Difficult sermon that did not come together as I would have liked. It probably covered too many stories from the biblical text. It did remind me how complicated the relationships were between David and all the other people with whom he engaged. As we read these stories, it is sometimes hard to imagine how God called David to be a great leader for the Israelites.
“Lenten Love: Power Dynamic” I Samuel 18: 17-30; 2 Samuel 6: 16-23; March 10, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Denton; Richard B. Culp
2 Samuel 6:16-23 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt-offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. 18When David had finished offering the burnt-offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, 19and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat,* and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
20 David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, ‘How the king of Israel honoured himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!’ 21David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord, that I have danced before the Lord. 22I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honour.’ 23And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
Introduction: “If you love me, you will….”
"If you want me to love you, you will….”
Sometimes those statements are made in jest
“if you love me, you will take out the trash tonight instead of making me do it.”
Sometimes those statements are made in a more serious context that can disrupt and destroy relationships.
they are statements that reflect conditional love;
statements that reflect the use of love, or someone’s desire to love us, to manipulate.
statements that reflect the power we can be found in loving relationships.
The biblical story has many examples of power dynamics within the love relationships.
the stories we read today with David, Michal, and Saul reveal some of the power dynamics found in relationships.
As we explore these stories, we all might consider how we live into our loving relationships.
Move1: David and Michal, with a little bit of Saul’s involvement reveal how people manipulate love and marriage for their own purposes, for their own gain.
a. In some ways, we expect this during this time period in history.
1. Biblical scholars note that: In the societies of the ancient Near East, a woman’s sexuality was generally under the control of a man in her family. A father controlled his daughter’s sexuality, and a husband his wife’s. The marriage of a young woman was a matter of negotiation and financial arrangements between the groom or a male member of his family and the father or leading male of the bride’s family. (Women’s Bible Commentary expanded Addition with Apocrypha, Carol A Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, 96)
2. We see this at play in how Saul and David negotiate for David’s wife.
3. Saul has decided David is a threat to his kingship, so he offers his oldest daughter in marriage if David will prove himself in battle, probably hoping that David will be killed in battle.
4. From David’s perspective, this would give him connections to the highest power, the king.
5. But David suggests he is not worthy and declines the offer.
Point and counterpoint in the negotiation.
6. In response, Saul marries off his eldest daughter, and then continues the negotiation by trying to seduce David with the offer of marriage to his youngest daughter Michal.
for a price.
David would have to go into battle with the Philistines and bring back proof of 100 dead Philistines.
7. Love leveraged to put David in a precarious position and perhaps lose his life.
8. a win-win for King Saul made possible by dangling marriage with his daughters before David.
(As an aside, Saul’s leverage of his daughters for marriage as a way to send David into battle foreshadows how David will send Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband into battle with the hope that he will be killed.
Of course, King Saul fails in his attempt to leverage love to have David killed in battle, while David one day will successfully use his power to kill off Bathsheba’s husband.)
9. But David returns with proof of dead Philistines as requested by Saul and wins the hand of Michal.
9. at the end of this part of the story, David has gained power by marrying Saul’s daughter and Saul has lost power by having David one step closer to the throne.
b. The next chapter in this love saga is a fascinating story found in 1 Samuel, Chapter 19 (go home and read it!)>
1. David has narrowly escaped the wrath of King Saul and fled to his house.
2. Michal somehow learns that Saul’s men will kill him in the morning, so she tells David and helps him escape out the window in the night.
3. She then lies to her father’s men to give David time to fully escape.
4. Michal’s love for David is so powerful that she will defy her father and help David elude him.
Or maybe she wants David to owe her.
or maybe she wants to break away from her father.
Regardless, Michal’s love for David leads her to turn away from her father and save David;
5. No doubt, David is grateful for Michal’s love!
or has David manipulated her love for him against her father.
It is hard to know what motives for love or power are at work.
c. Next chapter in the love story: Michal returns to David.
1. Several husbands later for Michal and several wives later for David (again, it is hard for us to read this story in our context of only having one wife at a time).
2. Michal returns because David demands her return to him as part of the negotiation with the general Abner joining forces with David after the death of King Saul.
