And as the ark of Jehovah came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Jehovah; and she despised him in her heart.
David has brought the ark of God up to Jerusalem, and the whole city is celebrating with the king himself leading the dance. From a window his wife watches, and the sight that fills a nation with joy fills her with contempt.
David had known great days before this one.
This was a great day for David's heart; there was no day like it. The day he conquered Goliath was a small thing compared with the entrance of the ark. Others danced in his honour then; he dances in honour of the LORD now. That was the whole secret of the joy. David rose higher before God the more he honoured the Lord God of Hosts and kept Him holy in his heart. And no one can keep Him holy in the heart without it showing in his ways.
David's clothing that day was deliberate. He set aside the robes that would have drawn eyes to himself.
David dressed rightly for the occasion, for he was clothed "with a robe of fine linen," and he also had "on him an ephod of linen" (1 Chr. 15:27). He was not a priest, but he wore priestly clothing. His spiritual judgment saw that his royal robes would not have suited such a holy gathering. God's ark was the centre of attraction and attention, not the king of Israel. David was not occupied with himself, but with the Lord.
The linen carried its own meaning.
David did not wear his kingly robes, as though he was of any importance next to what the ark stood for. He was clothed instead with a linen ephod (or tunic). This speaks of practical righteousness, a far more important thing than man's dignified outward place of honour.
Scripture does not call her David's wife here. It names her after her father.
No wonder the Spirit of God calls her Saul's daughter. I thought she was now David's wife. Yes, but what woman that day behaved less like it? She was "Saul's daughter" still. It was the true expression of her father. She had no right feeling towards her husband in this matter — and how close it was to his heart! Still less did she value the LORD's bond with Israel, which the bringing of the ark to Zion made known.
Her position tells its own story. She is near enough to see everything and far enough to share nothing.
The procession came into the city with the shouting of the people and the sound of at least one trumpet. Michal, the daughter of Saul, took only enough interest to look through a window. She did not have the concern of a godly Israelite to be present and take part in giving God His place in the kingdom. The whole thing meant nothing to her, and when she saw David taking a lowly place, she despised him in her heart. This is nothing but the unholy pride of the flesh. Her father Saul would never have done what David did. He cared too much about keeping his own royal dignity.
Michal was not the last person to see worship this way.
"David danced before the LORD with all his might" (v. 14). He made himself ridiculous. At least that is what Michal, Saul's daughter, felt and said. She saw her husband forgetting his dignity so that he might exalt the Lord alone. Often the world judges the worship God's children give Him to be ridiculous. The more that worship is according to God, the more the world will despise those who offer it. This is because the worshipper makes no account of himself.
Her scorn also exposed how little she understood of what she was looking at.
Michal only stood for the unbelief of Saul's house, the unbelief of the natural heart. She had no sympathy. She felt herself degraded by David humbling himself before the ark of the LORD. She had no appreciation of the moral grandeur of the scene.
Her contempt did not stop at a look.
All the people are blessed and satisfied. Michal, left in her proud loneliness, is struck with barrenness to her shame until her death. From then on she is a stranger to David. The character of this daughter of Saul reflected that of her father. In Saul there was hatred; in Michal there was contempt for the LORD's anointed. There can be no more fellowship between her and the king.
The lesson is short:
We may be despised by the world, but what does it matter if we have the Lord's approval?
- The joy — This was the highest day of David's life, higher than his win over Goliath. The honour went to God, not to him.
- The clothing — He laid aside royal robes for linen so that the ark, not the king, would be the centre of attention.
- The window — Michal watched instead of joining. Her distance from the procession was distance from the worship.
- The heart — Her contempt was the pride of the flesh and the unbelief of Saul's house. She was blind to the greatness of what she saw.
- The cost — Scorn for God's anointed ended in barrenness and separation. The worshipper who forgets himself ends the day blessed.
And they brought in the ark of Jehovah, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had spread for it. And David offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
The ark has reached Jerusalem at last. David does not put it in the old tabernacle at Gibeon, but under a tent he has prepared for it on Zion. The two offerings he then brings show why God's presence could rest there at all. They also show what worship suits a people who have God among them.
