David Favored and Loved (vv. 10-16)
10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand. 11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said, "I will pin David to the wall!" But David escaped his presence twice. 12 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him. 15 Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
God’s Favor Is Our Life
Three times the Spirit shows us that God’s favor distinguishes David from Saul, raised him up above Saul, and protected him from Saul’s jealousy and rage. For God to be with someone means that he draws near to us in grace, makes a covenant with us, draw us to himself, watches over us, and works good for us. God’s nearness or favor is based upon his choosing us in Christ, predestinating us to be his children, and redeeming us by the precious blood of his Son (Eph. 1:3-12; Rom. 9:18). God is not with us because we are good or have done anything to merit his favor. It is all his undeserved kindness and sovereign mercy. He is near to us because he has forgiven our sins and put them away. Saul did not repent; his sins were not put away. Saul did not look to the Messiah; David looked to the Messiah and believed God’s promise. God was near David because he pledged himself to be David’s Savior, to work all things for David’s good, and to keep all his promises to David. God’s favor is thus our life. It is worth more than our lives.
God’s Favor Makes All the Difference
Years later, when David came to the throne and was able to build a house for himself, he penned this line: “In your favor is life” (Ps: 30:5). From the very first, the Lord took David into his school and taught him this truth. Who would protect him from Saul’s wrath? The Lord was with David. Why was Saul going mad with rage and yet thwarted at every turn? The Lord has forsaken Saul but is with David. Why was David able to succeed in such a jealous environment without being ruined by vengefulness or inadvertently killed in such a martial environment? The Lord was with David. When the Lord is with us, we have nothing to fear. God’s gracious presence with us makes all the difference in our lives. He is working good for us when men are working evil. His presence and favor do not mean we shall have an easy road. David’s successes kindled Saul’s jealousy. Saul hated David and tried to kill him, directly and indirectly. But the Lord was with David (v. 12). David’s circumstances changed often in those days. He was first in Saul’s presence, then in the field; he was single, then he was married. Still, the Lord was with him, and the Lord’s favor is what preserved David and raised him up. Even when Saul began scheming against David, hoping that David would be killed by his enemies, the Lord gave him one victory after another. Saul dug pits, and then Saul fell in those pits. David seems to skip over them – or better, the Lord carried him through them, working good for him through Saul’s evil plans.
David Behaved Himself Wisely
God’s presence with David and with us does not mean we can throw caution and means to the wind and act presumptuously. Saul’s spear was heading straight at him; twice David avoided the murderous assault. David was careful and watchful. David was cleverly given more dangerous duties, but he “behaved himself wisely.” He did his duty faithfully and trusted the Lord. He knew he was anointed to be king, but he did not push himself forward. He did not take on airs, but freely mingled with the people. He won their hearts not by his pride and aloofness but by his openhearted and lowly service. And, when he heard he might become Saul’s son-in-law, he remained modest and assuming. No “of course I deserve this honor,” but “I am a poor man from a poor house.” David did nothing to poke at Saul or make the situation worse. He continued serving, taking the lowest seat, and seeking nothing for himself. Thus, we learn that God’s favor should make us more careful in the way we live and do our duty – not careless or slack, proud or self-indulgent. When the Lord’s hand is upon us for good, we should be humbled by his goodness. Now that we are the King’s children by the blood of Christ’s cross and the grace of adoption, we must “walk circumspectly, not foolish but wise” (Eph. 5:15). God’s favor is our life. When we enjoy his favor by his amazing grace, we must walk more carefully and serve him more diligently.
Saul Scheming and Afraid (vv. 17-30)
17 Then Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles." For Saul thought, "Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him." 18 So David said to 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 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. 20 Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 So Saul said, "I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." Therefore Saul said to David a second time, "You shall be my son-in-law today." 22 And Saul commanded his servants, "Communicate with David secretly, and say, 'Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king's son-in-law.' " 23 So Saul's servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, "Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?" 24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, "In this manner David spoke." 25 Then Saul said, "Thus you shall say to David: 'The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king's enemies.' " But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king's son-in-law. Now the days had not expired; 27 therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife. 28 Thus Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him; 29 and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David's enemy continually. 30 Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.
