David Becomes Saul’s Personal Assistant

Because of Saul’s sin, God had made it very clear he was no longer to be king of Israel.  Were originally, the Spirit of God came on Saul directing him, Saul’s sin blocked the Holy Spirit from working in him as I Samuel 16:14 tells us.  “But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. “  Galatians 5:22-23 describes the results of the Spirit in a person’s life.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  Saul’s attitude changed as a result of the absence of the Holy Spirit, and he began to suffer bouts of depression and anger, overreacting to even minor annoyances. 

Concerned by the changes in Saul’s attitude and behavior, his servants recommended he start listening to soothing music to help calm him down when he began to feel upset, in I Samuel 16:15-16.  “And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.  Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.”

When Saul agreed to try it, one of his servants recommended David for the job, in I Samuel 16:17-18.  “And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.

Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.”  Not only was David a skilled musician, but he would also make a valuable addition to the staff when Saul wasn’t struggling with depression and anger. 

Based on the servants recommendation Saul agreed to interview David, in I Samuel 16:19-21.  “Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.  And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.  And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.”

Saul was impressed by David, and made him his personal assistant,  responsible for seeing that his armor and other needs were available at any time.  Because David was still a minor, Saul informed David’s father of the plan, and David  began his job in I Samuel 16:22-23.  “And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.  And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”

God had already named David to be the next king, and this would give David the opportunity to observe how Saul’s decision making and the results of his decisions first hand, preparing him for his future position.  In the meantime, at least for a while, his music soothed Saul’s spirit, and helped him control his emotions.  Unfortunately, because the music only alleviated the symptoms but did nothing for root cause of Saul’s anger and depression, his resentments continued to grow, just as happens so often today with efforts to treat depression and anger.  Physical approaches can only temporarily alleviate the symptoms of spiritual problems.  They can never cure the problem.