1 Samuel 19:12-17
Verse 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?” Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’”
Sending her beloved husband away seemed like a no brainer to David’s wife, Michal. How it must have hurt her to see her dad hate her husband so much. She not only let’s David down through the window, she fills the bed with her idol so that it will look like he is in bed sick.
It may seem a bit crazy that she would use that excuse since she knows that David had just come from her father’s house and so they would have known that he wasn’t ill, until we think about the mindset of Saul at this moment. The very reason David had been with the king was that he was of troubled spirit. Saul hated David because of the war of the spirits and so it would not have been a stretch for him to think that David was ill in the head as he, himself was. A person who is distressed in their soul often throw their issues onto those who are around them. But David being ill didn’t bother the king at all, in fact he may have seen it as an opportunity.
If David really was ill that meant that the mighty warrior may be easier to kill. The king is so full of hate and anger that he orders David be brought to him even if it meant bringing the whole bed. Saul’s anger is not to be satisfied when only the idol is found and so he turns to his daughter who has apparently just deceived him and unleashes his tongue on her. Michal doesn’t seem to cave under her father’s anger which shows she may have been quite used to his outbursts. She also may have been standing firm because of her love of her husband, though she uses him to excuse herself.
Michal uses an interesting excuse for her staying behind as it makes it sound as if David was trying to save her life. She was telling her dad that the man he hates is a truly good man and a loving husband when in truth she was showing herself to be a loving, devoted wife. She had sent David away not knowing what would become of him but likely hoping that the separation wouldn’t be long.
This interaction between father and daughter shows a break-down in relationship that would never be the same. It is difficult to be in good relationship with two people who are opposed to each other and there comes a time when you can no longer be loyal to both. Michal had come to that moment of choice.
Making It Personal
When have you felt divided by opposing friendships? How did you handle being in the middle? How did you decide to deal with the issue?
Making It Personal Kids
Why would it be hard to be friends with two people who don’t like each other? Do you have friends that don’t like each other? Can you help them like each other?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for being a friend who is always true. Give us wisdom in our friendships, allowing us to stand for truth and love in the truest sense of the word according to 1 Corinthians 13. In Jesus’ name, amen.