The Spirit Leaves Saul


1 Samuel 16:14-23
14Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21And David came to Saul and entered his service. And he [David] loved him [Saul] greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Saul repeatedly disobeys God. His character has proven to be faulty and his disregard for the ways of God, especially in his treatment of Samuel, gives emphasis to God’s choice of a new leader for Israel. God is the master of irony. Now his successor, having already been anointed by Samuel as such, is to serve in Saul’s court as a “music therapist”. At this point, I don’t believe Saul knows that this kid is his replacement.

Now, as the Spirit of God has rushed upon David, the Spirit leaves Saul, leaving room for an evil spirit to take control. This evil spirit brought “terror” to Saul. The job of this spirit is to torment Saul with terror. His life is now lived in constant fear. David is sent to calm those fears with his music. David doesn’t yet know that Saul will be come his greatest enemy, and so serves Saul with love and respect for his role as king. Even as a young man, David’s character is beginning to shine through. He is a man of faith and loyalty, which will be proven out over all of his life.

As I ponder Saul’s choices, I cannot help but be reminded of the Pharaoh of Egypt who repeatedly hardens his heart against God and His people. Eventually, God joins him in that attitude and also hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Here we find Saul disobeying every command God gives to him and then blaming everyone else for his failures. He is hardening his own heart, just as the Pharaoh had done. Now God removes the most precious gift Saul had been given, His own Spirit. And what happens to Saul? He descends into terror as evil has its way with him.

None of us chooses salvation. That is the work of God. Be we do make choices along the way for or against obedience. Those choices against obeying God’s way work on us and will eventually destroy us if given their own power. Only in the work of Jesus Christ do we find an answer for those sins of disobedience. His blood alone can free us from that downward spiral. May we always look to Him alone and then, when given the opportunity to choose obedience or sin, choose the way of God.

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