Sauls, Davids and Goliaths

Many local election watchers have been comparing the fall of the political dynasties in local government to the story of David and Goliath. This comparison becomes even more significant in Pasig City where an “upstart” in local politics dislodged a clan that has been in power for 26 years. The comparison of course is generally meant to add color and drama to the stories, but there is more to it and one character that everybody leaves out is King Saul, and what or whom he represents in Philippine politics, business and even in media. The life and death of King Saul can be found in the Bible, 1 Samuel chapters 8 to 31. There you will learn that the Israelites only had kings later in their history and it was something they copied from other cultures. God allowed it but warned them that when you choose to have a “king” over you, he will own you and lord over you and your children and property.

From there God chooses Saul, but although King Saul was God’s first chosen King for Israel, he did not stay in God’s favor very long because he was impatient, decided to take matters into his own hands and took on roles or usurped the authority of priests. Worst of all he became materialistic, disobedient and a liar even to a man of God. He also prioritized public opinion or impression rather than God’s instructions. So God withdrew the anointing. Many politicians and business leaders start out as gifted or anointed, but they lose sight of the source or who placed them in office. They become blind to the fact that “Man proposes – God disposes.” You might win once, twice maybe, even thrice but the anointing is not forever and it is certainly not transferable to the next of kin. People try to orchestrate things but God will not be mocked and will cause you to lose it all.

So when Saul lost the anointing, immediately after he is disgraced with the coming of Goliath who insulted the king and all the men of Israel as cowards. From there enters David the shepherd boy. The fight between David and Goliath was short and graphic. Boy faces giant man, they exchange theatrical barbs and challenges, giant brings out spear, boy uses sling shot, Giant is dead then beheaded. In this day and age of the Avengers, we so easily fail to recognize that the hand of God and not the glove of Thanos caused change!

When the story moves on we learn that King Saul turns out to be an insecure and psychotic politician. He did not appreciate the victory of David, which made him more popular than Saul. Even when David became a servant of the king, Saul simply did not appreciate being the second most popular man in the country. So he does everything a wily politician does, he tries to marry off David to one daughter after another, sent him on missions designed to kill him, and ultimately, Saul actually hunts David down like a criminal. Here we can see that Saul has already lost his relationship with God, has become dependent on his own judgment instead of seeking the counsel of his adviser the prophet Samuel. Even in death, Samuel still spoke to Saul because Saul sought him out, but many politicians end up losing true friends and wise counsel as their heads and hearts turn dark.

Through it all, David declines, avoids and flees from Saul while maintaining his respect for both the king and his family, even the king’s officers. Twice, David gets the opportunity or faces the test; he gets a chance to kill Saul. Yet David declares that no one can kill the Lord’s anointed and go unpunished by God. Even when David knows that he is destined to be the next king, David does nothing to accelerate the process. If only the heads of the dynasties had read and learned from the relationship of King Saul and David, they might have spared themselves the loss, humiliation and financial waste.

From an insecure lad with good looks, Saul turned into an ego-tripping king who failed to celebrate or honor the gifts and talents of other people especially the youth. He even mocked his own son Jonathan for being a loyal friend to David, telling Jonathan “You will never be king” because of David. Saul obviously did not realize that what you declare often gains life and becomes true. Saul also assumed that his lineage or sons would all want to ascend to the throne, but Jonathan wisely recognized the greatness and destiny of David. In his effort to hunt down David, Saul killed innocent people who gave food to David and ordered a non-Jew to kill a Jewish priest and his relatives all in one day. In his madness, Saul oppressed even the people around him and not just David. As a result those very people became “internally displaced” and joined David on the run. Remember: Politics is about addition not subtraction.

While this was going on, David demonstrated his humility and respect toward Saul in front of all the king’s men. I surmise that word got around how the psycho king nearly got his throat slit by David and his men but the only thing that David did was to declare his innocence and loyalty to Saul and point out that David could have killed him on two occasions. Irrationality, pride and aggression become magnified when countered by humility, calm and respect. That’s where David really beat Saul, not before men but before God.

Yes the battle of David and Goliath was dramatic, but the struggle of David and Saul was epic.

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