Daughter of Saul

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For about a week now I have had a phrase in my head, “Daughter of Saul”, not really knowing why, just wondering about it. I am reading through 1 Chronicles currently and it started when I read,  “And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating and she despised him in her heart.”    1 Chronicles 15:29

Michal was the daughter of King Saul, the king of Israel who preceded David. The story, in condensed form, is that as Saul’s reign was coming to a close with his influence fading and his anointing gone, David was increasing in favor among the people. So a jealous Saul devised a plan to lure David to his death by promising to give him his oldest daughter, Merab, if David would “do valiantly” and fight against the Philistines. Saul believed that would take care of the problem of David as Saul thought David would be killed in battle. But David was not killed, and Saul went back on his word and gave his daughter to Adriel the Meholathite. So Saul, because another of his daughter’s, Michal, was smitten with David, decided he would marry this second daughter off to David and perhaps the alignment of David with the house of Saul would stop the fracture that was occurring with the favor falling away from Saul. He also gave David another dangerous chore hoping David would be killed. But that did not work and Saul became so enraged with jealousy against David that he tried to kill David himself by throwing a spear at him. Saul misses, David flees, and Michal helps David to escape. 1 Samuel 19 tells this story while 1 Samuel 25 informs us of Michal being taken from David after he was gone and in hiding and given by her father Saul to another man, Paltiel. 

According to my research, Michal was with Paltiel 7 - 10 years before David got her back after Saul' s death. (2 Samuel 3). This is a very condensed version of the story but it sets a basic foundation.

So, back to the phrase, daughter of Saul. 

When David brought the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark. There were also singers and musicians. The scripture says that all Israel brought up the ark with shouting and to the sound of horns, trumpets, cymbals, harps, and lyres…yet Michal looked out the window and singled out David in all that noise and activity, and despised him in her heart.

Why? That was my thought upon reading this story. With all the activity outside her window which I feel sure included extremely exuberant dancers, singers, and musicians, I think David wasn’t all that odd in such a crowd. So why was she so critical of David? I have been told before by people preaching or teaching about this story that it was due to Michal being embarrassed about David, but I don’t think so. I think it must go deeper than that. So I went back and thought about when she first loved David. She risked her well-being by helping him escape. She did not go with David when he fled and was essentially abandoned. Next she is given to another man. How long, I wondered, did it take her to settle in with Paltiel? Had she found a measure of peace…and then David, in battle negotiations, demands Michal back, reclaiming what he lost from running from Saul. After all, had not David paid for her with the foreskins of 100 Philistines? And so Michal is again a pawn in a continued story of political intrigue and power plays that altered the course of her life. 

And so as I pondered this story and the woman Michal, I caught a glimpse of what might have been at the root of Michal’s critical evaluation of her husband, David. I think Michal looked upon David with bitterness, bitterness regarding her life. She had been subjected to circumstances and events not of her own making, yet she was the daughter of a king! In fact, when scripture describes her as daughter of Saul, it rests her identity with her father, the house of Saul, and not as wife of the king. I understand the disappointment of upheaval that Michal must have felt. She certainly had a great deal of chaos in her life. Yet as I contemplated who Michal was and what she might have been thinking when she did what she did, I also began to wonder about the coloring of what we see when we look at life and circumstances thrust upon us through a screen of bitterness and personal disappointment that has taken over and ruled our lives. Can that bitterness blind us? What would she have seen without that bitter color? Would she have seen the larger crowd in celebration of the return of the ark? Could she have rejoiced also in the return of the ark? As we know, the story ends with her speaking out, telling David that she despised his behavior, and in doing so she sealed for herself a sad fate - one devoid of new life. She remained barren all her days. 

So in closing I come away from this story praying that I see without bitterness. That even if I do allow a filter of bitter to cloud my view from time to time, I refrain from speaking out the opinion born of that bitter root. I wonder if Michal had waited upon expressing her bitter assessment would things have changed for her? Would her life have borne life?

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”  Proverbs 16:32

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”.  Psalm 51:10