“Out of the black mid-tent’s silence, a space of three days,

Not a sound hath escaped to thy servants of prayer nor of

praise,

To betoken that Saul and the spirit have ended their strife,

And that, faint in his triumph, the monarch sinks back

upon life.”

BROWNING: Saul.

But the time when the skilled musician with his Divine strains had roused him into life again was passed (see 1Samuel 16:21-23), not now as in old days, when, to use the words the great poet put into David’s mouth—

“—I looked up to know

If the best I could do had brought solace: he spoke not, but

slow

Lifted up the hand slack at his side, till he laid it with care,

Soft and grave, but in mild settled will, on my brow; through

my hair

The large fingers were pushed, and he bent back my head.

with kind power—

All my face back, intent to peruse it as men do a flower.

Thus held he me there, with his great eye that scrutinized

mine,

And oh, all my heart how it loved him! . . .”

BROWNING: Saul.

This time, seizing the tall spear which was ever by his side, he hurled it with deadly intent at the sorrow-stricken, loving face, and David fled in hot haste from the doomed presence for ever. The LXX. was offended at the statement “evil spirit of (or from) Jehovah,” and cuts the knot by leaving out “Jehovah.” It is, no doubt, a hard saying, and no human expositor has ever yet been able fully to explain it.

To the expression Ruach Jehovah, “Spirit of Jehovah” (for “of” is more accurate than “from”), and the equivalent phrase, Ruach Elohim, “Spirit of God” (1Samuel 16:14-15), the epithet “evil” is added. We cannot attempt to fathom the mysteries of the spirit world—we have absolutely no data—we simply possess in the sacred book a few scattered notices, which indicate the existence of evil spirits. To suppose that these malignant or evil beings were part of the heavenly host employed by the Eternal is a supposition utterly at variance with our conception of the All-Father. We may, however, safely grant (1) the existence of evil spirits—probably beings fallen through sin and disobedience from their high estate; and (2) we may suppose that these evil spirits—all, of course, belonging to the Eternal, even in their deep degradation (so though “evil,” still “spirits of God, or Jehovah,”)—receive occasional permission, for some wise—though to us unknown—reasons, to tempt and plague for a season the souls of certain men.

The introduction to the Book of Job (Job 1:6; Job 2:1-7), and the circumstance which led to the death of King Ahab before Ramoth Gilead (1Kings 22:19-22), at least favour this hypothesis. The presence of those evil spirits, or “devils, who possessed those unhappy ones whom we meet so often in the Gospel story, points to the same conclusion. Why certain souls should have been exposed to this dread experience is, of course, beyond our ken. From the scanty information vouchsafed to us, it seems, however, that the power of the evil spirit was sometimes permitted to be exercised (a) as a trial of faith, as in the case of Job; or (b) as a punishment incurred by the soul’s desertion of God, as in the case of Saul.

8-10. David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter—A brilliant victory was gained over the public enemy. But these fresh laurels of David reawakened in the moody breast of Saul the former spirit of envy and melancholy. On David's return to court, the temper of Saul became more fiendish than ever; the melodious strains of the harp had lost all their power to charm; and in a paroxysm of uncontrollable frenzy he aimed a javelin at the person of David—the missile having been thrown with such force that it pierced the chamber wall. David providentially escaped; but the king, having now thrown off the mask and being bent on aggressive measures, made his son-in-law's situation everywhere perilous.

as he sat in his house with his javelin his hand; which either describes the posture he was in when the evil spirit came upon him; or the effects of it, he became dull and melancholy, did not care to go abroad, but kept at home, and was suspicious of everybody; and therefore kept a javelin in his hand to defend himself; or it may be rather to dispatch David with it, when an opportunity should offer, which quickly did:

and David played with his hand; on some instrument of music, particularly the harp, to drive away the evil spirit, the melancholy disorder, from Saul; which showed his humility, that though he was an officer in the army, had a considerable post in it, yet deigned to act the part of a musician to Saul, and his great kindness and affection for him his sovereign, willing to serve him what he could to promote his health and comfort, and the trust and confidence he put in his promise and oath, or rather in the providence of God for his protection in the way of his duty, though he knew how spiteful and injurious Saul had been to him.

(d) He played on his harp to appease the rage of the evil spirit, 1Sa 16:23.