1 Sam. 18:10-16
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; 11and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, ‘I will pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14David had success in all his undertakings; for the Lord was with him. 15When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.
BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: "Saul stood in awe of David." What does it mean to you to hear that Saul stood in "awe" of David?
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6 comments:
Even with all Saul was doing he could not make David fall. The phrase"for the Lord was with him" is repeated often. Remembering the bible verse, "if God is with us who can be against us"...Romans 8 :28-31. So what it says about Saul standing in awe means to me that even though there is evil that can happen in the world, and to us, God is there and it is evident to the world that with our confidence placed in God, knowing he is on our side, the world can not help but notice there is a difference due to our faith.
I agree with sower. Even though there was so much wrong around David with Saul's actions, God was certaintly with him and even Saul could see that. It is just like in our world today that we have each sunset and each sunrise and not one person could possible say that it was like the last and they stand in 'awe' of it. Although they may have not religious background or may not be a believer they still are standing in 'awe' of what God has created!
Question Pastor J about verse 12: "Saul was afraid of David, becasue the Lord was with him buy had departed from Saul." Interesting point since today we always talk about since God has entered into you He never leaves you. Was this because it was before Christ's coming and now we have forgiveness of all our sins so He will never leave us as He promised with His son?? Thanks, hope all have a great day!!!
Saul looked through human eyes, not divine eyes. He viewed David as a threat, not a blessing.
A favorite expression of mine that I first heard in a devotion by Assistant to the Bishop (at that time) Jeff Sorenson is, "God will do, what God will do". In other words if God has ordained it, it will happen. And no matter how much or little man does, it will happen. So even though God really did not want Saul to be a king. He used him to bring about His purpose. And his purpose was to raise up David.
I see these verses relating to our nation and world today. The "secularists" are doing everything they can to take God out of everything in our lives, ie. schools, the lives of our children, community events and as of yesterday a 50 year tradition of "National Day of Prayer". I ask the question, if God is so insignificant to them, what are they afraid of? Less the secularists forget, "God will do what God will do"! We as christians, should fight against this aggression against our core values, but take heart, God is in control and they can take God out of everything around us, but they cannot take our commitment and love for God from us. Because God will be there to defend us and hold us always close to him.
This passage answers this same question in, vs. 12. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him BUT HAD DEPARTED FROM SAUL! So God does give up on Saul!! Even though he had him put into power. However, isn't it interesting that even though Saul wanted David killed and was afraid of him, Saul still uses David to lead the army to save Israel and consequently make Saul look good. Isn't this happening all around us today?
Now to the question, Saul stood in awe of David because David was accomplishing what Saul needed to have happen if he was to be an effective king. And, even though Saul could not accomplish these things, it didn't keep him from admiring and knowing that David could not have done these things without the help of God. Maybe there was hope for Saul!
I have always thought that "standing in awe" was a good thing, but I suppose it can also be a aggravating thing, to always feel like you're walking in someone else's shadow. It can, however, be a good thing to stand in awe of someone if you are at peace with yourself. And it seems to me that when one is at peace with one's self, then one doesn't walk in other's shadows, but instead sees one's self as one who brings light into the world along with the other who is "awesome".
I know that I easily "stand in awe" in admiration with those who are able to do things that I cannot do....play the organ, play scratch golf...but when someone is better at something that I am in an area that I can do, it is tempting to fall into a sense of compitition and become envious of that person. Seems like that happened with Saul and David.
It is a good thing to remember that each of us have distinctive gifts, and even when it is in the same area it is "not a competition".
Regarding the statement "The Lord had departed from Saul" it seems to me that this has more to do with the Lord's desire for Saul to be king, and thus he had withdrawn his desire for Saul to be king. It may have appeared that the Lord would depart from Saul to the people of his day, but as KevKat said, God tells us in Jesus that God sticks with us through thick and thin.
There...a bit rambling tonight....but maybe in some of your minds that is nothing new for me.
In response to Pastor Jerry's comments, what does it mean then that an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul?
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