King Saul’s jealousy, the ugly green-eyed monster, showed its ugly head. The maidens sang this song on their way back from the fight. Because Samuel said that Saul would no longer own the country, Saul may have been a little on edge. He felt a bad mood come up because of this song. They had been singing good things about him before. Now there is someone else in charge of the song, and he gets more credit than the king! When you praise guys, be careful what you say. “Welcome home, pastor. The enemy can use them to do harm.” A kind board member says, “Your assistant did such a great job that we forgot you were gone.” The enemy makes two people who want to reach the Kingdom of God compete with each other. They will never work together again if one of them has an ear that can hear the flesh. People who are friendly have accidentally sown the seeds of competition. Saul could never look at David the same way again.
It could have been more than that. Saul may have also believed it because he saw in David what he had lost. Love for God and trust in God’s word that used to be so close to him now seemed so far away. He saw how humble this young man was and knew that his own was gone. Those are the things that made him a king. These are the things about you that make you important to God. Words of praise for other people shouldn’t turn into that for you.
Think about this: Be glad when other people serve our King before you. We fight for him, not ourselves.
1 Samuel 18:7-9 7As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” 8Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” 9And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
