What Are We Willing to Risk for Love?

One day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the LORD suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night. Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed. But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal. “I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”

1 Samuel 19:9-17 (NLT)
A few days later, Michal wrote to King Saul:

Dearest Father,

As I sit in this chamber, where once laughter and voices of our family filled the air, I am enveloped by a silence that speaks louder than words. A silence that I must break, for it is woven with threads of deceit—a deceit for which I bear the weight of responsibility.

Father, the tale I told you was not true. David, the man you seek to destroy, never threatened me. Quite the contrary. He came home that night, a fugitive in his own house, yet strangely serene. He sang a prayer, a psalm [1] that was more like a conversation with God. It was as if he were wrapped in a divine cloak that made him untouchable, even by fear. I saw in him a man who lives not for himself but for a purpose far greater, a purpose ordained by God. And so, I could not let him be captured.

You may wonder, Father, why I chose to deceive you. The answer is both simple and complex: it is love. But not just the love that blooms between a man and a woman. It is a love that transcends all human understanding—a love that my brother Jonathan helped me to see in its true light.

Jonathan spoke to me of his friendship with David, a friendship that has required him to make sacrifices so great that they defy the very laws of self-preservation. He told me that love, in its purest form, demands that we lay aside our own desires, our own ambitions, and sometimes even our own preservation. It was in that moment that I understood what love truly is—it is sacrifice.

And so, Father, I find myself at a crossroads. I must now sacrifice my own safety to bring you this truth. I must risk your wrath to save both the man I love and perhaps, the soul of my own father.

I beseech you, Father, to reconsider your pursuit of David. He is not our enemy. He is a chosen vessel, destined to carry out God’s divine plan. To stand against him is to stand against God Himself.

I love you, Father, and it is this love that gives me the courage to bring you this painful truth. I pray that you will find it in your heart to see David for who he truly is—a man anointed by God. I stand ready to face whatever consequences my actions may bring, but I stand with a heart unburdened by deceit.

With all the love and sorrow that words can convey,

Michal

Share with your friends “What sacrifices have you made in the name of love, and what did those sacrifices reveal to you about the nature of love itself?”

[1] Psalm 59 of David has a title relating to this incident.