1 Samuel 18:18 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

David said, Who am I? and what is my life? How little is my life worth, that by the exposing of that to some hazard, I should purchase a king's daughter! In these expressions David showeth not only his humility, but also his wisdom, in discovering so deep a sense of his own meanness, that Saul might see how far he was from aspiring at the kingdom. Or my father's family in Israel? In riches, for otherwise David's family was as noble as any in Israel. That I should be son-in-law to the king This was not a refusal of the honour but a modest acknowledgment how unworthy he was of it; and it indicates such modesty and prudence, that, considering David's youth, and all other circumstances, we may well conclude that nothing but the Spirit of the Lord being with him could have made him act so wisely.