David gives the ark a tent, not a building. One commentator draws out why that matters:
The ark was set in a tent that David had pitched for it in Jerusalem. This was God's center, and yet there was to be no temple for the ark until the days of Solomon. Scripture says nothing about this tent, or whether it was the same as "the tabernacle in the wilderness." But when the ark was placed there, David again offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. This is the important reminder that Israel could enjoy God's presence only on the basis of the value of the sacrifice of Christ.
Israel now had two centres. The altar and the old tabernacle stood at Gibeon; the ark stood in David's tent. Each place taught something different:
The Tabernacle showed how to approach God, which is, and must always be, by sacrifice; this was displayed, we might say, at Gibeon. But in front of the Ark people saw, and expressed every day, the service that suits those who are where the presence of God is known. That service was and must be praise.
Neither centre was complete on its own. One writer describes the position Israel was in:
You could come to the ark at Zion, but without the sacrifice that was the only way into the sanctuary. You could come to the altar at Gibeon, but that gave access only to the holy place, which was completely empty... The ark was in Zion, claiming its place on the mountain of grace. But could it be enthroned there unless the question of sin was definitely settled?
David brings two kinds of sacrifice. The difference between them is a difference in who receives the offering:
The difference was this. In the burnt offering Jehovah had the whole of it. In the peace offering, the priestly family, the priest who offered it, and the man who brought it shared with Jehovah what was offered in sacrifice to Him. In other words, the burnt offering was a sacrifice of worship to Jehovah, and the peace offering a sacrifice of communion... Our worship and our fellowship with God both rest on the sacrifice of His own Son upon the cross.
The peace offering ended in a meal. Those who ate it were not spectators:
They feasted on the sacrifice of which God had received His portion. It was communion with Him in the sacrifice. Who of men now know what it is to have fellowship with Him as respects the atoning death of His Son?
One writer sees Christ pictured here, king and priest in one:
The king was clothed with a linen ephod (v. 14), the distinctive garment of the priests. Here we see him once more become a type of Christ in His future glory. There is something of Melchizedek in David as he is shown to us here. Here we have kingship united to priesthood. Blessing goes up from the people to God through David's mouth. Blessing comes down from God on all the people through His mediator.
Bringing the ark to Zion tied the throne to the covenant, at a time when Israel had failed on every count:
It joined royal power in Zion — that is, the royal power of Christ, as deliverer in grace — to the sign of Jehovah's covenant with Israel. That sign was set up there in grace, after Israel had already failed completely under the law, and even after they had rejected God as their King.
Read that way, the tent on Zion becomes a small preview of a larger day:
This is a picture of what the Lord Jesus will do when He becomes the King in Israel. He will establish the true worship of God. Then Israel will become the centre from which the blessing of God will flow out to the whole earth.
- Sacrifice first. Israel could enjoy God's presence among them only on the ground of sacrifice. David set up the tent, then brought the offerings.
- Worship given. The burnt offering went wholly up to God; it is the offering of worship, where God receives His full portion.
- Fellowship shared. Those who brought the peace offering ate it. God's portion and theirs came from one sacrifice — that is communion.
- Blessing returned. David wore a priest's linen garment, though he was king and not priest. He carried blessing up to God and brought it back down to the people — kingship and priesthood in one man.
- Glory ahead. David's tent on Zion is a small model of Christ reigning. He will set up true worship first; then blessing will flow out from that centre to the earth.
And when David had ended offering up the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah of hosts.
David has brought the ark into the tent he pitched for it, and he has finished the offerings. Now the king turns to the crowd and blesses them — in a name that belongs to God alone.
Timing matters here. The blessing only starts once the offerings are finished. The two offerings named also mean different things.
They brought the ark into the place prepared for it. Then come burnt offerings and peace offerings — what is for the heart and pleasure of God, and also what His people can feed on in His presence in communion with Him. Once the sacrifices are offered, the king "blessed the people in the name of the LORD." He handed out to them what would nourish them and make their hearts glad.
