Success Secrets From The BibleНамуна

Marry the King's Daughter at the Right Time

The strange thing in the story about David and Saul's daughter is that at first, David refused to marry her when King Saul offered her to him. However, we see that later on when he became king, among the first things he did was to ask for the woman he refused to marry a few years back to be brought to him.  

I have always asked myself questions about this story. Why did David refuse the King’s daughter the first time? And why would he get her when he becomes King, even when she was someone’s wife by this time? 

The answer to these questions holds secret number two on our path to success. The secret is, we should marry the King’s daughter at the right time. I am sure you are asking what in the world is marrying the King’s daughter at the right time?

I believe, even though David refused the King’s daughter the first time around, he really fancied to be the King’s son in-law, and he loved the King’s daughter too. The problem was that the time he refused to marry her David was a common soldier in King Saul’s army. He realized marrying the King’s daughter would be a liability more than anything else. Marrying the King’s daughter at this time would spell trouble for David. 

This is called delayed gratification. You choose not to do the things you would love to do until when the right time comes. 

Why did he refuse her? Possibly, because when the King’s daughter was given to him, David was not able to maintain the lifestyle that the King’s daughter was used to. Instead of her being a blessing to him, she would be a burden. The King’s daughter was used to a certain way of life. That life was way beyond what David could provide. If he married her, he would have to spend more than he could afford and incur debt. Therefore, maybe David figured that although it would be great to be a King’s son-in-law, practically, it was beyond him. Although he loved the girl, he declined to marry her. 

This is a great lesson. It is a lesson about lifestyle. To succeed we need to live within our means. Being a King’s son-in-law is just a figurative way of saying we are ‘living the life’. We have at our disposal all that life offers. We ride royal horses, stay in royal courts rubbing shoulders with the cream of the Israeli society. But inside, David knew all of that was not because of him, but because of a marriage to the daughter of the King.

Maybe David wanted to wait until marrying the King’s daughter was going to be something he would do, not as a favor, but because he deserved it. He didn’t want to derive his importance from the marriage to the King’s daughter, but to what he achieved. He would only derive his importance from his achievement as a person, not by a marriage. 

Most people live like that. They derive their importance from the things they flash, even if those things are acquired at such a high cost like debt, or a life of compromise. They do everything to show off, even if it means compromise, or selling out to true joy.

Success comes to people who delay gratification. Success comes to people who are not pressured to buy or acquire things they don’t need. Success favors people who have the emotional maturity to live within their means, and not above, just to impress others. 

Prayer

Dear God,

Help me to have the courage to resist the temptation of buying and doing things just for a show. In Jesus' name.