"...her heart was not good. She had a selfish ambition and lust for power that would ultimately take precedence over everything else. Here husband was on his way up and as such, he was her ticket to what she wanted most. As long as that was the case she would support him. The minute she perceived him falter in that direction though, she would drop him like the wrong end of a hot iron."

"I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb not a new birth. I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I'd like to buy three dollars worth of God, please."

These words of Wilbur Reese portray with biting sarcasm the attitude of many who are religious, but only to an extent. They want all the benefits but none of the commitment.

All of us have one thing in life we value more highly than everything else. It is something against which nothing else can compete or compare. If that highly valued "something" isn't God, we may still find ourselves wanting the Creator, but not too much of Him. Give us just enough of God to be comfortable, maybe three dollars worth, but no more.

I think of the Rich Young Ruler. He wanted to be a disciple, but in the final analysis, after Jesus exposed his heart, he really wanted his money most. In effect, he wanted "three dollars worth of God, please." Jesus later put this idea into words when He said, "No man can serve two masters."

It is as though there is a single throne in each of our lives that can only be occupied by one entity. While everyday life might not expose who or what really sits on that throne, God seems to have a way of exposing it so that all can ultimately see.

That synopsis describes well the life of a woman in the Old Testament that most of us haven't spent much time considering. We could call her "The Woman Who Could Have Been After God's Own Heart." Her name was Michal and she married "The Man After God's Own Heart," King David or Israel. She was his first love. If ever a woman had a chance to shine as a woman of God, Michal did. Her love for David and for God could have been remembered fondly even down to this day. But there was a problem. Something else sat on the throne of her life. She served another master - the same one that many serve today. As a result, she died a barren, dejected woman. Her story speaks to us at heart level and serves as a good evaluation when considering whom or what we actually live for.

Michal's story begins with a single verse of background in 1 Samuel 14:49. Please open your Bible and follow along.

(Read 1 Sam. 14:49)

Born into the home of royalty, the youngest of five children, Michal was a princess. Her mother, of whom we know only her name, was Ahinoam, the wife of King Saul of Israel. The time was about a thousand years before Christ. Saul, Michal's father, seemed to be a humble, godly man when he took the throne as Israel's first king, but as time always tells, something else really sat on the throne of his life, too. His loyalty to God gradually gave way to his own self-will. Finally, God rejected him after an incident of disobedience. David, Michal's husband in her adult years, would rule Israel in his place.

What Michal's early years were like can only be imagined. Her father was popular in Israel at first. Royalty has its privileges and the home of Saul was no exception. The cliché, "born with a silver spoon in her mouth" comes to mind when considering young Michal. As we shall learn in just a bit, her love for that position and the status she grew up with would be her biggest problem.

Michal first comes into the story of Scripture as an influence in 1 Samuel 18. A young man from Bethlehem had been summoned to the palace as her father's personal musician. Whenever Saul was depressed he would send for the young man, David, to bring his harp and cheer him up. It must have gone on for some time. It was during this time that the giant Philistine, Goliath, was taunting the armies of God. David, in the story that is familiar to all of you, killed Goliath with a slingshot. What might have been a joyous time of victory, though, soon became an occasion for jealousy and hatred. After hearing some women singing about how David was more mighty that he, Saul became jealous and made several enraged attempts on David's life. From that point onward, Saul believed that David would try to usurp his throne.

Saul had promised to give his oldest daughter in marriage to any man who could kill Goliath. Of course, now that meant that he would have to make David his son-in-law, a prospect he found loathsome. So, when it came time for David to claim his bride, the giant-killer found that she had been given to another man. That incident apparently became public knowledge. Saul, ever sensitive about his public image, found himself under pressure to make it look right. We'll break into the story there as that is where Michal enters the picture.

(Read 1 Sam. 18:19-20a)

What young girl in Israel wouldn't have been attracted to David? He was a strong, good-looking, athletic young man and now he was a national hero.

Someone suggested that since Michal was so attracted to David, Saul should give her to David as a wife in place of the daughter he had given to someone else.

(Read v. 20b-21)

Notice carefully Saul's motives in giving up his youngest daughter. First, he said, "I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him." Did Saul know something about Michal's character that he knew would someday cause some man a lot of heartache?

