“However, when it was time for Merav Sha’ul’s daughter to be given to David, she was given to Adri’el the Mecholati as his wife. But Mikhal Sha’ul’s daughter fell in love with David. They told Sha’ul, and it pleased him. Sha’ul said, ‘I’ll give her to him, so that she can entrap him, and the P’lishtim can do away with him.’ So Sha’ul said to David, ‘Today you will become my son-in-law through the second [daughter].'”-1 Samuel 18:19-21
So things were all set for David to be married to Merav, Saul’s oldest daughter.
But then all of a sudden, Saul changed his mind and gave Merav to another man.
We’re told he was a fellow named Adriel the Mecholati.
Mecholah was an area thought to be near the Jordan River and could have been on the east side of the Jordan inside Gad territory.
Now, we’re not given much information about Adriel except that he was the son of a man named Barzillai.
For some undisclosed reason, Saul deemed it important to ally with Adriel, thus giving Merav to him in marriage.
In those times, it was customary for kings to give their daughters in marriage to forge alliances.
Meanwhile, it turns out that another of Saul’s daughters, Michal, had fallen in love with David.
So Saul decided to give Michal to David instead of Merav.
Either way, Saul’s devious intentions didn’t change.
His only goal was to entrap David and find a way to get rid of him.
So there are a couple of interesting takeaways I’m getting from this situation.
The first lesson is not to be disappointed or discouraged if an anticipated situation unexpectedly changes.
A business deal you were expecting to close falls through…
A job offer you were hoping to get is rescinded…
The girl you proposed to declined…
Whatever the situation may be, trust that God is working on your behalf and that in the end, everything will turn out okay.
David was supposed to marry Merav, but instead got Michal.
That would turn out to be to his benefit.
The lesson here is do NOT be attached to a certain outcome.
There are a million ways God can bring about his Will that are not on your radar screen at the moment.
The second takeaway is no matter the strength of your adversaries, it’s irrelevant.
If God is with you, He will frustrate your enemies so that no matter what they do, it will be to your advantage.
This is exactly what we see happening between Saul and David.
Saul was doing everything he could to hurt David.
But God intervened and turned Saul’s plans on their head.
One by one, members of Saul’s family were pledging their loyalty to David.
It began with Jonathan, and now, Michal had also aligned herself with this humble shepherd from Jesse’s family.
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