 In 1 Samuel, the Bible says that God sent an evil spirit. Is that true? And if so, why? Hey smart Christians, welcome back. When you read the Bible, you'll see certain things that at first glance may be a little bit strange, might even be a little bit difficult to swallow, to understand. One of those such passages happens to come to us in 1 Samuel, where it says that God sent an evil spirit upon Saul. So let's go ahead and look at the passage and see what we can get from it. In chapter 18, verse 10, it says the next day, a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall, but David evaded him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul. So the question is, did God send this evil spirit? And then secondly, if that's the case, why? When you look at the word that's used for evil, that's here, it's the Hebrew word for ry, which can mean evil wicked bad. Remember, God had put his spirit upon Saul for a particular reason. Now, it was never that God wanted Saul to be king. So before we cover this passage, let's go back and look at how this all came about, why Saul is even king in the first place. Recall back in chapter eight, the people of Israel desire to be like all the other nations, and they wanted to have a king over them. God tells Samuel, don't get upset. It's not that they rejected you, but they have rejected me. Tell them what will happen if they have a king. He takes the information to the people and they say they still want a king. So God goes ahead and grants that wish and gives them a king. He gives them Saul. What you need to recall is what tribe is Saul from? Saul is from the tribe of Benjamin. Well, that might be kind of puzzling if we consider what Jacob said about who the scepter or this upcoming king is going to come from, which tribe will he come from? Jacob tells us when he is blessing his children, he skips over the first three sons and goes to Judah. And he says, the scepter shall not depart from Judah. That's key because if the scepter or this king or kingdom is going to run through Judah, how could that be then if Saul is the king? Well, for one, God never intended for it to come through Saul, but God is going to use Saul to kind of set the stage for this upcoming king. We'll call back in 1 Samuel chapter 15 when Saul was commanded to kill all of the Agagites, all of King Agag and his descendants, everything and everyone, but Saul disobeyed. And because of that, God had David to become anointed. And so the spirit that had rested upon Saul that God had given to give Saul victory. Well, that spirit left him and a harmful spirit or a bad spirit from God sent from God. Not that God had a bad spirit, but that God was the one who sent this bad spirit upon Saul. Well, why would God do that? Well, we'll get to that in just a second. But the key is to remember what we said earlier that the scepter shall not depart from Judah. That's key because again, we're still talking about Saul who is from the tribe of Benjamin. I won't go back into the entirety of the story, but recall in chapter 15 also that the Bible says that God was bothered that he even made Saul king because Saul had gone back to his old ways. And so because of all of Saul's transgressions, the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and God sent this bad spirit upon Saul to torment Saul. Now, because of that, what does God have Samuel do? He has him go and anoint David as king. That's key because what tribe is David out of? David is out of the tribe of Judah. So now let's see if we can figure out why God uses or sends this bad or evil spirit upon Saul. Well, as Saul is being tormented in chapter 16, what happens? As a result of that, someone is needed to kind of comfort Saul's soul. And so David is chosen to come and play. David can play music. And so he comforts and soothes Saul's soul. So the Lord uses this opportunity to send this spirit up on Saul to where he would need to bring in or he would usher in David in the presence of Saul. That's key because we're gonna see David used again when it comes to him defeating the Philistine giants. Now recall earlier, Saul had offered this offering because he did not want to wait for Samuel. And so what was the response? Samuel makes a statement that seems a little bit odd at first glance, let's look at it. After Saul had made this offering against the wishes of Samuel, Samuel says to Saul in verse 13 of chapter 13, he says, you have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God with which he commanded you for then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and the Lord has commanded him to be a prince over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. So two things ought to be addressed here. One, he stated that had you done this, then the Lord would have established your kingdom forever. Did that mean that God intended on Saul's kingdom to reign? No, obviously God knew what kind of heart Saul had. And so obviously God knew who Saul was and that God never intended for Saul to be the perpetual leader or for Saul's kingdom or his throne to reign forever or any descendants from Saul's lineage to reign because Saul was never going to be a man who would follow God and keep his statues. In other words, Saul was the kind of person that was like the people. Full of the world wanted to follow the world. He was just like the world, which is what they wanted. A king just like the rest of the world had. And so it was never in God's plan, but to make an example of Saul and a demonstration