Wanted Dead

1Samuel 18:8-11

Saul was very angry, for this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; what more can he have but the kingdom?” So Saul eyed David from that day on.

The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

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I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive.

"Wanted Dead or Alive" recorded by Bon Jovi on "Slippery When Wet" written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora

The price on your head, it doesn't really matter how much because as long as someone is willing to pay, someone will be willing to collect. In old Westerns some outlaw might be offended, saying the price is too low. If there is someone intent on collecting, what happens next is bloody. No telling whose blood, but it will still be bloody.

Saul and David had just fought and defeated the Philistines, in fact, David had just killed Goliath in the biggest upset since the Rhonda Rousey loss? Or maybe the Holly Holm loss after that? At any rate King Saul is upset because David is getting all the attention. Suddenly the subject is the talk of the town, not the king. Jealous much? Yes.

So the spirit of jealousy and anger enter Saul and he plots against David. Never mind "Dead or Alive," Saul wanted David dead. He threw a spear at David not once but twice. Who lets a spear be thrown at you twice? David, that's who. Why? God knows, but David knows Saul is king and Saul's son Jonathan is like a brother, so maybe you let the first one slide. Especially since it missed.

We talk about evil spirits and we talk about spiritual warfare like they are distant and strange things. They aren't. The agents that work against the Kingdom of God are simple. They are things like envy, anger, jealousy, and hate. They take simple slights and amplify them beyond their meaning. They take one thing and make them a focus of all things.

In the end, it's like taking one beam of sunshine through a magnifying glass on an ant. It gives light, but when the light stays too long the ant burns. Saul took a slight and eventually it became his downfall, and the downfall of his son Jonathan too. Beware the evil spirits, especially the ones that seem so petty because they can be brought down like a sunbeam on an ant.

To paraphrase the words of Ruth, we are all of one God. Even when we disagree, even when we have a grievance, we are still of the one true God.