Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Jealousy & Success | David in 22 Stories | 1 Sam. 19

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now, we're working through the story of David's life found in First and Second Samuel. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine shared the best thought experiment I've heard in a while. Okay, so here's what he said to do. Imagine yourself in your dream job. Okay, so you're working with your dream team in your dream city, and you get to post about it on social

Starting point is 00:00:34 media and all your friends are talking about how awesome and successful you are. Okay, so next step. I want you to imagine your most frustrating coworker or just someone that you seriously dislike. And I want you to imagine them doing that job. I want you to imagine them doing that job with the team that you'd want to work with in this city where you'd want to live. And you're seeing everyone talk about how awesome and successful they are on so. social media. How would you feel? Yeah, me too. There's a lot of kinds of jealousy out there,

Starting point is 00:01:12 but jealousy of success, at least in my own life, has been one of the most toxic out there. Saul's life is a living illustration of this point, because this little mind experiment we just did, that was his living reality. In 1st Samuel 18, we read six brief episodes, and each one is designed to highlight David's success at how the watching world loves him, and also to highlight Saul's descent into insane jealousy. In verse 5, we read this. Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. And you might think, why would a jealous person do that? Well, remember, Saul's a people pleaser, so we keep reading, it was because this pleased all the troops and Saul's officers as well.

Starting point is 00:02:07 Verse 6. When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the woman came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing with joyful songs and with timbrels and liars. As they danced, they sang, Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. Now we need to pause because that might sound like a disc, but it's really not. a diss at all. It's a way of saying Saul is the king and David is the warrior. Saul calls the shots. You know, he's the CEO, the coach, the owner. David makes the plays. But Saul's jealousy

Starting point is 00:02:44 can't hear it this way. His jealousy turns it into an insult. Verse 8. Saul was very angry. This refrain displeased him greatly. They have credited David with tens of thousands, he thought. But me only with thousands. What more can he? yet but the kingdom. And from that time on, Saul kept a close eye on David. In verse 16, we read this, but all Israel and Judah loved David because he led them in their campaigns. And it wasn't just Israel who loves David. Saul's own children love David. His son, his firstborn, covenants to allow David to take the throne next. Mikal, one of Saul's daughters, falls in love with David. And again, Saul, just can't take it. Proverbs 1430 says, a heart at peace gives life to the body, but jealousy rots

Starting point is 00:03:40 the bones. It's true, isn't it? Saul's jealousy for David eats at his soul until by the end of this chapter, all that's left is an insecure, fragile, vindictive, violent shell of the man that all used to be. Isn't that what jealousy does to all of us? A few years ago, I took the strength finders test by Gallup. You know, it's one of those personality inventories. And I discovered that one of my so-called strengths is competition. Now, when I read this, I'm not kidding, I literally laughed out loud because I couldn't help but think that one of my top five strengths is a sin. Because for me, competition is often just a disguise for jealousy. My desire to win. is often accompanied by a desire to see other people lose. My desire to be the best is often accompanied

Starting point is 00:04:36 by a desire to see other people fail. Do you want to know the worst part about my competition, my jealousy? Most people that I am internally, I think I'm in a competition with, that's what I feel like. They have no idea. They aren't in a competition at all. But here I am treating them like they are, treating them like they want to beat me. That's exactly what's happening here. When we read what's happening to Saul, it's kind of tempting to feel bad for the guy, right? Until we realize that the counterpart to his jealousy and hostility is actually David's humility and affection. In these same stories, we read that David is working his best to build Saul's kingdom. He's for Saul. For example, in one story, David says he won't marry one of Saul's daughters. Why? Well, David explains. He says,

Starting point is 00:05:29 Who am I? And what is my family or my clan and all of Israel that I should become the king's son-in-law? Now, this isn't false humility. It's an accurate self-assessment. What you have to understand is that in those days, you made treaties, you built alliances, in part through marriages. And David is saying, look, I come from a no-name family, from a really unimportant town. I've already surpassed my wildest dreams in terms of my personal success. I don't deserve this. And it's not what's best for your kingdom, Saul, so you don't have to do this. No.

Starting point is 00:06:06 Just stop and think about that. David knows that he's been anointed, the true king of Israel. He knows this. It's already happened. But he doesn't claw at Saul's throne. He doesn't lead a coup to take it. Instead, he serves Saul, and he just patiently waits for God to act. And what's Saul's response to this?

Starting point is 00:06:27 Well, at first it's jealousy, and then it becomes a violent rage, and then he starts trying to secretly plot David's murder. We might not exhibit Saul's violence in our lives, but internally, sometimes don't we approximate it? What starts is just a little dose of envy, quickly becomes anger at other people's success, even maneuvering to see them fail, whether it's gossip or nabbing the better project at work. And even though we aren't literally becoming violent towards those people, we're doing something

Starting point is 00:07:03 that harms them. Do you want to know the irony for Saul in all of this? He is trying to bottle up the ocean. David's rise to the throne is inevitable. It's been willed by divine providence. And by the way, Saul himself knows this. He was told this in chapter 15, so it's not like he just doesn't realize what's happening. But Saul's insane jealousy sends him right into the headwinds of God's providence.

Starting point is 00:07:29 He's mystified by the fact that every plot he makes against David ends up working for David's good. And again, Saul's counterpoint in this story is David, because he also knows God's plan, and yet he never violently takes God's plan into his own hands. He's not Abraham sleeping with Sarah's servant, trying to force the promises of God. No, David is content to trust in God. He's like a sailboat that's just moving with the wind, trusting that somehow it's going to bring it into port in the right way, in the right time. Now, you might think, well, that's easy for David to do. He knows the end of the story. But it's not easy at all. As we keep reading, we'll see that as a result of this attitude of not taking things for himself, David's going to spend years suffering on the run, but he never backs off it. Mistrust is ultimately at the heart of all jealousy. We don't trust God's plan. We want God's plan for my life to be different. We want God's plan for her or for him to be God's plan for me. And over time, that jealousy for them becomes mistrust for God. He's messing up his plan for my life. And that jealousy, it rotted. It, it

Starting point is 00:08:46 rots our lives into ugliness until we just end up becoming anxious shells of what we could be. Today, relinquish your jealousy to God. Ask him for strength. Strength to trust him with your life's story, especially when that plan takes you down dark and difficult roads, especially when God's plan for other people, it looks like a cakewalk. And you're thinking, man, I'd like to join in on that. ask him to help you lead a life of trust even when your path is strewn with suffering and heartache. Trust him. He will take you into port in the right way and the right time. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with?

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Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Jealousy & Success | David in 22 Stories | 1 Sam. 19

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