1 Samuel 18:10–16

And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

Saul is still upset over the women praising David as the slayer of ten-thousands versus Saul’s mere thousands. His actions, however, go way beyond just being upset. This is too crazy to be explained by mere psychology. The distressing spirit is making Saul go mad.

And it looks like Saul has figured out that Samuel was talking about David when he said, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.”

Saul’s madness includes thinking that he can thwart God’s will by killing David.

Knowing my future would be pretty maddening—especially if the future isn’t good—even without a “distressing” spirit tormenting me. So, some sympathy for Saul is warranted. He hasn’t adjusted to his fate yet, and may never.

Saul doesn’t have the spiritual maturity to let God be God. Samuel’s pronouncement has put Saul in a tough spot. He needs to accept God’s sovereignty even though he doesn’t like God’s choices.

And Saul knows what those choices are. Samuel told him exactly what God has determined for his future. That’s pretty unusual.

Or at least it used to be. Modern medicine can sometimes produce a diagnosis that predicts, with remarkable accuracy, our future, especially when that future is bleak. When that happens, it’s tough to accept the road God has put us on.

Of course, it’s good to pray that God will bring miraculous healing—and He often honors those prayers. But life includes tragedy. Everyone will one day face a crisis where denial is hard to overcome. This may not be until the end of life, but it will come. Not all requests for healing are granted.

That’s when our faith in God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness are put to the test.

Faith that has passed that test is mature.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, can be downloaded here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.