¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.

¹⁵ Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. ¹⁶ Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.”

¹⁷ “All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.”

¹⁸ One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” ²⁰ Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine.

²¹ So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.

²² Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”

²³ And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Dear God, I’m not doing well this morning. A tormenting spirit? Am I Saul in this story? Did I sin in a way this week that is wreaking havoc on me now? Did I do something I didn’t know I did? Holy Spirit, I could use some comfort right now. I’m very sorry for my self-pity and weakness. I’m sorry for apparently giving these spirits some room to mess with me.

As I think about the Bible study this week, I think this will be a good point to bring out with the men that I’ve never thought about before. We normally read this story and sit in judgment of Saul. So let’s go through this story and see how things might have been different for him had he been better about repenting and simply worshipping you without anything in it for him.

First, your Spirit left him. That is a horrific thought. To sit here and not feel like your Holy Spirit is with me. That sounds absolutely tragic. Horrific. “Let not your Spirit depart from me.” Wow! That’s a line that just came to me while I was typing this, and it echoes what David prayed in Psalm 51:11 when he is repenting to you for his sin with Bathsheba: Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.” (NLT) David had seen first hand what it looked like when your Spirit left Saul, and he didn’t want that to happen to himself.

Second, the attendants recognized the problem and tried to help. They were good people.

Third, Saul continued to live up to what Samuel said he would do. In this case, take a son of Jesse to come and serve him.

Fourth, when exactly did David and Saul meet? Is it here, or is it in the next chapter when they are facing Goliath? Again, it feels like the writer(s) of 1 Samuel are more interested in a good story and teaching us points as opposed to getting every date correct.

Fifth, it worked. Your spirit with David would bring Saul comfort. I don’t know if Saul was suffering from clinical depression, migraines, or what, but you blessed Saul through David. I wonder what this experience was like for David and how did it begin to form him into a leader? There have been a couple of times I worked for people in my career who I thought were depressed and I would do my best to compensate for them in the workplace. To be a source of blessing for them. But I also know that working for them informed me about how important it is to not only love and worship you, but also project energy and confidence when leading others.

Father, I had no idea this prayer would turn out this way this morning. But I am sorry. I’m sorry for the hurtful things I do. I am sorry for hurting people you love–your children. I am sorry for not being the man I know you want me to be for my sake and for the sakes of those around me. Please forgive me and “do not banish me from your presence. And don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

P.S. I just thought of this after I closed. I wonder if Samuel heard about this and was afraid for David being that near to Saul and Saul figuring out what Samuel had done with David. That’s a whole other story I’ve never thought about before.