Here is a scenario for you: your boss assigns you and your co-workers a job to do. Your job is to build widgets and you are one of the best widget-makers there is. Your widget-making skills are well-known and have been for some time. Then the boss hires a new person and he, too, starts making widgets and he, too, is really good. Now, at the end of the week the boss compares everybody’s numbers and the new guy made 2 more widgets than you did. Not only that but there’s another guy that hardly made any widgets and he is really upset. How do you react?
Let me add another wrinkle here. You happen to know that the new guy actually made 3 more widgets than you did, not 2 like the boss said. Evidently the boss miscounted. Now, how do you react? Let’s think about your options. You could go home and not think about any of them again. You could go comfort the co-worker who is depressed about making so little. You could congratulate the new guy on making 2 more than you. You could tell the boss his mistake and make the new guy look even better. Or you could even tear up several of the new guy’s widgets to make yourself look better. Or maybe you do a combination of those.
The problem with asking about how you would react is that there just might be a difference between what you would do and what you should do, right? Sitting here in church your answer is that you would comfort the one and encourage the other and be a stand-up guy and be honest with your boss and you would do everything right and you would do it humbly and generously and everybody would love you and write songs about how great you are.
For many years Sir Walter Scott was the leading literary figure in the British Empire. No one could write as well as he. Then the works of Lord Byron began to appear, and their greatness was immediately evident. Soon an anonymous critic praised his poems in a London Paper. He declared that in the presence of these brilliant works of poetic genius, Scott could no longer be considered the leading poet of England. It was later discovered that the unnamed reviewer had been none other than Sir Walter Scott himself! Dr. Gary Collins in Homemade, July, 1985
Would you do something like that if you worked at the widget factory? Would you do something like that in the job you have? Would you do something like that in your family or in your church or your neighborhood? The question is would you be the person God wants you to be and enjoy seeing somebody else prosper; would you even make yourself a little lower so that they could be higher? Would you, could you do what you could do to enable them to do better, be better even if it cost you something?
Or…and I know this isn’t you but it might be somebody in your row…or would you be jealous of their success and try to sabotage them to make you look better? Now, that’s the person Satan wants you to be. Satan can really get some stuff done if he has somebody like that to work with. Just like he did with King Saul.
We’re going to read about King Saul’s jealousy in 1 Samuel 18:1-9. This passage is the passage right after one of my all-time favorite passages in the whole Bible – the story of David and Goliath that is found in the previous chapter and it is important that you know the story of David and Goliath so that you understand a little bit about why Saul is so jealous.
We have seen in the last two weeks that because of how Saul reacted out of worry and because of his selfishness that God has told him through the prophet Samuel that Saul will not be able to be king anymore like he could have been had he been obedient and that is a harsh penalty to pay for Saul’s disobedience but sin is always going to bring harsh punishment. There are consequences of disobedience, right?
But for now Saul is still the official king even though, unbeknownst to him, Samuel has already anointed David to be king. But for now, David is still a nobody out on the hillside tending his sheep like a good boy; and a boy he was, probably a young teenager.
Everything changed, though, when Israel went out to fight the Philistines one more time because the Philistines were led by the giant warrior Goliath. He was over 9 feet tall and built like a tank and armed to the teeth and protected by bronze armor all over his body except for a little section right around his eyes so he could see. And we see in chapter 17, verse 49 that was right where David aimed his slingshot and sent a rock over 100 mph right into his forehead and killed the big guy.
As you can imagine, David is the big hero and he never tended sheep again after that. In fact, Saul invited him to be a part of his kingdom. Our story today takes up right there after Saul watches David kill Goliath. So, let’s turn to 1 Samuel 18 and let’s read verses 1-9.
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well. 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang:
“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.”
and David his tens of thousands.”
8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
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“The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.” ― Bette Midler
In this story we see one person who was happy for another’s success and another person who was not. I would like for us to see what both of them look like and how they apply to us and I want to start with the one who was jealous and then end on a good note so let’s look at verses 7-9 first and then we will go back and see how it’s supposed to be done in the first few verses.
So, here’s the scene: Saul is leading his army through town and evidently word about David’s exploit had gone ahead of them and as the women of the town danced and sang with great joy, they made up a song to sing in their happiness. “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Pretty catchy tune they came up with there, huh?
Evidently Saul didn’t think it was too catchy. He didn’t like it one bit. What do you think Saul could have done or should have done instead of getting angry?