That order is not an accident. The same pattern shows up with Aaron the priest:
The moment Aaron had finished offering the sacrifices, he could bless the people. Until that moment he had never acted that way toward them. But once all was rightly offered, he did not wait a moment. This teaches us as well as them, because it shows us on what ground people can be blessed — the acceptance of the sacrifice. Apart from Christ's death, pictured in the offerings, this could not have taken place. As soon as God has accepted the sacrifice, He can righteously bless.
David does not bless in his own name. He blesses in the name of the LORD of hosts — a title that first appears in Israel's story at a low point, not a high one.
We do not meet this name until 1 Samuel 1:3. It came in with prophetic testimony. Faith laid hold of the LORD's glory when Israel had corrupted themselves and were weak and low. Scripture reveals a mighty heavenly host, and rulers and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature… The LORD of hosts dwelt between the cherubim.
That last line matters. David had just placed the ark, with its cherubim, inside the tent. He blesses in the name of the God who dwells there.
David offers and David blesses. Both belong to the priesthood, yet he is king. Commentators see a deliberate picture here.
The king was clothed with a linen ephod, the distinctive garment of the priests. Here we see him once more become a type of Christ in His future glory… Here we have kingship united to priesthood. Blessing goes up from the people to God by David's mouth. And blessing comes down from God on all the people through His mediator.
What gives the moment its weight is when it happens. Blessing comes while opposition still stands, not after every enemy is gone.
In all this part of the history David is more personally a type of Christ. He restores the people's connection with God. He blesses and feeds them as Melchizedek did. And he does this while difficulty still exists — before the reign of peace, when power will have removed every obstacle to enjoying it fully. Blessing flows from his person in the presence of all that still opposes it, despite every difficulty… He is not a priest on his throne. The king makes himself a priest, and he does this while he is still serving.
This blessing sits in a chain. David worships God first, then blesses the nation, then his own home.
He had worshipped God, the giver of all good. Now his thoughts turned to His people: "he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts." He also provided generously for their physical needs. Then, his public ministry over, he was not forgetful of his domestic relationships. "And David returned to bless his household."
Others read the whole event forward, as a small-scale model of a greater reign still to come.
This is a picture of what the Lord Jesus will do when He becomes the King in Israel. He will establish the true worship of God. Then Israel will become the centre from which God's blessing will flow out to the whole earth.
- Ground: Blessing comes only after the offerings are finished. It rests on an accepted sacrifice, not on the people who receive it.
- Name: David blesses in the name of the LORD of hosts — the God of every power in heaven and earth, who dwells between the cherubim.
- Mediator: Praise goes up through David's mouth, and blessing comes back down through him — a king wearing the priest's linen, blessing as Melchizedek did.
- Timing: The blessing flows out while opposition still stands, not after every enemy is gone.
- Reach: From God, to the nation, to his own household — and one day out to the whole earth, under Christ as King.
And he dealt to all the people, to the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to every one a cake of bread, and a measure [of wine], and a raisin-cake. And all the people departed every one to his house.
The ark now rests in the tent David pitched for it, and the offerings are over. Why does a day of worship end with the king putting bread, meat and raisin cakes into every hand, and nobody going home empty?
The handing out of food is the last step in a sequence. Offerings come first, then blessing, then the meal each person carries home.
The ark has been brought into the place prepared for it. Now come burnt offerings and peace offerings. One is for the heart and pleasure of God. The other is food His people can eat in His presence, in communion with Him. After the sacrifices, the king "blessed the people in the Name of the Lord," and gave out food that would nourish them and make their hearts glad. What memories the people must have carried home from that glad day!
Another writer links David's open hand to a promise God made about Zion.
David has offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and has blessed the people. Now he hands to every one, man and woman alike, a loaf of bread, a good piece of meat, and a flagon of wine. For God will richly bless her provision, and satisfy her poor with bread.
Older English versions read "a flagon of wine" here. The ESV has "a cake of raisins." The difference comes down to one Hebrew word.
The Authorised Version treated ashishah as a measure. It is now generally understood to mean a "cake of raisins" — raisins pressed into a cake, in the same way figs are. In 2 Samuel 6:19 and 1 Chronicles 16:3 the words "of wine" were added.
The verse names the whole crowd, women as well as men. One writer draws a practical lesson from that.
