The Age-Old Conflict of Good vs. Evil

“And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.  And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands.  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?  And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”  I Samuel 18:6-9

David, who at the time, was a teenager and was fearless to fight Goliath, the giant of the Philistine army.  With God’s help, David slew this evil giant who would then never be able to taunt Israel again.  Upon witnessing David’s bravery, courage was conjured up in the hearts and minds of Israel’s army, who, along with Saul, the king and leader of the entire army of Israel, pursued the Philistines and gained a great victory that day over one of their most persistent enemies.  As the usual custom after a victorious battle, the leader of Israel’s army along with his soldiers would parade through various cities of Israel to celebrate victory and to receive the accolades of the people.  For God’s people, these celebrations should have always focused on the power and might of God in bringing victory for His chosen people, but for leaders like Saul, he was focused on his own ego and took more credit than was actually deserved.  Saul was not in the habit of sharing victory with the  LORD or anyone else, particularly a teenage boy.

When the army marched through the towns, the musicians would play their instruments, and the women would dance and sing.  I can imagine that a huge amount of pride was welling up in the mind of Saul as he enjoyed all of this positive attention.  The women had a particular song that they sang which someone had written for this occasion.  One group of women would sing, “Saul hath slain his thousands: and then another group would sing in response to the first group, “David, his ten thousands”.  Was the writer of the song merely pointing out that without David’s slaying of Goliath, this victory would have never happened, which would have likely been the outcome?  Saul nor any of his soldiers dared to face Goliath.  Without David, aided by God’s power, Israel’s army would still be mocked by Goliath, or else the people of Israel would have become victims of the Philistine army.  It was proper that David should be recognized for his courage and faith.  If Saul should be praised, it would have been for allowing David to take on Goliath’s challenge. However, is it possible that the writer of the song was intentionally aiming to insult king Saul?  Probably not.  The king’s subjects had no interest in becoming the king’s enemies.  Likely, the writer was just being honest and was overjoyed that Israel was victorious over the Philistines.  Israel had previously clamored for a king, and Saul had not been quite the leader of whom they desired.  Maybe now things were beginning to change.

All of this positive praise and attention toward David did not sit well at all with king Saul.  He became furious.  His ego was bruised for he expected as the king of Israel to receive an abundance of accolades from the people of Israel.  In his mind, he was expecting to get credit for slaying ten thousand, not one thousand.  After all, David had only killed Goliath.  He was too young to be in the army and march off to battle the Philistines.  The song that was being sung was a direct insult to Saul.  In his anger, he began to to wonder.  What’s next?  The kingdom?  Will the people make David their king instead of me?  Most of the people did not mean to disparage Saul; they were just glad for the victory.  But some of them, though, were probably ready to see Saul go like we sometimes are glad to be rid of politicians.

Up until this point, Saul greatly admired David, but no more.  David had now become his enemy whom Saul feared was out to replace him.  His fears were not unfounded.  However he was not aware of how God’s plan was working all along.  David would eventually replace him, but Saul would not give up without a fight.  What we have here is another example of good versus evil, an age old battle that will never be won until Christ returns to banish evil and bring peace to God’s people.  Saul, his heart filled with evil, kept a close watch over David.

This election that is coming up soon could be called a battle between good and evil, not that the good side is completely righteous nor the evil side completely wicked.  Our choice is between one side who supports life, religious freedom, and individual freedom while the other side supports the idea of making our nation a godless nation, one where government becomes god, and folks become enslaved to the dictates of those in power, which will result in more disunity in an already divided country.  It is time to take a stand and be counted as those who love God and love our country.