If you want to know what is underneath the envy, you need to first pay attention to what it is that you envy? Is it the success of others? The relationships of others? The kids of others? Where do you find the happiness of others causing you to be unhappy or bitter? What is this revealing about what your heart really desires? Someone or something is threatening your identity, or is something you are putting above God. If you get your identity from your work, then you envy those who do better than you and you want to see them fall. If you get your identity from relationships, then you envy those who have better relationships than you. If you get your identity from your looks, then you envy those who are better looking. If you are filled with envy, you will continually make unwise, foolish choices, as you act out of your envy.

Saul got his identity from being a king, and David threatened that. The bottom line is that Saul is insecure in who God has called him to be. There is such a contrast between Saul and David in this book when it comes to their faith in God and consequently their faith in who God has called them to be. There is a confidence that comes when our identity is rooted in who God is and who we are in Him, that we are known yet loved, called, chosen, a child of the king, forgiven, perfect in His sight, given gifts and a purpose, given the Holy Spirit. And when we don’t know who we are in Him, our identity depends on what others think, how successful we are, whether or not someone loves us, or what we think of ourselves. And none of these are stable. David is a man of courage, humility, patience, and Saul becomes a man of fear, impatience, envy, and eventually murderous anger. He does not know who he is in God, but defines himself instead by his kingship.

Look at your envies. They reveal that you are building your identity on something other than God. And that is a dangerous place to be.

· How do we deal with envy

God’s desire is contentment. Not complacency, but contentment. As 1 Timothy 6:6 says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. God’s goal is that we would be grateful for what we have, for our situation in life, and be able to praise him for it instead of always envying what other people have and grasping for what is not ours. Look at David and the contrast between him and Saul. Notice David – he will not force God into anything, won’t demand what God has not yet given him. Twice while he is on the run he has the opportunity to kill Saul, but he will not do it – he cuts off a corner of his robe while he’s relieving himself in a cave, and then he steals a jug and spear while he is sleeping. And when Saul finally kills himself in battle, a man who was there runs to tell David and takes credit for killing Saul, thinking he will be rewarded, but David has the man killed because he was not afraid to touch the Lord’s anointed. David could have easily been impatient, upset with God, confused, and try to take what will one day be rightfully his.