Today I read 1 Samuel 18 where Saul starts to suspect, fear and eventually hate David. It is sad when petty jealousy destroys a good friendship. Jealousy is a nasty thing and is hard to control at times, but letting it get in the way of friendship is not a good thing. This chapter always made me sad because it shows just how far Saul has fallen. He gets upset and jealous of David because of the rhymes that the women make up about David and himself.
He is so far gone with jealousy that he tries to kill David, even though he knows for a fact that one of his daughters and his son, Jonathan, love David. At this point in Saul's life it would seem the Spirit of the Lord has left him completely. And yet when Saul was chosen as king he was described as a goodly lad and well loved and full of the Spirit. And yet he fell so far and so hard. It is a good lesson to learn how badly power can hurt someone and corrupt them. Once again I can't help but wonder if Saul had not been made king how he would have turned out? Would he still have become such a tyrant? Would he have remained a good person at heart instead of turning into this paranoid monster? We will never know. Perhaps that is a mercy too, not knowing. It is a very good lesson however on just how dangerous earthly power can be. Until tomorrow.
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