“And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 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. 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. 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? And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. 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. 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. 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. And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually. 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” (1 Samuel 18:20-30).
Introduction
King Saul was still up to his tricks to discredit David in the eyes of the people or to have him removed from the scene through evil means. He thought that the opportunity had arrived when he learned that his daughter was in love with David. Michal was cut from the same cloth as her father, so he knew that he could use her to bring about David’s downfall.
The snare
Saul used his servants to speak flattering words to David to convince him to marry Michal. “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue” (Psalm 5:9). They were making out that they were letting David into a big royal secret, but in fact it was a deception to trick him. The snare was being carefully set in David’s path, and it went by the name of Michal. The word refers to something that is deceptively attractive but dangerous. She obviously was a very beautiful woman, but she was poison too. Saul’s daughter would be his spy to keep track of everything David was doing and planning. Michal would one day cause David much grief.
The dowry
No dowry was needed since David had already kept his part of the bargain by killing the biggest Philistine of them all, Goliath (see 1 Samuel 17:25). Once again David argued that he was not in a position to become the king’s son-in-law. Being from a poor family he was unable to pay the dowry for Michal. Saul had a well prepared answer, for he already knew what David would say. All David had to do was to kill one hundred Philistines and present their foreskins to Saul as evidence of the same. As far as the king was concerned, David was a dead man. But instead David brought Saul two hundred foreskins. We can imagine that this would have both astounded and angered him.
The fear
Saul had no choice but to marry Michal off to
David. He recognised that God was with him, which in turn made him fear and hate
David even more. “The words of his
mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer
than oil, yet were they drawn swords” (Psalm 55:21). Saul's perceived enemy
was in fact his most loyal servant, but fear and envy had blinded his mind to
this detail. When the Philistines came for revenge, it was David who met them on
the battlefield and was once again victorious. Deuteronomy 24:5 tells us that a
newly married man ought not to have been sent out to war, “When
a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be
charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall
cheer up his wife which he hath taken.”
Nobody, even amongst Saul’s servants and family, had a bad word to say about David. Saul was looking for an answer to his problem, but only brought more trouble upon himself. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20-21). David’s name was “much set by”, that is, counted as precious by all except Saul.
Conclusion
Saul, in his paranoid state of mind, was being
totally unfair to David. David had done absolutely nothing wrong to merit such
ill-treatment and so could have walked away from the constant threats and
danger, but instead he felt duty bound to do what God had called him to do. “For
the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their
prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he
that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye
suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready
always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that
is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they
speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your
good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye
suffer for well doing, than for evil doing” (1 Peter 3:12-17).
© 2/3/2009