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"The Green-Eyed Monster"
1 Samuel 18:6-16
While reading his newspaper, this man’s wife comes in and wallops him across the head with a frying pan. “Hey, what was that for?” he cries out in pain. “That’s for the piece of paper in your pants pocket that had ‘Mary Ellen’ written on it!” she shouts back. “Don’t be ridiculous!” he tries to explain. “’Mary Ellen’ was the name of the horse I bet on last week.” Taken aback, she responds, “Oh, I’m so sorry then.” Four days later, he comes home and camps out in the same chair when his wife again pounds him across the back of the head with a frying pan. “Yeow, what now?” he cries out. Arms on her hips, she says, “That’s because a little while ago your horse called and asked to talk to you!” Now that woman’s got a reason to be jealous! But more often than not, we get jealous about things we shouldn’t be.
It’s been called the green-eyed monster. Maybe it’s because green is the color associated with sickness—that people’s skin takes on a yellowish-green tinge when they’re seriously ill. Or maybe it’s because green is the color of unripe fruit that cause stomach pain when ingested. Whichever the case, Shakespeare was fond of the phrase—and maybe even coined it—“the green-eyed monster.” He used it in The Merchant of Venice, and again eight years later in Othello, when the character Iago pronounces, “O beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” I heard a preacher say, “Jealousy is when we resent God’s goodness in other people’s lives and ignore God’s goodness in our own.”
This scriptural story is about a king whose jealousy gets all worked up over a shepherd boy who’s actually just done him a huge favor—who’s just pulled off an incredible feat by defeating an overgrown, menacing enemy. Sure, we know that King Saul’s days are numbered because God is so disappointed with him. But by the grace of that same God, Saul still has some 25 years more to be the king of Israel. Besides, he has every reason to be ecstatic! David has just killed Goliath; the Israelites have chased off the Philistines; the whole nation is celebrating the fabulous victory. Saul should be saying, “Wow! Is life ever good! Things are going my way!”
It’s true that David’s victory made a national hero of him; it’s true that it also entitled him to the hand of King Saul’s daughter; but it’s also true that it aroused feelings of jealousy in Saul. Something Saul hears causes him to imagine David to be a grave threat. And this perceived threat drives a wedge between Saul and David that with each passing moment becomes ever more severe—setting in motion devious attempts against David’s life. What did Saul hear to turn his appreciation for David into jealousy? As the men were returning home after David had killed Goliath, the women pour out of all the villages of Israel singing and dancing to welcome King Saul with tambourines, festive songs, and lutes. In playful frolic the women sing, “Saul kills by the thousand, and David by the ten thousand!”
Of course this wasn’t meant to be a slam on King Saul; it was an ancient Israelite custom for the women to compose victory songs celebrating the military successes of their fighting men. Indeed, the gist of the song is that Saul and David are a killer combination—that they’re a mighty team! But Saul just doesn’t hear it that way. Jealousy seizes him; the green-eyed monster takes over. So as the victory song festers within him, he rehearses over and again in his own mind that they credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Before you know it they’ll be giving him the kingdom! And the next verse tells how this jealousy became his focus, for from that moment on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
When was the last time you watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Remember that wicked queen looking in the mirror and saying, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” The mirror—being a rather smart mirror—always proclaimed the queen to be the fairest. That is, until the day the mirror let it slip that Snow White had surpassed her in beauty! But what was really so bad about being the second fairest in all the land? After all, she’d been the fairest all those years, and by now surely the queen was starting to put some age on that face—and even Oil of Olay can’t work absolute miracles! Still, the queen was insanely jealous, and for the rest of her shortened life she tries to get rid of Snow White.
Well, the same thing happens to Saul. Saul’s jealousy quickly grows into displeasure. The Hebrew word for displeasing means inner turmoil. In essence, his stomach turns, and then that displeasure quickly grows into anger. The Hebrew word for anger is charah, and it means to burn within. So you could say Saul does a slow burn, and as his fear and worry intensifies, he becomes paranoid. His self-talk loses control; he’s afraid of his own shadow; his view of David as a giant-killer morphs into a view of him as a king-dethroner! For when imagination is fueled by jealousy, suspicion takes over. And at that point, dangerous things start to occur.
