1 Samuel 19:8–17

And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.

Now the distressing spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.

Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head. Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?”

And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”

Gee, what happened to, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed”? Saul seemed sincere when he said that. What happened?

There are two possibilities. Either Saul wasn’t sincere, or he was and something changed. His choice of words back in verse 6 is very strong. Insincerely swearing an oath with the words, “As the LORD lives,” is almost unimaginable. That would be like calling down a curse on yourself. Thus, Saul seems to have been sincere. But then, what changed Saul?

The distressing spirit from the LORD is the prime suspect.

Poor Saul. His mind is so scrambled that he’s trying to kill the only one who can relieve his torment.

Saul’s condition is understandable, but what about his “messengers”? They’re not driven mad by an evil spirit. How can they be party to this madness?

While sin can explain almost anything, and sin combined with power explains even more, this may have a more pedestrian explanation. Saul only needs some of his messengers to agree with his scheme to form a team to send out.

There will always be people who are so star-struck by a celebrity that they’ll do anything.

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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

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