When God is given His true place, it is inevitable that the people will be blessed. David delighted to bless them in the name of the Lord of hosts. More than this, he gave food to every adult in Israel, women as well as men. Each one received a loaf of bread, a good-sized piece of meat and a cake of raisins. This shows too that those who give the Lord His place will also be glad to be generous toward others.
The king does not stand above the crowd. He waits on it. The same day that sees him dance before the ark sees him serve the food.
He blesses the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. Then, dressed like a servant ready for work, he has them sit down to eat, and he serves them. He dances before the ark with the joy of a man whose only joy was to serve another's praise. He would gladly go lower still, be low in his own eyes, and be counted among the outcasts. He wanted only to carry out his service properly, as the minister of the glory of Jehovah, and of the joy of His people.
Where did such freedom come from? Another writer points to what David had stopped thinking about — himself.
At the same time, we are never so blessed as when we can forget ourselves in the glory of God. This is what marked out King David.
One writer sees David's generosity as a small preview of a greater day, when the ark reaches its final home.
When the day of the glory of the kingdom comes, He, as Melchizedek, will hand out bread and wine to the men of faith. When the ark reaches its final resting place in Mount Zion, the Lord will do again what David did — and far exceed it... He also said, "Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them" (Luke 12:37).
Another writer finds an advance taste of that abundance in the feeding of the five thousand.
The Lord Jesus gave a foretaste of that feeding time when He fed the five thousand. The people were so excited by that miracle that they were ready to take Him by force and make Him King (John 6:15). He refused their desire... When the hour for the appointed Kingdom comes, He will receive it neither from men nor from Satan, but from the Father.
- Sequence. Offerings first, blessing next, bread last — the people's portion comes after God has received His.
- Gift. Each person receives from the king's own hand: a loaf, a good piece of meat, a cake of raisins (older versions: "a flagon of wine").
- Reach. Women as well as men, the whole crowd — the giving passed nobody by, and each went home carrying the king's gift.
- Posture. The king serves. David could give freely because he had forgotten himself in the glory of God.
- Result. The day points forward. When the ark reaches its final resting place in Zion, the Lord will far exceed David's bounty. He Himself will serve those who wait for Him.
And David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How honourable did the king of Israel make himself to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the lewd fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!
David has just brought the ark into Jerusalem with shouting and dancing. He goes home to bless his household, and his wife meets him at the door with a sneer. Her words raise the question the whole scene turns on: was the king degrading himself, or was he worshipping?
The text does not call her David's wife. It calls her Saul's daughter, and commentators read that as deliberate.
No wonder that the Spirit of God calls her Saul's daughter. Why, I thought she was now David's wife. Yes, but what woman that day behaved less like it? She was "Saul's daughter" still. It was the genuine expression of her father. She had no right feeling towards her husband in this matter — and how near it was to his heart! Still less did she value the Lord's relation to Israel, shown by the bringing of the ark to Zion.
David came home to bless his family. What she called uncovering was only the setting aside of royal dress.
He returned to bless his own household. But Michal was in no condition to be blessed. Of course this uncovering only referred to David's removing his royal clothing. Michal was so blind in spirit that she could not see a simple truth: the greatest of human beings has no place of special honour before God. All are on the same humbled level.
Other passages use the word the same way.
Scripture often uses "naked" for the absence, not of all covering, but of the usual outer garment of one kind or another (see also 1 Samuel 19:24; 2 Samuel 6:20; Amos 2:16; John 21:7).
Her sneer was not random spite. It came from a settled preference for one side of David and blindness to the other.
"How the king of Israel honored himself today!" she exclaimed with sarcasm. David's linen robe and priestly ephod were contemptible in her eyes: the royal robes were what she valued. She could appreciate the king, but not the worshipper. And no doubt to any eye but the eye of faith, there was something ridiculous and unbecoming in the scene she had just witnessed. A king dancing, leaping and shouting in the presence of his subjects!
David does not answer on her terms. He names who he was standing before.
"It was before the Lord." Yes, that was the secret of his self-forgetfulness. To him, it was not in the presence of his people that he had acted like this, but in the presence of the Lord. Before his people it was no doubt quite right to wear his royal robes and behave with dignity — in short, to be every inch a king. But in the presence of the Lord, on a special day of thanksgiving, he was a worshipper more than a king. The plain linen garment and the priestly ephod suited him, not the splendid robes of state.
