Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 18-20.

King Saul’s reaction to the crowd’s love for David reminds me of the way some sports stars react when their team acquires another star player, who eclipses them in the eyes if the fans.  King Saul failed to recognize that when the crowds cheered David, they were cheering him.  King Saul began down the road to being a totalitarian out of jealousy of David.  King Saul feared David because David had political power that did not derive from King Saul.  King Saul attempted to use the ambition his jealousy imagined David to have in order to bring about David’s downfall.  However, David had no ambition for Saul’s throne as long as Jonathan was alive.  If King Saul had been the king God intended him to be, he would have been made more powerful by having a man like David serve him.  Unfortunately, the king Saul had become was one who felt threatened by having competent, powerful subordinates.  A good leader inspires loyalty in their subordinates so that whatever power those subordinates acquire goes into making the leader more able to serve his people.  A bad leader fears when his subordinates acquire power because he knows that he would use that power to usurp his position if he was in their shoes.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.