I wish I could say that Saul eventually figures out his problem and gets past the green-eyed monster. But he doesn’t; indeed, it gets worse! For the rest of Saul’s life he simply cannot stomach David’s popularity, and he does everything within his power—both overtly and covertly—to try to get rid of David. With his jealous imagination as his guide, Saul determines that he is not going to sit around waiting for David to steal the kingdom from him. He’ll take it upon himself to make sure David never becomes king! So he picks up a spear and hurls it at the boy hero. David ducks out of the way, but to David’s amazement, the king picks up another spear and throws it at him as well—missing a second time. So Saul sends David off to the battlefield, where David does quite well, which only serves to make Saul even more insecure. In the back of his mind, the king hopes that the Philistines will do what he’s failed to do: Take David out! Everything Saul does from this point on is motivated by his secret—or not so secret—desire to see David killed.
Now David has done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment. He has served God, killed a giant, submitted himself to his superior, and behaved properly. And even after these attempts on his life, David continued to protect and comfort Saul. Maybe you too have been on this side of jealousy. Maybe people have been jealous of you and have even attacked you in some way. Maybe they’re intimidated by your strengths, which make them conscious of their own shortcomings. It would be the most natural thing to strike back at them or to avoid them altogether, but the better response—the godly response—is to befriend them. Pray that God will give you the strength to continue to love them—just as David kept on loving Saul.
For while Saul’s earlier popularity made him proud and arrogant, David remained humble even while the entire nation was praising him. And take special note of this: Even though David succeeded in almost everything he tried and became famous throughout the land, he refused to use his popular support to his advantage against Saul. Let’s follow David’s lead; don’t allow popularity to twist your perception of your own importance. Sure, it’s easy to be humble when you’re not on center stage, but how will you react when praise and honor comes your way?
In Saul’s case, jealousy emerged as a deadly sin. His suspicion of David shackled the king in a prison of his own making. Because he operated in that tight radius of fear, worry, and paranoia, Saul’s great goal in life became twisted. Instead of leading Israel on to bigger and better things, he focused on making David’s life miserable. Saul’s madness caused him to lose sight of all wholesome and responsible objectives. And there’s a lesson here: Jealousy is a tremendous waste of emotional energy. When the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head in our lives, we need to ask ourselves, Why in the world am I doing this? Is being jealous going to make my life any better? Will it get me the recognition that I deserve? For jealousy doesn’t accomplish anything—well, besides stressing you out and raising your blood pressure!
So how do you stop jealousy from getting a foothold in your life? First, you need to admit that you struggle with it. Stop denying it; stop excusing it; stop justifying it; stop minimizing it. Come clean! As Barney Fife would say, “Nip it in the bud!” Admit that you might struggle to be happy when good things happen to other people—primarily because you often wish those things would happen to you!
Second, you need to be grateful for who you are and what you have. Tell the Lord that “I might not have his money, but I thank You for my good health. I thank You for a nice place to live—for living in a safe part of this world. I thank You for the food I eat and the clothes I wear. And I thank You most of all for what Jesus has done in my life.” For as the apostle Paul wrote, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
Third, you need to remember that you are special in God’s eyes. Sometimes when we express jealousy, what we’re really thinking is I wish I could be as special as that guy; I wish I was popular as she is. All the while God is trying to get across to you that you have no reason to feel that way, that He made you, that He loves you, that already are and always will be special in His eyes!
Fourth, you need to concentrate on being the best person you can be. Breaking free from jealousy means focusing on what you need to do and not on what others are already doing! What talents and skills has God blessed you with? Use them! What financial status has the Lord currently placed you in? Make the most of it! What family and friends do you have? Love them with compassionate! Be grateful for who you are; remember that you are special; be the best you can be!
