1 Samuel 18 Love, Jealousy, & Success

Of Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan. This week, Pastor Don Filsex preaches from his series in First Samuel, Timely Prophet, Tragic King. Let's listen in.

The Themes of Jealousy and God’s Blessing in 1 Samuel 18

We can look at this text and read it, and it just looks like basically a patchwork of loose-knit relationships that developed in the life of David, and if you're not careful, sometimes if you're like me, you read a big epic story like David and Goliath, and the next time, you just kinda skim over the next chapter or something like that, and there's some really powerful themes weaving their way through this chapter that if we just were to skim this chapter, we wouldn't catch the themes.

You have to pause over it, you have to meditate on it, you have to figure out how the pieces fit together to get down to what is the common ground between all of these, and I wanna point out these two themes for you to be looking for as we're gonna read this text together here in just a moment.

The first is, I think a cultural thing that we understand, probably before you walked in the door, you could have stated what I'm about to say, but you're gonna see it illustrated here in the text, and that is that a heart of jealousy is destructive.

That's a major theme of the text that we're looking at, talking about a jealous heart. The second theme that we're gonna see in this text is that nothing can thwart the blessings of God when he chooses to bless.

When God chooses to bless an individual, nothing can stop his blessings from coming to that person, no matter how much anyone in your life might choose to seek to push that aside or push you aside. As a matter of fact, the second theme comes across so strong in chapter 18, over particularly the life of David, that it might be better to say that even curses toward one who God decides to bless are turned to blessings.

Even one who would seek to curse the one who God chooses to bless, those curses turn to blessings. So we're gonna see in our text that Saul has it out for David. We're gonna see a theme of that throughout the remainder of this book.

Many of you who grew up in the church and grew up going to Sunday school or something, you have some notion of Saul and David in this conflict that we're gonna see at the second half of this book, but it's gonna have an impact, hopefully, on our lives as we pay attention and listen to the Spirit.

Everyone around David in our text, there's gonna be these two competing thoughts, everybody around David loves him to pieces, but Saul just wants David in literal pieces. So I wanna give a kind of a PG disclaimer here.

I'm not gonna be intentionally provocative in this message at all, but because we have everybody in here from kindergarten up, we don't have a children's program this morning, we're actually going to offer something for you during the connection time if you have children in here and you're not ready to face questions on the way home about some of the subjects as we read it.

We're gonna all read it together here, but there's gonna be some things that are mentioned in here that may produce questions on the way home as I explain it. And so you can, I don't know if Ginger's in here yet, but during connection time, I think Ginger's gonna be in the back, is that right, Linda?

Ginger will be in the back and they're gonna have a video for the kids. Not necessarily a big teaching time, but any of your kids, K through fifth grade, that you kind of just say, I wanna be in charge of when I talk about some certain subjects with my kids, you can do that.

I do that occasionally, you'll see in the text and there's a couple of different thoughts that are there that we'll be addressing. Again, not intentionally provocative. So let's open our Bibles now. You're like, what?

And when you read it, you'll just go, what is he even talking about? But we'll get it figured out. First Samuel 18, if you have questions about that, by the way, come up and talk with me because some of the stuff isn't explicit in the text that I'm gonna be talking about.

So if you're just like, hey, I'm an informed parent who wants to know what you're gonna talk about, come and see me and I'll address it and then you can determine on your own during connection time. But yeah, First Samuel chapter 18, let's read it together in its entirety.

You find that on page 138. If you take the Bible under the seat in front of you and that's page 138 there. Otherwise, navigate in your device and recast. We're gonna have an opportunity to see the dire effects of jealousy contrasted with the power of God's blessings here in this text.

So follow along, recast God's very, very word to us this morning. As soon as he had finished speaking, that's David, as soon as 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.

And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David in his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt.

And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him so that Saul sent him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with songs of joy and with musical instruments.

And the women sang to one another as they celebrated. Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands. And 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 thousands.

