The embittered wife quietly and subtly stops playing for her husband’s team and forms her own team, one that competes with and tries to beat him. Submission is no longer this wife’s heart posture.

“Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death” (2 Samuel 6:23). This sobering judgment speaks the final word in the narrative of King David’s wife Michal.

What began as a love story ends in tragedy. How did Saul’s daughter, who once upon a time risked life and limb for her husband, come to such an end? God includes this vivid illustration in Scripture for our benefit, showing us the descent from a trustworthy wife to the kind of woman who sees only the worst in her husband, wrongly assessing the situation and casting evil judgment on him that falls back on her own lap. Michal’s story is instructive, especially for Christian wives tempted toward a critical spirit because circumstances are difficult or different from what they expected.

Michal Loved David

One of the first things we learn about Michal, aside from the fact that she was King Saul’s second daughter, is that she loved David. She loved him even before he presented two hundred Philistine foreskins to her father as a bride price—one hundred more than Saul requested. And this love was no ruse—it was a genuine love, a loyal love tested in life-and-death circumstances:

Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.
(1 Samuel 19:11–12)

Most new marriages never have to endure such a trial: Forced to side with your father, the king, or your new husband, whom do you choose? For Michal, the answer was clear. She forcefully advises her husband to flee, and then she deceives her father’s servants to protect David. The Scriptures record no hesitation on David’s part to follow her instructions. Rather, he listens to her, trusts her, and does all she says, and his life is saved as a result. Her instructions really were for his good. She was on his team no matter the cost.

This scene of Michal helping David puts flesh on the ideal wife described in Proverbs: “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:10–12). Michal’s credibility as a trustworthy wife had a promising start.

An Unexpected Turn

The next time we hear of Michal, we learn that her father has given her as wife to another man, Palti, the son of Laish. But David has not forgotten her—and in time, he demands she be given back to him (2 Samuel 3:13–14). And so, she is taken from her father’s dying kingdom and returned to her rightful place in her husband’s household. Yet this return does not bring David “good, and not harm” all his days. Rather, it brings the sword thrusts of an unbridled tongue (Proverbs 12:18).

As David takes his place on the throne of Jerusalem, he sets himself to once again defeat the enemies of God, the Philistines, and to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem. After a three-month-long detour at Obed-edom’s house, David finally brings the ark into the city:

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