A century ago when biographies of Christian men were written it was the accepted policy not to probe too deeply into their lives. It was felt that it wasn’t to the glory of God that a man whom God had used mightily in his service should have weaknesses or failings (except, of course, before conversion!). If they couldn’t be hid it was quite permissible to have them glossed over or gilded. Well-meaning biographers resorted to editing correspondence to hide mistakes and anything that would show their subject in an unfavourable light. That’s a pity because, in addition to it being dishonest, it prevents us from knowing the real man and appreciating that he too was "of like passions as we are" (James 5:17).
Over the years the attitude has changed and there’s now a refreshing frankness in Christian biography. When W E Sangster, the much-loved Methodist leader was told that his life story would undoubtedly be written he insisted that there should be a chapter included entitled "Warts and all". He didn’t wish the public to be given a false impression of his life. He knew that there was only One who was faultless and made no mistakes.
One thing which confirms the integrity of the Bible as the Word of God is the fact that, although it makes much of its heroes and great men of history, it also points out with utter frankness their failures and shortcomings. This is the case of the account of Saul, the first king of Israel. It’s heart-warming to read that God chose and called him to the pinnacle of fame and gave him the opportunity to serve the Almighty. God spoke to him through the prophet Samuel words which must have thrilled him: "The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power and you will prophesy … and you will be changed into a different person" (1 Samuel 10:6). The promise was entirely fulfilled as soon afterwards it’s stated: "God changed Saul’s heart" (9).
But there’s another side to Saul’s life. Just as faithfully as the Bible records his good beginnings and life of service, it also records that he didn’t continue in the way of righteousness in which he’d begun. Samuel had to speak sharply to Saul: "You acted foolishly … you have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you" (13:13). Saul had been told wait for Samuel to arrive at a certain place to offer a sacrifice to God but after 7 days the prophet hadn’t arrived and Saul grew impatient and offered the sacrifice himself. This was a prohibited action; the offering of sacrifice was reserved for priests only. We notice first Saul’s:
RELAPSE INTO SIN
One of the unchanging laws of life is that whatever we sow we shall reap. And so it was with Saul. We read the sad words: "The Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul" (16:14). This paints a tragic picture, contrasting terribly with the bliss of the first day of his experience with God - but it had happened. We’ve seen the cause. In a word it was Saul’s disobedience to the express command of God. Instead of the joy and peace of the communion he once enjoyed, he now had an aching heart and an uneasy conscience. Instead of the bliss of fellowship with God as the Spirit came upon
him he now had a tormented mind.
Saul could well have felt like the hymnwriter when he wrote: "Where is the blessedness I knew when first I knew the Lord? Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word? What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still. But they have left an aching void the world can never fill." When we compromise with the world we lose our fellowship with God. A former Dean of St Paul’s, W R Inge, famously observed that any church that enters into a marriage with the spirit of the age "will soon find itself a widow in the next". It happens to the individual as well.
When "the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul" we read: "an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him." What can that mean? Evil can’t proceed from a righteous God, much less an evil spirit. The term "evil spirit" must refer to some affliction or punishment that God, in his love for a chosen servant of his, saw fit to inflict in discipline. This isn’t to say that depression or illness necessarily is the result of a person’s actions, but it was in Saul’s case. As the Spirit of God departed from Saul he was assaulted by evil powers and he suffered a depression not far removed from insanity.
It’s helpful to see a distinction between those things which God allows and things that God commands. Both can be seen as coming from God. When Saul’s servants saw his uncontrolled behaviour in his outbursts of depression it’s understandable if they thought he was possessed by demons. Depression is a terrible scourge. I read that Winston Churchill, in the 1930s when he was in the political wilderness, he referred to his “black dog days”.
Depression can have many causes. Sometimes it’s rooted in past actions. It’s possible that in Saul’s case his own guilt and the lack of any sense of God’s presence resulting from his disobedience at times proved too much for him to cope with. He was thoroughly disturbed and “out of sorts”, but was fully responsible for his actions. So much for his Relapse into sin, we now see the:
RESULT OF HIS FALL
King Saul was in a sad state. But this is also true in a wider setting, for isn’t there a spirit of affliction or punishment affecting the whole world. It’s been in operation from the day that sin entered the world. It’s the story of the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden. The cause is also the same - outright disobedience to the known will of God. If we realised that we wouldn’t be so puzzled at the troubles and perplexities in the world at large and in the life of the individual. Mankind can be said to have "shot themselves in the foot!" Why, people ask, are there disasters of earthquakes and floods, the terrible problems of sickness and disease? The only reasonable explanation is found in St Paul’s words that creation itself is in bondage to decay and corruption (Romans 8:21). Very often, as with Saul, the trouble is originally caused by mankind’s own folly and selfishness. If we’re not careful we can bring about our own downfall.
