Michal "A Victim Of Betrayal"

The woman I am going to talk about today is Michal. Michal was the daughter of Saul, who was the first king of Israel. She also became the first wife of David. You can read about her in 1 Samuel 14:49; 18:20-28; 19:11-17; 25:44; 2 Samuel 3:13-14; 16:16-23; 21:18; 1 Chronicles 15:29. The meaning of Michal’s name is “Who is like God?”

Seeing as we just celebrated Mother’s Day this month I am going to introduce her as the “The Woman Who Never Had A Mother’s Day.”

When I looked Michal up in my “Women Of Faith Bible”. She was titled as “Royal Chattel”, Michal was clearly royalty because she was the daughter of the king. However, she was merely chattel – personal property sold to the highest bidder. The Websters Dictionary defines chattel as a moveable item of personal property and they refer you to see cattle.

Michal was a victim of betrayal by men, and to make it so bad she was a victim by the men she loved and should of been most able to trust.

Michal was first betrayed by her father. Saul used Michal’s love for David as a snare to try to kill David. Saul was jealous of David and wanted him dead, so he promised David he could marry his daughter Michal if he brought him 100 Philistine foreskins, just knowing that David would be killed himself. David came back with 200 Philistine foreskins and Saul gave his daughter Michal in marriage. After David came back with the foreskins the Bible says in 1 Samuel 18:28-29 “When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David. Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.” Later on Saul plotted to kill David again and Michal helped David to escape, knowing it would be a long time if ever that she would see him again. There is no record that Michal had David’s faith in God’s protecting power. She no doubt believed in idols. 1 Samuel 18:12-13 said that she took an idol and placed it on the bed covering it to make it look like David was in the bed asleep after helping him to escape.

Now just imagine this is her a father, a father who you are supposed to be able to trust, a father that is supposed to love you. But rather than seek the happiness of his daughter, Saul was quick to use her as a snare to get rid of David, the man that Michal loved. He was totally insensitive of the pain that David’s death would cause Michal.

Now some time after David’s escape Saul again ignored his daughter’s feelings and married her to another man Paltiel, so again rather than value his daughter as a person and show concern for her, Saul used her as a pawn to gain his own private ends.

But the saying goes, what others intend for our bad, God turns for the good. To her surprise Paltiel was a good man who cherished her. Now Michal more than likely became content with the marriage to Paltiel and over the years the memory of David probably faded away.

Michal was also betrayed by her husband David, the first man she loved and married. Despite the loyalty Michal Shown toward David and the risks she had taken for him, he didn’t try to get his young bride back after his escape. Instead during that time it was polygamous times and David married Abigail and Ahinoam. It wasn’t until after Saul’s death and David becoming king, but he ruled only part of the kingdom that he remembered Michal and demanded her back, after all David had paid for her and she belonged to him. Michal became a political prize, a bargaining chip when Saul’s general came over to his side. David did not want her back because of the love he had for her, but rather for political reasons. This showed that he was just as willing to use Michal as her father had, for his own personal gain. Now keep in mind at least ten years had gone by that Michal was with her second husband, who loved her, and she was taken away from him. Can you imagine?? Can you imagine how Michal must have felt being treated as nothing but property by the two men she loved. Michal had to have really felt betrayed. Her real feelings showed in 2 Samuel 6:14-16, when David saw that the ark was set in the tabernacle.

 2 Samuel 6:16 says Michal “despised him in her heart.” Michal’s anger crystallized into hatred for David. She bitterly criticized him after he vigorously danced before the ark of the Lord. She did not understand the significance of the occasion, nor David’s joy before the Lord. Michal must have thought him the world’s greatest hypocrite. How could a person who treated her as David had, love God?

After all the betrayal in her life, Michal was so filled with bitterness she simply could not sense God’s presence or feel his love.

The last mention of Michal in Scripture is a sad statement assessing the rest of her life, the worst sort of curse for a woman of her time: 2 Samuel 6:23 says, she “had no children to the day of her life”. That is why I introduced her as the woman who never had a mothers day.

First we see Michal as a young, beautiful, loving, courageous girl. But at the end we see a disillusioned, bickering woman with an inner poverty of spirit, one oppressed with many tragedies.

How could there be any happiness for this daughter Michal, who, like her father, had rejected God in her life?

However, the real tragedy is that Michal’s mistreatment by her father and by David made her so bitter that she could not appreciate God. Being a victim by the two of the men she loved and feeling the pain she felt caused her to lose sight of God’s grace. The root of bitterness that sprang up in her heart grew until it filled her life.