Because the Lord Forsook Him
Four times David is spoken of as “loved” (vv. 16,20,22,28); three times it is said that the Lord was with him (vv. 12,14,28). And Saul – forsaken (v. 12)! And yet, Saul knew the reason for this. He had disobeyed the Lord, and when warned, he did not repent. He preferred to have “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” It is dreadful to think that Saul was jealous and murderous and scheming, but that he also knew the reason that David was doing so well. He knew that the Lord was with David. David rose higher and was loved more, and yet Saul did nothing to turn to the Lord. The remedy of honest repentance was in his own hand, but he was unable and unwilling to reach out his hand to take it. Saul warns us to repent of all disobedience in our lives – all breaking of faith with the Lord, all hardness of heart, all provocation of sin. If he forsakes us, we are ruined. And we are warned not to receive God’s grace in vain – to receive his gifts without humility and his kindness without faith and love to him. He is a real person. He is the ever-present, faithful God. To have his favor is better than life; to lose his favor by our sin and unbelief is a living death. This loss of his favor is the reason that some who once walked with him but are now disobedient and unrepentant can go mad in their sins, lose all ability to judge themselves, and make every excuse and blame others for their circumstances without once humbling themselves under our Father’s hand.
Willing to Sacrifice His Daughters to His Jealousy
Here is another incentive to turn to the Lord. We can form no just conception of how low our sins can take us. Sinners think they have reached rock bottom, but then another trap door opens at their feet. This is truer for those who have “tasted the heavenly gift and the powers of the age to come,” as Saul had, but who never surrender their wills to the Lord in recognition of their utter inability and his right over us. Saul hated David so much that he was willing to sacrifice his daughter’s future happiness on the altar of his jealousy. Saul tried to bring his enemy closer by marriage so that he would be more under his command. Saul could then direct David to the most dangerous assignments. Let the Philistines kill David. But then when his firstborn daughter, Merab, was given to another, Saul heard that his younger daughter, Michal, loved David. This suited Saul’s purposes just as well. It also reveals Saul’s lack of fatherly affection for his own family. Hatred and jealousy had consumed him. He no longer thought of his family’s happiness or protected his daughters. He has turned into a conniving monster – all because the Lord had forsaken him. Unless the Lord restrains our hearts, sin will increasingly rule and ruin us, so that we lose even natural affection and think only to further our own desires and schemes, however much pain they cause to those closest to us.
Saul’s Plan Foiled…David Rises More and More
Michal’s pledged betrothal to David was Saul’s scheme to kill David. He began the rumor that the king did not request a monetary dowry for the honor of his daughter’s hand. He wanted a soldier’s dowry of blood – the foreskins of 100 Philistines. The violence of those times should make us very thankful for our own, but more especially for the times of mercy in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Israel was God’s hammer of justice against his enemies. Now, however, the cross of our Savior is the standard of mercy to all the nations. Thus, the kingdom of God is not in this age focused upon judgment and wrath but upon mercy and salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. To show his earnestness in fighting the Lord’s battles and in honoring his potential father-in-law, David went with his band and killed 200 Philistines. And thus, the dowry was laid at Saul’s feet – a gruesome gift but a fitting one for those times. The Philistines were uncircumcised enemies of God. Saul was not appreciative. He could only conclude that the Lord was with David. Hating the Lord, Saul hated David more and more. Perhaps Christian fathers who want to apply Old Testament precedent should ask of their prospective son-in-laws ten souls gained for the Master. The circumcision of Jesus Christ is faith and repentance. If we want families that love the Lord and are committed to him, we must be zealous for gaining men for Jesus Christ. All the loyalty our King asks of us is that we love him and labor to see the nations discipled.
