Sha’ul’s Growing Fear of David
First Samuel 18:1 to 20:42
Joyous dancing and singing, accompanied by instrumental music, welcomed the victorious army home, as the women expressed their appreciation of the heroes of the battle. Not surprisingly, David was hailed as the number one hero, while Sha’ul was put in second place, a judgment that he couldn’t handle, but, which annoyed and festered into incurable jealousy. It just ate him up inside. The song was not meant to be derogatory to the king in the process of celebrating the outstanding bravery of David, but, in the light of Samuel’s rejection of Sha’ul (First Samuel 15:1-34), the words seemed to point to David as his replacement. This realization poisoned Sha’ul’s relationship with David from that point forward.46 Sha’ul tried to kill David by using his spear (18:10-16), by the Philistines (18:17-30), by his servants (19:1-7), again by using his spear (19:8-10) and by his messengers (19:11-17).
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