His reply also appeals to God's choice, and to what that choice says about the kind of man God wanted on the throne.
He reminds her that the Lord had chosen David as king above her father Saul and above all Saul's house. God's choice was a man who would humble himself before God, not one who always sought to proudly exalt himself.
Notice the timing. No one criticised David during his earlier failure with the ark. The sneer came after he put it right.
Earlier David had disobeyed God's command by having the ark carried on a new cart instead of by the Levites. We do not read that Michal or anyone else found fault with him then. But now he had judged his error and was acting in full agreement with the mind of God. At once Satan stirred up an adversary against him in his own home.
Marriage put her closer to David than anyone else. It did not give her his God.
Michal's heart was occupied with the thought of David's appearance. The ark of God does not have the first place in her soul, and so she is called here not the wife of David, but Saul's daughter. In her father's time the ark was never thought about, and she, brought up in that neglect, does not think of the ark now. For though she loved David (1 Samuel 18:20), she had no heart for God. The closest of earthly ties with the saints of God cannot bring the unrenewed heart into communion with Him.
- Root. Scripture names her "Saul's daughter," not David's wife. What she showed that day came from her father, in whose reign no one thought about the ark.
- Reversal. Michal saw a king lowering himself; David saw a worshipper before the Lord. She could value the crown but not the ephod.
- Ruling. David's whole defence is three words: "before the Lord." The God who chose him over Saul's house chose a man willing to be humbled.
- Reach. The sneer came only after David had corrected his mistake. When he did right, opposition rose in his own home.
- Result. Michal loved David, yet she had no heart for God. The closest earthly tie cannot bring an unrenewed heart into communion with Him.
And David said to Michal, It was before Jehovah, who chose me rather than thy father, and than all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of Jehovah, over Israel; and I played before Jehovah.
David has brought the ark of God up to Jerusalem, dancing in a plain linen garment instead of his royal robes. His wife Michal met him at the door with a sneer, and his reply points past her to the One he had been dancing before.
The first words of David's answer settle the whole dispute. He had not been performing for the crowd at all. (Jehovah is the name the ESV prints as "the LORD.")
David's reply makes it all clear. "It was before Jehovah." Yes, that was the secret of his self-forgetfulness. To him, it was not in the presence of his people that he had acted like this, but in the presence of Jehovah. Before his people it was quite right to wear his royal robes and behave with dignity — to show himself every inch a king. But in the presence of Jehovah, on a special day of thanksgiving, he was a worshipper more than a king. The grand robes of state did not suit him. What suited him was the plain linen garment and the priestly ephod.
David does not defend his behaviour by rank. He points to God's choice — a choice made over Michal's own father, Saul.
How dignified and withering was the rebuke of her husband! David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house... and I will celebrate before the LORD." It was the service of faith. Here was the king of Israel. The more God exalted him and established him, the more he used all his exaltation as an offering to the Lord. He felt himself all the more exalted because God was everything to his soul. At that moment nearness to God meant more to David than the throne God had given him, and David judged rightly.
That choice also says what kind of man God was looking for.
More than this, he reminds her that the Lord had chosen David as king above her father Saul and above all Saul's house. God chose a man who would humble himself before God, not one who was always trying to exalt himself. Therefore David would celebrate before the Lord (v.21).
"I will celebrate before the LORD" is not an apology. It is a promise to carry on.
Dancing in public before the ark may not have been a kingly act. But the joy of the worshipper made him forget the dignity of the king. Michal taunted him for lowering himself like a worthless fellow among his servants. His answer was that he would go lower still. He would be base even in his own eyes when it was in praise to the Lord (2 Sam. 6:20). Joy and gladness have great compelling power. When this joy is from God and with God, earthly appearances and earthly concerns become worthless.
Her complaint, quoted below in an older wording, was about clothes and appearances. It showed what her eyes could and could not see.
