As we live in this world, we often encounter rivalry. For some, this rivalry runs so deep that it spans generations, dividing families and for some its even nations. In the business world, rivalry is common, with many seeing others as competitors or adversaries.
When we look at the Old Testament, we see examples of rivalry in the stories of Cain and Abel and Jacob and Esau. These conflicts often began early in life and grew over time. But stepping back, we might ask: Why should rivalry exist when God created all people—be it Cain and Abel or Jacob and Esau? God created each of us in His image, yet rivalry arises because of the destructive influence of Satan. As the one who seeks to destroy what God has created, Satan fosters division and strife. The word of God says John 10:10 (NIV) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
The acts of rivalry and enmity are not from God but from Satan, who tempts us to give into the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) and makes us commit the Sin as a result we quarrel one another, fall to the traps of jealousy (1 Corinthians 3:3) and fall to this trap of Rivalry, some of this starts in family, some in business and for some it goes generations to generations.
Galatians 5:19-21 : “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 3:3 : “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?”
Learning from Life of Saul & David of rivalry
Before diving into the rivalry between Saul and David, it’s important to understand their backgrounds.
Saul
Saul, Israel’s first king, was anointed by Samuel and guided by the Holy Spirit, even prophesying (1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9-10).
However, God rejected him as king after he disobeyed God’s command regarding the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:26).
Once the anointing left him, Saul was tormented by an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14).
David
David, a shepherd with a heart for God, was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:13).
Described as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), David was chosen to lead Israel after Saul’s rejection.
Root’s of rivalry
The roots of Rivalry are Evil spirit and Jealousy, As we read earlier in John 10:10, devil is the thief who comes to steal and destroy all what’s created by God, he did the same here in David and Saul’s life that was a the root of rivalry,
1) Jealousy
Saul’s rivalry with David stems from pride and jealousy, particularly after David defeats Goliath. To put it into perspective, Saul is the king, and David is just a humble shepherd. Despite his position, Saul feels threatened by David’s rising popularity, especially when the people praise David over him, as seen in 1 Samuel 18:6-9.
David’s Victory: We read in 1 Samuel 17, David, a humble shepherd, defeats the giant Goliath, delivering victory for Israel.
Saul’s Anger: In 1 Samuel 18:6-9, the people praise David more than Saul, causing Saul to become enraged, fearing that David would take his throne.
1 Samuel 18:6-9 'When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. ‘
Cause of Jealousy:
His Jealousy on David that People sang and enjoyed the victory with this words 1 Samuel 18:7 “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”
Saul failed to recognise that it was God who gave David the victory over Goliath. Instead of acknowledging God’s power, Saul compares himself to David and becomes consumed by envy. 1 Samuel 17:47: “The battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”
Saul’s jealousy blinds him to the divine power behind David’s success, deepening his bitterness to David and the Evil Spirit that was there in Saul does many things that fuels rivalry among the two groups of people.
Self-Reflect :
When some one succeeds, we don’t see God’s invisible hand behind, instead we see the person
Jealousy is a character of Satan who entices to get us catch hold of as a evil seed to our heart.
2) Evil Spirit
After Saul’s disobedience in sparing King Agag and the best of the Amalekite livestock (1 Samuel 15:9), God withdraws His Spirit from Saul, allowing an evil spirit to torment him 1 Samuel 16:14 'Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. ‘
The evil spirit tormented Saul, and to the people, he still appeared as their king. They were unaware that the Holy Spirit had departed from him, and that God no longer recognized Saul as the king of Israel.
Result of this Evil spirit in Saul he did various actions
To soothe Saul’s torment, David played the lyre (Its a musical instrument, equate that to our modern Guitar) for him, we read that in 1 Samuel 16:16-18, 1 Samuel 16:23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.’
Saul prophesied with evil spirit 1 Samuel 18:10, remember he was the same man who prophesied to Prophets when he had God’s anointment 1 Samuel 10:9-10,
1 Samuel 18:10 'The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand ‘
Saul’s evil spirit is to rage and destroy David ~ Relate this to God’s word in John 10:10 (NIV) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
We read Saul’s rage leads to multiple attempts to kill David:
Spear Attempts: Saul hurls a spear at David twice 1 Samuel 18:11 'and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. ‘
Philistine Plot: Saul tried to kill David thru his enemies of Philistines by plot 1 Samuel 18:17-21 , the enemy (evil spirit) uses his own kingdom (Philistines) to do this act.
Jonathan’s Betrayal: Saul orders his servants to kill David 1 Samuel 19:1 'Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David ‘
Multiple Spear Attempts: Saul attempts to pin David to the wall (1 Samuel 19:10).
