David in Saul’s Service

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

Our next portion of Scripture speaks of David, the newly anointed King of Israel, being chosen by Saul’s servants as the One to serve the deposed King. How curious that of all within Saul’s kingdom, David is chosen to be a blessing to Saul.

But before I go any further, let us read the passage.

1 Samuel 16:14-19
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.
15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.
16 Let 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.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
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.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”

Notice that right off in this passage, the Lord had informed Saul of his loss of authority. Yes Samuel had pronounced the loss of Saul’s kingdom due to his rebellion, but at the beginning of this passage we are informed that Saul had the inner witness of the Spirit of God departing from him. And as the Spirit departed, we find a harmful spirit from the Lord tormenting him. The passage speaks three times of this harmful spirit coming from the Lord! The term actually speaks of a spirit that produces an ecstatic state of frenzy and violence, per BDB Lexicon. 

As a side bar, is this not instructive to the common man, that a life of increasing frenzy and violence indicates a loss of connection with the Holy One. He is our peace and we, if wise, would do well to seek the True David, to provide contentment and peace in our lives.

But let us continue in considering the troubling spirit from the Lord. It is puzzling to say the least, yet as we will all confess, He is sovereign and mysterious in the working out of His will. Not only are those spirits who are compliant and subject to His authority available for His service , but also all spirits who have rebelled and bring trouble to our souls. He has a purpose that is beyond my comprehension, and in these situations, we must be willing to simply trust Him that He has a higher purpose, a reason to bring about this condition.

In this historical instance, an obvious reason for the troubling spirit upon Saul is to bring the newly anointed king into the royal environment, to provide training for the young shepherd boy, to give him experience as a soldier and to become a confidant of the king, and to finally prove himself as the more worthy one in the eyes of the nation.

But again, I am getting ahead of myself. Our passage speaks of the “circumstances” that God provided Saul into in order to have David brought into the royal circle by the choice of the deposed king. No one could say that David was forced upon Saul – no – he was invited, requested and desired in order to serve Saul, to provide relief to his soul, and eventually to supply deliverance from the enemies of the nation. 

The “harmful” spirit from the Lord initiated a desire by Saul’s servants to find relief for their master, and in this back and forth with Saul, David’s name was brought forward. A young man had heard of him. This shepherd boy had quite the resume. His skill set, along with his character and abilities were truly impressive.

• Skillful in playing
• A man of valor
• A man of war
• Prudent in speech
• A man of good presence
• The Lord is with him

David was a young man that had excellent qualities and he was being spoken of through out the nation. Even as a shepherd boy, out with his father’s sheep, the news of his abilities were being voiced abroad to others. It is of interest that, even as he was a young man, David had the reputation of one who was prudent in speech. The six descriptions of his life by this young man i Saul’s service deserve consideration, but I would life to focus on the prudent in speech for just a moment.

To be prudent communicates intelligence, a discerning mind, (which is different than “mere” intelligence) and one who understands situations clearly. David was prudent in speech, which requires the formulation of correct understanding in his thoughts prior to his communicating to others. He had a discerning mind, and with that, the boldness to speak it at the right time and in the right manner. Surely the Lord was with Him, for at an early age (many think he was still a teenager at this time) David was head and shoulders, metaphorically speaking, over of his contemporaries.

The new king would stand above his competition, but not based on physical appearance, but based on that which pleased God.

Our King also is head and shoulders above all others, prudent of speech. His words are full of grace and truth towards us and we are only right to seek Him out.

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