If Saul could lounge around on a psychiatrist's couch today, I don't know how he would be classified. From Scripture it looks like he started out well but quickly ran afoul of God (What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears... I Samuel 15:14, 22-23). Then in his old age, he became a man possessed with jealousy, to the point of becoming murderously unhinged.
Psychology tells us that the narcissist is characterized by insane jealousy and will engage in extreme behaviors to make sure that no one "steals" what they prize most, whether it be a lover, a title, a job, etc. They are constantly on the look out for threats, real and imagined. (In the narcissist's case, the threats are mostly imagined).
Saul's jealousy was founded on reality but fueled by extreme hubris, another characteristic of the NPD. God had chosen Saul to be the first king of Israel (I Samuel 9 - 10). Saul messed up several times until finally God sent word to him through the prophet Samuel that He was done with Saul, as we would say. ( I Samuel 15:28-29) Saul was told that he would be replaced with a "neighbor" who was better than him. Notice that God Himself sent this word to Saul.. and Saul knew that. Yet he didn't accept it - we know Saul didn't because he fought David, God's chosen replacement, tooth and toenail.
When I was puzzled and wondering if anyone else had ever gone down the weird path in icky interpersonal non-relations that the narcissist was taking us down, I found to my surprise that our puzzling person did some of the very same things that King Saul had done. (Not all, thankfully!)
I would encourage anyone who is trying to make sense out of an abuser's tactics to skim I Samuel 18-22 and jot down the steps that Saul took as he descended further and further into uncontrollable fits of jealousy and anger.
To show you what I mean, this is the first part of my list:
1. Jealousy leads to anger. I Sam. 18:7-8.
2.
Interestingly, the writer of I Samuel makes it clear in several different passages that Saul knows God is helping David, but this knowledge never stops him from going after David.
Even more interesting, while the abusive king can and does make David's life miserable, he cannot undermine God's plan. In fact, it seems like those years of being refined via Saul's erratic behavior - those very difficult years of fear, exile, uncertainty, and being hunted - were actually used by God to shape David into the successful ruler that he would become.
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