Let us pray: O Lord, remind us of all that You have blessed us with. Help us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on You—to recognize the good things You’ve granted us—so as not to be envious or jealous of the good things You’ve granted others. May we live these lives You’ve given us with eternally grateful hearts—all for Your sake.
simply click (or copy and paste) this link:
youtu.be/x--Vsfz4CC4?t=300
"The Green-Eyed Monster"
1 Samuel 18:6-16
While reading his newspaper, this man’s wife comes in and wallops him across the head with a frying pan. “Hey, what was that for?” he cries out in pain. “That’s for the piece of paper in your pants pocket that had ‘Mary Ellen’ written on it!” she shouts back. “Don’t be ridiculous!” he tries to explain. “’Mary Ellen’ was the name of the horse I bet on last week.” Taken aback, she responds, “Oh, I’m so sorry then.” Four days later, he comes home and camps out in the same chair when his wife again pounds him across the back of the head with a frying pan. “Yeow, what now?” he cries out. Arms on her hips, she says, “That’s because a little while ago your horse called and asked to talk to you!” Now that woman’s got a reason to be jealous! But more often than not, we get jealous about things we shouldn’t be.
It’s been called the green-eyed monster. Maybe it’s because green is the color associated with sickness—that people’s skin takes on a yellowish-green tinge when they’re seriously ill. Or maybe it’s because green is the color of unripe fruit that cause stomach pain when ingested. Whichever the case, Shakespeare was fond of the phrase—and maybe even coined it—“the green-eyed monster.” He used it in The Merchant of Venice, and again eight years later in Othello, when the character Iago pronounces, “O beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” I heard a preacher say, “Jealousy is when we resent God’s goodness in other people’s lives and ignore God’s goodness in our own.”
This scriptural story is about a king whose jealousy gets all worked up over a shepherd boy who’s actually just done him a huge favor—who’s just pulled off an incredible feat by defeating an overgrown, menacing enemy. Sure, we know that King Saul’s days are numbered because God is so disappointed with him. But by the grace of that same God, Saul still has some 25 years more to be the king of Israel. Besides, he has every reason to be ecstatic! David has just killed Goliath; the Israelites have chased off the Philistines; the whole nation is celebrating the fabulous victory. Saul should be saying, “Wow! Is life ever good! Things are going my way!”
It’s true that David’s victory made a national hero of him; it’s true that it also entitled him to the hand of King Saul’s daughter; but it’s also true that it aroused feelings of jealousy in Saul. Something Saul hears causes him to imagine David to be a grave threat. And this perceived threat drives a wedge between Saul and David that with each passing moment becomes ever more severe—setting in motion devious attempts against David’s life. What did Saul hear to turn his appreciation for David into jealousy? As the men were returning home after David had killed Goliath, the women pour out of all the villages of Israel singing and dancing to welcome King Saul with tambourines, festive songs, and lutes. In playful frolic the women sing, “Saul kills by the thousand, and David by the ten thousand!”
Of course this wasn’t meant to be a slam on King Saul; it was an ancient Israelite custom for the women to compose victory songs celebrating the military successes of their fighting men. Indeed, the gist of the song is that Saul and David are a killer combination—that they’re a mighty team! But Saul just doesn’t hear it that way. Jealousy seizes him; the green-eyed monster takes over. So as the victory song festers within him, he rehearses over and again in his own mind that they credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Before you know it they’ll be giving him the kingdom! And the next verse tells how this jealousy became his focus, for from that moment on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
When was the last time you watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Remember that wicked queen looking in the mirror and saying, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” The mirror—being a rather smart mirror—always proclaimed the queen to be the fairest. That is, until the day the mirror let it slip that Snow White had surpassed her in beauty! But what was really so bad about being the second fairest in all the land? After all, she’d been the fairest all those years, and by now surely the queen was starting to put some age on that face—and even Oil of Olay can’t work absolute miracles! Still, the queen was insanely jealous, and for the rest of her shortened life she tries to get rid of Snow White.
Well, the same thing happens to Saul. Saul’s jealousy quickly grows into displeasure. The Hebrew word for displeasing means inner turmoil. In essence, his stomach turns, and then that displeasure quickly grows into anger. The Hebrew word for anger is charah, and it means to burn within. So you could say Saul does a slow burn, and as his fear and worry intensifies, he becomes paranoid. His self-talk loses control; he’s afraid of his own shadow; his view of David as a giant-killer morphs into a view of him as a king-dethroner! For when imagination is fueled by jealousy, suspicion takes over. And at that point, dangerous things start to occur.
