The Path to Madness
Opening Prayer
Mighty God, You are amazing. You are greater than my ability to imagine, beyond any word I could use to describe You.
Read 1 SAMUEL 17:55—18:16
55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”
57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.
58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.
David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
Saul’s Growing Fear of David
18 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well.
6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang:
“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.”
8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. 14 In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
The Bible exposes us to the widest range of human emotions. In a deeper approach to reading the Scriptures, we can learn how to deal with them.
Think Further
People at our Bible study were surprisingly eager to join the discussion of this chapter. They easily understood the interplay of emotions we have all felt. We recognize David, Saul, Jonathan (and, reading on a few verses, Michal; 18:20) in the human interactions of our own lives. We all know about dancing women, applauding crowds and people who would ruthlessly throw spears at us. We ourselves have felt love, jealousy, joy and depression.
By the end of chapter 18, Saul is obsessed with his plot to kill his rival. All this arose from anger and envy at another’s success. This escalation from a small beginning to Saul’s eventual tragic end need not have been. Such evil and tragedy grow from the small seeds of ordinary acts born of our own worst impulses. We cannot blame God—nor could Saul. Satan and his evil emissaries can influence us if we put ourselves at his disposal. Anger and jealousy can be resolved in repentance and reconciliation. The other choice is to take Saul’s route to evil, madness and self-destruction.
Similarly, God’s grace does not guarantee love and success apart from the right choices to act responsibly and with commitment in our ordinary lives. The positive things that mark David’s own story here, in contrast to the fear and evil which infest Saul’s story, are David’s attention to the tasks given him and Jonathan’s courage to love without self-interest. God does work in our lives, but not outside our ordinary acts of courage and faithfulness on the one hand, or sin and madness on the other. If God is with us or if we have become alienated from God, these arise from the daily conduct of our lives.
Apply
When have you been most jealous of another’s success? What life lessons can you learn Saul’s relationship with David?
Closing prayer
Help me, Lord, in the ordinary course of my days, to recognize the paths I must not tread and to choose instead the ways of love and self-control.
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