 – ²⁸ Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, ²⁹ and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.

Only now does Saul realize his daughter loves David. Earlier it had been reported to him. Saul didn’t really know his daughter. He wasn’t a loving father. I’m sure he consoled himself day by day that all the things he was doing – the attempted murder, the lies, the scheming – was for his family, but it wasn’t. It was for himself. His own pride. His own greed. His own desire for power.

He kept resisting God but you cannot win if you resist God. God promises that He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. What Saul hoped would lead to David’s death actually gives David a legitimate claim to the throne.^[19] As son-in-law, if Saul and Jonathan die, David is up for the job.

Rather than accept how God was using David, Saul became his enemy for the rest of his days.^[20] But David was not Saul’s enemy. David will have chances to take his revenge, to give Saul a taste of his own medicine. But where Saul is ruthless, David is merciful. Where Saul is selfish, David is sacrificial.

1 Samuel 18:30 – ³⁰ Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.

It’s unclear whether Saul is even going out to fight anymore. So, not only is he trying to stand in the way of God, he’s essentially removed himself from the board altogether. The fruit of his life is all spoiled and rotten. He desperately claws and clings to this position that is no longer his while David refuses to grasp at it. Instead, David follows God’s leading. David takes the opportunities the Lord presents him. And because the Lord brings him these opportunities, they are fruitful.

What opportunities are we hoping for in life? If they’re all about ourselves, if they’re all about our own material benefit, if none of them are about glorifying God or serving the Lord or blessing others, then our hearts have more in common with Saul than with David. And God cannot smile on that. Instead, the Christian life is about setting our minds, our eyes, our hearts on the Lord. On His ways. On His work. Learning to recognize His voice as He calls us and leads us into those opportunities He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in.