God’s Favor Our Life and Joy
Be Sure of His Favor: Faith and Obedience
Before the Lord will accept anything we do, he must accept us. Our Father’s favor is a gift. There is nothing we do to merit his favor. If we consider David’s entire life, or the patriarchs, or our lives, we see depravity, idolatry, and unbelief. The good we are enabled to do by his grace can never negate our least evils. Were our best works measured by the standard of his holiness, they must be rejected and condemned. It is God’s gracious favor that makes all the difference in our lives. What then? Is there nothing we can do to be sure of God’s favor? Is he capricious? No, he will be believed and obeyed. This is the difference between David and Saul. David was as filthy by birth and life as Saul was, but David gave his heart to the Lord early. He believed God’s promise of mercy through the coming Messiah. When Saul’s sinful heart of unbelief was exposed, he pulled an Adam – run and hide. And worse, when encouraged to repent, he went from bad to worse in his unbelief and rebellion – refusing to look into the mirror, likely blaming God’s sovereignty – for, who can resist his will? – and continuing in the same course of willful sinning.
But how can we be sure of his favor? His mercy and grace are sovereign, and we certainly cannot control or merit his favor and grace. What do we do then? Believe his promise. Believe that it is God alone who “shines the light of his favor upon us,” and respond to him in faith. This begins with facing our sinfulness. Our disobedience deserves everlasting hell. There is nothing we can do to rescue ourselves, clean ourselves up, or erase our sins. Thus, we must look to Jesus Christ, the crucified One. He is the favored One, the Father’s delight and beloved. Do we want to be sure of God’s favor, look in faith to Jesus Christ. Look away from our sins and their demerit – there is nothing but wretched guilt and condemnation and misery there. Look at Christ. We are chosen in him, adopted through him, and redeemed by him (Eph. 1:3-12). And then, humbled by God’s favor, like David, obey. This is not the obedience of doubting, man-made traditions and ceremonies, or hoping to obtain the Father’s favor. The obedience of children is of love, of wonder, of thankfulness at being in the family, being favored and loved by such a great God and Savior. It truly does make all the difference in the world to know that the Father favors us, loves us, and watches over us – and that his favor is not given because we deserve it, for none of us deserves anything but wrath and judgment. It is because he is good and set his love upon us by uniting us to his Son and giving us everything in him.
Trust His Protection: In His Favor Is Life
If Saul knew that the Lord was with David, David knew it better. He did not run off and hide when the javelins began flying. He trusted that the Lord would protect him. He waited upon the Lord to raise him up. There is nothing that settles us more than the assurance that the Lord is with us, is working good for us, and is always watching over us. And if David had this confidence, we have it more. We have the Holy Spirit. This was the great promise for which the church was to wait. Why? God is with us. We have strength and wisdom that our enemies cannot overcome (Luke 21:15). This does not mean we are bodily invincible – not yet – or that we are exempt from suffering and persecution – not yet. It means that we are protected. Nothing anything can do to us, not even were the devil to come into this room and begin blasting us with fire, can overcome the power and sealing of Jesus Christ in us – the Holy Spirit. And the more we trust God’s favor giving us his Holy Spirit, dwelling with us by his Holy Spirit, the more assured and calm we will be. The bolder we may go about our daily lives. Let the wicked do their worst, for God is with us. We are his children – beloved, names written in heaven, protected, watched over by myriads of angels, and undergirded by the everlasting wings of God’s grace and favor.
