Sunday, May 1, 2022

The First Book Of Samuel. Day 54, David Becomes Saul's Son-In-Law

In Saturday's study we found Saul throwing a spear at David twice during one of his unstable mental episodes. But after the Lord protected David on both those occasions, fear struck Saul's heart about what the Lord might do to avenge David's death. The king tried to smooth things over with David to keep him in the army, hoping a Philistine sword or arrow would strike him down. 

As part of smoothing things over, Saul reminded David that he'd promised his eldest daughter Merab in marriage to the man who killed Goliath. David displays a very humble spirit when reminded of this offer. "But David said to Saul, who am I, and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?' So when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah." (1 Samuel 18:18-19) David says, "That is too great of an honor, Your Majesty." Not only is it too great of an honor in David's mind but a large bride price may have been required which he could not pay. In those days it wasn't the bride who had to have a dowry to take with her into marriage; it was the groom who had to pay a sum of money to the bride's family. This sum of money was intended to help ease the hardship of having to hire a servant to perform all the work the daughter formerly performed. It was also a way of honoring the family and the new bride by saying, "She is a woman of great worth! Let this dowry serve as a symbol of my high esteem for her."

The king's eldest daughter likely didn't perform menial tasks around the house but she may have supervised the servants. It's doubtful she spent her days completely idle. But even if that were the case, her status in Israel as the king's eldest daughter meant she was highly prized as wife material and only the wealthiest, most prominent, or most famous men of Israel had any hope whatsoever of being considered as a suitable mate for her. This meant Saul could have asked almost any dowry he pleased and would have gotten it. That's probably what happened in verse 19 above. When David modestly stated he lacked the qualifications to be considered an eligible man for the princess Merab, Saul gave her to the man who could pay the biggest dowry "when the time came". I think that when the Bible says "when the time came" it means when Merab reached the legal/acceptable age of marriage. Although Saul promised Merab's hand in marriage to whoever would kill Goliath, he didn't mean the wedding would take place that very day. Merab was probably still in her early to mid teens on the day Goliath died and was not yet of legal age to marry.

But Saul has a younger daughter, Michal, who is about to be of marriageable age and his servants inform him that she's completely infatuated with David. You can just imagine why! He's young, he's brave, he's handsome, he's more famous than even King Saul because he slew Goliath. And he comes by the house regularly to assist Saul out of his dark moods. Michal probably got up every morning hoping it would be a day when David would drop by. I bet she was very careful to do her hair just right and to put on one of her prettiest dresses. Whenever she saw David approaching the house or whenever she heard his knock at the door I bet her tummy filled up with butterflies and her heart went pitter-patter like crazy. I may be getting past middle age now but I remember what it was like being a teenage girl with a crush on a boy! And the boys I went with were just ordinary boys, not giant-slayers like David. Michal must have been practically in a swoon of joy every time David stopped by. "Now Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 'I will give her to him,' he thought, 'so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.' So Saul said to David, 'Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.' Then Saul ordered his attendants: 'Speak to David privately and say, 'Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.'" (1 Samuel 18:20-21)

How would she become a snare to him? Because of the bride price Saul will require. He won't ask for a sum of money. He will ask David to win a huge victory over the Philistines. But his real motive is that, in performing this feat to win Michal as his wife, David will be killed in battle. Just as he did when offered Merab, David points out that his status isn't high enough and his bank account isn't large enough to become the king's son-in-law. He doesn't yet know what bride price Saul will require when the servants come to him to talk him into the marriage. "They repeated these words to David. But David said, 'Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known.' When Saul's servants told him what David had said, Saul replied, 'Say to David, 'The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' Saul's plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines." (1 Samuel 18:23-25)

You'll recall how outraged David was when he heard the blasphemous words spoken by "the uncircumcised Philistine" as he called Goliath. Calling someone uncircumcised was to call them a godless heathen, for that's what they were in those times. It was calling them unclean because they worshiped idols and engaged in all sorts of wickedness and debauchery at their pagan feasts and they ate and drank forbidden things, such as blood and the meat of animals that did not meet the requirements provided to the Israelites in the book of Leviticus. Saul is appealing to David's emotions when he asks him to kill one hundred heathen idolaters and to bring back their foreskins as proof of the kills. Most men would hear the terms of this bride price and say, "No way! I'd pay a sum of money to become son-in-law to the king but I won't attack one hundred Philistines and then desecrate their dead bodies, humiliating the Philistines and causing them to place a bounty on my head."

But David finds the terms acceptable. He believes he can easily accomplish what the king has asked. "When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. So before the time elapsed, David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins." (1 Samuel 18:26-27a) Saul evidently set an expiration date for when the deed must be accomplished. David killed not one hundred but two hundred Philistines.

"They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage." (1 Samuel 18:27b) Saul is dismayed that David wasn't killed in battle. He realizes that David is now more popular and famous than ever before. He has no choice but to keep his word and make David his son-in-law or else he will tarnish his own reputation and bring shame on his own household for not keeping his end of the bargain.

Saul realizes he's made a terrible mistake. The man he fears most is now part of the royal family. In his heart he highly suspects that David is the man the Lord has in mind as the next king of Israel and now David looks more kingly than ever to all the people of Israel---he is the husband of the Princess Michal and he has proven himself mighty on the battlefield yet again. Everything Saul has done to make David look bad or get killed has backfired. "When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well known." (1 Samuel 18:28-30) 

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