The Great Divorce: When God Departs
Introduction: Two Ways to Live
There are only two ways to live in this world. You can live as though God is with you, or you can live as though He is not. There is no third way. Every political theory, every personal ambition, every family dynamic, and every emotional response is ultimately governed by this one, central reality. In our passage today, we see this great spiritual chasm opened up between two men: Saul, the rejected king, and David, the anointed king. This is not merely a story about political succession or personal jealousy. This is a story about the presence and absence of God, and the dramatic, earth-shaking consequences of both.
Saul is a man living in the hollowed-out shell of his former anointing. God has departed from him, and the result is not a peaceful agnosticism. The result is fear, paranoia, dread, and a frantic, manipulative grasping for control. When God leaves a man, He does not leave a vacuum; He leaves a haunting. Saul is haunted by the ghost of his former glory and terrified by the rising sun of David's favor. David, on the other hand, is a man whose life is defined by a single, repeated phrase: "Yahweh was with him." This is the explanation for his success, the source of his wisdom, and the reason for his popularity. It is the central fact of his existence.
This passage, then, is a tale of two kingdoms. One is the kingdom of man, built on fear, self-preservation, and the approval of men. The other is the kingdom of God, built on covenant faithfulness, humble obedience, and the manifest presence of the Almighty. We are watching the tectonic plates of redemptive history shift. The house of Saul is crumbling into the sea, and the mountain of the house of the Lord, established in the line of David, is beginning its ascent. And in this great divorce, we are forced to ask ourselves which reality defines us. Is God with us, or has He turned away?
The Text
And Saul was afraid of David, for Yahweh was with him but had turned away from Saul. Therefore Saul turned him away from his presence and appointed him as his commander of one thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David was prospering in all his ways, and Yahweh was with him. Then Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, so he dreaded him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
(1 Samuel 18:12-16)
The Fear of the Forsaken (v. 12)
We begin with the internal state of the rejected king.
"And Saul was afraid of David, for Yahweh was with him but had turned away from Saul." (1 Samuel 18:12)
Saul's fear is not a rational political calculation. It is a spiritual condition. The text gives us the reason for his fear, and it is entirely theological: "for Yahweh was with him but had turned away from Saul." This is the great pivot. Saul is not afraid of David's military skill, or his charisma, or his ambition. He is afraid of God's presence on David. He looks at David and sees the favor of the God who has abandoned him. David has become a walking, talking, fighting, succeeding sermon illustration of Saul's own damnation.
When the Spirit of God departs from a man, as He did from Saul, He is replaced by a tormenting spirit. But more than that, the world is disenchanted. The courage that comes from knowing God is your shield evaporates. All that is left is the fear of man, which is a snare. Saul's fear is the natural consequence of his disobedience. He feared the people more than he feared God's command regarding the Amalekites, and so God gave him over to a life defined by the fear of a mere man. He who will not fear God will fear everything else.
Notice the stark contrast. It is not that David was strong and Saul was weak. It is that Yahweh was with one and not the other. This is the ultimate dividing line in all of human history. It is not about talent, or giftedness, or station. It is about the presence of God. Saul's fear is the terror of a man who knows, deep in his bones, that God is his enemy. And he sees in David the living embodiment of God's friendship.
A Fool's Strategy (v. 13)
Saul's fear drives him to a foolish and self-defeating political maneuver.
"Therefore Saul turned him away from his presence and appointed him as his commander of one thousand; and he went out and came in before the people." (1 Samuel 18:13)
Saul cannot stand the sight of David. David's very presence is a rebuke. So he does what any carnal man would do: he tries to solve a spiritual problem with a logistical solution. He promotes David. He sends him away from the court. Out of sight, out of mind. He thinks that by putting David on the front lines, he might get lucky and have the Philistines solve his David problem for him. But this is the kind of tactical blunder that ungodly men always make. They think they can outmaneuver God's decree.
But look what this foolishness accomplishes. It takes David from the limited audience of the royal court and puts him on public display before all of Israel. Saul, in his attempt to marginalize David, actually gives him a national platform. This is the beautiful irony of God's sovereignty. He uses the sinful machinations of His enemies to advance His own perfect will. Saul intended it for evil, but God intended it for the training and elevation of His chosen king.