I wish I could say that Saul eventually figures out his problem and gets past the green-eyed monster. But he doesn’t; indeed, it gets worse! For the rest of Saul’s life he simply cannot stomach David’s popularity, and he does everything within his power—both overtly and covertly—to try to get rid of David. With his jealous imagination as his guide, Saul determines that he is not going to sit around waiting for David to steal the kingdom from him. He’ll take it upon himself to make sure David never becomes king! So he picks up a spear and hurls it at the boy hero. David ducks out of the way, but to David’s amazement, the king picks up another spear and throws it at him as well—missing a second time. So Saul sends David off to the battlefield, where David does quite well, which only serves to make Saul even more insecure. In the back of his mind, the king hopes that the Philistines will do what he’s failed to do: Take David out! Everything Saul does from this point on is motivated by his secret—or not so secret—desire to see David killed.
Now David has done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment. He has served God, killed a giant, submitted himself to his superior, and behaved properly. And even after these attempts on his life, David continued to protect and comfort Saul. Maybe you too have been on this side of jealousy. Maybe people have been jealous of you and have even attacked you in some way. Maybe they’re intimidated by your strengths, which make them conscious of their own shortcomings. It would be the most natural thing to strike back at them or to avoid them altogether, but the better response—the godly response—is to befriend them. Pray that God will give you the strength to continue to love them—just as David kept on loving Saul.
For while Saul’s earlier popularity made him proud and arrogant, David remained humble even while the entire nation was praising him. And take special note of this: Even though David succeeded in almost everything he tried and became famous throughout the land, he refused to use his popular support to his advantage against Saul. Let’s follow David’s lead; don’t allow popularity to twist your perception of your own importance. Sure, it’s easy to be humble when you’re not on center stage, but how will you react when praise and honor comes your way?
In Saul’s case, jealousy emerged as a deadly sin. His suspicion of David shackled the king in a prison of his own making. Because he operated in that tight radius of fear, worry, and paranoia, Saul’s great goal in life became twisted. Instead of leading Israel on to bigger and better things, he focused on making David’s life miserable. Saul’s madness caused him to lose sight of all wholesome and responsible objectives. And there’s a lesson here: Jealousy is a tremendous waste of emotional energy. When the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head in our lives, we need to ask ourselves, Why in the world am I doing this? Is being jealous going to make my life any better? Will it get me the recognition that I deserve? For jealousy doesn’t accomplish anything—well, besides stressing you out and raising your blood pressure!
So how do you stop jealousy from getting a foothold in your life? First, you need to admit that you struggle with it. Stop denying it; stop excusing it; stop justifying it; stop minimizing it. Come clean! As Barney Fife would say, “Nip it in the bud!” Admit that you might struggle to be happy when good things happen to other people—primarily because you often wish those things would happen to you!
Second, you need to be grateful for who you are and what you have. Tell the Lord that “I might not have his money, but I thank You for my good health. I thank You for a nice place to live—for living in a safe part of this world. I thank You for the food I eat and the clothes I wear. And I thank You most of all for what Jesus has done in my life.” For as the apostle Paul wrote, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
Third, you need to remember that you are special in God’s eyes. Sometimes when we express jealousy, what we’re really thinking is I wish I could be as special as that guy; I wish I was popular as she is. All the while God is trying to get across to you that you have no reason to feel that way, that He made you, that He loves you, that already are and always will be special in His eyes!
Fourth, you need to concentrate on being the best person you can be. Breaking free from jealousy means focusing on what you need to do and not on what others are already doing! What talents and skills has God blessed you with? Use them! What financial status has the Lord currently placed you in? Make the most of it! What family and friends do you have? Love them with compassionate! Be grateful for who you are; remember that you are special; be the best you can be!
Let us pray: O Lord, remind us of all that You have blessed us with. Help us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on You—to recognize the good things You’ve granted us—so as not to be envious or jealous of the good things You’ve granted others. May we live these lives You’ve given us with eternally grateful hearts—all for Your sake.
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