A poor shepherd has by divine providence accomplished what no one, including the king, had ever done in the history of the kingdom. A feat that earned him the praises of all the men of the kingdom and the sincere, including lustful, admiration of the women of the land. Cherished and desired, the young boy became the talk of the entire nation, a jewel that some esteemed more valuable than the king himself.
The young man killed a notorious dictator of a neighbouring nation who had threatened to wipe out his people if they didn’t become an annex of his expanding kingdom. The notoriety of the dictator went before him, and the sound of his voice was bone-chilling. However, this young shepherd disgraced him, rubbished his notoriety, and discomfited his fierce army. It was a defeat the nation could not bear, and like a disgraced dog, everyone scampered away with their tail between their legs.
The king of the nation of this young shepherd, out of admiration for the valorous display of this young man, made him a captain, and he became the king’s choicest servant. The king also offered his daughter to him freely in marriage. It was going to be the marriage of the season – the king’s first daughter was getting married to a handsome, strong young man. The young man, in excitement, accepted the offer. He couldn’t understand how a poor little boy from a humble background could have such privilege to become the son-in-law of the king of the nation. Unfortunately, the first arranged marriage didn’t fall through. However, when the king learnt that his second daughter was in love with his young servant, he was pleased.
One of the days, the king called his young captain and told him that he was seriously making plans for another marriage ceremony. This time, the marriage would fall through because his daughter was madly in love with the young captain. The young man had no doubts, for he had seen the king’s daughter show an uncommon kindness to him since the day he killed that dictator. However, this shepherd boy, out of the simplistic nature of his heart, for you can be wise and still simple in understanding, didn’t look behind the veil on the king’s mouth.
That evening, the king called some of his advisers and told them to persuade the young shepherd to marry his daughter. Perhaps the young man was wobbly after the first marital promise failed. The bait was to tell him that the king didn’t need any dowry, for such would scare him, seeing his humble background. But the king wanted something simple in place of a dowry. He asked for the foreskin of a hundred soldiers of that neighbouring nation whose ferocious leader, the young shepherd had killed. The young man looked at the offer and, again in his simplistic understanding, accepted. He was more focused on becoming the king’s son in law that he was totally unaware of what was behind the king’s desire.
Since the death of their leader, soldiers of this neighbouring nation had sought ways to avenge his death. They had planned and failed on multiple occasions to capture and kill this shepherd boy. The fame of the young shepherd boy had continued to grow unrestrictedly throughout the nations, and that of the king was dwindling. It was as if the young shepherd was the most valiant in the kingdom and the king a mere administrative leader. This didn’t go down well with the king, and he thought this was a perfect opportunity to hand over the young shepherd boy to his enemies. The shepherd boy, in turn, sees the soldiers of the neighbouring nation as enemies of the king and his people, so any battle against them was worthwhile, as they represented an imminent danger.
Upon hearing the demand of the king from his advisers, the young shepherd called his friends, and they swung into action. Again, unaware of the plot by his own king to have him killed, he struck the enemies’ camp and got the foreskins of 200 soldiers, a hundred above what the king demanded. When the king saw it, he became afraid of the young shepherd because he knew that the young man was not ordinary – something supernatural was certainly behind his frail frame.
The short story above is what transpired between King Saul and young David in 1 Samuel 18:16-28.
When Saul was encouraging David to continue to be valiant for him and continue to fight the Lord’s battles, his intention was to expose David to the retaliation of the Philistines. Recall that David had killed Goliath and defeated the troop of the Philistines, and they were angry at him, seeking an occasion to take revenge.
Saul was jealous of David, fearing that because God was with him and everyone in Israel accepted him, he might come for the throne next.
So, he devised a means of using his daughter’s love for David to ensnare him. He secretly sent his servants to encourage David to marry the king’s daughter. David saw himself as a poor man from a humble background who couldn’t dream of that.
When Saul told David through his servants that he didn’t require any dowry but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, he intended to have David killed in the battle arena. David agreed and went with his men and killed two hundred Philistines, not just a hundred, and brought their foreskins and gave them in full tale to Saul. So, Saul both saw and knew that God was with David, and he became a constant enemy of David.
What saved David was that God was with him. Otherwise, the plot of Saul would have materialised. Be careful of certain encouragements, promotions, perks, etc because the intent may not be to celebrate but to destroy you. They are not rewards but baits on an armour.
Some encouragement is to prop you up to a vulnerable place easy for your enemies to attack, injure, disgrace, and destroy. But when God is with you, you’ll constantly break the traps, defuse the bombs, and return home triumphant with 200 foreskins of the Philistines. Saul can have them for dinner while you go home with Michal, your love.
