Thursday, June 4, 2009

Saul's Jealousy

Saul was less astute than Jonathan, but more astute that young David. He appreciated David at first, but when he heard the song "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands," he discovered the key to successful jealousy:

The leader saw evidence that God had chosen someone else over him.

Saul understood that God was blessing David more than Saul. In fact, much of Saul's success was due to God's blessing of David. Although he wasn't sure at first, Saul rightly suspected that David was the king who would replace him. He unfairly demoted David, and David continued to excel in a lower position, gaining favor among the people. Whatever Saul did, he could not defeat God's plan to make David king.

So why didn't Saul just face the truth, as Jonathan had, and help David? Because...

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Attitudes

King Saul and his son Jonathan were facing a serious problem. There was a giant Philistine blaspheming God and frightening their troops. As the tallest Israelite, Saul was under pressure to battle the giant, but he knew he couldn't win. Jonathan had been involved in starting this war, and he was next in line to be king. But, like his father, he was unable to solve the problem.

Then a pink-cheeked boy walked out and killed the giant, getting both Saul and Jonathan out of a bad situation. Jonathan had an idea of what was coming: the boy would be the next king, not Jonathan. So Jonathan made friends with him and helped him. After all, being second-in-command to a successful king was better than being a king who got killed by the Philistines.

Jonathan had the correct attitude towards jealousy. When an underling can do something better than you can, that underling may very well be a gift from God; someone to be appreciated and cared for.