John Woodhouse, whom I often quote as we study 1 Samuel, notes that we live in a “confusing and uncertain world” and that because we often only see things with our limited human eyes, it is difficult to fully understand the significance and meaning of what we see.2

We look upon the world we live in, and we see so many things that cause us to feel uncertain and confused if not, more than a little fearful at times. The sudden public assassination of Charlie Kirk this last week is a terrifying example of the uncertainty and confusion we feel when we see what is happening around us.

Children rebel. Marriages fall apart. Friends betray us. People we once trusted abandon us. People we loved die suddenly. Other people commit egregious sin against the weak and vulnerable. Evil sometimes seems to prevail, and we are left with unanswered questions as we seek to see with the eyes of God’s heart as we pray “open the eyes of my heart Lord… I want to see you”. 

Eyes that see with God’s heart. This is what we need anytime we see things in this world that we are traveling through as aliens headed to our eternal home in heaven. This is especially what we need anytime we study God’s Word. This is especially what we need as we study our passage for today. As Woodhouse again notes, “If you [only] see as man sees, you will just see Saul the king and David the servant musician.”3

But if we seek to see with the eyes of God’s heart, I assure you, that we will see that there is so much more than that simple storyline, and if we can catch a glimpse of what God’s heart sees in this passage, I believe we will see that the significance of this passage revolves around two very different kings with two very different spirits and the God who is orchestrating something that has eternal consequences.

We must remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against invisible spiritual forces all around us; our entire existence is caught up in the battle between evil spiritual forces, and the Spirit of the living God within us (Eph. 6). Look at the text with me…

13Then 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. 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 Saul loved him 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.

#1: TWO SPIRITS ON TWO MEN (VV. 13 – 14)

Although it is easy to see with our human eyes, that something weird is happening between the king whom God had rejected because of the king’s rejection of God as a consequence of Israel’s rejection of God and the new boy-king whom God chosen according to his (God’s) own heart, when you look a little closer, you begin to see that there is a spiritual war taking place and that God is at the center of that war as the sovereign ruler over all things.

In verse 13, which we studied last week, Samuel anoints David as the new king, and we learn that “the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward”. The Spirit of the Lord never left David from that point forward; this stands in stark contrast to many other biblical characters who only received the Spirit of God momentarily at times for special acts of service.4

This event, of David receiving the Spirit of God for the rest of his life, is immediately contrasted with Saul in verse 14 where we read that “the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.” God has literally removed his presence from Saul and replaced it with a harmful, tormenting, terrifying, evil spirit. Have you ever thought about God being at the center of spiritual warfare?

This story has literally moved out of the realm of human conflict and into the realm of spiritual warfare with God at the center, directing, controlling, initiating, and ruling over the outcome. God is never out of control. Nothing is happening here that he has not decreed. This has not caught him by surprise. He knows exactly what he is doing. He is the star of the show, and his eternal glory is on the line with these two kings who possess two very different spirits. The question for king Saul with his tormenting spirit, is what will the remedy be for his torment? Interestingly, his servants offer up a human remedy for his spiritual situation.

#2: SAUL’S SERVANTS OFFER A REMEDY (VV. 15 – 17)

What do Saul’s servants offer for his spiritual predicament? In verses 15 – 17, we see that they offered a human remedy, maybe a good musician and some soft music would help to alleviate Saul’s spiritual torment. This is almost like telling someone, whom you know is walking through some great spiritual battle with Satan, Sin, and Death, that they just need to cut loose, take a vacation, find a good hobby, or go to a good concert to relieve their stress.

This is exactly what Saul’s servants offer as a remedy in verses 15 – 17. Once the Spirit of God left Saul and the tormenting spirit from God got his slimy little fingers dug into Saul’s heart and mind, his servants offered up a humanistic remedy. They said, “Command your servants… to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre [or a stringed harp], and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”

Notice that their remedy is a human remedy for a deeply spiritual issue; a good musician with good music will soothe your soul and make you feel better when you are being oppressed by a demonic spirit. We often do this – we often offer up human remedies to spiritual problems – do we not?

You are struggling with lust, find a wife. You are struggling with anger, cut out the people who make you angry. You are struggling with depression, do what makes you happy. Your marriage is full of conflict, time for a divorce. Your friendships are full of conflict, cut them out and find new friends. None of these human remedies will ever solve the problem of a demonic presence that is paired with sinful impulses.

I do not know about you, but there have been times in my life where I have been made aware of the presence of a dark spiritual force in my life, and it is never a fun experience. I remember growing up in a home where religion was claimed but not lived out. I was taught to profess Christ at a young age, but I was never discipled as a young man to pick up my cross and follow Jesus in my home.

Later in life as a young adult, I would profess Christ but then do horrific things as I took advantage of women, used my words like swords to inflict pain, engaged in sinful acts of violence, and then medicated my sick and tormented soul with pornography and substance abuse. My relationships were destructive and toxic, and my life was full of brokenness that I tried to blame on everyone else around me.

It was as though a tormenting spirit had been released to attach itself to me to partner with the sinful desires of my flesh so that Satan, Sin, and Death, could literally use me as their pawn in an age-old game of spiritual warfare against God. There was a spiritual veil over my eyes. I could not see with the eyes of God’s heart. I was spiritually blinded to the deceptive and destructive spirit that was at work in and through me.

