Neville Goddard on 1 Samuel 18:20-27 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Samuel 18 in context

Scripture Focus

20And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

21And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.

22And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law.

23And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

24And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.

25And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

26And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired.

27Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

1 Samuel 18:20-27

Biblical Context

Michal loves David, and Saul uses the marriage as a trap to leverage David toward kingship. David agrees to the terms and proves himself by meeting the outer test of the Philistines.

Neville's Inner Vision

David here is not a person but a state of consciousness: the inner king waking to claim his throne in awareness. Michal's love represents the soul’s alignment with that royal activity, a listening heart drawn toward the I AM within. Saul's clandestine proposal and the 'dowry' of Philistine foreskins symbolize the world’s demand for proof before you acknowledge your rightful rule. The condition appears as a negotiation, but in truth it is a test of your inner belief: do you identify with your higher self or wait for outward proof to declare you king? When David chooses to meet the demanded proof—two hundred Philistine fore skins—the narrative shows the power of imagination to reframe the scene: the outer deed becomes the inner decision to own the crown now. The real kingdom is within, and the 'hand of the Philistines' is merely the dream of outer opposition dissolving before the light of your I AM. If you accept the inner sonship, you stop seeking dowry; you begin living from the throne you already possess.

Practice This Now

Act: Close your eyes and assume the state of being the king's son-in-law in consciousness; feel the inner crown resting on your head. Revise any belief that outward proof is required for your ascent by dwelling in the feeling of the I AM as king now.