Sermon Tone Analysis

And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

The title of today’s message is, When Love Turns to Hate.

According to the American Psychological Association, marriage and divorce are both common experiences.

In Western cultures, more than 90 percent of people marry by age 50.

Healthy marriages are good for a couples’ mental and physical health.

They are also good for children; growing up in a happy home protects children from mental, physical, educational and social problems.

However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce.

Further statistics state, the divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher as high as 80% and for those brave enough to go a third time, the statistics rise to a staggering 90% divorce rate.

When a couple says I do, there are many reasons for their nuptials.

Since we live in the United States I’m going to stick with our customs for marriage.

While there are very few, there are still arraigned marriages.

Some marry for money; some for status; some for convenience and some for the oldest reason in the world; they marry for love.

While today’s message has a Scripture reference, it’s more about a person; Michal was Saul’s youngest daughter.

In this time and culture the women were treated as property.

They were used by their fathers, given to men, as bargaining tools, brokering deals, solidifying kingdoms and making treaties.

It’s not what God designed, but that’s how it was during this time.

It appeared Michal was a little different, yet she was no different at all.

In we see that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David.

She saw David and she liked what she saw.

It was love at first sight, it would seem.

She must have shared this information with someone because the text then says, “And they, they being Saul’s men, told Saul that his daughter loved David, and the thing pleased him.

Now you would think this was a good thing, the king’s daughter sees this man and she loves him, and the king is happy.

But when we take a closer look, Saul’s happiness is not because his daughter is in love, rather he’s happy because he sees another opportunity to kill David.

You see Saul has tried on two other occasions, unsuccessfully, to kill David and now he sees this as another chance.

Saul decides he’ll give his daughter to David, but David has to bring him 100 Philistine foreskins.

Saul figured David would be killed trying to accomplish this task, but he once again underestimates David, because David didn’t just survive, David didn’t just bring Saul 100 Philistine foreskins, he brought him 200.

David and his men killed 200 Philistines, cut off their foreskins and delivered them to King Saul.

I would think it would be pretty safe to say, David loved Michal too.

To go through all of that for a woman, it was serious.

David was willing to give his life for this woman.

Not only did Saul’s daughter love David, Saul’s son Jonathan was also David’s best friend and they both helped David escape Saul’s attempts to murder him on more than one occasion.

So Saul’s own children were on David’s side.

In Chapter 19 Michal helps David escape, but when questioned why she let him go, she makes up a lie.

Rather than stand up to her father, she claims David threatened to kill her and there was no one to confirm nor disprove her account of the events, so this gave Saul yet another reason to kill David, because now Saul believes he’s threatened a member of the royal family.

Michal loved her husband, but she feared her father and what he would do to her more, if he discovered she was helping his enemy.

But somewhere between and there was a shift in Michal’s feelings and her love turned to hate.

I’m going to give you the Cliff Notes version of the next 18 chapters, but you can read the whole story in your devotion time.

So when we look at 1 Samuel in the chapters following the eighteenth chapter, we see Michal helping David, her husband escape from her father, then we see Jonathan, Saul’s son, helping David escape and now David is on the run, because Saul is not playing, he wants David dead and he’s putting a whole lot of resources into getting that done.

And so, rather than fighting back and killing the king, David runs.

Sometimes because of someone’s position, it’s better to turn and run rather than stand and fight.

It may not be your fight to wage, so for some of you in a church where you and the pastor don’t agree, rather than staying in that place and creating a ruckus, you might want to go ahead and leave, that may not be the battle you’re supposed to wage.

Let go and let God.

David ran and he did what was necessary to survive, even to the point of pretending he was crazy.

Meanwhile, it would appear that Saul was crazy, he killed the priests for helping David, when they didn’t know any better.

Before you go helping someone, you better seek God’s guidance, helping someone might get you arrested, it might get you jail time, it might just get you killed.

Know whose side you’re on and stay faithful.

I pray you choose the Lord’s side.

Where do you stand, who’s on the Lord’s side?

As you continue through 1 Samuel, you’ll see David has many adventures, exploits, narrow escapes and skirmishes trying to stay alive and stay away from Saul, all the while, his wife Michal is at home waiting for her husband, hoping and praying he’s ok, that he’s staying safe, that her daddy wouldn’t find and kill him.

We see in chapter 25 the report of the death of the prophet who anointed David king, Samuel, but there’s something else that happens; turn with me to and we’re going to begin reading at the second verse,

2 There was a man in Maon, whose property was in Carmel.

The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats.

He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail.

The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean; he was a Calebite.

He was a descendant of Caleb.

3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.

5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.

7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee.

Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.

9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David; and then they waited.

10 But Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David?

Who is the son of Jesse?

There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters.

11 Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David’s young men turned away, and came back and told him all this.

13 David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!”

And every one of them strapped on his sword; David also strapped on his sword; and about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.14

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he shouted insults at them.

15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we never missed anything when we were in the fields, as long as we were with them; 16 they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do; for evil has been decided against our master and against all his house; he is so ill-natured that no one can speak to him.”

4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.

6 Thus you shall salute him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

7 I hear that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing, all the time they were in Carmel.

— David was telling his men to explain to Nabal, he and his men never hurt any of his servants and not only that, they didn’t allow any one else to either.

10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David?

and who is the son of Jesse?

there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you.

Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight; for we have come on a feast day.

Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” 9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David; and then they waited.

10 But Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David?

Who is the son of Jesse?

There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters.

11 Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” — Well that was a huge mistake.

18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs.

She loaded them on donkeys 19 and said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; I am coming after you.”

But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 As she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

21 Now David had said, “Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; but he has returned me evil for good.

22 God do so to David[a] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground.

24 She fell at his feet and said, “Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.

25 My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal[b] is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?