She Despised Him In Her Heart

As David took the ark of the covenant up unto Jerusalem, he “danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.” In the midst of this celebration, though, there was one who was not happy about it: “And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” After David blessed the people and offered burnt offerings, and gave food to everyone, he “returned to bless his household.” He then met with Michal who said with sarcasm, “How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!” David’s defended himself in these words, “It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord.” He was doing this for the Lord, He was rejoicing in the God of Israel who had allowed Him to make Jerusalem their capital and bring the ark of the covenant up in the eyes of all the people. Michal did not seem to appreciate the greatness of the moment in glorifying the God of Israel. But then he added these stinging words, “And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour” (2 Samuel 6:14-22). The word vile here gives this quite a negative connotation, but other translations focus more on his humility: “And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.” Whatever the tone was exactly of his words, they clearly did nothing to mend the rift growing between them.  

                So what are we to learn from this exchange? On the one hand I think we see compelling characteristics of David; he was willing to be abased among the people and to be among them praising the Lord. He wasn’t too good to roll up his sleeves and dance with them in celebration of the Lord’s goodness to them. He understood the importance of the ark of the covenant and helped all of Israel come together in unity worshipping Jehovah. But on the other hand, it is hard to read his words to Michal without seeing a prideful husband who, even if he was not in the wrong, was willing to let this little event ruin, or at least continue to ruin, their relationship. The final commentary on Michal came right after this account: “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death” (2 Samuel 6:23). In other words, they were husband and wife in name only and it may even be that they never spoke again. David had as many wives as he wanted; she had only him, the one whom she had loved at first (1 Samuel 18:20). And he had originally killed 200 Philistines just to have her as his wife, showing how in the beginning he had loved here. But here by this point there seemed to be no love left between them. Undoubtedly Michal’s bitterness towards him was at least in part due to his many wives of which she was then just one. Her accusation in this account that he was shameless before the maidservants was no doubt an allusion to his many marriages and a foreshadowing of his ultimate downfall with Bathsheba. And so as I consider this story I think both David and Michal were in the wrong; neither was devoted enough to their spouse to swallow their pride and love each other like they had in the past. We see how the prideful words of both drove a wedge between them that was never healed. Perhaps if David could have found more humility in this moment and loved this his first wife with all his heart, they would have been united again in love and he could have prevented the great tragedy that followed thereafter.