Saul attempts him again with Spear - 1 Samuel 19:10 'Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape. ‘
Saul asks his men (1st Time) to watch and kill him, saved by Michal (Sauls daughter) - 1 Samuel 19:11 'Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.” ‘
Saul sent his men (2nd Time) to capture and kill - 1 Samuel 19:19-20
Saul sent his men (3rd time) to kill - 1 Samuel 19:21 'Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. ‘
Saul’s Pursuit: Saul repeatedly sends men to capture or kill David, but each time God intervenes (1 Samuel 19:19-22, 23:15, 26:1-2).
1 Samuel 19:22 'Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said. ‘
Saul sought David in the wilderness of Ziph and Horesh. 1 Samuel 23:15 'While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. ‘
Saul once again comes face to face in Ziph 1 Samuel 26:1-2
Divine Protection: Despite Saul’s relentless pursuit, God protects David not only from Saul but from all his mens hands 1 Samuel 23:14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.
Self-Reflect :
When some one constantly is acting with rage behaviour most likely that’s from Satan. Promise of God is to save us from this behaviour, thats the power of Jesus Christ our saviour (Save us from Sins) - Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
3) Bitter Spirit: Saul’s actions lead to division and bitterness among the people, the bitter spirit is contagious to make other people fall and also lead with groupism 2 Samuel 2:26 'Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?” ‘
Self-Reflect :
When we have bitter spirit it fules from the anger we have against someone, also the jealousy is the fuel that fuels more bitterness, the word is clear Galatians 5:19 : “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,
How David Responded to the Rivalry
Kindness to Saul
David showed kindness to Saul because he respected him as God’s anointed king. Even when Saul was his enemy, David refused to harm him. In 1 Samuel 26:8-9, when Saul was vulnerable, David said, 1 Samuel 26:9 “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”
Respect for Saul
David treated Saul with honor, even after his death:
Love and Mourning: In 2 Samuel 1:11-12, David and his men mourned deeply for Saul and his son Jonathan, weeping and fasting until evening.
Respect for Saul’s Burial: In 2 Samuel 2:6, David expressed gratitude to those who buried Saul, saying, 2 Samuel 2:6 “May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor.”
Seeking God’s Guidance
David always sought God’s direction before making any decision. Every step he took was in line with God’s will: We read that in 2 Samuel 2:1 “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” When God told him to go, David followed, asking specifically, “Where shall I go?” and went to Hebron.
David was a warrior, but never depended on his skills to fight, he depended on God to guide him to victory from his shepherd days till all the battles he has fought. His ask to God was always “Where shall I go?”
David’s Emotional Vulnerability
David was not immune to emotions. He was a human like us, he always cried in his hard time. So don’t treat emotion of crying as a sign of weakness.
In 1 Samuel 30:4, when faced with loss, David and his men wept loudly until they could weep no more. 1 Samuel 30:4 'So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. ‘
Endurance and Psalms
Despite his struggles, David wrote Psalms reflecting on his battles with Saul, Psalm 18 outlines the through these trials, David meditated on how God shaped him into a righteous person.
Reflect Back to Conquer Rivalry / Anger / Bitter behaviours
We may think, “These lessons about David and Saul are nice, but I live in a different time. The world around me has changed, and sin is so rampant. If I’m not competitive, my business will fail. If I don’t pursue this, I’ll lose the battle to get what I need.”
But the thought of “loosing” comes from the enemy. God doesn’t act out of rage or revenge. If God were to pursue us in anger, we would have been destroyed long ago for our attitudes and behavior toward Him. But His mercy and kindness are what leads us every day. Jesus Christ is our intercessor and reconciler, He came to reconcile us to God when we were enemies of Him (living lives that didn’t please Him, we were worldly, we were disobedient to him). Through the work on the Cross, we can also become peacemakers, unifiers, we can overcome the rivalry in our hearts and conquer the enemy with Christ’s power,
Colossians 1:21-22 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”
Romans 5:10 “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
We are called to live in peace and harmony with one another. Romans 12:16 says, “Live in harmony with one another.” This raises the question: should I just stay silent and accept what others do to me? Yes, all you need to do is surrender your pain, your feelings, and the rage you carry to God in prayer. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
When you surrender the anxiety of rivalry, jealousy, anger, and all your emotions and sins of yours as described in Galatians 5:19-21, God will fight for you as his battle, not your battle, you transfer this from yours to him. We are given the promise - 2 Chronicles 20:15 (NIV) “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
When God fights the battle for us, we are called to remain still. Our flesh may tempt us to act, but we must stay still (This comes only when we depend on his and walk with him). Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
When God fights for us, our enemies will flee in defeat, he will flee in Seven directions !! Hallelujah . Deuteronomy 28:7“The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.”
Pray and surrender all your emotions to God, no matter how painful or deeply rooted they may be, even if they span across generations. It may feel difficult, but nothing is too hard for our Lord and Saviour to transform. He is ready to fight your battles as His own. Trust Him and surrender to Him.
I thank and praise God for His mercy and wisdom in allowing me to write my 200th blog. All glory, honour, and praise to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who made this possible.
Amen