1 Samuel 18:10 Commentary and Bible Study

He is given, so the record tells us, an evil spirit from God. Sometimes in the KJV the word ‘spirit’ is spelt with a small ‘s’, and sometimes, where the word ‘evil’ isn't employed, it is given a capital ‘S’. There seems to be a little confusion in the King James Version as to whether this is a work of the Holy Spirit or not. The majority view in the old days was that this evil spirit is a kind of disposition. If it were an evil spirit sent by God with an executive power of some kind to make Saul do this and do that – all the murderous attempts upon David's life, and other terrible things – then it would make God in a way responsible for Saul’s sins, and that cannot be. That is a great principle of Scripture, constantly repeated. God is in no way the author of evil and sin. So we can't view this evil spirit as a force of some kind from God, that made Saul do anything. It's rather a disposition, an inclination. It is probably Saul's very own personal inner disposition which, up until this time, has been curbed by various influences. It has been curbed by his upbringing, by his surroundings. He has to be decent to other people, he has to behave in his place, and be reasonable and polite and courteous. While he was anointed as king, while he was obedient he would have had a special help and strength from God to overcome that inner disposition. But now all the restraint is removed. He is king. He doesn’t have to be courteous to anyone. He doesn't have to be reasonable to anyone. And what is more, God has taken his hands of restraint off him. And so this bad inclination comes out. Certainly it was nothing that took away his responsibility. As we go through this passage, we have to remember that Saul is wholly responsible for his vindictive conduct towards David, his murderous plans and attempts. His temperament is now against him, it is true, and it is disadvantageous to him, but it is not actually making him do these evil things. By the grace of God, by the help of God, and even with ordinary rational help, he could in a measure live with his temperament and control it; suffer it, yes, but survive it. Sometimes people read this passage and say, ‘Oh there is some strange evil spirit from the Lord, therefore Saul is no longer responsible for what he does.’ He most certainly is, even though he has this handicap. ‘It came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied.’ What does it mean: ‘he prophesied’? Elsewhere in First Samuel the word prophesied is used five or six times to mean, according to the context, simply worship. The company of the prophets., the schools of the prophets, prophesied together, those who joined with them prophesied. It seems much more to be a term for worship, than a term for prophecy as we might understand it. There wasn't actually foretelling going on, nor even forthtelling, but worship. In that sense the verse is telling us that due to this evil disposition in Saul, he feigned worship. He pretended to worship. You soon see why. ‘And David played with his hand.’ Though he is one of the captains of the military, as at other times, he takes up his harp and he plays for Saul to encourage him. David would naturally slip into his mode as a psalmist and as an instrumentalist, and accompany Saul in worship. But with this deep depression that descends upon him and the awareness of his rejection, he aims to kill David, and so to lull him into a sense of security, he feigns worships.‘And there was a javelin in Saul's hand’; there nearly always was. It was the javelin or the spear of office, held with the tip pointed upright, the end other end of the staff on the ground, and the king held it in his hand. That is what you see in ancient monuments concerning the neighbouring kings round about. They all hold their spear of office. So this would not have presented any suspicion as far as David was concerned.‘And Saul cast the javelin.’ The word ‘cast’ is very elastic in the original. It could refer to throwing something so that it is released from the hand, or it could refer to even wielding a dagger. In this case, the first thrust of the javelin seems to have been used as a dagger. This is a simple practical point; it doesn't greatly concern us. But after all, if Saul had thrown the javelin, he would then need to retrieve it and take up his position once again, in order to throw it a second time, which the passage tells us he did. If I was David I wouldn't be anywhere in sight by then. So the first movement was probably a dagger-like thrust with the javelin – it was still in his hand – and the second time maybe he actually cast it, and it flew and buried itself in the wall. ‘And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.’ Saul who was still capable of controlling himself at other times, gave way to his anger and indulged his desire to kill David. He though he could not fail to do so, but by the Lord’s help David dodged both blows.