David’s brilliant victory over Goliath gains him great fame and admiration. The people cheer him wherever he goes. Even the king’s children express their immense admiration for him. Jonathan becomes David’s closest friend and Michal asks to be married to him. However, Saul is filled with jealousy. He succumbs to his destructive emotions and starts feeling threatened. The spirit of God has left him and his people, including his own children, are now only focused on the new hero. Saul falls prey to the negative forces stirring inside him.
Saul is overcome with envy following Goliath’s defeat. David is loved by the public and moved by God’s spirit. His great victory eclipses the king’s power and reputation. As such, Saul tries to kill David. He first throws a spear at David, but misses. Then, he sends David to kill 100 Philistines, hoping his rival will die in combat. David has no intention of overthrowing Saul, but the king is nonetheless tortured by his paranoid delusions. He fears that his close subject will rise up against him. Dark thoughts cloud Saul’s mind.
“And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Samuel 18:1)
“And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul” (1 Samuel 18:11-12)
“And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 18:25)
Self-control relates to the principle of restriction; it is the ability to feel and notice without responding reactively.