I was thinking as I read this about what he should have done instead of getting mad. You know, he could have just laughed about it because it was pretty ridiculous. Saul probably had killed thousands but David…David killed one guy. One very big, very important guy but still only one and if Saul had made it into a joke and laughed and danced with them and sang along, nobody would have thought anything about it and Saul and David would have had a good chuckle about it for years to come. But the very thought of David getting more glory than him infuriated Saul and you can almost see the wheels turning in his head about how he was going to deal with this kid.
Ben Franklin said, “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.” How right he was in regard to King Saul. If you know the story of Saul you know that his jealousy of David developed into a burning hatred that ate him up for years to come and it started because some silly women sang a silly song.
I have to think that it didn’t help that Saul’s own son, Jonathan, thought so highly of David that he gave him almost everything he was wearing at the time but we will talk about that later. Jealousy is a characteristic that, just like worry and selfishness that we have seen lately, also ruins relationships and just like worry and selfishness, jealousy is a fear that is based on poor self-esteem.
The root of all three characteristics is the misguided thinking that you have to do something; you have to provide; you have to prove yourself; you have to be worthy and in the end you know that you are not able to be any of those things and it eats you up. Then Satan just sits back and watches you implode and he hardly has to do anything. That’s why he enjoys it so much and wants you to worry; he wants you to be selfish and he wants you to be jealous. You’re doing his work for him.
Not only does it eat you up but it ruins relationships with other people and it will mess up your relationship with God. That’s three strikes and Satan is the big winner. But people who have a right relationship with God and a right knowledge of not only who they are but also of Who God is don’t have to worry; they don’t have to be selfish or jealous because they know that they are not worthy and they cannot provide or prove themselves and they rely on God to do that through them to His glory. That is how we should keep from being jealous and that is step one in being the person God wants you to be instead of the person Satan wants you to be.
Now, let’s look at step two in being who God wants us to be. Let’s look at some practical ways that we can, not just not be jealous, but actually be who we are supposed to be and how we can make disciples by making God attractive to other people. Look at verses 1 and 3 again. It says that Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. What was in this relationship for Jonathan? What was in it for him if David did well or even became king?
If David becomes king then Jonathan is out of a job because it was sure to be passed down to him as Saul’s heir. But look at what Jonathan does for David. He gave David his robe, his princely robe. This made David look like a prince. He gave David his tunic or his outer clothes to go under the robe. This showed his friendship. Then he gave him his sword, his bow and his belt. Now David looks the part of a warrior. He looks like a princely warrior and Jonathan…is standing there basically in his underwear looking foolish.
Jonathan made the choice, not only to not be jealous, but to actually promote David; to lift him up; to make him look good at his own expense, not wanting people to see Jonathan but wanting people to see and admire David. When you can do that, you can truly say that you love somebody. Not only that but you can truly say that you love the Lord because Jonathan wanted God’s will to be done even if it meant losing his job; even if it meant looking temporarily foolish.
Jonathan wasn’t worried, selfish or jealous because he knew God’s will was going to be done and he just wanted to be a part of it. Saul wanted everybody to look at him because he was insecure. Jonathan wanted everybody to look at God’s man David because Jonathan was secure in who he was and in Who God was. I have an idea that when Jonathan heard those ladies singing about David killing tens of thousands he joined right in singing in his underwear making David look good.
Now, if you turn over to the New Testament Gospel of John and turn to chapter 3 you will see an interesting scene. Verses 22-26 say, “After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
Think of it this way: John has been making widgets and he has been making great widgets for a long time but some people come to him and say, “Hey, John, that Jesus guy over there is making more and better widgets than you are. What are you going to do?”
Does John get in a worrisome, selfish, jealous panic and start screaming for everybody to look at the widgets he has made? No, he doesn’t because all of his widgets point people to Jesus so when Jesus actually comes along, John says, “Look! The Lamb of God!” (1:29) Don’t look at me. Look at Him! Everything John did pointed people to Jesus.
For a while God had called him to preach and teach and baptize and be focused upon for the sake of the Kingdom but when it came down to it, John’s focus was on Jesus and making Him look good even if it cost John his job or even his life, and it did not long after that.
This life is short and this world will tell you that you have to look out for number one. You have to go for the gusto and get all you can while you can and while you’re out there running try not to have a heart attack brought on by worry, selfishness and jealousy.
I want to close with another of those passages that just makes you say, “Aah.” First you have to know what Psalm 46:10 says. It says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Those words “Be still” actually mean to let your hands hang down. Relax. Quit trying. Chill out. Now, with your hands hanging down listen to what Matthew 6:25-33 says.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Be still and know that I am God and that I am all-powerful and all-loving and that I will take care of you better than you could ever take care of yourself. As a child of the one true King, what do you have to worry about? Why be selfish? Why be jealous? Put others first for the sake of the Kingdom and let your hands hang down.
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