And what more can he have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day on. The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he raved within his house while David was playing the liar.

As he did day by day, Saul had his spear in his hand and Saul hurled the spear for he thought, I will pin David to the wall, but David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.

So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand and he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings for the Lord was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David for he went out and came in before them. Then Saul said to David, here is my daughter, my elder daughter Merib. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles.

For Saul thought, let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him. And David said to Saul, who am I and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king.

But at the time when Merib, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel, the Maholothite, for a wife. Now Saul's daughter, Michael, loved David and they told Saul the thing pleased him.

Saul thought, let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, you shall now be my son-in-law.

And Saul commanded his servants, speak to David in private and say, behold, the king is delighted in you and all his servants love you. Now then, become the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spoke these words in the ears of David and David said, does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law?

Since I'm a poor man and have no reputation? And the servants of Saul said to him, thus and so did David speak. Then Saul said, thus shall you say to David, the king desires no bride price except 100 foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.

Now 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 before the time had expired. David arose and went along with his men and killed 200 of the Philistines and David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law.

And Saul gave him his daughter, Michael, for a wife. But when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually.

Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle and so as they came out, David had more success than all the servants of Saul so that his name was highly esteemed. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for your graciousness in showing us yourself as well as in showing us our own selves.

And Father, I believe that to a person in this room, we have felt the feelings of jealousy that moves Saul throughout this text. Father, that to a person, we know what it's like to have animosity towards another individual and that's just not reflective of you.

That's not reflective of Christ and the way that he would seek for us to love one another and to be humble before one another and most importantly, to be humble before you. And so Father, I pray that you would be moving in our hearts to not just give us a rule, thou shalt not be jealous, but that you would be giving us new hearts through your spirit that love one another.

That love all around us and Father, just that that would impact our lives in deep and radical ways and the way that we respond within the church, Father, to each other. And Father, the way that we demonstrate your love to everybody around us.

Father, I thank you for the love that was first initiated toward us at the cross, the place where hope was born, the place where freedom was born, the place where forgiveness of our sins was finally taken care of and where we have now hope and the ability to go out and love others and to live not in competition with each other, but in delight and joy over the victories that we all experience together because of Christ.

And so Father, I pray that it's from that platform of recognizing the great gift that's been given to us and freedom in Christ that we would worship you. Father, that we would be not unmoved in our spirit as we gather together and sing these songs, but Father, that you would move us deeply in our hearts with gratitude and thankfulness, that we would see the great victory that has been won for us at the cross and that from that place, we would worship you in spirit and in truth this morning in Jesus' name.

Big thanks to Dave and the band for leading us. I'm grateful for the time and energy that they put in each week. And I would encourage you to get comfortable and keep your Bibles open to 1 Samuel chapter 18.

David’s Success and Jonathan’s Covenant Loyalty

Again, that's gonna be the flow. That text is what we're gonna walk through. And so I want you to have that in front of you. And then remember at any time, if you need to get up and get more coffee or juice or donuts while supplies last back there, you're not gonna distract me.

But whatever it takes to keep your focus on God's word here over the next half an hour or so. Our text appears, as you read it, as we read it earlier, it appears to be a patchwork quilt of various stories that followed quickly after David made Goliath dead.

Remember he did that last week. And so, but again, there's a theme. There are themes that run through this. Each account in this chapter ends with a declaration of David's success. So the success of David is part of the theme of this text.

The rise of David is going to be over the course of several chapters in 1 Samuel. Also, we're seeing in tandem the decline of King Saul. And we've already been told that God was with David and that he had departed from Saul.

The spirit had left Saul. The spirit had come upon David. He had been anointed years before these things are going on and he's still not king. I mean, an anointing was a declaration of God that this is going to happen, but it's not happening.

And we're gonna see over the course of David's life, it takes him a while to actually realize the thing that God has called him to. Now, how many of you have ever been in that scenario? Like where you felt like God had called you to something, but it took you a while to get there.

