Influence of God's Gloryنموونە

Jealousy Redeemed

David’s defeat of Goliath quickly became “national news.” Saul brought David into his home, gave him positions of leadership, and David quickly found favor with people. At the same time, he began to lose favor with Saul. Chapter 18 marks a change in Saul as his jealousy and paranoia increasingly controls his heart and mind rather than the spirit of God. Henry Drummond, an eighteenth-century Scottish evangelist, said, “Only one thing need the Christian truly envy, the large, rich, generous soul which envieth not.”

1. 1 Samuel 18:12 is an important verse about sinful jealousy. Using this verse as a model, how should you examine jealous feelings when they arise?

2. How does God redeem Saul’s jealousy in David’s life? (1 Samuel 18:13–16)

3. What was the ultimate result of Saul’s sinful jealousy? (1 Samuel 18:30) How should we pray, then, for God to redeem the times we have acted in jealousy? How should we pray for ourselves going forward?