Even before, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and back. Also Adonai said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over Israel.’”
For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by the multitude of his people. He sought their good and spoke for the welfare of his descendants.
The Torah scholars and the ruling kohanim tried to grab Him that very hour, because they realized that He spoke this parable against them—but they feared the people.
So David went out wherever Saul sent him and had success, so Saul set him over the men of war. It was pleasing in the eyes of all the people as well as in the eyes of Saul’s courtiers.