1 Samuel 16:21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer. The scene changes. "We are no longer sitting among the sheep with David, watching the departure of the prophet, and the dispersion of the guests; we are not now among the home circle in Jesse's house, but in the court of Gibeah. Here is state and grandeur and Eastern magnificence. The king has evidently all the absolute power of an Eastern monarch. But these things will make no man happy; for we read (ver. 24): "The Spirit, of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." Is it so? that powers and talents are taken from one man and given to another? Are we so far stewards of all our faculties, that if we misuse or abuse them, God will transfer them to our neighbour? The kingdom was taken from Saul, so Samuel had told him, and was given to another. You recollect what our Lord says in the parable of the pounds: "And he said to them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. For I say unto you, That unto everyone which hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him." The more you act as faithful stewards of your money, your talents, and your faculties, the more God will commit to your trust. But if, like the unjust steward, you "waste your Lord's goods," then you will lose what you have, and be no longer stewards. Sin draws after it many consequences. Little did Saul think that he should lose the kingdom, when he spared the king of the Amalekites; and he never could have foreseen that, fearful visitation that was coming on him. Boast not of your gifts or your mental powers, it needs but for God to remove His hand, and what a multitude of evil spirits may possess our souls! It is only by God's will that we live? What a contrast between Saul returning from the slaughter of the Ammonites, and Saul, as now, a prey to fits of mental derangement! Yes, we are in God's hands, and everything is at His disposal. Now we may be conscious of some power of mind and a consciousness of power, of course, gives pleasure. But a stroke of paralysis might lay us prostrate in a moment; the faculty of speech, the faculty of memory, might be taken from us, and we be enfeebled in mind for the rest of our days. This affliction of Saul's is called "an evil spirit from the Lord." The Spirit of the Lord was gone from Saul, gone because of his sin; and the evil spirit from God had come upon him. The servants prescribe only a half-remedy: the music may drive away his sadness, may restore the balance of his mind; but this, because it cannot bring back the favour of God, will not restore peace to his soul. Only the gospel can give real comfort. And now one of the servants of Saul, perhaps a man with more religious feeling than the rest, mentions David's name. And so David is sent for to the court of Saul. God's purposes are sure to come to pass. When Moses was forty years old, he thought the time had come for him to deliver his brethren; but there were to be forty years of discipline yet both for him and them. When Saul was arrested by the vision on the road to Damascus, he was told of God's designs about him; but many years passed before he was ordained to the apostleship David's faith and patience were put to the test in the interval that elapsed between his anointing and his summons to the court; and now, in a very humble capacity indeed, he enters the palace: he is nothing more than a musician, and afterwards made one of the bodyguard. Music has a wonderful power over the spirit. Saul felt its influence, and his spirit was "refreshed," but he remained the same character; his soul was in no way the better for it. It is very difficult to distinguish between natural sentiment and religious enthusiasm, between genuine spiritual ecstacy and mere sensuous delight. God forbid our church music should not be good of its kind! We ought to offer the best of everything to God; only with this passage in Saul's life before us, let us be careful that while we delight in the singing, we are not insensible to the deep meaning of the words. When you think that a musical service has really been a blessing to your soul, then ask yourself these questions: "Have I been humbled in my own eyes?" "Do I loathe myself?" Is Christ more precious to me as the Saviour who has died for me?" and "Do I feel more abhorrence of the sin that is close and natural to me?" For if you have been excited, but not really moved to humiliation and prayer, the musical service will only have strengthened your natural propensities; and though I say nothing against the singing of the Psalms of David, yet I say thin — and that in the face of the musical taste of the present day — that the effect of a high musical service upon soma natures may be baneful in the extreme. God has given to some of you great talents; mind that, like David, you use them to His glory. Have you beauty? Have you intellect? Have you musical talent? Thank God for every gift: but remember that it is a trust: you may use it in the service of God, or in the devil's service. (C. Bosanquet, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.WEB: David came to Saul, and stood before him. He loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer. |
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