Michal: Before the mess

1 Samuel 14:49, 18:17-30, 19:11-17, 25:44, II Samuel 3:13-16, 6:16-23

Before I get into the probability vs. possibilities of Michal's untold story, I need to give the facts. We first learn about Michal in 1 Sam 14:49 simply as the younger daughter of King Saul. Later, we learn that because of her love for David, King Saul gave her to David instead of his older daughter, Merab. Saul was pleased to do this. Soon after her marriage, David is forced to flee from Saul's palace because Saul wants him dead. Michal learns of the severity of the danger and helps David escape (alone). To do this, she had to lie to her father which hurt her  father. She doesn't see him for a very great time. In I Sam 25:44, we learn that King Saul gave Michal away to be married to a different man despite her being married to David already. In II Sam 3:13, David demands for her back, and she is taken from her husband as "her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her." Finally we read about Michal a final time in II Sam 6:16-23. She has ridiculed David because he was dancing and acting drunk at the returning of the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. This section ends with David being upset with Michal and Michal having "no children to the day of her death."

Seriously, this story is one of the saddest stories ever told. She's a princess in love with the king's worker (whom her dad hates), honorably helps her loved husband escape only to be left alone for years and given away to another man, and finally ends up never being loved physically or emotionally by her husband till the end of her life.

Because Michal's story is so long, I'm going to put it in two parts: before the mess and after the mess.

I like to the think of Michal as a child. Whether she was born in the palace or right before her father was anointed king, she would have dreamed about being a wife and a mother like most girls do. I would imagine even more so for her culture because so much pressure was put on women to bear sons. Even more so for her, a princess. As she grew older she would have realized she had no say in anything. She was a tool in her father's game. If Saul said go run off a cliff and die, she would have to do it. Therefore, she could only dream of marrying someone she loved and only pray she wasn't given to someone she despised.

I don't want to go too far and say that her and her father had a bad relationship, however. Saul did choose to to give her to David instead of another woman or daughter. The Bible almost makes it seem like he did it purely because she "loved" him. (Yes, the Bible says she "loved" him therefore I'm believing it's true love). He must have had a soft spot in his heart for Michal. Even later on when she deceives him, he doesn't kill her or punish her. He just asks her how she could have done this to him. He's genuinely hurt. I do believe Saul and Michal loved each other.

Let's talk about her and David for a second. She loved him. We don't know his feelings, but nevertheless she loved him so much that everybody knew it. I imagine she felt all these feelings toward David, but she felt so much pain with it because she was completely powerless with her life. In her mind, she would never marry David. She knew she would be married to someone of importance that her father had to please or make a bargain with. She also knew her sister would be married first. Even when word started spreading that Saul was going to give a daughter to David, she knew it wouldn't be her. She would stay up nights crying or in anger at her father or just her situation as a princess. Maybe she even talked herself into believing that her duty to her nation was more important than her happiness and left it at that. Imagine the hurt she must have felt when she heard the news that her sister would get David. I know I would feel absolutely horrible. Then imagine her sitting down in her room one day and a messenger comes in to tell her she will be given to David instead of Merab because Merab was to marry someone else. Her heart would hit the roof and ache all at the same time. Her dreams actually came true. Maybe she would be like I tend to be and just not get her hopes up until she has said "I do" because if she got her hopes up then it would hurt that much more when everything fell apart. Maybe she was opposite and started planning her future with David at nights in a journal.

Now we know that Saul's intentions were evil in giving David Michal. He wanted to use her as a "snare". I don't want to get into that, however, because that's his issues. I don't believe she knew she was intended as a snare and even if she did I don't believe she cared. She was getting her man, the one she loved. Her life would see so perfect at that point. I'm glad she had that overwhelming happiness because her life is going to be miserable from this point on. Right now, however, she is happy.

I will leave it at that for today. Second part, Michal: After the mess, will be coming soon.