A Jealous Heart

A JEALOUS HEART

a prayer to open

My Lord, my God, show me your heart. Ground me in your presence.

Draw me near and hold me close.

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.”

“Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” David exclaimed. “My father’s family is nothing!” . . .

In the meantime, Saul’s daughter Michal had fallen in love with David, and Saul was delighted when he heard about it. “Here’s another chance to see him killed by the Philistines!” Saul said to himself. But to David he said, “Today you have a second chance to become my son-in-law!”

Then Saul told his men to say to David, “The king really likes you, and so do we. Why don’t you accept the king’s offer and become his son-in-law?”

When Saul’s men said these things to David, he replied, “How can a poor man from a humble family afford the bride price for the daughter of a king?”

When Saul’s men reported this back to the king, he told them, “Tell David that all I want for the bride price is 100 Philistine foreskins! Vengeance on my enemies is all I really want.” But what Saul had in mind was that David would be killed in the fight.

David was delighted to accept the offer. . . . He and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. Then David fulfilled the king’s requirement by presenting all their foreskins to him. So Saul gave his daughter Michal to David to be his wife.

When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and how much his daughter Michal loved him, Saul became even more afraid of him.

As David’s stature among God’s people grew and he became more and more successful, Saul became obsessed with getting rid of him. Imagine the state of Saul’s heart and mind as he devised schemes and manipulated his own family in order to eliminate his perceived enemy. Jealousy did to Saul what it so often does to us: It eats away at our hearts, affects our ability to reason, and eventually destroys us because of the way it influences our view of others.

• Based on Saul’s actions and statements in this passage, what words would you use to describe the state of his heart?
• What words would you use to describe David based on today’s Scripture?
• What happens in your relationship with God when you’re preoccupied with vengeful or angry thoughts? How does he respond to you in the midst of your anger?

Father, I am so grateful that you see into the depths of my heart and that nothing is hidden from you. You know the ways I become preoccupied with negative thoughts. You know my envy, my lack of generosity, my fear. Forgive me, and please remind me of your unending love and your desire to transform my heart so that each day I grow into the person you made me to be. Amen.