I could only see through the corrupt lenses of my desires that had become the false idols that I bowed down to every day. My desires for control, comfort, acceptance, love, and admiration were all that I lived for, and the wake of destruction behind me was often littered with the lives of the people I destroyed.

I was literally blinded to the fact that I was attempting to satisfy the raging in my soul through my use and abuse or worship of God’s creation. I needed a remedy for my sickness, and I thought people were the answer… as though the worship of creation rather than the fully surrendered repentant worship of the Creator would fix my tormented spiritual state. 

The irony in my story is the same as the irony in our story today. Even though Saul’s servants had prescribed a human remedy for his deeply obliterated spiritual condition, God worked sovereignly in the background to provide his own solution to the problem. Of course, Saul would need to see the solution standing right in front of him with renewed eyes, and we will see how that shapes up in the coming chapters. But, for now, God provides exactly what Saul needs to recover from his spiritually depraved state in the person of none other than king David.

#3: DAVID CHOSEN AS THE REMEDY (VV. 18 – 20)

In verses 18 – 20, David is chosen or selected to be the human remedy for Saul’s spiritual depravity. One of Saul’s men recommends David, Saul sends for him, and David’s dad, Jesse, sends David to Saul with some gifts. But the most significant part of this portion of our text is the servant’s description of David in verse 18 where he says that David is, “a son of Jesse… 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.”

This is a radically different description than what we saw just a few verses ago where David is described as the red-haired, or red complexioned, handsome, blue-eyed youngest son of Jesse who has been relegated to tending the sheep (16:11 – 12). Why the difference in description? How did David become a man of valor or man of war in the span of just a few verses?

It is possible that Saul’s servant is merely exaggerating in his description, or it is possible that the original author moved this later episode up in the storyline as a flash forward to highlight the contrast between the two spirits on these two kings.5 I am convinced that the second interpretation is the right one; God directed this episode to be moved up in the story as a flash forward after David became a man of war and valor so that we could see the contrast between the two spirits on these two kings.

God wants us to see that no matter how often we try to prescribe human remedies for our deeply spiritual issues, what we need the most, is to trust in his sovereign work of providing the real medication that our sin-sick hearts desperately need. The trick of course is that we need to fall in love with the provider of the remedy, not the remedy itself, perse. Let me show you what I mean.

#4: DAVID FINDS FAVOR WITH SAUL (VV. 21 – 23)

In verses 21 – 23, David comes and begins to minister to Saul and we learn that “Saul loved him greatly” that David became so close to Saul that “he became his amor-bearer”or someone Saul trusted with his very life, that the “harmful spirit from God” left Saul whenever David played music for him, and that Saul asked Jesse to “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” David found favor in Saul’s sight. All Saul could see was that David brought him peace when the harmful spirit from God came upon him, and he fell in love with the remedy not the giver of the remedy.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, as we continue our study in the coming weeks and months, we will see how Saul eventually begins to hate David – the remedy he once loved – because that is what happens when our idols fail to do what we believe they should do. An idol is typically a good, created thing that was never meant to remedy the spiritual problem within us. The only remedy that fulfils and satisfies for all eternity is God himself – the Giver of all good things and the only One who can save and transform our sin-sick lives.

Saul was blind to this fact. The question is, are you and I seeing clearly? A new friend will satisfy for a little while. A new spouse or the single life might be fun for a minute. Some R&R might be refreshing for a couple days. But the reality is this, those things are created things. Only God himself, falling in love with the giver of those gifts, that, is the only lasting remedy for our spiritual blindness.

You may be in a season right now where you are experiencing great upheaval in your life. You may look around at the world and the events of last week with Charlie Kirk’s murder and wonder what will alleviate the pain and the suffering and the confusion. You do not need a vacation, new friends, a spouse, a new job, etc. to bring peace to the harmful demonic and sinful things that plague all of us.

What you and I need is something like a David in our lives. We actually need to fall in love with One who is greater than David. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. His name is Jesus. Crucified, risen, and returning and proclaimed by the community of saints into the broken, sin-sick, demonic strongholds in our hearts and minds.

This story is the story of two kings and two spirits, but the reality is that our crucified, risen, and returning Savior stands at the center of it all as the one to whom we must humbly submit and surrender to, so that He can fashion each of us into his very own image for the watching world to behold.

Again… the question is… can you see Him? Can you see Jesus? Can you see his bloody cross? Can you see his empty tomb? Can you see the heavens parting in the future as he returns in glory? Will your life tell the story of a blind man named Saul who could not see anything past the tip of his own sinful desires? Or will your life tell the story of a man named David who was chosen by God, empowered by God, and preserved by God?

Better yet… will your life tell the story of someone who pretended to play the religious game and wound up tormented by demonic spirits attached to sinful desires? Or will your life tell the story of someone who was so humbled by their own sin, the image of the bloody cross, and the victory of the empty tomb, and the hope of eternity to the extent that you fully surrendered to the calling of God amidst the body or bride of Christ?

Do you have the ability to see your circumstances with true spiritual eyes that have been opened by the Spirit of God? Ask God for this ability to see with the eyes of his heart. Your ability to see with spiritually renewed eyes, will be the defining factor of your life’s story. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 John, Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 291.

3 Ibid., 281 – 292.

4 Ibid., 292 – 293.

5 Ibid., 295 – 296.