“‘Sha’ul ordered his servants to speak privately with David and say, “Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you; so become the king’s son-in-law.’Sha’ul’s servants said this to David; but David replied, ‘Do you think being the king’s son-in-law is something to be treated so casually, given that I’m a poor man without social standing?’ Sha’ul’s servants reported back to him how David had responded. Sha’ul said, “Here’s what you are to say to David: ‘The king doesn’t want any dowry; he wants a hundred foreskins of the P’lishtim, so that he can have vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ For Sha’ul was hoping to have David killed by the P’lishtim.”-1 Samuel 18:22-25
I find it interesting that Saul chose to have his servants talk to David about marrying his daughter instead of talking to David himself.
No doubt, this was Saul putting David in his place, and letting him know who held the real authority in the palace.
I find the insincere flattery of the servant’s message also quite comical:
“Look, the king is pleased with you,
and all his servants like you;
so become the king’s son-in-law.”
This is your typical oriental Kabuki dance.
Of course, David doesn’t miss a beat and replies with his own buttered-up response:
‘Do you think being the
king’s son-in-law is something
to be treated so casually,
given that I’m a poor man
without social standing?’
David does have a point.
Since he is a commoner he doesn’t possess the wealth he needs to provide a dowry fitting for the daughter of a king.
The servant takes this message back to Saul who promptly tells the servant to tell David that he doesn’t need to pay with money.
Instead, he wants David to prove himself by killing 100 Philistines and bringing back their foreskins.
Once David heard this, he agreed to marry Michal right away.
Now, not being one to disappoint, David immediately went out and slaughtered not 100, but a whopping 200 Philistines and brought their foreskins back to Saul.
However, some folks will say there’s a contradiction when this incident is compared to verse 2 Samuel 3:14:
“David sent messengers to say to Ish-Boshet the son of Sha’ul, ‘Give me back my wife Mikhal. I betrothed her to myself for 100 foreskins of the P’lishtim.'”
You know, I honestly don’t see what the problem is.
All that’s being said or reiterated is that David agreed to a betrothal price of 100 Philistine foreskins.
That’s all man.
There ain’t no freaking contradiction here.
It’s beside the point that David brought Saul, his new father-in-law an extra 100 foreskins on top of what was already agreed upon for the bride price.
Ya feel me?
Anyway, let’s get back to the narrative and finish up with a takeaway.
The bottom line is things couldn’t have been worse for Saul.
Every move he’s made to trip David up has only backfired on him.
David’s rise has been fast and furious.
He started as a common shepherd boy whom no one respected to a respected warrior and now a popular hero in Israel whom both men and women praised.
So here’s the takeaway that stuck out to me today.
Although David didn’t possess money to pay for the dowry of a King’s daughter, that didn’t matter.
Why?
Because he had the skills that enabled him to accomplish a task that gave him the power to pay the bride price.
As the adage goes, “Skills pay the bills”.
So that’s your inspiring lesson for today.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a ton of cold, hard cash in your bank account at the moment.
If God has given you the skills that a market wants and needs, you can easily get all the wealth you want.
I’ll leave you with these inspiring words from the Torah:
“But remember the LORD your God,
for it is He who gives you the ability
to produce wealth, and so confirms
his covenant, which he swore to your
ancestors, as it is today.”
-Deuteronomy 8:18
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN 1ST SAMUEL CHAPTER 19
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