Why was King Saul so afraid of David?
1 Samuel 19:1 - 24
NKJV - 1 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. 2 So Jonathan told David, saying, "My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide.
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Asked February 17 2014
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Don Walters
Supporter
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Ruth Starr
Supporter
The Spirit of The Lord left Saul, and he knew it. Saul could see that David had favor in the sight of God and men. This made Saul afraid of David. We are nothing without The Lord. I Samuel 18:12 And Saul was afraid of David, because The Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.
Phillip Ramirez
Supporter
Imperfect human ego. Plain and simple. 1 Sam. 18:6-9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)—"6 As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. 7 As they celebrated, the women sang: "Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands." 8 Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom? ” 9 So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward." Pretty straight forward.
Chudiebere John
Supporter
This is just part of human failings. 99% of leaders, even men of God, will not truly be happy when their subordinates are making exploits. They become unreasonably and unjustifiably afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of being overshaddowed. So Saul just felt the same fear.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Great question, Don Walters! "Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was helping David, and was no longer helping him." (1 Samuel 18:12, CEV). The Lord protected His servant David from Saul’s murderous hand, a fact that frightened Saul even more (1 Samuel 18:15, 29). (Wiersbe) 1 Samuel 18:15 VOICE: "When Saul saw that David achieved such success, he was amazed and afraid of him." 1 Samuel 18:28-30, Contemporary English Version: 28 Saul knew that she [Michal, his daughter] loved David, and he also realized that the Lord was helping David. 29 But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David’s enemy for the rest of his life. 30 The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul’s other officers.
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