If some father were going to give one of his daughters to your son to be a snare to him, wouldn't you wonder what she must be like?

Secondly, it appears that Saul figured he could work a plot to have David killed. In the verses that follow, Saul asks David to kill 100 enemy soldiers in battle as a dowry for Michal, figuring that David would surely be killed in combat. David accepted the challenge and, in short order presented Saul with the evidence of two-hundred Philistine soldiers and was still very much alive. Bitterly, Saul gave David his daughter. David became the King's son-in-law.

Michal disappears from the pages of Scripture again at that point. David became increasingly popular with the people. Saul drifted farther and farther away from God. Driven by his jealousy and hatred for David, Saul's anger turned increasingly into rage. Michal's older brother, Jonathan, went to bat for David and momentarily persuaded Saul to ease up a bit on his brother-in-law. The effort didn't last. In an enraged moment, Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his javelin. David barely escaped to his home. Not to be thwarted that easily, Saul dispatched some troops to surround David's house and put him to death. We'll pick up the story again there.

(Read 1 Samuel 19:11-17)

There are several things to note here. First, Michal saved David's life. There is no arguing that. But what was her motive? Was it true love for her husband and for God or was it something else? Knowing what else the Bible says about Michal, I'm inclined to suggest to you that her motive here may have been less than pure. It's always difficult to know a person's motives at the beginning. We can only see their actions, not their heart. I suggest however, that in due time Michal's behavior would show that what was in her heart was not good. She had a selfish ambition and lust for power that would ultimately take precedence over everything else. Here husband was on his way up and as such, he was her ticket to what she wanted most. As long as that was the case she would support him. The minute she perceived him falter in that direction though, she would drop him like the wrong end of a hot iron.

Secondly, what was that "household idol" doing in David's home? Wasn't he a worshipper of the God of Israel? Of course we know that idolatry was a big problem among the Israelites. Apparently it was the custom of royalty at this time to keep these images made of precious metals (called literally, "teraphim") in their homes as good omens. While the people worshipped the God of heaven, those who could afford them considered these images to be lesser gods. Michal probably brought these into David's home from the palace of Saul. So we begin to see her true character.

Thirdly, did you notice how easy it was for Michal to lie to her father? In essence she said, "I helped David escape because he threatened to kill me." That would certainly endear Saul to David! Why didn't she stick up for her husband? Why didn't she tell her father that he was wrong in thinking David wanted to usurp the throne? I suggest to you that she didn't want to burn her bridges back to the palace and the royalty of her father. Things weren't working out as she had expected. Her husband wasn't faring well as she had expected. She wanted to keep her options open.

A lie will sometimes serve an immediate situation. In this case it may have saved Michal from her father's wrath. But lies always catch up with us in the end. God's standard is that we tell the truth even when it hurts. It was that way under the Law of Moses. We read in the Ten Commandments: "You shall not bear false witness." It is also that way in the New Covenant, under Christ.

We read in Revelation 21:8, "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

So what have we seen in Michal's life so far? Selfish ambition. Idols. Lies. Opportunism. What was it that sat on the throne of Michal's life? I'm afraid it was something besides God.

David now becomes a fugitive. Because of Saul's wrath he is forced to live in the desert and is constantly pursued by Saul and his army. Many of the Psalms depicting God's care in times of danger were written by David during this troubled time. And Michal? Where was she? Was she faithful to her husband during those tough years? Did she wait faithfully for his return and restoration? Hardly. What advancement is there in being the wife of a fugitive - a man hunted like a wild beast in the wilderness? Apparently she turned her amorous attentions to someone else who might bring her what she really wanted.

(Read 1 Samuel 25:44)

Not a word is mentioned about Michal resisting this. Her husband appeared to be a "has been" so it was time to move on. Marriage to David was no longer gratifying, so she took the first opportunity she found to dump him. And I'm sure her father chimed in and supported her in this.

I know it's an ancient story, but is it really any different than the stories of people living today? They get married with great expectations of personal gratification. Then things don't go as planned. Soon they're wanting out. Then they find someone better. Their friends support and encourage them to dump their spouse. Another family is split up. God's plan of marriage as the basic unit of society takes another hit.

