1 Samuel 18:6-13: a reflection

6As they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. 7The women sang to one another as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have credited David with ten thousands, and they have only credited me with thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?” 9Saul watched David from that day and forward. 10On the next day, an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. David played with his hand, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; 11and Saul threw the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” David escaped from his presence twice. 12Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and had departed from Saul. 13Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

After David's victory over Goliath, the women of Israel sing his praises: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. The song credits David with more than the king, and Saul cannot bear it. He is very angry; the saying displeases him, and from that day on, the passage says, Saul watched David with a jealous eye. His envy over another's greater praise festers into suspicion, then into hatred, until Saul hurls a spear to pin David to the wall. Envy has curdled into murderous intent.

Notice how envy works its corruption in Saul. It began with a comparison, another praised more than he, and a wound to his pride. Rather than mastering it, Saul let the envy grow, watching David, brooding on the comparison, until it consumed him and drove him to violence against a man who had served him faithfully. The envy that started as wounded pride became hatred, and the hatred became attempted murder.

That is a sobering picture of what envy can do if we let it grow. It often begins small, a sting when someone else is praised more, succeeds more, is favored more, a wound to our pride. Left unchecked, that envy can fester into resentment, suspicion, and hatred, poisoning us and our relationships. Guard your heart against envy. When another is praised or succeeds beyond you, do not nurse the sting into resentment as Saul did. Envy corrodes the one who harbors it. Ask God to free you from the comparison that breeds it, and to give you instead a heart that can rejoice in another's good rather than resent it.

Lord, when the women praised David above him, Saul could not bear it, and his envy festered into suspicion, then hatred, until he hurled a spear at the man who had served him faithfully. Guard my heart against that corrosion. When another is praised or succeeds beyond me, keep me from nursing the sting into resentment, as Saul did. Envy poisons the one who harbors it and destroys relationships; do not let it take root in me. Free me from the comparison that breeds it, and give me instead a heart that can genuinely rejoice in another's good rather than resent it. Where envy crouches in me, root it out, and teach me to be glad at the blessing and success of others.