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Saul driven mad by an evil spirit and looking with his eye of envy at David threw the spear in his hand thinking to pin David to the wall…and he missed. So he tried again to throw the spear to pin David to the wall…but David got away the second time too. Saul didn’t try to throw the spear a third time, instead he sent David away to serve as a military commander of a thousand troops.
Saul sent David away because he was afraid of David. He was afraid because the Lord was with David and had left Saul. And because the Lord was with David, he was victorious and successful in all that he did and when Saul saw this he was even more afraid and amazed by David. But all Israel and Judah loved David so Saul offered David his daughter Merab for a wife, saying, “Here is my daughter Merab, I will give her to you for a wife. Just be courageous for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul was thinking that he would let the Philistines do the dirty work of getting rid of David. But remember that this is a promise Saul has made before. Saul should have given David one of Saul’s daughters as a wife because David had defeated Goliath the Philistine giant. Saul had nothing to be gained by marrying his daughter to David as the littlest son of his father, belonging to a family from Bethlehem Ephrathah – too little to be among the clans of Judah. David knew it was an empty promise and pointed this out to King Saul. Nevertheless, David went out and fought very courageously against the Philistines and the Lord was with him just as he had been when David defeated the Philistine giant. And again Saul refused to give his daughter to David for a wife. When the time came when Merab should have been given to David, Saul gave her to someone he no doubt thought important to make him an ally but someone that when we read his name today we think, “Who”?
So twice now Saul has promised his daughter to David if David went out and defeated the Philistines, twice David has defeated the Philistines to win his bride, and twice that Saul has then refused when the time came to give his daughter to David for a wife. Then we are told that Saul’s daughter Michal loved David and word of this reached Saul and the thing pleased him like the Grinch when he had a wonderful, awful idea about how to stop Christmas from coming. Saul thought, “I will give her to him that she may be a snare for him so that the Philistines might finally get rid of him for me.” So Saul said to David again, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” Then he told his servants to tell David in private that the king delights in him, that his servants love him, and that he should accept the king’s offer to be the king’s son-in-law. David answered noting that he had nothing to bring for a bride price. So the servants went back to Saul and relayed the message. Saul then said all that he wanted for a bride price was a certain piece of skin from one hundred Philistines that David would kill for Saul. Saul thought surely the Philistines will kill David this time.
Did David kill a hundred Philistines and did Saul give him Saul’s daughter for a wife? You will have to wait and see.
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