Saul's Fear

1 Samuel 18:12–16 (ESV) Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. 15 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

There are some key statements about Saul's attitude toward David in this passage. It is mentioned throughout the chapter that Saul is afraid of him. Then it's "fearful awe of him." Saul sees David's great success and grows more afraid. Saul can read the signs. Things are bad for him and he will take this out on David for the next several chapters.

The lesson David is about to learn is one he will later write about:
Psalm 146:3 (ESV) Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

I like David's lesson here. For consider how much time we spend trying to win the approval of the important people in our lives. No, they are not likely to be literal "kings" or "princes" but they can be the powerful people in the little segment of the world. A boss, a coworker who is well-liked, a popular kid in high school or a teacher can all instill a hopeless and often endless desire to please someone whose opinion really does not matter.

This is why we need to look at Saul's fear very closely. Saul is afraid of David because David represents a threat to his own importance. Notice Saul's immediate thought about the silly song the women sang earlier in the chapter:
1 Samuel 18:8 (ESV) And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”

Saul is worried about losing HIS kingdom. There's only one problem with that worry. It's not HIS! It's the Lord's kingdom. And the aim of this kingdom was not to SLAY the world but to represent God to man and man to God. Israel was set apart to be a kingdom of priests. Now their king is worried he may lose what never belonged to him. 

This is the heart of fear - to lose what we have mistakenly assumed was ours at all. Think about this statement: All suffering is really loss: loss of health, money, rights, property, love, friends, family. Yet suffering is an inevitable fact of life. We will lose everything in this life - even our own lives. Fear is rooted in our ill-conceived notion that we OWN the things we cannot keep. 

I consider how differently John the Baptist regarded the growing influence of Jesus while his own ministry was on the decline: 

John 3:26 (ESV) they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

And the response from John:

John 3:27 (ESV) John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

Saul's fear is our fear when we make the same mistake he made. To assume that our lives and those in it are really about us, to imagine we are the center of the world. Then all bets are off in regards to fear and we may end up wrestling with a competitive spirit that threatens our peace. Saul's fear will not end well for him. It will not end well for you. 

What is the solution? A John the Baptist mentality. To believe whatever you fear to lose is not yours in the first place. It's all God's and you are his manager. Trust that He will give it and let you hold it for as long as is right and good. Trust that He knows what He is doing. 

David carries this attitude well into his kingship and it brings him a long-lasting peace. John embraced this attitude and died shortly after. But both men speak from beyond the grave to us. They tell us to stop worrying about what isn't ours. To do our best, enjoy it, and when it is over, to let it go.