Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Samuel 18:17 (New Living Translation)

17 One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.”

This is part of the (hi)story of King Saul and the next king David. Saul was determined to kill David because Saul was sure David wanted to kill him. Saul was wrong all around.

Saul “hatches a plot.” Saul would promise his older daughter Merab as a prize for David fighting the Lord’s battles. Surely, thought crafty King Saul, the Philistines would kill David for him. Well, as history would show, Saul was wrong about all this. And who was Saul to decide what were and were not the Lord’s battles? Anyways…

Let’s consider the relationship of Saul to his daughter Merab. Merab was a prize, a trophy. That shiny trophy was enough to convince David to go on suicide missions. Well, I guess that is one form of flattery. Still, the father says, “See my daughter. You’d die for this prize, huh?”

Saul wasn’t a good father. Saul wasn’t a good King. Perhaps there is a correlation in these “wasn’t a good” statements. How about correlating wasn’t a good father with wasn’t a good CEO or supervisor or shift manager of the midnight shift at White Castle (name any small, regional franchise).

We should only pick kings who are good fathers. We should only pick fill-in-the-blank with good fathers or good mothers. No children? Well, that makes the question a little tougher. Still, I think we can learning something here with Saul, his daughter, and David.