1 Samuel 18
TO FOLLOW GOD IS TO BE LED INTO NEW PLACES
1 Samuel 18:1-4
There is an easy-to-misunderstand message in Luke 14:26-28. Jesus explains that a person can only ever follow Him if they are willing to put him first. Our first priority must be Jesus, above everyone else, even our family. (Understand that to put Jesus first is to put your family in the best position they can possibly be in)! The reason a person must put Jesus first is because often, His itinerary and His word is in direct contradiction to what is planned and said around us. Reflect on Jesus' life: he often taught people the opposite of what they had been told before. If you do not put Jesus first, you might resist to enter new places. You might waver on His commands.
David left his old life behind. A shepherd, the youngest son of eight was absorbed into another household. It was necessary that David accepted this. It was all part of God's process to position David as Israel's next king. Indeed God called David into an unfamiliar place but He provided the comfort he would need to settle there. David and King Saul's son, Jonathan, became brothers. From Jonathan, David received a bond stronger than any he had with anyone else, even his own brothers. Essentially, Jonathan (who in previous chapters revealed himself to be a man of great faith) accepted David as the adopted-son of Saul, the heir to the throne, so-to-speak.
WISE BEHAVIOR CLIMBS RANKS
1 Samuel 18:5-7
It may be difficult to see how single interactions can add up to anything substantial. We are encouraged in scripture to be patient, to be merciful, to be wise, to be harmless, to have compassion; we think about those things as big, general ideas. But actually they are each advice to guide us properly through each interaction that we have each hour. When we behave wisely (wise in the word and way of God) we a drawn up into new ranks.
Such was the case for David. Wherever Saul sent him, he behaved wisely. His behavior revealed that his character was capable to command armies. David was accepted by God, by the king, by the king's people, and by the people. They sang and danced in the streets after his defeat of their enemy. They each heaped responsibility onto his shoulders, and he could handle it, because he lived in accordance with God's will.
A FRIEND TO GOD INHERITS HIS ENEMIES
1 Samuel 18:8
David's behavior made him a friend to many. But King Saul began to see his fate unfold; the kingdom had been stripped from him by God due to his faithlessness. Saul had been disobedient to God, unwise in his behavior, and it became clearer and clearer to him that David was God's replacement. Jealousy and anger began to fester within Saul.
If a person truly wishes to follow Jesus, to stand for God, their faith must be pure. If the fawning crowds and the songs in the streets is what actually draws a person to the cause of Christ, they will be met with a swift and harsh surprise! Remember that in-between the crowds that grabbed for Jesus and kissed His feet were powerful, manipulative enemies who absolutely hated Him and tried thwart Him at every turn. If a person is "in it" to be served, rather than to serve, they will meet the same fate as Saul.
David was poised to step into royalty, power, and wealth. But with that, he inherited nations of enemies. Satan himself was after Jesus, and anyone in His line. No one should ever feel discouraged from being a friend-to-God; those who truly love and trust Him will be eager to defy God's enemies! And they will trust that they can indeed resist them, having submitted to God, because God as told them so: James 4:7.
DO NOT RESIST WHAT GOD WILLS
1 Samuel 18:9-12
For Saul to leave his post with any dignity, he should have acquiesced to God's plan. Instead, he allowed jealousy and stubborn resistance to turn him into a monster, a monster against a person he genuinely greatly loved (1 Samuel 16:21).
Jesus taught us to make God's plan our first priority for situations like this. God is the hero of the story; if we are removed from our post because God has chosen a more efficient way, then let our last service to the kingdom be humble acceptance of His plan. In doing so, we will find redemption, we will be given new purpose wherein we can further serve God. God battles the powers and principalities of great evil, must he also battle us? Will we require Him to trek through our own insubordination?
Twice, Saul threw his javelin at David and attempted to murder him... to thwart God's plan to replace him. Twice, he failed. Saul's selfish fears were confirmed; David was God's choice; God protected David from Saul. The Lord was with David. Saul threw his javelin with far greater passion than he ever served the Lord with. He lamented his loss of status more than the loss of God.
GOD PESEVERES YOU THROUGH SNARES THROWN IN YOUR PATH
1 Samuel 18:13-19
The spear did not work, so Saul tried to throw snares in David's path. He sent David away to battles and hoped that he would die. But David remained wise in the word of God and God remained with David. All of Israel and Judah came to love David, their champion. The more the people loved David, the more Saul resented him. Saul failed to kill David, so he continued to send David into battles for the enemy to kill.
God continued to persevere David through each battle; Saul duplicitously promised marriage to his daughter to David if David would continue to fight the Lord's battles. Saul hoped never to have to follow through with this promise. Yet David was humbled by Saul's offer: "Who am I, and what is my life,... that I should be son in law to the king?" David fought and won valiantly, but Saul reneged his promise and marriage his daughter to a different man.
Saul failed once again, however, for it was his other daughter, Michal, who loved David. Yet Saul tried to use this as another opportunity to ensnare David. David remained humbled to be considered eligible to be son in law to the king. To earn her as wife, Saul required one-hundred foreskins of the Philistines (an impossible task, Saul thought). David did not hesitate, he brought back two-hundred. Again, Saul had to admit that God was with David. David married Michal, and she loved him. His reputation continued to increase in esteem.
Psalm 2:1, Why do the heathen rage and the people plot in vain? Why indeed, for the wrath of the enemy of God is futile, and the plots against God's plan will fail. God will persevere us through our part in His plan when we remember that He is the hero of our story; if humbly, wisely serve, we will not forget, and we will always have a part.