5. David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.
6. David had killed Goliath, the battle was over, and the Israelite army set out for home. As the army went along, women came out of each Israelite town to welcome King Saul. They were singing happy songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps.
7. They sang:Saul has killeda thousand enemies;David has killedten thousand enemies!
8. This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.”
9. Saul never again trusted David.
10. The next day the Lord let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a mad man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand.
11. Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.
12. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was helping David and was no longer helping him.
13. Saul put David in charge of a thousand soldiers and sent him out to fight.
14. The Lord helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles.
15. This made Saul even more afraid of David.
16. But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to David, because he led the army in battle.
17. One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the Lord's battles for me, I'll let you marry my eldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”
18. David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”