Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I would say that Saul was obsessed with David because Saul viewed himself as Israel's rightful king who had been chosen by God, and he could not accept that God had withdrawn His favor from him because he had usurped the authority of Samuel (the last of Israel's judges) and also demonstrated a lack of faith by refusing to wait for Samuel to make the required sacrificial offerings to God before taking Israel into battle, but instead made those offerings himself (1 Samuel 13:5-14).

In addition, Saul later directly disobeyed a command from God through Samuel to attack the Amalekites (a heathen nation with which Israel was at war) and destroy everything belonging to the Amalekites, including men, women, children, infants, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys. Instead, Saul spared Agag (the king of the Amalekites) and seized the best of the sheep and cattle (including the fatted calves and lambs) alive, rather than destroying them (1 Samuel 15:7-9).

As a result of this disobedience, God directed Samuel to anoint David (who had been described as "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14)) to be king in Saul's place. Especially after David slew the Philistine giant Goliath (resulting in David being more acclaimed by the Israelites than Saul was), Saul became continually jealous of David and hostile toward him, to the point of trying on multiple occasions to either kill David himself, or have him killed in battle, until finally Saul himself was wounded in combat with the Philistines (another nation hostile to Israel), causing Saul to kill himself so that the Philistines would not capture him and torture him, with David then becoming king.

February 05 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report