That's where we're at in the life of David. And so we've been told that God was with David and it's gonna be stated three more times in chapter 18. God was with David, God was with David, God was with David.

Like a drumbeat going through this text. God was with David, he was successful. God was with David, the people loved him. God was with David and Saul hated it. The opening account, though, ought to be surprising.

It might not be so surprising until you understand the cultural context of the way that things normally went during this time. So we're gonna see a relationship forged between Jonathan and David. And we see that right off the bat in verse one and that's kind of the opening patch on this quilt of relationship talk after David killed Goliath.

Jonathan, remember, was the son of King Saul. Jonathan, who would be the rightful heir to the throne of his father, according to secession, he became a fast friend of the much younger David. Now this was a strong commitment.

The text says that their souls were knit together. Strong terminology. Jonathan loved David as he loved his own soul. In other words, I will die for you, brother, is what he's saying here. There's a connection between Jonathan and Saul and it says, as Jonathan heard David speak, well, what's he speaking?

He's talking to the king, he's holding the head of the dead giant as he comes into the king's room and the king is questioning him about these things and he sees the faith of David and Jonathan and his heart is moved and he's like, bro, we are like one, this is amazing.

Now the love in this, that's used in, the words that are used for love in this text is a deep and abiding commitment, but it's a word far beyond the meaning of personal affection and feelings of like, yeah, just that comes upon you and you can't control it.

The Hebrew word for love here is a commitment of loyalty that has political overtones. The Hebrew language has multiple words for love and this is one that has loyalty and throughout the Old Testament as it's used, there's a flavor, a feeling, a taste of political loyalty to another.

So loving in a way that is like, I'm committed to your betterment and I'm with you where God guides you and directs you. Now the modern suggestion, and by the way, if you were to Google this passage and look it up, you would find all kinds of references to homosexuality.

The Homosexual Agenda Among Christians has grabbed this text and run with it as probably the most core passage that would be an expression of homosexual theology, if you will, and that's a big movement right now.

And you're gonna be seeing more of it. If this is the first you've heard of it, it's not gonna be the last you're gonna hear of it because it's an increasing discussion in our culture and especially among Christians who would say there is such a thing as a practicing Christian homosexual.

And so as we look through that and we figure that out, one thing that I just wanna declare over this text is that there is no evidence from the choice of words in the Hebrew language here that Jonathan and David had any kind of homosexual relationship.

Further, I would suggest to you that the notion that we look for that here betrays, I would say, an obnoxious cultural expectation that guys have platonic relationships with other guys. Do you see that in our culture, that there's this notion that you ought not to be too good of friends.

Like you could get too close to another guy or something like that and we have this idea that guys are tough, guys are islands, guys don't need one another. I can stand alone and I don't need somebody else around me.

And let alone use the word love for another guy, right? But what does this say about us as a culture, that there's an immediate assumption that when two guys love one another, there's an immediate assumption of homosexual tendencies there.

There is no sex here in our text, but there is a deep commitment that is born out of a common faith in the living God and bravery in battle. Like that's what cements these guys together is this idea of like you trust God that much and I trust God that much and I've got your back and you've got my back and we're gonna take care of one another and we are going to go to battle together.

And we're gonna fight God's enemies together. Remember that Jonathan was used by God as the bold and brave victor over the Philistines back in chapter 14. He and just his armor bearer initiated a battle against the entire force of the Philistines and the defeat came through the faith of Jonathan in that case.

And now we actually see a situation. Remember that as Goliath comes out morning and evening, there is no mention of Jonathan, but he's there. You've gotta assume that he's there with his father over the armies.

Now whether or not he wanted to go and take care of the giant and his father wouldn't let him because he's the next in line for the kingship, we don't know all the details, but we do know that Jonathan didn't kill Goliath.

Who killed Goliath? David. So I believe that in this text we see in this conversation between the king and David and Jonathan is there watching, he has a deep, deep abiding respect for the one who has shown even more bravery than himself in battle against this Philistine giant.

