Jonathan Befriends David
After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself. Pro 18:241Sa 20:171Sa 18:32Sa 1:26Col 2:2Gen 44:301Sa 19:2Deu 13:6 And from that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house. 1Sa 17:151Sa 16:21-23
Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 1Sa 20:421Sa 20:8-172Sa 21:72Sa 9:1-31Sa 23:18 And Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt. Gen 41:42Est 6:8-9Isa 61:10Luk 15:222Co 5:21Php 2:7-8
Saul Envies David
So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well. 1Sa 18:301Sa 18:14-15Col 4:5Act 7:10Eph 5:171Sa 13:2Mat 10:16Psa 1:3
As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments. 1 Exo 15:20Jdg 11:34Psa 68:25Jer 31:11-13 And as the women danced, they sang out: 1Sa 21:111Sa 29:5Exo 15:21Psa 24:7-8
“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.”
And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?” 1Sa 15:28Pro 13:101Sa 20:31Est 3:5Jas 4:5Pro 27:41Ki 2:221Sa 13:14 And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David. Eph 4:27Gen 31:2Gen 4:5-6Jas 5:9Mat 20:15Mrk 7:22
The next day a spirit of distress 2sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear, 2Th 2:111Ki 18:291Sa 19:91Ki 22:20-231Sa 16:14-161Sa 16:23Act 16:161Ki 22:12 and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. 1Sa 20:33Isa 54:17Jhn 10:39Jhn 8:59Luk 4:30Psa 37:32-33Pro 27:41Sa 19:9-10
So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. 1Sa 18:151Sa 18:291Sa 16:13-141Sa 28:151Sa 16:18Act 24:25Act 7:91Sa 16:4 Therefore Saul sent David away and gave him command of a thousand men. David led the troops out to battle and back, 2Sa 5:2Psa 121:81Sa 18:16-171Sa 18:251Sa 22:71Sa 8:12Num 27:16-17 and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him. Gen 39:231Sa 16:18Jos 6:27Mat 28:20Gen 39:2-31Sa 10:7Act 18:10Mat 1:23
When Saul saw that David was very successful, he was afraid of him. Col 4:5Dan 6:4-5Jas 1:5Jas 3:17Psa 112:5 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back. 1Sa 18:51Ki 3:72Sa 5:2Luk 19:48Luk 20:19Num 27:17
David Marries Michal
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 1Sa 17:251Sa 18:251Sa 25:281Sa 18:211Sa 17:472Sa 11:152Sa 12:9Deu 17:7
And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?” 2Sa 7:181Sa 18:231Sa 9:21Exo 3:11Rut 2:10Jer 1:6Pro 15:33Pro 18:12 So when it was time 3to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah. 2Sa 21:8Jdg 7:22Jdg 14:20
Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him. 1Sa 18:28 “I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.” 1Sa 18:171Sa 18:261Sa 19:11-12Exo 10:7Jer 9:8Jer 5:26Pro 26:24-26Pro 29:5
Then Saul ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’” 2Sa 13:28-29Psa 36:1-3Psa 55:21Pro 29:12
But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.” 1Jn 3:11Sa 9:21Ecc 9:15-16Pro 14:20Pro 19:6-7Psa 119:141
And the servants told Saul what David had said.
Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines. 1Sa 14:241Sa 18:17Gen 34:121Sa 17:261Sa 17:362Sa 17:8-11Exo 22:16-17Gen 17:11-14
When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, 1Sa 18:21 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage. 2Sa 3:141Sa 18:13Jdg 14:19
When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 1Sa 24:201Sa 26:25Gen 30:27Gen 37:8-11Gen 39:3Rev 3:9 he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy. Ecc 4:41Jn 3:12-151Sa 18:121Sa 18:15Gen 4:4-8Jas 2:19Jhn 11:53Psa 37:12-14
Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed. 1Sa 18:52Sa 11:11Pe 2:41Pe 2:71Sa 2:30Dan 1:20Eph 5:15Luk 21:15