[One-Verse Meditation]

1 Samuel 18:10 (NIV) The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand.

[Meditation]

Chapter 18 is filled with King Saul’s schemes to eliminate David. He dishonors David by breaking his promise to give him his eldest daughter, Merab, and even uses his younger daughter, Michal, as bait to lure him into a deadly trap. The beginning of all this sin was ‘fear.’ He was deathly afraid that the LORD was with David, not with him.

The first verse of today’s text is perplexing. “An evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul…” How should we interpret this verse? Is our good God the ‘author of evil’? Of course not. Rather, this is a declaration showing that all things in the world, even evil spirits, are under the absolute reign of God.

So, this verse does not exempt Saul from responsibility for his sin. It wasn’t that Saul was controlled like a robot when the evil spirit came; rather, his own wicked heart, filled with jealousy and pride, allowed the evil spirit to work freely. And God, as a judgment for his disobedience, permitted this to happen. He left Saul in his sinful state. A similar scene appears in the New Testament. Jesus said this to Peter:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)

The decisive difference between Saul and Peter lies here: the intercessory prayer of Jesus Christ. God left Saul in his sin, but for Peter, He preserved his faith. He set him in a place of faith. Therefore, the source of our faith is not ourselves; it is Christ Jesus, the ‘author of faith.’

[Prayer]

Lord, my faith is in You. It is in You, who protect me from the evil one as a hen gathers her chicks. And so today, empowered by Your eternal intercession, I take a step of faith. Amen.
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[Daily Meditation]

1 Samuel 18:10-29