Such marriages are not founded on true love and commitment. They're founded on selfishness and infatuation. It's hard to stay infatuated when times are tough. There is no serious commitment to "love, honor, and cherish in sickness and in health" until death parts them. It's an old, old story that is told again and again in the wrecked lives of people even today. You know, for all of our phony "sophistication" we never seem to learn.

In the Bible, love is a commitment first - a commitment of giving. It is commitment to stay through thick and thin, through good and bad. If you're single and cannot imagine faithfulness to that special someone when times are rougher than they are right now, then what you have is not love. Don't fall into the trap.

Michal's true colors are starting to show. But this isn't over yet. Ultimately, her father died, along with his three sons in a battle with the Philistines. A fourth son, Ish-bosheth, apparently born after Michal, became king for a short time. Abner, the captain of Saul's army, saw the handwriting on the wall and defected to David's side and offered his influence to make David king. David agreed -- on one condition -- a condition that might surprise you.

(Read 2 Samuel 3:12-13)

David still cared from Michal - in spite of her adultery. What a contrast between him and his wayward wife! He was willing to make her the condition of his receiving a kingdom. She was ready to leave him the moment things looked like she might lose her chance at continued royalty. That same contrast is seen in the lives of people yet today. One is a devout Christian who puts God first and loves until it hurts - the other masquerades as a Christian only when it suits his or her best interest. It's a miserable condition to be in when your mate is living only for self. But it's avoidable if, in the time of courtship, a person keeps calm enough to watch and think.

(Read v. 14-16)

Look at that! As soon as the grass is greener with David, she forsakes her second husband like changing a dirty shirt! I base my observation on the fact that there is no objection from Michal, even as her second husband begged with tears.

Herbert Lockyer wrote of this incident:

"It did not require much force to make her leave Palti. Her pride and love for prestige left little room for weeping and although she knew she could never become David's ideal love, seeing she had been the possession of another man, yet as his first wife Michal thought of the position that would be hers at court."

Who really sat on the throne of Michal's life? I suggest it was her own selfish ambition. Nothing else, neither love for her husband, nor love for God, could compete. But that isn't the end of Michal's story. A bitter end remains.

The closing scene between Michal and David is most moving and, I might add, most revealing.

Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was murdered by a couple of self-seeking captains of his own army. David was crowned king in his place. At last Michal could have what she had wanted all along. But a mind ruled by fleshly desire cannot understand a mind ruled by God's Spirit. Though she could not imagine it, because of this difference, she was miles away from understanding what made her husband tick.

One of David's first acts of state was to bring the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God's presence, into the city of Jerusalem. So joyous was the occasion that David, in humility, took off his royal robe and donned the linen ephod of a common priest. In utter abandonment of joy, he danced around in front of the people as the ark came into the city. Each citizen was given a loaf of bread, a large piece of meat, and a flask of wine and allowed to go home and celebrate. It couldn't have been a happier day for a man after God's own heart. But it couldn't have been a more humiliating day for a woman after her own selfish ambition.

(Read 2 Samuel 6:16)

Why the despising? Why didn't she share David's joy? Because in her eyes her husband had lost his royal dignity and made a fool of himself in front of the people by his dancing. King's aren't supposed to stoop to the level of commoners.

(Read v. 20)

What dripping sarcasm! Not even acknowledging the joy her God-loving husband felt for this moment, she brushed it all aside and accused David of exposing himself carnally before the women of the land.

An important New Testament passage comes to mind:

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 says, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?"

Have Paul's words ever been illustrated more clearly than in the case of David and Michal?

For David this was the last straw. He had overlooked her desertion. He had overlooked her adultery. He had put up with her manipulation. But this was it. In curt reply he set her straight.

(Read v. 21-22)

"Michal, you might as well get it straight that I intend to be even more humble that what I have been today if love for my God calls for it."

Michal had failed to see (or perhaps even refused to see) what was really the driving force of David's life. God sat on the throne of his life and nothing else could take precedence over that fact.

The next words serve up the bitter outcome of a life lived in selfishness:

(Read v. 23)

Whether this verse means that David had no further physical relations with Michal (which the Law of Moses allowed) or it meant that God cursed her and made her unable to have children, I don't know. The pain of her being childless would be fitting though, as it meant she would have no heir who could sit on the throne of Israel. What a bitter outcome for a life lived for that very thing!

Conclusion

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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