David: Dealing with Jealousy

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "David: Dealing with Jealousy" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Question:
1. Have you ever been jealous of some one or some thing? List the top 3 things you have ever been jealous of.
2. How did you handel that jealousy? Did it effect a friendship or relationship?

This past week, I was at the Beach on a little vacation. It was nice weather and we got to hit the beach every day. We built castles and great walls to see if they could with stand the pounding ocean waves. It was really fun.

However, when we walked on the beach, I became a little insecure. Not only were there tons of people out there, but they all seemed to look like buff body builders. They looked like Arnold, but I looked like the farmer's tan wimp!

Just kidding, of course. There may have been 1 or 2 that looked buff and I didn’t look that weak. However, when you go out there and take off your shirt, you do get a little subconscious and start comparing. In fact, you might look at someone elses body and become a little envious or jealous of it…wanting that type of body for yourself.

Can jealousy ever be a good thing?

Very rarely will jealousy ever lead to anything good. In fact, in Proverbs 27:4, it says that jealousy leads to destructiveness.

Read Proverbs 27:4

As we continue our series on David, we are going to look at how jealousy took a potentially great situation for David and all of Israel and turned it into a nightmare.

Scripture

We pick up right after David killed Goliath

Read 1 Samuel 18:6-9; 12-16
1. How did the people respond to David and Saul?
2. How did Saul respond to this?
3. Why was Saul jealous of him?

Here we have a mighty entrance in which one of the greatest victories of all time happened (forget all those great Cowboy Super Bowl victories - as great as they were, they don't come close to David's victory). The crowds are roaring and the celebration has begun.

However, the turning point in the relationship between Saul and David happened with a simple chant - David has kill his tens of thousands and Saul his thousands! As great as David's victory over Goliath was, I think the crowd was a little over zealous in their remarks. None the less, they were made and this statement rang over and over again in Saul's ears.

How would you have responded to this statement? What could Saul have done differently than to get jealous?

Unfortunately, Saul became very jealous of David. For one, he had just won over the Israelites. For another, God was with David and not Saul - and Saul knew this! What a crummy feeling Saul must have had.

Saul’s jealousy led to his hatred of David which led him to try to kill him.

Think of all the good that could have become of a David and Saul partnership. They could have gone out and destroyed many armies and impacted societies tremendously for God.

However, what happened? Saul became so consumed by his jealousy of David that he tried time and time again to kill him. David became Saul’s enemy rather than his help.

Application

How should you handle jealousy?
1. Seek Godly Wisdom (Read James 3:14-17). It is:
Pure
Peace loving
Gentile and will yield to others
Full of mercy
Show no partiality
Sincere
2. Have the attitude of Christ (Read Philippians 2:3-5)
3. Recognize the good this happening for that person and rejoice for/with that person.
4. Recognize who God desires you to be.

Remember, God has a plan for you to succeed and prosper. We have to turn to Him, seek His wisdom and follow His gameplan for our life. Let’s rejoice with those who are prospering now, regardless of their view towards us and others.

Let’s not let jealously ruin a good thing in our friendships with others like it ruined Saul and David’s friendship.

What is 1 thing that you can do this week to handle jealousy better? Write it down and start doing it! Seek Godly wisdom and He will guide you.