Dealing With Deceit | 1 Samuel 18:17-27

Are you dealing with deceitful people?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are reading 1 Samuel 18. I've titled this chapter "Allies and Adversaries."

In yesterday's devotional, we discovered how Saul's jealousy led him to set David up for failure by assigning him an impossible task. Yet, David's unwavering faith and anchored identity in God turned the challenge into a resounding success. Today, we are going to see Saul make another attempt to eliminate David as he gives him an impossible task in verses 17-27:

Then Saul said to David, "Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles." For Saul thought, "Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him." And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?" But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. Saul thought, "Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." Therefore Saul said to David a second time, "You shall now be my son-in-law." And Saul commanded his servants, "Speak to David in private and say, 'Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.'" And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, "Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?" And the servants of Saul told him, "Thus and so did David speak." Then Saul said, "Thus shall you say to David, 'The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.'" Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired, David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. — 1 Samuel 18:17-27

I feel sorry for the guy who had to count out the foreskins, don't you?

Essentially, dowries were "advanced alimony" paid to a father's family to provide for a daughter in the event of the son-in-law's death. But Saul does not need David's dowry. All he wants is David's death. But he doesn't even get that. David pays the dowry in full and doubles down on it, which is counterproductive for Saul because David doubles down on his value to Michal and Israel.

Saul's ongoing devious behavior reveals the true nature of his heart. If we go back to Chapter 17 and the battle with Goliath, the promised reward was threefold: great wealth, the king's daughter, and exemption from taxes (1 Samuel 17:25). To date, Saul has not honored any of these three, and even went back on his word regarding his daughter. However, you can see David is not that concerned with these rewards because his concern is doing the will of God.

This emphasizes an important point: David is not leading to get a response or reward but out of a relationship with the Lord. If you lead to get a response or reward, you won't lead for long because spiritual leadership rarely has immediate rewards. The spiritual rewards of spiritual leadership are realized much later. For some, we won't even see the reward until we enter our eternal reward. Leadership must be done out of, based on, and from our relationship with the Lord. The Lord is our only immediate reward. We lead for his pleasure and glory, not for ours. His pleasure is our reward.

But back to the text.

King Saul's "Plan B" is to put David in harm's way and have him killed in battle by the Philistines. So, if we fast-forward about two to three decades, David resorts to the same "Plan B" with a man named Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, she bore a child, and David tried to cover up his sin by putting Uriah in harm's way and having him killed (2 Samuel 11). If you wonder where David learned to do that, it was right here. As David was put in harm's way by Saul's disobedient heart, so David would put Uriah in harm's way by his disobedient heart.

Thus, we see the devious nature of deceit. By being in the company of people who practice deceit, we are indirectly being discipled by their deceitfulness. Their deceitful ways become our deceitful ways. This is the nature of all mankind. This is why we need a Savior. We are ridden with the incurable disease of deceit, picked up and passed on from one generation to the next. King Saul was deceitful. King David would be deceitful. But we have a King without deceit. Worship him today.

#FaithUnderPressure, #LeadershipLessons, #OvercomingAdversity

Ask This:

1. How do you respond when faced with unfair challenges or obstacles that seem designed to hinder your progress? Reflect on a recent situation where you felt you were being set up for failure. How did you handle it, and what can you learn from David's response to Saul's schemes?
2. In what areas of your life are you leading or acting with a focus on immediate rewards or responses rather than a deeper relationship with God? How can you shift your motivation to align more closely with seeking God's pleasure and glory, as David did?

Do This:

Live without deceit and without the need for reward.

Pray This:

Lord, help me to remain steadfast and faithful in the face of adversity, just as David did, and to lead with a heart focused on Your glory rather than seeking immediate rewards. Strengthen my resolve to follow Your will and trust in Your plans, even when faced with deceit and challenges. Amen.

Play This:

Glory To Glory.