Behaving Wisely
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Behaving Wisely
David has slain the giant that seemed unbeatable. The Israelite has won a great victory. (for more read The Battle Belongs to the LORD)
Was David lucky?
Is it possible for him to maintain his winning streak?
Let’s continue to read the story of David and see what happens next.
Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.
- 1 Samuel 18:1-4 NKJV
David and Jonathan have a lot in common. They were both courageous and capable young warriors who had great faith in the Lord. Both had also initiated attacks against the Philistines against terrible odds that lead to great victories for Israel. (Bergen, Robert D. The New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman, 1996. p199) (for more on Jonathan’s victory read A Mighty Minority)
The fact that Jonathan gives David the clothes and weapons originally reserved for the heir to Saul’s throne is worth noting. Especially when you combine it with the fact that David was offered the king’s clothing during the battle (1 Samuel 17:38, see also The Battle Belongs to the LORD) These details are rich in symbolic and thematic significance, we see that David is well on his way to becoming the next king of Israel. Though Saul is king and Jonathan is the crown prince, David’s experiences point to the exceptional future God has in store for him.
At this point, Saul decided to keep David with him and not allow him to go home to his father’s house anymore, and Jonathan also loves David. Things are going well for David he is being honored and elevated by the royal family. David goes wherever Saul sends him and he is successful.
Success
Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war, an appointment that was welcomed by the people and Saul’s officers alike.
- 1 Samuel 18:5 NLT
If you click on 1 Samuel 18:5 it will take you to a page with several different translations and you will notice that some describe David as acting wisely, and some describe him as being successful. So which one is the best translation? Yes. What if the writer meant exactly what he wrote, that David behaved wisely and was successful. Sure in English we have two different words for this idea, but in the Hebrew mind, the two ideas seem to be mingled into one. Behaving wisely is success, prosperity and wisdom are intermingled. Even more interesting is how the same root שָׂכַל (sakal) is found in Deuteronomy 29:9.
Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
- Deuteronomy 29:9 NKJV
Essentially God provided us with the key to success, a strong loving relationship with Him. The covenant was in essence for us to not turn after any other Gods. The 10 commandments give us the core of God’s covenant, those are His plans for our lives, those are His guidelines for us to prosper in all that we do. He gives us success. The 10 commandments in essence protect us from leaving our relationship with God. They keep us from shooting ourselves in the foot. In the story of Saul and David we see one man, Saul, turn from God and lose everything while another man, David, remains faithful to God and gains everything.
This does not mean that obedience buys you immunity or salvation. Those are gifts from God. Life is still tough for David, as we will see, but he keeps succeeding because he always humbles himself before God. This will become clearer as we study the biblical account of the life of David in its entirety. But even here, at the beginning of David’s rise, we see evidence of God’s blessings and of David’s love for God.
What I take away from this is that the way to success will never go against the will of God for my life as expressed in the 10 commandments. If I am being pressured to go against God’s expressed will it will not lead to success, but rather to failure. Also, it is important to define success here as the ultimate success in life, not just the acquisition of money or power or both. Money and power can be a curse in the life of those who have sacrificed their relationship with God for the things this world has to offer.
Challenges that follow success
Sometimes a quiet meaningful life is more enjoyable than a life of fame and power. When the armies returned victorious from the battle the women were singing about the heroes and their victories. They sang about how “Saul had slain his thousands,” this was nice, Saul liked listening to this. We don’t have a record of the whole song, we also have no idea what the melody was like. However, we do have the record of one more line from this song and it went like this: “And David [has slain] his ten thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7)
It’s fine to be wise, to be successful, but being more successful than the king is bad for your health.
Saul notices that David is well on his way to becoming king. He is popular with the people and the court. Surely Saul was reminded of the words of Samuel found in 1 Samuel 15:28.
So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.
- 1 Samuel 15:28 NKJV
I believe this is why the story continues in this way
Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” So Saul eyed David from that day forward.
- 1 Samuel 18:8-9 NKJV
Saul eyed David
From this point on Saul sees David as a threat. 1 Samuel 18:9 (link to different translations) is a bit awkward to translate to English but when you read the different ways its translated you get the idea of what it means to “eye” someone or to be “eyed” by someone. Saul was watching David closely, looking for an opportunity to rid himself of this threat.
David meanwhile, continues to serve king Saul faithfully. When Saul was being tormented by a distressing spirit and David came to play for him Saul threw a spear at David, twice (1 Samuel 18:11)! This means that David came back to play the hard a second time after Saul had tried to kill him! This shows that David was faithful and willing to help Saul even if it meant putting his life on the line. This also shows that music is not a sure-fire way to deal with people struggling with evil spirits. (for more on that checkout Mental Health, Music and the Bible) It is also worth noting that Saul being armed with a spear against David associates him with Goliath (1 Samuel 17:7) not to mention that Saul was also very tall (1 Samuel 9:1-2).
Fear
Although Saul a powerful king and is armed with a spear, he is afraid of David who is an unarmed nobody.
Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. 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. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
- 1 Samuel 18:12-16 NKJV (bold mine)
David continues to have success. David behaves wisely and prospers in everything he does (Deuteronomy 29:9). Saul is afraid because he realizes that the LORD was with David. Just as Goliath was unable to destroy David, Saul too realizes he is no match for him. Saul decides to change tactics.
Royal Wedding!
Saul realized he would not be able to kill David with his own hands, or at least he realized he shouldn’t since David was becoming so popular. Saul decided to let his enemies take care of David.
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.”
- 1 Samuel 18:17 NKJV
Saul figured the more often David was involved in battles against the philistines the greater the chances of him dying in battle. That way David can die a hero at the hand of the Philistines and Saul can be rid of a “problem.” David agreed to fight the LORD’s battles. David would likely have agreed to fight even if there wasn’t the promise of marriage to the princess. This could also have been interpreted as taking the place of the dowry, like when Jacob offered to work as a way of paying the price for his wife (Genesis 29:15-19 for more read Rules of Engagement).
However, when it came time to it, Saul gave his oldest daughter to someone else. Maybe he feared giving David even more power and influence seeing he refused to die. Saul should have given David his daughter because David killed Goliath ( 1 Samuel 17:25), but Saul keeps adding details and clauses to the fine print of his promises.
Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 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.”
- 1 Samuel 18:20-21 NKJV
David is incredibly humble. This could be due to Saul being king and having come from a wealthy family. David however was the youngest son in his family, he was a bumble shepherd and his genealogy was not pure, since one of his ancestors had been a Moabite (Ruth 4:13-17).
It is interesting to notice the word choice of Saul here. Michal was to be a “snare” to David. This same word is used in the Torah to describe the dangers of idols and idol worshipers (Exodus 23:33;34:12; Deuteronomy 7:16) Perhaps Saul was aware of his daughter’s idolatrous inclinations ( 1 Samuel 19:13) and how if she could lead David astray then he would surely fall at the hand of the Philistines.
Similarly to how David had heard by word of mouth about the rewards offered to whoever killed Goliath, David now heard that Saul was willing to make him his son-in-law. Saul asks for 100 Philistine foreskins as a way of taking vengeance on the enemies of Saul. David is so willing that he gets Saul 200 foreskins. Saul then has no option but to give David his daughter.
Now David was part of the royal family, even closer to the throne. Saul became even more afraid of David and decided to be his enemy continually. But David continues to prosper.
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.
- 1 Samuel 18:29 NKJV (bold mine)
David is faithful to God, God is with him, granting him wisdom and success. For me, the lesson is clear, be faithful to God, receive His wisdom, and prosper, regardless of who is against you.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
- Proverbs 9:10 NKJV