before the people, he chose Saul and used him to usher in David. In chapter 18, we see, verse 10, the next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre as he did day by day. Saul had his spirit hand and Saul hurled the spear before he thought I will pin David to the wall but David debated him. And so yes, this spirit a second time was sent upon Saul from God. God does not have any evil or any wicked or any bad in him. And so this is not a spirit that is of God, but it is a bad spirit that is there that God just simply used to go and torment Saul. And it was used because David was a loyal person. David probably would not otherwise have left Saul's side. Now, you need to understand something. This does not mean that David had an overly godly heart, though he did. When we go back to the passage previously that stated that God has chosen a man after his own heart, it does not mean that David's heart was like God's heart. That phrase, a man after God's own heart was someone of God's choosing and that's the key. The whole point to all of this of what God is doing lies in what we further find out in 2 Samuel 7. So let's go there before we wrap it up. As David is king, David wants to build a house for God. And of course, guys reply through the prophet is that show you build a house that I will dwell in. God is not interested in that from David, though he'll have his son Solomon to do so to build temple, but God has bigger plans. And so he uses Jonathan to share what God's plan is or in this case, what God's covenant is. And so in verse eight of chapter seven, now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pastor from following the sheep that you should be a prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make your name great like the name of the great ones of the earth. Well, where have we heard that before that I will make your name great? Well, this hearkens back to the covenant that he made with Abraham. Well, in that covenant, there are three elements of this covenant. There is a land element of the covenant, which is the nation of Israel, the actual land. The other element is the people. You're not gonna be a great nation without the people. And then the third element is that there's a kingdom. This nation has to have a kingdom. And so it is explained even more so in chapter seven of second Samuel. Now God is getting ready to make this covenant with David, obviously a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of Isaac and Jacob. And he is a descendant of Judah. So what God is getting ready to do is establish two things. One, he's going to let David know that your son is also going to reign. But then after that, there's going to be a eternal or an everlasting reigning from your descendant, which is going to be obviously Jesus. Verse 10 says, And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them. That's the land so that they will dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. Now this has not fully been realized, but it's going to happen. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly. For the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel and I will give rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days fulfilled, you will lie down with your fathers. I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. So now here he's speaking obviously about Solomon. Here's where the most important part comes in. In verse 16, And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. So here we have what is called the Davidic covenant. God makes this covenant. And in this covenant, he lets David know that his son shall reign and his son shall build a house for God and build this temple. But then more so that his descendant through him, that's going to be Jesus, obvious who is going to reign forever as king over Israel. But obviously for us as well, over all of those who are in his body. And so there is the key. God has established what he is going to do. He determined what he was going to do. And we see that at the very beginning. We don't, though we don't fully know it when reading in Genesis 12, but progressively revealed throughout scripture. As we get here, we see that God's plan is unfolding. Again, God's plan is unfolding. And so because God has chosen Abraham. And then after that, obviously he's chosen Isaac and Jacob and he has chosen Judah through which the scepter shall come through that being through David. And so God has chosen David to be the person to inaugurate this everlasting kingdom that will eventually lead us to Jesus. Who were Jesus's earthly parents descendants of? Either Mary or Joseph, both are also descendants of David. And so why would God send this spirit? Because God sovereignly decides what he is going to do. God sovereignly decides how things are going to happen. And so God may choose whatever and whoever he wishes to fulfill his commands. And so my friends, the point of all of this is that we see God's sovereign hand even in the lives of David, even in the lives of Saul, even in the lives of people who don't know that God is sovereign. And so yes, the answer is, did God send an evil spirit, a bad or wicked spirit upon Saul? Yes, he did. That part is clear. And why did he do so? To bring about what he has sovereignly decreed that would happen not only in the lives of Israel and the nation of Israel, but also think about it for us as well. He reigns not just as king of Israel, but he also reigns of kings of the Gentiles who have placed faith in his name. Amen.