Daily Devotional for Wednesday 9th November

A Cunning Plan

1 Samuel 18:17-30

1 Samuel 9 v2 tells us that: “Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else”

Saul was a has-been. He had a great future behind him. Once upon a time, he was the picture-perfect king who had it all. Now, on racked with envy of the new superstar, David, he can only think of devious ways to get rid of him. David can’t wriggle out of this plan: or can he? He tries hard, claiming he’s not worthy to be the king’s son-in-law. But it doesn’t work. At the second attempt David is forced to marry Michal, Saul’s daughter. Saul is hoping David gets killed fulfilling the mission against the Philistines, or, if not that, then maybe the Philistines will try to assassinate David now he is a high-profile target. We’ll see later in the week that Michal becomes instrumental in David escaping Saul’s latest plot because – “darn it” you can hear Saul muttering – she actually loves David. It isn’t just a dynastic union or a sham relationship. Here we are getting into gangster movie territory even more than into Shakespeare. Wouldn’t Robert de Niro and Al Pacino and the like work well in this context. Coppola, Scorcese - eat your hearts out – the book of Samuel beat you to it. Saul is the ultimate Godfather here – an aging megalomaniac increasingly isolated from family (Jonathan, Michal) and his former followers, twisting in the sticky web of his own plots.

But what does this mean to us now? I haven’t got a pearl of wisdom today (apart from maybe: don’t plot to kill your son-in-law). Maybe Saul should have remembered the 10 Commandments a bit better. And particularly Jesus’ summary of them in Matthew 22:

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

Not something your average gangster pays much attention to….