Reclaiming First Love

Reclaiming First Love
Words of Faith 1-8-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 3:12-19
[12] Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, "Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you." [13] "Good," said David. "I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me." [14] Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, "Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins." [15] So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. [16] Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go back home!" So he went back. [17] Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, "For some time you have wanted to make David your king. [18] Now do it! For the LORD promised David, 'By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.'" [19] Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin wanted to do.

Michal was Saul's youngest daughter. She fell in love with David after his victory over Goliath. David won her hand in marriage by killing one hundred Philistines. Apparently, this was more than just an arranged marriage. Michal later chose loyalty to David over her father, Saul. She helped David escape from Saul's plan to kill him. She was David's first wife and first love.
After Saul discovered that Michal had aided David in escaping, he acted in bitter vengeance by giving her to another man in marriage. Imagine how painful such an action would be. It provides us with some perspective when we remember that twice David had the opportunity to take Saul's life... and did not!
David honored the Lord's anointing upon Saul even more than the commitment of love he had for his wife, Michal. That was then. But now, Saul was dead. David was in a strong position to bargain, and Michal was still on his mind.
David had never forgotten his first love. When Abner proposed an agreement to turn over the northern territories to David's rule, David demanded that Abner restore his long-separated wife Michal to him as a sign of his good faith. The whole future of a united Israel was on the line, yet David saw this basic covenant as more important.
We know David's future will be fraught with certain failures. But we do not want to miss his high value of this marriage. It is difficult to understand the polygamy practiced in the time of David. Still, we don't want to be distracted by it either. The commitment he made to Michal was strong and was not forgotten just because she had been taken hostage by the sinful decisions of her father, Saul. The new husband wept over this, but he was not Michal's legitimate husband.
Michal was not a perfect person. She had issues of pride related to the trappings of the royal family. She would have difficulty assimilating into a position as one of David's wives. In a few chapters, we will see that when David danced before the Ark of the Covenant as he brought it to Jerusalem, she was enraged by his undignified behavior and criticized him to his face.
Michal probably never understood why she was second to the anointing and presence of the Lord, but she was his first wife and his first love. Nevertheless, Michal never bore David any children. So Saul's lineage was never mixed with that of David from whom our messiah came.
We don't want to miss the high place of marriage we see here. Honor for the Lord was foremost for David. He respected the anointing of the Lord above every family tie and his pride and dignity. He refused to lay a hand upon one anointed by the Lord. He also protected the anointing upon him to be king of Israel. He was not simply in a mode of self-preservation. He somehow saw the destiny that this anointing had placed upon him and protected it.
David set out to reclaim the covenant of his first love. Second only to his commitment to the Lord was his covenant marriage to Michal. This was above love of country or anything else. We don't want to miss that point. Whether we hear that personally regarding our own marriage or see the value in public policy, we need to affirm that marriage is second only to God. It was the first institution of God-- before the covenant people Israel, the church, or any government. Defense of marriage is not just a matter of lip service or popular rhetoric. It is what we need to live and breathe.

Father God, keep me in touch with the power of marriage. Whether I am honoring my own marriage, that of people around me, or the institution of marriage You have given to the church, give me the strength that David had to honor and pursue first love. Set highest in my heart my relationship with You and put marriage in that next place of honor. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.