The Life of David Series: The Least Romantic Engagement Gift Ever

“How is this possible?”

Shaul, king of Israel, was not pleased. The question, directed at Abner, his chief general, was not one that could be easily answered, due to the fact that an honest answer would make the king even more angry. Abner shifted his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. He glanced at the messenger standing before them, a confused look on his face.

The confusion was understandable. He had just announced that David, the king’s mightiest warrior, had been successful in a campaign against the Philistines, mortal enemy of Shaul and Israel. Under normal circumstances this would have been welcome news.

Instead, it threw Shaul into one of his quintessential rages. The messenger had no clue as to why, but Abner knew. He had known, from the moment that the stone made impact with the head of Goliath, that Shaul and David were on a collision course. And he was beginning to suspect that, like the Philistine giant, Shaul was going to come out the worse in this conflict.

As the king’s closest confidant, Abner knew what the unfortunate messenger didn’t: that David was not supposed to win. Shaul had sent him on what he hopped would be a suicide mission, dangling in front of him the carrot of marriage to the king’s own daughter, Michal.

Abner’s eyes strayed to Michal, who reclined on a large pillow in one end of the room. There was a look of unmistakable relief in her eyes. No question as to where her allegiance lay. So not only was David alive, but he had another spectacular victory under his belt, and now there was the very real prospect of Shaul’s arch-enemy being added to the royal family for marriage.

Or…was there? After all, the condition of marriage was not mere survival, was it? Grasping at anything that might bring the king out of his rage, Abner leaned towards him.

“Sire, remember, he has not yet brought the…um…the special dowry.”

The king’s face lit up, and for one brief moment Abner thought the storm had passed, then the flap of the royal tent brushed aside and in strode David himself. He approached the throne with confidence, a bulging bag gripped firmly in his right hand. He moved in the kings direction, but his eyes were on Michal. And her eyes shown brightly in return.

When he was almost face-to-face with the king he dropped to one knee, as befitting any loyal citizen. Then, with a flourish, he threw the bag onto the ground.

“Here is the dowry, oh King!” he announced. When it hit the floor the bag opened and its gruesome contents spilled out at the kings feet. Even though Abner had known all along what was in the bag, nothing could prepare him for seeing the physical evidence of the posthumous circumcision of one hundred Philistines – no…at least twice that, by the looks of it. Even Shaul’s expression had changed from one of rage to that of one who was about to vomit.

Michal, on the other hand, looked at David like he had just handed her a bouquet of roses.

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We are up to I Samuel 18:17-25 in our study, and there is a lot to unpack here.

First, a couple things to remember:

1. David had already earned the right to marry Saul’s daughter. Remember the reward for killing Goliath?

“…and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.” (17:25)

But now, in 18:17 Saul’s tune has changed.

“Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s battles.”

And then his faithlessness goes a step further, and while David is out fighting Saul’s battles, Merab is given in marriage to someone else.

2. Marriage in those days meant political alliance. This is important. As we see Saul descending into greater and greater fits of jealousy and insecurity, we begin to understand his reluctance to bring David into the royal family by marriage. Remember from our last study that he is purposefully sending David to war in order to get him killed. There is no way he wants the guy he hates to be a part of the family. So…just to be safe…he gives his daughter to another man.

But…he has more than one daughter.

3. It’s possible that David saw marriage to one of Saul’s daughters as a way to achieve God’s plan without having to rebel against Saul. Throughout the story of the life of David we will see a reluctance to take any overt steps of rebellion against Saul. There are two reasons for this: First, he seems to have a genuine respect for the Lord’s anointing. He himself has been anointed, and he understands that if his anointing is legitimate, so is Saul’s. Second, David is developing a shrewd political sense, and he understands that if he is going to become king of all Israel, it will not be helpful if half of the people see him as a usurper.

4. There appears to have been a romantic connection between David and Michal. Add her to the list of Saul’s family members who was more loyal to David than to him. This will be important later on.

5. There is some significant foreshadowing in this passage. Later on in David’s life the concept of sending someone into battle to be killed will become glaringly significant.

Let’s talk about the mass posthumous circumcision.

Saul sends David out on what seems like a bizarre mission: bring him 100 Philistine foreskins. This is an interesting request. Ancient peoples often used body parts of their enemies as ways to “count coup” – that is, verify the number of kills a particular warrior made. Some tribes of American Indians, for example, were famous for bringing back the scalps of their enemies.

The fact that David is required to, in effect, circumcise his dead foes is very interesting, as is David’s enthusiasm in carrying out the task – bringing home twice the required number.

Circumcision was the identifying marker for God’s chosen people during Old Testament times. Circumcising a dead enemy would be a graphic, and culturally significant, way to count coup.

So what can we, Christians living in the 21st century take home from all of this? A couple lessons come to mind:

1) The plans of God’s enemies always end up furthering God’s plan. This is a theme that repeats over and over in Scripture, from Pharaoh not letting the people go, right up to the crucifixion of Christ. Here we see King Saul trying his best to derail David, but everything he does just makes David stronger. Those of us who live in days when the heathen seem to rage on all sides can take special comfort in this. God is not taken by surprise, and whatever His enemies do will only serve to further His plans.

2) David is an example of how to act in the face of opposition, particularly from those who should support you. Saul sends David to fight the Philistines. David throws everything he has into the task. Saul gives David every opportunity to openly rebel. David judiciously demurs. Saul requires 100 foreskins. David brings 200. He is the perfect example of being wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove – when it comes to his position in Saul’s court, that is. Most certainly the 200 Philistines would not consider him harmless.

Stay tuned, because in our next installment things heat up!

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And be sure to read the action-packed adventures of Missionary Max: Missionary Max and the Jungle Princess and Missionary Max and the Lost City.