“‘Let our lord now command your servants who are here with you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then, if the evil spirit from God comes over you, he will play; and it will do you good.’ Sha’ul said to his servants, ‘Find me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.’”-1 Samuel 16:16-17
Saul had entered the dimension of madness.
So what hope was left for the man?
His royal court suggested music might help.
This made sense.
In those days, music was used to fight off demonic spirits, and Saul’s advisors were well aware the king’s mental condition was being caused by some outside supernatural force.
Let’s take a look at a couple of Hebrew words found in this passage.
First, the word for “servants” being used here is EBED or עֶבֶד.
Contrary to what your concordance will tell you, it does NOT mean a “slave” or “servant”.
It’s a word referring to members of Saul’s royal court.
Onward.
Next, let’s take a look at the word for “evil spirit” in verse 15.
As I mentioned earlier, this translation isn’t accurate.
We’re not talking about a spirit that is by its very nature evil.
We’re talking about a spirit sent from God that brings forth evil.
It may seem like I’m slicing the onion awfully thin here, but I’m not.
There is a distinct difference between the two and the difference is important.
When we take a closer look at the Hebrew in verse 15, it says this spirit sent from God was BA’ATH SHA’UL.
This means a spirit that was “tormenting or terrorizing Saul”.
It does NOT mean an “evil”, “tormenting”, or “terrorizing” spirit.
Again, it was a spirit sent by God that brought forth “evil”, “torment” or “terror”.
Alrighty, I think I’ve beaten that horse long enough.
So let’s transition over to the takeaway.
It goes back to what I said yesterday.
Saul no longer had any hope in this life or the next.
Since he could no longer turn to God, he had no choice but to turn to outside, worldly stimuli to calm the anguish in his soul.
And isn’t this the way of the entire ungodly world?
For a world that doesn’t know God, its members have no choice but to fill up the emptiness in their souls with booze, drugs, and sex, or the worship of money and/or socially approved worldly fame or status.
Ya feel me?
However, if you’re reading this, I have the hope of better things for you.
I pray you will turn to God to fill the void and emptiness in your soul.
As Paul said, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Later.
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