Kingslayer Week 3 — Envy: How Saul Was Slain (and How We Can Survive)

Introduction

  • Speaker: Pastor “Bro” (member of Wakepoint’s teaching team).
  • Context: Third message in the “Kingslayer” series (previous kingslayers: Nebuchadnezzar—pride; Solomon— isolation & poor relationship choices).
  • Setting: Super-Bowl Sunday; casual comments about buffalo-chicken dip and the missional potential of hosting game-day parties.

Envy Defined & Distinguished

Working definition: “Envy is resenting God’s goodness in other people’s lives while ignoring His goodness in mine.”

  • Dictionary phrase: “an evil eye”—a sin that begins with what we see.
  • Unlike most other vices, envy offers zero upfront pleasure; it starts bad and stays bad.
  • Envy simultaneously opposes every virtue: humility, forgiveness, generosity, self-control, etc.
  • Comparison to other sins: lust may feel thrilling, anger briefly cathartic, greed temporarily secure—but envy is joyless from the outset.

Cultural & Scriptural Snapshots

  1. Modern lyrics—Olivia Rodrigo, “Jealousy, Jealousy”: honest confession of social-media comparison.
  2. Psalm 73 (Asaph)—raw journal of envy’s inner corrosion (“my heart was bitter; I was torn up inside”).
  3. Observation: We envy those most like us (engineers → engineers, moms → other moms, pastors → pastors, kings → kings).

The Rise & Fall of King Saul

Israel’s Envious Demand for a King

  • Period of the Judges (≈ 300 yrs) ends; people compare themselves to other nations: “We want a king like the others.”
  • God to Samuel: “They are rejecting Me, not you” (1 Sm 8).

Saul’s Early Promise

  • Physically striking: “most handsome man in Israel,” a head taller than everyone.
  • Initially humble & wise; anointed as first king at age 30.

Decline into Disobedience

  • Power goes to his head; repeated rebellion (1 Sm 15).
  • God’s lament: “I am sorry I ever made Saul king.”

Trigger Event: David’s Triumph

  • Victory parade song:
    • “Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten-thousands.”
  • Saul keeps a jealous (evil) eye on David from that day forward (1 Sm 18:9).
  • Saul’s fear: Lord with David; public favor, Jonathan’s friendship, Michal’s love—“He remained David’s enemy for the rest of his life.”

Tragic End

  • Saul spends 42 years chasing a perceived rival; potential wasted; dies on Mt Gilboa, ruined by envy—the “Kingslayer.”

The Anatomy of Envy: Symptoms & Consequences

  1. Ruins Health

    • Peace → gratitude → joy disappear; replaced by anxiety, hypertension, insomnia.
    • Proverbs 14:30: “A heart at peace gives life … envy rots the bones.”

  2. Realigns Priorities (life-balance skewed)

    • Ecclesiastes 4:4—most driven success is “chasing the wind.”
    • Mississippi steamboat race metaphor: winning by burning the cargo (family, ministry, friendships).

  3. Ravages Relationships

    • James 4:1-2 — quarrels sourced in “wanting what you don’t have.”
    • Personal illustration: wishing a teammate would fail so you get playing time.
    • Saul alienates Jonathan, Michal, & the nation.

  4. Routes Toward Further Evil

    • Envy recruits greed, anger, gossip, slander (James 3:16).
    • Biblical arc: Adam & Eve envy God; Cain envies Abel; religious leaders envy Jesus (Mk 15:10).

Slaying the Kingslayer: Practical Strategies

1. Resist Comparisons

  • No win outcome:
    • Compare up → inferiority & envy.
    • Compare down → pride & false security.
  • Galatians 6:4-5: “Make a careful exploration of who you are … don’t compare.”
  • Illustration: Pastor Bro refusing to measure his ministry against “Josh Howerton’s biceps.”

2. Respond to Others with Love

  • 1 Cor 13:4—love “does not envy.”
  • Three counterfeit reactions (Ed Young):
    • Plastic praise—false compliments w/ caveats (“She looks great, must be on Ozempic”).
    • Mean motives—assume ulterior self-promotion.
    • Condescending compliments—back-handed (“Nice truck … but reliability’s awful”).
  • Biblical mandate: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15).
  • Living “in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25-26) empowers genuine celebration of others’ success.

3. Reflect on God’s Goodness

  • Gratitude is the corrective lens for the evil eye.
  • Paul’s secret (Php 4:11-13): learned contentment in any circumstance because “I can do everything through Him.”
  • Practice: daily inventory; pray “the Eighteens” (Jewish benedictions); build modern “stone stacks”—journals, scrapbooks, photo walls.
  • Psalm 103: “Forget not all His benefits … forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies.”
  • Service shifts perspective: homeless shelters, global missions, food pantry, nursing-home visits, SOAR prom for the disabled.

Illustrative Extras

  • 25\% discount envy example; scrolling social feeds.
  • Engineered envy: moms, musicians, athletes, politicians.
  • J.D. Power truck reliability quip.
  • Lakers future joke (“Too soon?”).

Ethical & Theological Implications

  • Envy is not a “lesser” sin; NT places it with deceit, orgies, murder.
  • A direct assault on God’s sovereignty & benevolence (“Why them, God?”).
  • Kingdom perspective: God as Benefactor, we as Beneficiaries— life, shelter, salvation all grace-gifts.

Conclusion & Prayer Themes

  • Holy Spirit offers power to slay envy before envy slays us.
  • Core petitions:
    • “Father, help me resist comparisons.”
    • “Spirit, teach me to rejoice in others’ wins.”
    • “Jesus, reopen my eyes to Your daily benefits.”
  • Commitment: stay humble, stay grateful, walk in step with the Spirit, and make envy a thing of the past.