18:1 When David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life.
Jonathan was the prince of Israel. By dynastic human law, he was to be the next king. Jonathan and David were heroes. Jonathan trusted God and attacked the Amalekite camp with just himself and his armor bearer. David trusted God and killed the giant Goliath. This love for God spilled over in their love for each other. Mature believers love other mature believers. Immature believers are jealous of mature believers. Unbelievers tolerate immature believers but despise mature believers.
2 Saul retained David on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.
Notice that Saul no longer allowed David to return to his house. This means that David was previously serving Saul on a temporary assignment. This is why Saul did not know the name of David’s parents. Kings had better things to do than find out the name of their servant’s parents.
3 Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life.
Jonathan and David made a covenant with each other. Many homosexuals use this verse to promote their sin. There is no hint here of a homosexual love affair between Jonathan and David. Their love was one of friendship and deep admiration. David and Jonathan were both later married with children.
4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear, including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.
According to human dynastic law, Jonathan was to be the next king of Israel. However, Jonathan recognized that it was God’s will to make David king. The practice of giving one’s garments and weapons to another is known from archaeological discoveries to have symbolized the transfer of one’s position to another.
Jonathan was not jealous of God’s calling. He supported God in His choice by giving David his royal attire. Most pagan princes would attempt to assassinate their rivals. Jonathan did the opposite. This is the extreme opposite reaction of what normally occurs in secular history.
5 On every mission on which Saul sent him, David achieved success. So Saul appointed him over the men of war. This pleased not only all the army, but also Saul’s servants.
David was so successful in everything that he did, that Saul promoted David to commanding general over the entire army.
6 When the men arrived after David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women from all the cities of Israel came out singing and dancing to meet King Saul. They were happy as they played their tambourines and three-stringed instruments.
David was so successful in his military campaigns, that he became a national hero.
7 The women who were playing the music sang, “Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his tens of thousands!”
The women of Israel created a national song which gave more credit to General David than to King Saul.
8 This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, “They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?”
This song made Saul very jealous. This jealousy would cause trouble for David.
9 So Saul was keeping an eye on David from that day onward.
Saul was looking for an opportunity to destroy his rival.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house. Now David was playing the lyre that day. There was a spear in Saul’s hand, 11 and Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll nail David to the wall!” But David escaped from him on two different occasions.
Samuel prophesied that David would be a king. He was immortal until this prophecy was fulfilled. Even demon-inspired assassination attempts could not kill David. David was a powerful pawn in a spiritual warfare. God said he would be king. Satan wanted to kill David, so the prophecy would be unfilled and God would be proven to be a liar. The demons tried two assassination attempts, without success. After the assassination attempts failed, Satan would have to find other ways to bring David down.
12 So Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
Saul was at a great disadvantage. He was no longer being led by the Spirit of God. On the other hand, David was led by the Spirit of God, so he was able to make more divine viewpoint decisions. The wisdom of David via the Holy Spirit made Saul look foolish in the eyes of the people. Therefore, David was gaining more popularity than Saul.
13 Saul removed David from his presence and made him a commanding officer. David led the army out to battle and back.
Saul removed David from the court and made him a full time military commander.
14 Now David achieved success in all he did, for the Lord was with him.
The enemies of Israel had no chance against David, because he was led by the Spirit of God.
15 When Saul saw how very successful he was, he was afraid of him.
Saul feared David’s success. It was a threat to his monarchy.
16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he was the one leading them out to battle and back.
David was a national hero. He was loved by Israel.
17 Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”
Saul had promised his daughter to any man who would kill Goliath. He never fulfilled this promise to David. Now, he would use that promise in an attempt to get David killed.
18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”
Most people would have jumped at the chance to marry a king’s daughter. David was different than any king of earth. He claimed that he was just a humble peasant and he had no social status to marry the daughter of a king.
19 When the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she instead was given in marriage to Adriel, who was from Meholah.
A man is only as good as his word. King Saul could not be trusted. God revealed Saul’s true character. King Saul was a liar, a coward, selfish, ungodly, a murderer, ambitious, and a professing believer. Israel was in the same moral condition as their king. Saul was the embodiment of the kind of king in which Israel deserved. If one looks at nations throughout history, then God always gives the nation the kind of leader that they deserve.
20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it pleased him.
Michal was the youngest daughter of Saul, but she had a lot of her father’s immoral conduct inside of her. She was brought up as a spoiled princess without any spiritual insight.
21 Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law.”
Saul knew what Michal was like. He planned to use his own daughter as a weapon against David. If a man does not have strong bible doctrine, then his unyoked wife will overpower him spiritually and bring him down.
22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.”
Saul began to plan the demise of David through his own daughter. Saul was very sneaky and deceptive, just like the people of Israel.
23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”
David was too humble to accept this marriage arrangement.
24 When Saul’s servants reported what David had said, 25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his enemies.’ ” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)
Saul began scheming again. Saul knew that David could not afford the bridal price. Therefore, he asked for one hundred Philistine foreskins. David would have to go into dangerous Philistine territory in order to obtain these foreskins. King Saul’s plan was to get David killed. He did not think that David could win 100 battles in a row without getting killed. However, David was immortal until he fulfilled Samuel’s prophecy of becoming king.
26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired
David agreed to marry Michal, even though the dowry price was very risky.
27 when David, along with his men, went out and struck down two hundred Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and presented all of them to the king so he could become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
David killed two hundred Philistines without getting killed.
28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 29 Saul became even more afraid of him. Saul continued to be at odds with David from then on.
This was a supernatural incident that even Saul recognized.
30 Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.
David was slaughtering the Philistines. Since David was supernaturally protected until he became king, then the Philistines had no chance against him. The Philistines feared David greatly.