• Jacob Chanikuzhy

Umpteen atrocities were perpetrated by King Saul against David. He tried to kill David by throwing his spear at him even as David was playing his harp to comfort King Saul. Saul was too callous to send his soldiers to arrest David immediately after his marriage. With his army, King Saul personally pursued David and his men with the intention of eliminating David. If the Bible records that such serious moves were taken by King Saul against David, one can imagine the countless other instances when King Saul might have humiliated and abused David. However, God spared the life of David from the hands of Saul. Although David never tried to harm King Saul, on a few occasions he had the unexpected chance to kill Saul. But David refrained from harming Saul because Saul was the anointed king of Yahweh.
The reason why Saul harboured a grudge against David was that David was too good, too smart, and too popular to accommodate. In his arrogance and pride, Saul abused his authority to enjoy sadistic pleasure by putting David into trouble. Finally, Saul’s perennial jealousy and hatred against David caused his own ultimate fall. In his war against the Philistines, King Saul was mortally wounded by the Philistine archers, and Saul had to take his own life. Remember, King Saul, the anointed king of Yahweh, had no qualms about going to a witch – a sinful practice forbidden in Israel – to seek the prospects of the war with the Philistines. But in his pride, he did not bother to reconcile with David and to ensure his support. Had he recognized David for his merits, befriended him, and sought his help in his war against the Philistines, the course of the war would have been different, and Saul would have remained alive and reigning. In the end, Saul had nobody else to blame but himself for his downfall. As the old adage reminds, “Pride goes before the fall.”
It is confusing that Saul, the first King of Israel and the anointed King of Yahweh, had to end his life by suicide! He was handsome, intelligent, skilled, a mighty warrior, a powerful king, and above all, the chosen one of Yahweh. Still, none of these helped him once he started ignoring the will of God and reigning with vested interests. In his selfishness, he spared, against the explicit will of God, the King of Amalekites, and the best of the sheep, lamb, and cattle. Again, in his sinful wrath against David, he ordered the cold-blooded murder of eighty-five innocent priests of Yahweh, just because the high priest fed David and his men in their need. Saul harassed and abused David without end. Now, when the day of reckoning came, the ambitious king of Israel had just one desire: a decent death. Unfortunately, the one who denied David a decent living, is now denied a decent death. He had to beg his servant to kill him before he fell into the hands of his enemies. As his servant was afraid to kill his master, Saul killed himself. By killing himself, Saul may have intended to prevent further humiliation of Israel by the Philistines by capturing and publicly abusing the king of Israel. Although he escaped abuse while living, his dead body did not. It was stripped, beheaded, and hung in public (1 Sam 31).
The end of Saul, however, was neither the end of Israel nor the end of its glory. Rather, God had a plan for taking Israel to greater heights by raising a king – King David – who would rule according to the heart of God. The nobility and integrity of David were manifested in his response to the news of the death of King Saul. Far from celebrating the death of his professed enemy, David cried his heart out at the disgraceful death of Saul. This is because, no matter how much he personally suffered from King Saul, David felt the ignominious fall of the anointed King of Yahweh from grace and life as a scandalous loss and a shameful memory for the entire people of God. The heart-rending eulogy sung by David at the death of Saul (2 Sam 1) proves how much more David valued the glory of his nation than his own personal interests. A true leader is one who, like David, is capable of valuing the glory of his own people more than one’s own personal gains.