“Saul was very angry and resentful of the song . . . “
Saul and David returned in triumph. Yet the taste of that victory soon turned bitter in Saul’s mouth. The people were praising David more than Saul. He became angry. He became resentful. Jealousy rose up in his heart. His pride has been wounded, his position and prestige were threatened. At the root of all this was certainly fear, fear that he would lose something he had, or fear that he would not get something he was convinced he needed. Anger, resentment, jealousy and pride were stirred together in Saul’s heart, such that he decided that David must die.
In the Gospel we hear of Jesus casting out evil spirits. While perhaps not identical, are not the things that afflicted Saul a sort of evil spirit? Consider how quickly fear and anger and jealousy can turn us against others, even those we love.
Jonathan approached Saul, reasoned with him, and calmed his fears, showing him that David was not a threat to him. He calmed the evil spirits leading Saul to choose evil over good. We too need Jesus to silence those evil spirits in our hearts.
“In God I trust; I shall not fear.”
