Holy Spirit Manifesting in Wisdom, Satan in Foolishness
[1] And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David.
[4] And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you.
[6] And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”
[9] Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. [10] And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
[23] And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. [24] And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 1 Samuel 19:1,4,6,9–10,23–24 Read More
This is a chopped up excerpt of the whole chapter, but it shows some things through this thread. When you read about the evil spirit from God bothering Saul, or about him prophesying at the end, get out of the thinking that spirits were controlling him against his will. In the previous sermon series, Mark talked about intrusive thoughts from the devil. Ideas pop into our heads out of nowhere sometimes. What if I drove off this bridge? What if I punched that guy in the face? Etc. They are crazy thoughts and you might be embarrassed and confused to think “why do I have ideas like that?!”
That’s where Saul is, except without discernment, he yields to every idea that pops into his head. Lack of discernment and lack of confidence make Saul like a butterfly in a hurricane. He hates David. He chooses to simmer on that hatred to the level that he announces to his court that they need to kill David. Jonathan prevails to convince his dad that this is foolish. Saul isn’t thinking clearly and rationally here, he is just obeying the current voice that is pulling him. Without the voice in his head telling him to kill, he listens to Jonathan and lets David live.
Not long after, the thought in his head to hate David comes back and he obeys that voice. He chooses to obey it so much he pursues David on multiple levels. First to David’s house, then to the countryside in a hunt.
Upon coming to the prophets, Saul hears them prophesying and listens to what they have to say. I think he is truly listening to the Lord. The stripping off of his clothing in prayer was a sign of repentance in other places, so we can presume that is what is going on here. If the voice in his head suggests to Saul that he repent and call upon the Lord, he’d do it just as passionately as he’d obey the voice of hatred in his head and try to kill David.
What if God’s blessing on Saul manifested itself in wisdom and discernment? When God’s blessing is removed, Saul loses the ability to be a wise king and all of his decisions make him look like a fool. That is fitting with the process of his downfall. The fool that is stripped naked with repentance while on a seek and kill mission will only go downhill from here as he pursues David.
Let us ask God that the blessing He has put on our lives, the salvation of our souls, would manifest itself in wisdom and discernment. May we pay attention to the right guidance of the Holy Spirit, and ignore the nonsense suggestions of the devil.
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