Saul decided to take David with him. He would not let David go back home to his father. After David finished talking with Saul, Jonathan developed a strong friendship with David.
Jonathan took off the coat he was wearing and gave it to David. In fact, Jonathan gave David his whole uniform—including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.
David went to fight wherever Saul sent him. He was very successful, so Saul put him in charge of the soldiers. This pleased everyone, even Saul's officers.
David would go out to fight against the Philistines. On the way home after the battles, women in every town in Israel would come out to meet him. They sang and danced for joy as they played their tambourines and lyres. They did this right in front of Saul!
This song upset Saul and he became very angry. Saul thought, "The women give David credit for killing tens of thousands of the enemy, and they give me credit for only thousands. A little more of this and they will give him the kingdom itself! "
One day, Saul said to David, "Here is my oldest daughter, Merab. I will let you marry her. Then you will be like a son to me and you will be a real soldier. Then you will go and fight the Lord's battles." Saul was really thinking, "Now I won't have to kill David. I will let the Philistines kill him for me."
He thought, "I will use Michal to trap David. I will let Michal marry David, and then I will let the Philistines kill him." So Saul said to David a second time, "You can marry my daughter today."
Saul command his officers to speak to David in private. He told them to say, "Look, the king likes you. His officers like you. You should marry his daughter."
Saul's officers said these things to David, but David answered, "Do you think it is easy to become the king's son-in-law? I am just a poor, ordinary man."
Saul told them, "Say this to David, 'David, the king doesn't want you to pay money for his daughter. He wants to get even with his enemy, so the price for marrying his daughter is 100 Philistine foreskins.'" That was Saul's secret plan. He thought the Philistines would kill David.
he and his men went out to fight the Philistines. They killed 200 Philistines. David took these Philistine foreskins and gave them to Saul. David did this because he wanted to become the king's son-in-law. Saul let David marry his daughter Michal.