Laying it all on the line. And verses three through four show a covenant that was forged between the crown prince and David. Jonathan pledges his own service to David by giving him his robe. This would be a somewhat formalized ceremony.

A symbol of his authority was his robe and he gives that over to David, which is his authority and his status. And then he also gives him his armor, his sword, his bow, his belt. All showing that Jonathan is giving his loyalty to David and not the other way around.

What we might assume is that David would be giving his loyalty to Jonathan, the crown prince, but instead the crown prince is giving his loyalty to David. And I think in this we find our first application.

It comes straight from this response of Jonathan to the faith of David, because Jonathan is gonna serve as a contrast to the theme of Saul's rising jealousy in the text. You see, I believe fully in everything that's indicated in the text is that Jonathan is a man of faith in God, just like David.

He's got a faith and a trust in God with eyes to see the way that God sees things that are going on around him. And I believe that nothing but a relationship with God could move a man in line for the entire kingdom to give that up for a man that he sees as better than himself when Jonathan encounters one that is better than himself, that has more faith than himself, that has more bravery than himself.

He acknowledges it. And ask yourself this question in application. How do you respond to others in your life who are better than you? Everybody knows someone. Maybe there's only one person, but you know that there's someone who is better than you, right?

Or those that are just further along than you. Is there a proper respect for those who God is using around you? Richard Phillips in his commentary on this passage, very simply and succinctly stated what I think is a way to tease out this application in our lives.

Think about this. Where sin, speaking of Jonathan and David, where sin would have made enemies, where Jonathan to respond in the natural, sinful, fleshly temptations. I'm gonna get back to the quote. Quote, where sin would have made enemies, faith made brothers, end quote.

Where sin would have made enemies, faith made brothers. You see, the difference was really ultimately Jonathan's viewpoint and his connection with God and at the end of the day, the way that he responds with eyes of faith versus eyes of flesh.

Many of you know that in your flesh, in yourself, in your sinful nature, you want to grab authority. You want to grasp at honor. You want others to see you as the best. But Jonathan here, anybody impressed with a man like that who would step aside?

Is that even American? Really, you guys are not, I'm not impressed, man. He didn't even have the guts to go for it here. Like what in the world? This passage here in our text, this ought to push our buttons because I believe, as I even alluded to in my prayer earlier, I believe that to a person in this room, every single one of us knows what jealousy feels like.

We know it. Every one of us has experienced that feeling that someone was taking from us our rightful honor, what we deserved, they received. How dare they? They received what we deserved or that they get all the breaks and we keep being ignored or they got all the good looks and we got left behind.

Whatever the subject is and you can think of it in your own life, there are areas, it could be athletic performance, it could be job performance, it could be all different kinds of areas that we tend to, that jealousy surrounds, but whatever the subject, the feeling is a common temptation to all, men, women, young, old.

Jealousy has a long history in the human race and I would even suggest to you that the very first murder that the scriptures record for us was fueled by jealousy. You see, Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God but Cain's offering was rejected and so you know how that story goes.

Ask yourself this, can you celebrate the victory of another? Have you celebrated the victory of another? Jonathan doesn't just celebrate the victory of David, he commits himself in political loyalty to the one that he sees God blessing.

Do you hear the difference? Celebrating with him versus getting behind him and saying, I've got you. Consider who you attach yourself to. You see, I think Jonathan here in the text is a model for us. Even in that, he chooses wisely.

He chooses to follow someone of faith and rather than allowing jealousy to blind him to reality, with eyes of faith, Jonathan identifies a man of bravery and faith and commits to the betterment of that man.

And verse five is the first of several declarations of success over the life of David. Jonathan pledges his loyalty and love to David and now David has further the love of the masses, the text tells us.

The heart of the crown prince, he has the love of the masses, he is blessed with military success. Verse five goes on, wherever Saul sends him. If we were gonna make a TV show of chapter 18, it would be Everybody Loves David.