"How glorious was the king of Israel today!" she said sarcastically. She despised David's linen robe and priestly ephod. The royal robes were what she valued. She could appreciate the king, but not the worshipper. To any eye but the eye of faith, the scene she had just watched did look ridiculous and improper. A king dancing, leaping and shouting in the presence of his subjects!
Her contempt cost her something.
Michal did not appreciate the Lord's grace in her soul. From then on she was doomed to be far from a husband she failed to honour, when he showed that his heart was set to treat all else as nothing so that he might honour the Lord.
The timing of this attack is worth noticing.
Earlier David had disobeyed God's command. He had the ark carried on a new cart instead of by the Levites. We do not read that Michal or anyone else found fault with him then. But now he had judged his error and was acting in full agreement with the mind of God. At once Satan stirred up an adversary against him in his own home.
- Before — David's whole defence is the audience he had in mind: not his people, not Michal, but the Lord. That one phrase explains the linen instead of the crown.
- Chosen — He answers the taunt with God's choice of him over Saul's house. God picked a man who would humble himself, not one bent on exalting himself.
- Offering — David handed every step up back to God as worship. The higher God set him, the more he counted nearness to God his real height.
- Blind — Michal could value a king but not a worshipper. Without the eye of faith the scene looked only ridiculous, and her contempt left her far from her husband.
- Timing — The cart that broke God's order drew no criticism. The obedient path drew an enemy at his own front door. Doing right is often when opposition starts.
And I will make myself yet more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight; and of the handmaids that thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.
David's wife has just mocked him for dancing before the ark, and his answer refuses to retreat: he will go lower, not higher. The verse puts one question to every worshipper — whose opinion decides the worth of what I do for God?
David does not defend his behaviour on its own terms. He treats the crown itself as material for an offering.
It was the service of faith. The more God lifted him up and made him secure, the more the king of Israel used all that greatness as an offering to the Lord. He felt himself lifted higher still, because God was everything to his soul. At that moment nearness to God meant more to David than the throne God had given him. And David judged rightly.
His kingship was not something he had climbed to. That is why lowering himself costs him nothing.
God's choice was a man who would humble himself before God, not one who always sought to proudly exalt himself. Therefore David would celebrate before the Lord.
The phrase is not self-hatred and not a performance. It describes what happens to a person's estimate of himself when he stands in God's presence — and the same light that shows him up shows God to him.
The flesh cannot understand what is fitting in the presence of the Lord. But those who know the Lord grasp how base they are in themselves when seen in the light of God's presence. That light not only exposes what they are; it also reveals what He is in all His love and grace.
One writer turns David's resolve into a prayer for himself and his readers.
David could bear the sneer of contempt from Michal, Saul's daughter, because he was acting before the Lord... "And I will yet be more vile than this, and will be base in my own sight." Precious determination! May it be ours, through grace. Base in our own eyes — happy in God. Humbled to the very dust as we feel our own vileness — lifted up on high as we feel the grace and loving-kindness of our God.
Michal was not the last to react this way.
He made himself ridiculous. At least that is what Michal, Saul's daughter, felt and said. She saw her husband forget his dignity so that he might exalt the Lord alone. The world often calls the worship God's children give Him ridiculous. The more that worship is according to God, the more the world will despise those who offer it. This is because the worshipper makes no account of himself.
Joy is what makes the trade look easy.
Dancing in public before the ark may not have been a kingly act; but the dignity of the king was forgotten in the joy of the worshipper... What a compelling power there is in joy and gladness! When this joy is from God and with God, appearances and worldly concerns lose all their worth.
Michal threw the maidservants at David as an insult. He turns her example around and expects honour from them.
The only right way to celebrate before the Lord was to humble himself. David would be willing to be more undignified than this for the honour of the Lord. As to the maidservants Michal spoke of, he knew that this would not lessen the honour they would give him. They had more sense than Michal. They would recognise that the man who takes a lowly place before the Lord is the man you can trust with authority over people.
The chapter calls Michal "Saul's daughter," not David's wife. That name is the key to the scene.
David's heart overflowed with joy. Michal's heart was busy with how David looked. The ark of God does not have first place in her soul, so the text calls her here not the wife of David, but Saul's daughter... though she loved David, she had no heart for God. Even the closest family ties with God's people cannot bring an unchanged heart into fellowship with Him.