The phrase "he went out and came in before the people" is a Hebrew idiom for leadership. It describes a commander leading his troops into battle and bringing them back. It speaks of visible, active, competent leadership. Saul, trying to hide David, instead makes him the most visible and effective leader in the nation. This is what happens when you fight against God; your every tactic backfires.
The Unstoppable Blessing (v. 14)
David's success is not intermittent or accidental. It is comprehensive and divinely sourced.
"And David was prospering in all his ways, and Yahweh was with him." (Genesis 18:14)
The word for prospering here means to act wisely, to be prudent, to succeed. It is not the modern health-and-wealth gospel idea of prosperity. It is the prosperity of covenant faithfulness. David was prospering because he was walking in God's ways, and because God was with him. The text repeats the reason, lest we miss it: "and Yahweh was with him." This is the refrain of David's early life. It is the explanation for everything.
This is a direct fulfillment of the Deuteronomic promise. If Israel's king would obey the covenant, God would establish his throne. David is prospering in all his ways because his ways are God's ways. His success is not a result of his native talent, though he had much. It was a result of the manifest blessing of God. This is what true, biblical success looks like. It is not about accumulating stuff. It is about the tangible presence and favor of God resting on your endeavors because you are seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.
From Fear to Dread (v. 15-16)
Saul's plan has failed spectacularly, and his emotional state deteriorates from fear to a profound dread.
"Then Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, so he dreaded him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them." (1 Samuel 18:15-16)
Saul sees the results of his foolish plan. He sees David's great success, and his fear deepens into dread. Dread is a fear that has settled in and made itself at home. It is a constant, oppressive sense of impending doom. Saul is living in the shadow of the man who will replace him, and every victory David wins is another nail in the coffin of Saul's dynasty.
And while Saul dreads, the people love. "But all Israel and Judah loved David." The contrast could not be more stark. The rejected king is isolated in his paranoia, while the anointed king is embraced by the people. And why did they love him? The text tells us again: "for he went out and came in before them." They loved him because he was a true leader. He didn't sit in the palace throwing spears; he was on the front lines, leading from the front, serving the people, and protecting the nation. His leadership was not a title; it was an action. His authority was not positional; it was organic and earned through faithful service.
This is the great divide. The man without God is hated and feared, even by himself. The man with God is loved and respected. Saul is trying to cling to power through fear, but David is being given power through love. This is always the way of God's kingdom. It does not advance through coercion and tyranny, but through the willing, joyful allegiance of hearts captured by a faithful leader.
The Greater David
This entire episode is a shadow, a type, of a greater reality. David is God's anointed, prospering in all his ways, loved by the people, and dreaded by the false king. But he is a pointer to the ultimate Anointed One, Jesus Christ.
Like Saul, the rulers of this world, both secular and religious, are terrified of the true King. Herod was "troubled, and all Jerusalem with him" at the news of Christ's birth. The Pharisees and rulers saw that "the whole world has gone after him" and were filled with a murderous dread. They saw that God was with Him, in a way that God was not with them. His miracles, His wisdom, and the love of the common people for Him were a constant rebuke to their hollow, man-made authority.
And like Saul, they tried to solve their Jesus problem with a foolish, logistical solution. They tried to send Him away, to get rid of Him, to have the Romans solve the problem for them. They put Him on a cross, intending it for evil. But God, in His beautiful sovereignty, intended it for good. That cross, which was meant to be His marginalization, became His coronation. It was the ultimate act of "going out and coming in before the people," leading captivity captive and winning the decisive victory.
For the Christian, the central reality of our existence is the same as David's: Yahweh is with us. In Christ, God has not turned away from us, but has turned His face toward us. We have been united to the one with whom God is always well-pleased. Therefore, we are not to live in the fear and dread of Saul, constantly trying to manipulate outcomes and preserve our little kingdoms. We are to live in the confident faith of David, prospering in all our ways as we walk in obedience, knowing that the Lord is with us.
And this is how we lead in our homes, in our churches, and in our communities. Not by throwing spears from a throne of fear, but by "going out and coming in" before those we are called to serve. True Christian leadership is visible, active, sacrificial, and faithful. And when a man leads like that, because Yahweh is with him, he will be dreaded by the tyrants of this world, but he will be loved by the people of God.