Expect the World’s Hatred: To be Turned to Good
This helps us understand why the world so hates earnest, sincere Christians. First, the lives of Christians are a rebuke to non-Christians. Christians are merciful, giving, and self-renouncing, so that Jesus Christ may be glorified in their lives. Second, Christians are blessed by God – the world is not. The world tries to gain these same blessings by manipulation, as we see in Saul, but in honest moments, there is no other explanation for the joyful, obedient, and giving Christian – who perseveres in his love and duty despite the hatred of the world – except for the favor of God. The world bitterly cries as Esau – “Bless me, even me, father.” But there is no favor shown to the wicked. The single way to obtain God’s blessing is to turn to him and believe upon the name of his Son as the only Favored of the Father. And yet, despite the world’s hatred, the Father is constantly working good for us – as he did for David. Every plot Saul hatched to rid himself of David made David rise higher. It was maddening for Saul. It was frustrating. But he could do nothing about it. Saul sank under God’s displeasure, while David rose and succeeded by the grace of God given to him. And thus, we should willingly bear the world’s hatred, not fret over its successes, and delight in the Lord’s favor as our life.
Hold to the Course: Beloved, Wise, Obedient, Blessed
How do we live this way? We are seeing only snapshots of David’s interaction with Saul. Surely there were moments and longer periods of fear and frustration. Yes, there certainly were, as his Psalms make clear. There were even times of desperation. And we do not always feel blessed and favored. Always we are being called to walk by faith and hope, so there is a definite “not yet” to all of these blessings. Christians do not walk around with halos or glowing so that everyone knows they are the Father’s beloved and favored. How can we live faithfully in a hostile time? To walk faithfully is to hold the course. We do this, first, by remembering who we are – the beloved and favored of the Father (Eph. 1:3) – this is not dependent upon circumstances or prosperity or personal goodness. It is all of grace. And because his favor is all of grace, it is constant. We did nothing to merit our Father’s favor, and nothing we do or that happens to us makes us lose his favor. On account of our sins, we may for a time lose a comfortable sense of God’s favor, but he will bring us back to repentance and restore the joy of our salvation. Let us therefore depend upon our Father’s love and care. He will fulfill all his good counsel toward us.
Second, remembering who we are, we should hold the course in wise obedience. David did not expect the Lord to do daily miracles. David did what he was supposed to be doing, and he trusted the Lord to bless his obedience. This is where walking by faith and in good hope is important. The world can be swirling around us, and it certainly is at present. Men and women are lined up by the hundreds proclaiming the end of our civilization and the dominance of this group or elitist cabal. What if they are all right? Do your duty. Be faithful where the Lord has called you. David knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that Saul wanted him dead and was actively trying to kill him. How did he respond? He did his duty. He did not form a counter-conspiracy. He walked in the light. He was not afraid – or when he was afraid, he sought the Lord’s protection. It is the same with us. Of course the world of unbelief, conservative and progressive, is howling and hating. They hate God, and they hate the righteous. Obey the Lord. Obey him in your families, parents, by worshipping him each day and teaching your children in the Lord’s fear and admonition. Obey him as spouses, as workers, as business owners, as techs and teachers, as neighbors and sports coaches. The best way to enjoy the Lord’s protection and guidance is to respond to his grace in obedience – as our Savior did (John 15:9-11). Then, whatever happens, you know he will be with you, for he is on the path of obedience.
For, and here is one of the most important truths and promises we can ever take into our souls – we are blessed. Ephesians 1:3. Our Father has blessed us with everything in his Son – everything. It does not seem like it now, but we are merely in this life dancing upon the head of a pin. It does not yet appear what we shall be (1 John 3:1). Whatever happens to us, we are the blessed of the Father. “He that spared not his only Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things” (Rom. 8:32). This is written across the soul of every Christian, across the lintel of every Christian home, across the heavens of the whole church of God: BLESSED. The BLESSED OF THE LORD, THE FAVORED OF THE LORD. We can, therefore, afford to be patient, even tired and weeping in our warfare. We are blessed, and we know that blessing is coming. This does not breed laziness. Look at David. It inspired faithfulness, zeal, and courage. God’s favor will do the same for us and do it more, for we now have the promised Holy Spirit. We are God’s temple, and he dwells with us. He can no more walk away from us than he can walk away from himself. He loves us. And therefore….
Let us sing and rejoice…
Let us live praising the Lord for his goodness…
Let us live as the blessed of the Lord: trusting, obedient, hopeful…
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