DATE: Friday 31 July 2026
TOPIC: “AGENT OF ENVY”
TEXT: 1 Samuel 18:1-9
MEMORY VERSE: “Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”. And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David” – 1 Samuel 18:8-9.
Envy is primarily recognized by psychologists as a complex emotion – specifically a social emotion – that stem from comparing oneself to others, often resulting in feelings of inferiority, longing or resentment. We must be careful in our dealings so that we do not become agents of this dangerous emotion. Our lives must be lived in a way that will not instigate envy in the life of another person.
After David had killed Goliath, King Saul welcomed him back home and was very grateful for the victory David brought to Israel. In fact, Saul would not let David go back to his father’s house because he had accepted David as his potential son-in-law owing to the promise he had made concerning anyone who defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17:15). Until now, Saul did not have any form of envy for David because he recruited David into his army and gave him different tasks, in which David was very successful and the whole troops and officers were pleased with.
King Saul never had any negative thought about David until it was instigated by the women who came out from the different towns of Israel. In verse 7 of our passage, the bible says “As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’”. It is very possible that these women did not realise that they acted as agents of envy to instigate the king against David. They would have thought that they were only trying to celebrate the victory David had brought to Israel, not knowing that it struck a wrong chord on king Saul. This was what instigated that negative emotion against David to the extent that from that day on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David (vs 9).
What if these women had only celebrated David for the battle he won? What if the women just sang the praise of David without comparing him with king Saul? Can we say that they were careless with the way they celebrated David without being sensitive to how Saul felt about it? Or was it wrong that they came to celebrate Israel’s victory brought by David?
Our lesson today is that we should not be agents of envy. Do not let someone else be instigated by the words you say or by the actions you carry out. You must be very sensitive to how people feel by putting yourself in their shoes. Above all, you must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things. He will direct you on what to say, how to say it and when to say it. May we become agents of unity, peace and love instead of being agents of jealousy and envy.
PRAYER: Lord, let my words and actions be full of grace and seasoned with salt, so that everyone I relate with will be edified. May I not be an agent of envy to anyone. Remove every seed of envy from me and make me an agent of progress, peace and unity, Amen.