But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.
Throughout this chapter the writer balanced statements that credit God for David’s successes (1 Samuel 18:12; 1 Samuel 18:14; 1 Samuel 18:28) with others that credit David for them (1 Samuel 18:5; 1 Samuel 18:14-15; 1 Samuel 18:30). Both reasons were true. God’s choice of David and David’s choice of God worked together to make him successful. The opposite was also true of Saul. The Lord had forsaken Saul, but Saul had also forsaken the Lord, and the result was tragedy.