Chapter 16
God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint David King. Samuel is afraid Saul will kill him if he hears of it, but he goes anyway. There is an MSB note that says until the temple was built, it was acceptable to perform a sacrifice anywhere. It also says that to get from where he was to Bethlehem, Samuel would have to go through Gibeah, which is where Saul was. God tells him to take a heifer with him to sacrifice, to alleviate Saul's suspicions.
4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, "Do you come peaceably?" [1Sa 16:4 ESV]
It seems strange that the elders would fear Samuel. MSB says they had likely heard about Samuel hacking Agag to pieces, and that they still looked at Samuel as one of the judges - who's actions were often very direct.
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. [1Sa 16:13 ESV]
Here also, when Samuel anoints the king, it says the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. I had never seen that before. Both Saul and David received God's Spirit, enabling them to do as God commanded them.
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. [1Sa 16:14 ESV]. Once God makes David King, Saul loses the Spirit. Only one King.
Is this connected to that NT verse that says if a spirit leaves, seven worse ones will take its place? Probably not, since this is the Spirit of the Lord leaving, and a bad spirit filling the spot. See what MSB says about this. There is a lot in MSB about this:
First, in MSB, there is an explanation saying that "the spirit rushed upon" is a common OT term for God's empowerment of someone to carry out His will. In this case, David was empowered to carry out his role as King - much as the same thing had occurred with Saul when he was anointed. This "rushing" was not the Spirit of regeneration, but of empowerment.
In the opposite sense, when David was empowered as King, Saul was removed - by having the Spirit of God removed from him.
MSB says that God allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul. It says this spirit was a messenger from Satan, an entity, not a tormented emotional state brought on by unrepentant sin, nor the consequence of the sinful acts of others, but a tormenting from without. Nothing says this demon "possessed" Saul. The MSB note continues: Saul, whose inward constitution was already prone to questionable judgment and the fear of men, began to experience God's judgment in the form of severe bouts of depression, anger, and delusion, initiated and aggravated by the evil spirit assigned to him. There are several NT examples of similar things: Acts 5:1-3, 1Co 5:1-7, 1Ti 1:18-20.
Saul's servants, recognizing that Saul was being tormented by an external demon, recommend David as a good musician, who's playing can soothe Saul when the harmful spirit is on him. So David comes into Saul's direct service as his armor bearer and musician. David will see how Saul rules the kingdom from his position next to the king.
2026 - Interesting that this is called "...an evil spirit from God terrorized him." We saw above, in Chapter 15, that the inner devastation Saul planted when he told Saul that he would be replaced by a better man than he, could never be overcome. Saul became permanently disapproved, and his primary driving motivation in life, all that his life was built around, was beyond acquisition. Surely this would cause depression, anger, and delusion.
Now the question we must ask here, is whether this is how the consequences of turning away from God, having once known him, affects the psyche, or whether this is a literal spirit assigned to torment him - to remind him of his failure and that he is doomed to forever remain a failure. It says this spirit, whatever it was, came from God.
Oh my! Are there many such spirits that are sent to impose earthly consequences. Think of those we say have "character flaws", and we watch them spiral inexorably down the drain. Drug addicts who never try to quit, habitual criminals, the self-destructive of all kinds who just seem unreachable. Unsalvagealble might be a better term. I have always thought such people refused to be helped. Maybe they are un-helpable because God has sent a spirit to insure that their forever judgment begins while they are still in this life.
Oh my!!! The cure, for Saul, was a fine harp player. The cure, the peace, was found in music. Does that still apply to those who are beyond any other help???
2026 - Look at this description of David, as it informs the chronology of the relationship between Saul and David. We see several "discontinuities" in the timeline in 1, 2 Samuel. This verse:
18 One 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." [1Sa 16:18 ESV].
This young man had seen David play somewhere. David seems to have been well known for his playing. Pre- or post-anointing? Man of valor, man of war. This could not have predated the anointing. David must have grown into a man of "military" age by this time. It seems to me he would have to have served some time in the military to earn this description. Was it in the military that he played the harp for people? Had this young man who recommends David served with him in the military? Perhaps both were conscripted, and David is brought in from where ever he was serving to serve the King more directly???