Everybody loves David except for one foolish person. And we're gonna see the entire nation offsetting this one individual. It all began to turn south with a simple little ditty that sometimes begins with music in our lives, right?

How many of you know music has power? Has power to change us, has power to impact us, has power to make us feel deep feels. But it began with this story that they were singing out. They'd been out at the battlefield, remember the Philistines after Goliath died, they all ran home and so the troops chased them for a while, they went back and plundered their camp and now they're coming back into the city, probably Gibeah of Saul, the main headquarters there, and they're marching back in a ticker tape parade of sorts and the women are out singing these songs and celebrating the victory over the Philistines.

It was a short song, it started with Saul has struck down his thousands, however that goes. We could sing it all together or something, but David, you wanna set that to music for us or something? Maybe for communion later, if you could just write a quick song here for us, that'd be great.

Saul has struck down his thousands. Just think about the start of that song with me for just a moment before we finish the song. If it ends there, I don't think we have a problem at all. I don't think there's any problem with Saul if the song ends there.

Consider what a complimentary song this would be to Saul. It's already a song of exaggeration, it's already got hyperbole in it. I don't believe for a second that Saul has literally slain thousands of Philistines on the battlefield.

His sword did not take off the heads of a thousand Philistines in this battle. It's not likely that that literally happened. So from the standpoint of honor, these women are heaping already undeserved honor on Saul.

He doesn't even deserve what they are heaping on him. Do you get what I'm saying on this? He doesn't deserve the accolades he's receiving, and he's going to get all jealous. He should feel great, right?

He's loved. These women are honoring him in song as he comes in, and they're even exaggerating his exploits on the battlefield, but the second line came in like a hammer, breaking up all the joy and peace, peace within Saul.

And David, his tens of thousands, his tens of thousands. David, his tens of thousands. Again, exaggerated numbers, but clearly more honor than Saul. Now how many of you know that at the end of a great meal, you don't deserve a piece of chocolate cake?

Did you know you don't deserve that? So when I set out with my kids, and I get that piece of cake, and we pass it out or whatever, and we get a dessert, it's like, I mean, think about yourself, and you get that food, and you get a dessert, something that you don't deserve, but then you look over to the person next to you, and they've got like half a cake, right?

You didn't deserve the quarter of a cake that you have, but the minute that you see somebody with a half a cake, you're like, unfair, right? I mean, we know this in our core. Everybody in this room has experienced this.

Everybody knows what this feels like. It's a comparison game, isn't it? And I would tell you this. I think that this is kind of a key thought in this passage, and in this message this morning. Think about this.

I believe that jealousy thrives in the soil of comparison. Jealousy thrives and grows in the soil of comparison. When you go down the road of putting comparisons in your life, you are asking for jealousy to grow in you.

You're saying, yes, let's go down this road, and let's see what grows in the soil of comparing myself to others. Their performance, their job, their possessions, their wealth, their income, their looks, their family, the way that their kids speak French and they're only 18 months old, and the way that they're batting 333 in Little League right now.

It's t-ball, but I mean, hey, you know. I mean, you can kind of compare, right? How many of you, just be honest with me here. I'm asking you to raise your hand. How many of you would say that, maybe in a season of your life, probably not right now, but at some season in your life, you've struggled with comparison?

How many of you would raise your hand and say, yeah. I think it's a common problem for all of us. And listen to me carefully. I think that these three adjectives describe what grows there. It's illogical, it's false, and it's destructive.

Jealousy is illogical, it is false, and it is destructive. You see, logic and truth say, in this text, Saul didn't deserve these accolades at all. We didn't deserve the piece of chocolate cake. That's logic, that flows from the reality of us being broken and sinful humans who know that we mess up.

How many of you know the illogic of thinking you deserve great things, and at the same time, you feel pretty bad about your job performance? Deep down in your heart, you know, and you struggle with this, and you wrestle with this, but hey, you know, how come I didn't get the promotion?