3. The Women’s Bible Commentary offers several reasons why David wants Michal back. (Women’s Bible Commentary, 97)
maybe David was trying to rescue Michal and return her to some semblance of power.
Maybe David was getting back what he thought he deserved.
Maybe David was worried that Abner would use Michal as a hostage for leverage in future negotiations;
maybe David thought it legitimized his rule as king if Saul’s daughter was back with him.
maybe David still felt love for Michal
the biblical text is unclear as to David’s motives, (maybe we recognize ourselves in the ambiguity)
but the previous actions suggest that Michal’s return is tied to some power dynamic at play.
2. Power dynamics related to love and marriage at play again.
e. We read the final chapter of Michal and David’s story in 2 Samuel this morning.
1. David returns victoriously with the ark.
the ark coming home means David is going to tap into the historic faith and connection to Yahweh.
The ark coming home symbolizes that moving forward David will be the one who will carry forward Israel’s
David's return with the ark legitimizes his kingdom.
2. David returning with the ark, dancing in the streets.
3. Michal is there watching him as he returns.
But her love has grown bitter.
No more manipulation left.
the love between Michal and David has become more like a husband and wife squabbling.
4. Michal complains about David’s actions.
David lifts up his status as king and notes she is no longer part of it.
5. Did you notice how the text emphasizes the divide between Michal and David by referring to Michal as the “daughter of Saul” instead of David’s wife?
Michal is now tied to the house of Saul, which is defeated, instead of the triumphant house of David.
5. Michal is broken.
the final image of Michal is a lonely, bitter woman manipulated and in some ways disposed of, ending her life in unhappiness.
Michal finds herself out of love, powerless. David’s power remains intact.
What a love story!
move 3: Someone this week commented that the Lenten love has not been quite what they were expecting.
a. As you may remember, Lent began on Valentine’s Day - a day when we focus on the romantic images of love.
1. We often have a romanticized image of love.
2. A rom-com movie perspective where love is pure and overcomes any issues, all in about 1.5 hours!
2. But we know that the loving relationships in which we live in each day are less like the rom-coms and more like the stories of the people we read about in the biblical text.
no perfect love stories.
Love lived out in the complexities of the real world.
3. Maybe our love stories are not as dramatic as the stories of Michal and David, but they can be complicated, full of suspect motives and manipulations.
4. We also see in all the stories, the ongoing presence of God who continues to be at work in the midst of our complicated relationships.
b. the presence of God reminds us of how God shows love.
1. God does not use love to gain power
or exert power
or show power
or force others to submit to God’s power.
1. God shows forth that love most clearly in the choice Christ makes to love us by dying on the cross at the hands of the authorities.
2. He requires no deal from us;
he attaches no conditions;
Jesus just acts out of pure love for us.
3. God’s love we discover in Christ Jesus comes to us as gift and call.
the gift of unconditional love that follows us all the days of our lives.
the call to model our own lives and relationships after that self-giving love.
4. We can dare to give love without worrying about the power dynamics involved,
we can dare to make ourselves vulnerable in loving others
because we have the assurance of God’s love.
Conclusion: Michal’s story ends with her broken. The biblical story is full of people who find themselves broken, and then it speaks of the God who comes to love them and make them whole.
the God who does the same for us.
Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14David had success in all his undertakings; for the Lord was with him. 15When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them. 17Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be valiant for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I will not raise a hand against him; let the Philistines deal with him.” 18David said to Saul, “Who am I and who are my kinsfolk, my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19But at the time when Saul’s daughter Merab should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife. 20Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. Saul was told, and the thing pleased him. 21Saul thought, “Let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘See, the king is delighted with you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23So Saul’s servants reported these words to David in private. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and of no repute?” 24The servants of Saul told him, “This is what David said.” 25Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no marriage present except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26When his servants told David these words, David was well pleased to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27David rose and went, along with his men, and killed one hundred of the Philistines; and David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. 28But when Saul realized that the Lord was with David, and that Saul’s daughter Michal loved him, 29Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy from that time forward. 30Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle; and as often as they came out, David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his fame became very great.
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