King Saul and His Jealousy
2026-03-20
Jealousy in the Bible is not the same as what we think of in our vernacular.
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: (15) Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; (16) And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. (Exodus 34:14-16)
We see God is by nature jealous for His people. To be jealous is to see what rightfully belongs to you, people whom you love and belong to you, and they are taken away from you and given to someone else. This is particularly true of God’s people going after other gods. Again, we read:
Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. (24) For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:23-24)
It is also used of someone seeing their spouse go after somebody else: “And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled” (Numbers 5:14).
There is a marriage covenant of love, but one of those partners in the contract violates that covenant to love somebody or something else.
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. (7) Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7)
And again,
But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. (33) A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. (34) For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. (35) He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts. (Proverbs 6:32-35)
This kind of jealousy is not sin, or God would be guilty of sin. Years ago, I knew someone who was a married man who would hang out female friends, and his wife was jealous like we defined here. He reassured her there was nothing wrong with what he did, because “jealousy” is “sin.” She was told she had no reason to feel this way. Well, he left his wife for someone years younger than he. His wife and her “jealousy” were right and he was wrong. And yes, he was a professing Christian.
Was Saul jealous of David in this sense? The “jealousy” of Saul is not same as this. The idea of his jealousy is first inferred here:
And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. (8) And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? (9) And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. (10) And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. (11) And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. (1 Samuel 18:7-11)
The women singing had placed David ahead of Saul in power, primacy, and skill. Saul knew that the LORD had taken the kingdom away from him; he did not know until this point how he would do it and by whom. This is not the same as biblical jealousy. The kingdom was not rightfully his. There never was any biblical guarantee that the kingdom would be his forever. David was perceived as a rival and he “eyed David from that day and forward.” He was envious of David’s recognition in that song the women sang.
David’s honor and ability made Saul angry enough to kill David. David’s music that once calmed Saul agitated the king. He tried to kill him with a javelin on a few occasions. Moreover, Saul was suspicious that David would harm him, though David proved to him twice that he would not harm him, sparing his life twice. “The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed” (1 Samuel 26:23).
This kind of jealousy is dangerous because Saul’s desire to protect himself and his kingdom was insatiable. There was no extent to which Saul would not go to fulfill this desire. The only way for Saul to stop pursuing him was when an emergency came up, like when the Philistines invaded, or when David moved behind enemy lines where he could not be reached.
For us, when we say that we cannot be content unless such and such happens, that thing is an idol. That “such and such” is in control over our lives. If we seek to protect ourselves that much or to avenge ourselves like that, there is something wrong: We would not be content in Christ and not trusting that He can protect us. We are not guaranteed anything in this life; the only constant is change. If Saul could only know this from the heart, as we should:
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (35) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (36) For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (37) Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (38) Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:34-38)
True life is centered in following Christ and forfeiting my own life. Again, we read, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Loving others is to stop fearing about what happens to me and serving other people even at my own expense. This can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit.
This kind of jealousy is not from above but is from evil: “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him” (1 Samuel 16:14). I do not believe that a true Christian will lose the Spirit, but rather, the command says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). However, we can grieve the Spirit and quench the Spirit. The results will likely be the same as what happened to Saul.
Seeking Revenge
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (20) Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. (21) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)
Why be kind to those who seek you harm? This is what God is like. He was kind to us who rebelled against Him. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The LORD Jesus Christ died for His enemies. To be like Christ is to die for enemies.
The “coals of fire” on the head of an enemy is to bring shame to him. However, it is also an opportunity to win such a one to Christ.
To seek vengeance is to consume your life on harm, when you mainly harm yourself. What happened when Cain went after Abel? “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). And again, “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden” (Genesis 4:16).
Maybe we do not think we are as cruel as Cain or Saul, willing to kill to get our way. However, the heart to do it is there: “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:22).
Even so, maybe we did not go to the lengths of Saul to avenge. How about a time when you needed to have the last word? It is about winning arguments at the expense of others. This is another domain in which we must submit to the Spirit.
Seeking to Love an Enemy
Concerning the parable of the good Samaritan, we read,
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? (37) And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:36-37)
And again, Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman:
Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (10) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:9-10)
To be like Jesus is cross the lines of enmity to reach people. This is also only done by accepting my death with Christ and carrying my cross. I must be content in Christ with no need to defend myself, letting the Spirit lead in serving other people.
The Examples of David
We saw David faithfully following the LORD, and in the times he did not, he learned from his mistakes. “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6). David surely did better than most would have done.
Regarding vengeance, David did well when refraining from harming King Saul. “And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt” (1 Samuel 24:5). Regarding Nabal, David had to be contained by Abigail: “For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall” (1 Samuel 25:34). To think that David would have slain all the men because of one man’s remarks! But those sinful emotions exist in every one of us. Anger and vengeance turn into murder when fully grown. In this way, we learn from David’s virtue, sins, and repentance.
The difference between David and Saul is that David turned from his wrath against Nabal’s household; Saul never turned from his wrath against David.
Jesus was always without sin. Imagine being falsely accused and not retaliating:
And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? (63) But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. (Matthew 26:62-63)
This life of Christ is only manifest in us by faith.
Taking Vengeance and Being Envious
When being caught up in any sin, confessing to the LORD is obviously the first thing. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).
Bible Records Failures and Successes Recorded in Scripture
The Bible tells it like it is. Unlike other Ancient Near East literature, the Bible does not embellish anything. Saul’s and David’s virtues and sins are both presented. Other literature seeks to honor the kings, even if they fail. The Bible honors God only, and the rest of the history is there to teach us that all people fail, and the Lord is faithful to forgive and to restore every time.