How come I didn't get the big break? Logic and truth say, Saul didn't deserve these accolades at all, and the fact that these women are not merely singing about David, by the way, is impressive, if you think about it.

He's the one who killed Goliath. You know, Saul should be surprised that it's not all about David, that Saul even made the honorable mention. He was cowering in fear two times a day for 40 days. 80 times, that giant came out and shouted down Saul, and he hid in his cave.

But now, he thinks he deserves better. And what I want to suggest to you that's even more telling about this song, something that reflects that I missed, and I've read this story probably dozens of times, heard it told, heard it preached out.

I've never thought about this before. To my shame, and ultimately to Saul's shame as well, what should be the most discouraging thing about this song is the fact that the Lord God Almighty, who delivered his people, doesn't even get an honorable mention in the song.

Do you hear that? Do you hear what this culture is like? Do you hear the times and the era of King Saul and under his leadership, what the nation was like? Let's sing the praises of Saul. Let's sing the praises of David.

Oh, where's God in this song? Saul should be upset by this song. He should be upset by the absence of credit given to God for this victory. But Saul was a self-absorbed monarch, just like the kings of all the nations.

Israel has indeed got the king that they asked for. Give us a king just like the nations. Here's Saul. And from that day on, it says, from the time of that singing, from the time that they came in victorious, from the time that David wrought victory, or God used David to bring victory to the nation of Israel, from that day forward, Saul was suspicious and eyed David.

And it's interesting to note that Saul's suspicions are actually accurate. They're well-founded. He doesn't know it, but this kid that just killed the giant is actually anointed as his predecessor, the one who's gonna follow him, the one who is ultimately gonna take his throne.

But his suspicions are accurate, but they're still ungodly. David is the man that God has chosen to replace Saul, but that does not justify Saul's jealousy. And in verses 10 through 11, we see how quickly things can escalate in a heart given over to jealous rage.

Saul was more than just a little unsteady here in the text. He was spiritually tormented by a spirit from the Lord. We dealt with that back in the sermon on chapter 16. If that phrase, an evil spirit from the Lord, in some translations, harmful spirit, distressing spirit, if the idea of that kind of spirit coming from the Lord, you can go back and listen to that online.

It's available on the website or on podcast, on iTunes, and you can check that out. But in one of his fits of rage, when the spirit came upon him, remember David was his music therapist, would play the lyre, and that's still going on.

It's still gonna go on even in the next passage. But in one of those fits of rage, he tried to kill David by pinning him to the wall with his spear. He said, I'm gonna be done with this. And he wanted David out.

Remember David, the one who is giving victory on the field of battle, the one who God is using, the one who God is with. And I just think about this, like as I was reading this, I was thinking, okay, here you've got this raging Saul.

He's in some kind of a fit of this spiritual oppression that's on him, and somebody didn't think to take the spear out of his hand. Okay, so he's raging. Do you picture this Saul brooding, stalking the halls of his palace, just angry and beside himself, carrying a spear?

How many of you think that serving this king would be a delightful calling, wouldn't it? I mean, really high calling. Nobody wanted to be in the court of Saul. I mean, come on. I would believe that no matter how hard your workplace is, my hunch is that you haven't dodged any literal spears this week.

Maybe some verbal spears. And some of you are kind of going, ah, Don, you don't know where I work, but not in the office so much here, just occasionally. According to verse 12, Saul was afraid of David because, hear me carefully, he was afraid of David because the Lord was with him.

By the way, a big motivation in jealousy is fear. Do you know that that's a big compartment, a big component, one of the things that makes up jealousy is fear, fear of not being enough, fear of somebody getting ahead of you, fear of not being recognized, fear, fear, fear.

And so Saul is being motivated by jealousy, anger, fear, rage. Sometimes those without the spirit are actually afraid of those who are close to the Lord. I don't know if you've experienced this in your workplace or in your neighborhood or maybe in family reunions and gatherings, but sometimes there's a literal fear of those who are close to God.