Saul starts His downward Slide.

How wonderful, how marvelous is my Saviour’s is love for me.

”My Love is demonstrated at this time of the year with a new urgency and intimacy – as you celebrate the visible manifestation of My love for you and for the whole world in sending My Son on a mission to planet Earth, a rescue mission, the most important mission of all time – to provide a rescue avenue. Not an impersonal path or way out, but a personal rescue involving a personal encounter with Me through My son. He undertook the mission knowing the cost but did it gladly because of my overreaching love for the whole world. My desire is that at this time and in this season this mission would become even more real to you and to all who love Me and it will be discovered by many who never knew it before. All the pain and hurt and sorrow will soon be behind you as My mission is completed and I bring all My loved one’s home. So be a light on a hill so that many may see in you My light which I have brought to the Earth”.

As we turn now to 1 Samuel 18, the story of Saul and David continues to unfold. It is a story of gathering antipathy, anger and fear from Saul towards David. Before we enter the full text of the chapter there is this beautiful interlude of Jonathan and his love and friendship with David. It is a sharp contrast which highlights the evil of Saul even more. Jonathan, the eldest son of the king had every right to expect to follow his father to the throne. Here we see that he is more than happy to befriend David and support him.

From appearing to accept David and promote him and his role we see that the real feelings behind these actions were driven by a growing unreasonable jealousy of David’s popularity and a fear described several times raised by the repeated statement, “Because the Lord was with David” vv 12,14,29.

As the narrative unfolds we see how Saul tries to get rid of David. His efforts fail and instead, another member of his household falls in love with David, Saul’s daughter Michal. Saul even tries the same trick with David that David would later try with Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. Send them into the thick of the battle hoping they will be killed.

Sorry for this but I had this little giggle as I imagined David returning from battle with a bag filled with 200 foreskins. In my mind’s eye I saw him shake it out on a table for Saul to count. Or well maybe they just kept count on the battlefield.

The Lord spoke to me in several ways from this passage. Here are three.

1. I was struck by how treacherous and unreliable people can be. I am sure you have all experienced the pain of someone close to you or whom you have a high regard for turning on you or letting you down. It highlights again the exceptional value of having a Lord and Friend i n Jesus who is always faithful and will never let you down. The description “Rock” is so valuable.
2. The picture of Saul’s hate towards David is a preview of the intense hate people had towards David’s Greater Son Jesus while He was on earth. This is carried over to us today as people recognize in some way that God is with us and this seems to generate intense feelings of antagonism towards us.
3. As God’s plan for David unfolds we can see how, in several ways, God is guiding and using events to accomplish His ultimate purposes. This does not necessarily mean that His children don’t experience discomfort from time to time. But it does mean that nothing will stop God from carrying out the plan He has for each one of us. And ultimately the climax of that plan is to take us into the New Heavens and the New Earth when He is ready to do so.

May our loving Lord Jesus bless each one of you who have followed this blog, in a special way this Christmas and we will meet again next week.