Whenever we look at ourselves, we must remember that everything we have is God's gift to us. Paul says to the Corinthians, "What do you have that you weren't given?" And therefore, on what basis can we have pride? Likewise Jesus condemns the Pharisee who says, "I thank God that I am not like other men." Even if he is perhaps paying lip service to the idea that God has made him as he is, still he views the advantages the educated Jew had as being his intrinsically, making him superior to other men, instead of recognizing that whatever gifts he has are only God's gifts to him and therefore no reason for him to boast or be lifted up with pride.

Understanding that all blessings and gifts come from God will combat pride and work humility. It will also teach us to use our gifts to God's glory and to further His purposes, not to glorify ourselves and feed our own lusts. This is the contrast we see here between David and Saul: David knew his strength and success were God's gifts, so he used those gifts to glorify God and do His will. Saul, lifted up with pride, glorified himself with his gifts.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul combats the similar pride of the Corinthians by teaching them that all of their gifts come not from themselves but from God. If that is true, it must likewise be true that those gifts are to be used not for our own agenda or glorification, but rather for the good of the church.

Wicked Men Envy What God Has Given Others

But we see in Saul a fundamental mistake: he viewed his life as existing for his own glory and purposes. He was self-centered. Because he viewed his blessings and gifts as existing for his glory instead of for God's, it is then only natural that he envied anyone else who appears to have superior gifts. Saul especially loved the praise of others and the reputation of being the savior of Israel, and so when David appeared to receive more praise, Saul was furious. The text says it was "evil" in his eyes. Likely the songs of the women were not even intended to portray David as ten times better than Saul; it was simply Jewish parallelism meant to indicate that both Saul and David were great and victorious warriors.

Envy is a major problem, a sin which leads to all other kinds of sins. The Bible often speaks of it as covetousness, which is of course prohibited in the tenth commandment. Proverbs 27:4 says, "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" Envy in particular leads to murder, slander, and theft. King Ahab envied Naboth's vineyard, and the result was that he slandered Naboth in order to kill him. Saul envied David and tried to kill him. And the Pharisees envied Jesus and slandered Him in order to kill Him.

Like Saul, we all have the thing we value about ourselves, the thing we think makes us important or significant. Perhaps our looks, our money, our intelligence, our popularity, our power in some organization. If I view some earthly thing as the thing that makes me important or significant, then if someone else has more of that thing, that makes me less significant in my mind. To the person who is the center of his own universe, this is intolerable.

I remember the first time as an adult that I met someone who was better than I at everything. He was smarter, more popular, a better student, a harder worker and a more serious Christian. My first reaction was to feel the desire to tear him down somehow, find some fault, some way that I was better. But I came to understand that such a reaction was envy. And the need to tear someone down, to take away something from their value or worth in order to make myself feel better, is a form of murder.  Jesus said if I hate my brother in my heart, I'm guilty of murder. If I call a man a fool, I am in danger of hellfire. And James tells us that our spirit lusts, leading to envy, which itself leads to wars and fights among us.

You see this in the common tendency for women to see a beautiful woman and assume she's a terrible person. Or for men to see a rich man and assume he got his money dishonestly or unfairly somehow. It's envy. There are men who hate to see a woman in love with any man but themselves, who resent anyone getting a promotion other than themselves, who hate to hear anyone praised except for themselves. This is envy, and it flows out of the belief that I am the center of my own universe, and that any good thing exists for the purpose of making me happy. It flows from rebellion against God, refusal to submit to the truth that all good things come from God and serve His purposes, not ours.

Paul says that covetousness is idolatry. If I am the center of my own universe, if money or popularity or pleasure is my god, then I can never have enough. I'll never be satisfied with what I have. And therefore I will resent and hate anyone who has more money or popularity or pleasure than I do. This is the root of envy: self-worship and the bottomless lust that always comes with that.

And so Saul, in rebellion against God's providence, envied David because David's gifts and abilities threatened to take some of the glory away from him, and would possibly even be a rival to his throne. Saul's envy led to suspicion, hatred, and attempted murder.