- Chosen — David's answer rests on God's choice, not on his own record. A man God lifts up can afford to go low.
- Lowered — God's presence makes a man low in his own eyes. The same light shows him what God is like.
- Despised — worship that suits God looks ridiculous to the world. The worshipper has stopped counting himself.
- Honoured — the servant girls Michal sneered at are the ones who will honour David. You can trust a man who is low before God with authority over people.
- Divided — one house, two hearts. Joy filled David; appearances filled Michal. Close family ties cannot bring an unchanged heart near to God.
And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
This chapter opened with celebration: the ark of God carried into the city with shouting, dancing, and a gift of food for every household. Its last line names the one person who stayed outside that joy, and the mark it left on her for life.
The verse names her by her father, not by her husband. One writer treats that name as the whole explanation.
No wonder that the Spirit of God calls her Saul's daughter. Why, I would have thought she was now David's wife. Yes, but what woman that day behaved less like it? She was "Saul's daughter" still. It was the genuine expression of her father. She had no right feeling towards her husband in this matter — and how close it was to his heart! Still less did she value what the bringing of the ark to Zion showed: the LORD's relation to Israel.
Her father's reign had neglected the ark, so the day that thrilled all Israel meant nothing to her.
Jerusalem was keeping high festival that day. All seem to have been of one accord except Michal, Saul's daughter, who did not enter into her husband's joy. "She despised him," we read, "in her heart" (1 Chron. 15:29), when she saw him dancing and playing before it. During her father's reign that ark had been neglected. Clearly its entrance into the city of David meant nothing to her. But that only showed how far she was from the current of God's thoughts. In this matter a wide gulf divided her from David. She had no part in his joy.
One short entry ties her barrenness straight to her scorn.
She did not share David's zeal for the Lord. When he brought up the ark and danced with joy before it, she despised him in her heart and even reproached him for it. Because of this she was barren the rest of her days. Michal shows how far beyond the natural mind the leadings of the Spirit of God are: compare 1 Cor. 2:14.
One writer reads the barrenness as God's own act, with a kindness hidden inside it.
God's government also stepped into this serious matter. He decided that Michal would have no children to the day of her death. A woman who ignores the things of God, shows little respect for her husband, and has no children must have a miserable life. But it is a mercy she had no children, for she could not have taught them the humility of true faith in the living God.
David had just blessed the people and handed food to every person there. One writer reads that scene as a picture of two kinds of kingship.
At the end he blesses the people, therefore, in the name of the LORD of hosts, and gives them all portions. We see the shadow of the Melchizedek king, the opposite of Saul and his independence — and we find Saul reproduced in the pride of his daughter. But Michal is therefore without children to the day of her death. The spirit of independence must be barren. The spirit of service is the royal one, as surely as "the lesser is blessed by the greater."
The verse closes more than a womb. Another writer traces where her contempt came from, and where it left her.
Michal stays in her proud isolation, and barrenness marks her until her death, to her shame. From that time on she is a stranger to David. The character of this daughter of Saul reflected that of her father. Saul showed hatred; Michal showed contempt for the LORD's anointed. There can be no more fellowship between her and the king.
Marriage to a man of faith did not make her a woman of faith. Other marriages in Scripture show the same gap.
The wives of men of faith have not always been on the same level as their husbands. Sarah advised Abraham to use human methods to secure the promises. Zipporah clearly stood in the way, for a time, of Moses acting faithfully in his family (Ex. 4:24-26). Michal mocked when David showed the joy and liberty that a sense of grace always gives. Faith must be a personal matter between the soul and God. No one can receive it second hand.
- Heart — Contempt started inside her, at a window, before she said a word. The ark had meant nothing in her father's house, so the day meant nothing to her.
- Name — Scripture still calls her "Saul's daughter," not David's wife. The name is the diagnosis: her father's pride came back in her.
- Womb — God's government closed her womb; chance did not. There was mercy in it: she could not pass on to children a faith she never had.
- House — Barrenness matches the spirit behind it. Independence bears no fruit; the serving spirit of David is the royal one.
- You — Faith is never inherited from a marriage or a family. It is personal, between one soul and God.