Undoubtedly this
is the strangest marriage arrangement on the pages of Scripture. In keeping with his promise (“And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come
up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who
kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his
father’s house free in Israel.”” (1 Samuel 17:25, ESV)) Saul offers his
eldest daughter Merab to David as a wife.
The first hint that not all is well in the king’s heart is his added expectation:
“Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.”[1]
It is here the author lets us in on a
secret: Saul still wants to kill David (v17b).
David, on the other hand shows a humility of heart. “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?”” (1 Samuel 18:18, ESV). This supports the notion that his desire to
combat Goliath was truly for God’s honor and not for his own reward. During the time that passed Merab became the
wife of another.
Father Saul learned that daughter Michal
loved David, so immediately he saw another opportunity. His motives were still ungodly. “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.””[2] We are not sure how Michal
could be a snare to David. In Chapter 19
we learn that she practiced idolatry and perhaps Saul saw that to morally
defeat David. But with the help of David’s
servants, Saul was able to convince David to accept Michal as his wife. But again, he adds a dangerous proviso: “‘The
king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that
he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.”[3]
Saul thought that surely David would die as
he takes up this challenge. Not so!
“David arose and went, along with his
men, and killed two hundred 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 Michal for a wife.” (1
Samuel 18:27, ESV)
Saul’s failure to get David killed
exasperated this monarch: “Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was
David’s enemy continually.”[4]
The author’s postscript on David was
amazing: “Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as
often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so
that his name was highly esteemed.” (1 Samuel 18:30, ESV)
In Psalm 76, Asaph wrote, “Surely the
wrath of man shall praise you; the remnant of wrath you will put on like a
belt.” (Psalm 76:10, ESV) A modern paraphrase reads, “Human defiance only
enhances your glory . . ..” (Psalm 76:10a, NLT) The message of this story as we
consider the Big Story is that “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from
ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I
will accomplish all my purpose.”[5]
David was God’s anointed. In David there would come the greatest son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The rage of Saul
could not prevent that. God’s purposes
will stand. It was Job that would say, ““I know that you
can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2, ESV)
All of Saul’s plans
failed. He added expectations to his original offer hoping David would die in
battle. He asked for the lives of 100 Philistines, hoping David would die in
battle. He viewed his daughter as a snare and offered her to David. The result was the intensified anger of Saul
and the magnified glory of God. Every
time Saul tried to bring David into a vulnerable place, into a place that would
take his life, it brought David closer to kingship – it brought the purposes of
God to establish a Davidic dynasty closer to fruition. It brought Jesus Christ the Son of David, into
reality. “No purpose of Yours can be
thwarted.”
[1] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 18:17). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[2] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 18:21). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[3] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 18:25). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[4] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Sa 18:29). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
[5] The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 46:9–10). Wheaton, IL:
Crossway Bibles.
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