God's People Rejoice in God's Gifts, Wherever They Appear

Now compare this to Jonathan. David was in fact a much more realistic rival to Jonathan than to Saul. Jonathan was the heir to the throne, but now had a very famous and popular brother-in-law, when David married Saul's daughter Michal. Rather than seeing a rival to his own ambitions, Jonathan saw a young man who was a great asset to God's people. Jonathan trusted God and sought His will, as we saw in previous accounts, and so his concern is for God's glory and therefore the good of God's people, not his own personal agenda and advancement. Giving his robe and weapons to David was a great honor, expressing his affection and confidence in David.

Jonathan's reaction to David shows the difference between one desiring his own good and one desiring the good of God's people. One who desires one's own good will always be envious of anyone having something they desire, since that will be that much less that they have themselves. But one who desires the good of God's people will rejoice in the good of others. If there are others in the church richer than I am or smarter, or more popular, I will be glad for it since it means that God has put those good gifts in the body of His people and I will be excited to see how God uses those gifts to further the good of the kingdom.

There is nothing to fear even of those gifts which exist outside of God's people. God used the wealth of Darius to rebuild Jerusalem; the power of Pharaoh to protect Jacob's family; the strength of Jehu to destroy Baal worship. All things work together for the good of God's people. And so the Proverbs tell us not to envy the wicked man, because his gifts can be used for God's glory and the good of God's people, just as those inside the church. At any rate, those gifts just become a cause of judgment against the man using his gifts not for God's glory but for his own benefit.

All things truly are in God's hand. God is prospering His people and guarding and growing His church and will continue to do so. When this is our focus, then there's no need, no purpose in coveting for ourselves what God gives to others. God is working the perfection of all of His people, and each one of us has exactly what is needed to accomplish that end.

Envy is something that maybe we don't think about a whole lot; it's hard to admit in yourself and difficult to diagnose in others. We certainly should be very cautious about thinking we know the heart motivations driving others. And yet envy comes up over and over again in the Bible as the reason that wicked people do what they do, especially when wicked people hate the righteous (Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, David and Saul, Ahab and Naboth, Daniel and the others in the court, Mordecai and Haman, Jesus and the Pharisees, Paul and Peter and the Pharisees). Over and over we see righteous people doing what they ought to, being blessed as a result, and then being hated and attacked by wicked people envious of what God gives them.

If we can't see into people's hearts, how should this affect our thinking?

First, as with all the teachings in the Scripture of God's truth, we must look into our own hearts. When we are resentful and angry toward others in our lives, we should examine to what extent it is driven by envy. There is no good reason to hold bitterness and malice toward someone, but when we understand exactly why we are angry toward someone, that can enable us to overcome anger as well as to grow in our own spiritual walk. If I am envious toward someone, it shows my own lack of thankfulness toward God for what He has given me and is doing in my life.

Secondly, when we prayerfully try to do God's will in our lives and God blesses us, we ought not be surprised when we come under attack as a result. Sometimes we have a real need to believe if there's a conflict, there must be fault on both sides. Often that's true, but not always. Joseph didn't do anything to deserve being sold into slavery. Abel didn't do anything to deserve being killed. David didn't deserve being hated by Saul and hunted for his life. It was just envy, plain and simple. In rebellion against God, at the center of their own universe, lusting after the fulfillment of their own desires and ambitions, wicked men hated anyone who had what they did not, or even who had a little of what they wanted. And in their hatred and envy, they lashed out in violence and murder.

But the cross of Christ changes all that. When we have union with Christ through His blood, we come to understand that we are not the center of the universe. Our best good is not accomplished by pursuing our own lusts and advancing our own agenda. Our best good is accomplished by submitting to God's will for our lives. He will accomplish our perfection, and He accomplishes that in the body of God's people. So there's no reason to envy what someone else has. God is saving me, perfecting me, accomplishing every blessing in my life, and if I trust Him and believe in that, then why envy someone else? What greater blessing could I have than what God is already working in me?

Christ's death and resurrection grants us salvation, grants us all things. It shows us the nature of that salvation. Salvation is not accomplished by seeking our own glory or relying on our own strength. It's not accomplished by putting ourselves at the center of the universe and then trying to take from everyone else what will make us happy. It's accomplished by sacrifice, by service, by giving up my own agenda, being thankful for what God has done for me, and seeking to do good for others.

So trust in God. Be thankful for the amazing blessings He gives you. Put away envying, put away focusing on what others have. Focus instead on what you can do for others. The result is peace and joy, and a life of service in the body of God's people.