I read that the Eskimos of Canada and Greenland have an interesting, if rather cruel, way of hunting bear. They will take a bone, preferably a wolf bone, and they will sharpen it at both ends. Then they will coil it through a process, freeze it in blubber and lay it across one of the paths the bears travel. As the bear comes along he smells the blubber and in one gulp he takes it and swallows it, not knowing that it’s just blubber on the outside, but on the inside there’s this twisted, sharpened bone. And the minute he swallows it he’s dead. He doesn’t drop down just yet, but every move he makes, every step he takes, causes that bone to twist and to slash and to tear and the internal bleeding starts and the Eskimos just follow the tracks of that bear until it dies. It’s the same way as a person who says, "I’m going to save my life, I’m going to keep my life for myself, I’m going to do what I want to do." The minute you do that you are already in the process of dying and destroying your life.
We’re told in the story that Saul was fortunate to have good advisers. They immediately saw why he was so miserable and restless and they offered to bring him relief but it was necessary for Saul to agree. To his credit he realised how helpless he was in the grip of his affliction. He acknowledged his desperate need in giving the command to his servant: "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me" (16:17).
When things go wrong, the only sensible thing to do is to face facts, however unpalatable they are. If we’re ill, the wise thing to do is reconcile ourselves to the position and then seek the best help possible. That’s what Saul did. In the spiritual life, it’s often the reverse. Instead of seeking God who alone can meet our greatest need, of being reconciled to him and receiving the peace of mind that comes with forgiveness, men and women often look for help from where it can’t possibly come.
The enemy of our souls does all he can to prevent people who seek peace of mind from trusting in Jesus who alone is "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6). Satan will endeavour to sidetrack the seeker into his own counterfeits. As Jesus said, there is a peace that the world can give, but its source is not from God, and so it’s inadequate, superficial and short-lived. There’s:
The Peace of Escapism
The world holds out the false prospect of freedom from anxiety and the cares of life. Many desperately hope to find refuge from their troubles in unrestrained pleasure seeking; they try to drown their sorrows or become addicted to drugs. But all too often for these misguided people, the pleasure seeker’s feeling at peace soon wears off often leaving an empty pocket and an aching head and an insatiable craving for more. Then there’s:
The Peace of False Security
The prince of this world knows that the short-lived peace of escapism doesn’t satisfy so he offers another fraudulent peace, that of a temporary freedom from the unpleasant things of life. The psalmist wrote in a moment of depression that the wicked are "always carefree, they increase in wealth" (73:12). They may do so for a time, gaining money to afford all the luxuries that life can offer. They may seem to live it up, do their own thing, as Frank Sinatra’s song goes, "I’ll do it my way!" But then the unexpected tragedy occurs, health may break down, the stock market crashes and their so-called peace is suddenly shattered.
The peace of escapism and false security means putting one’s trust in things that have only a worldly value but in terms of eternity mean nothing. The advertising industry is slanted towards the bogus peace of obtaining happiness through gaining possessions and pleasures. This is nothing new. The prophet Jeremiah exposed its shallowness when he referred to the false priests of his day, ’"Peace, peace," they say, "when there is no peace"’ (8:10).
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of complacency, of doing nothing, of ignoring the danger of being in a wrong relationship with God. There’s a legend where three demons are overheard planning how to get most victims for their master. The first said: "Tell the people ’There is no God’" "No, that won’t do," said the others, "There are too many evidences of his goodness to convince people." The second proposed: "Say ’There is no hell.’" The others replied, "That won’t convince people either because some of their fellows are there already." The third produced the most effective way, "Tell them ’There is no hurry.’" This brings to mind the Bible’s solemn words, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb 2.3). It’s a question that defies an answer. Fortunately Saul looked for help in the right direction, as we see the:
REMEDY HE FOUND
Throughout the ages, music therapy has been used to calm troubled souls, and Saul’s loyal servants thought that this might be of some help to him. No sooner had he given instructions to find someone to bring him relief from his tormented mind than one of his servants stepped forward, "Your majesty, I know just the man you’re looking for!" David entered into Saul’s service as an armour-bearer, a kind of junior officer and the two got on really well. The servant gave Saul a beautiful, six-fold description of David. He’s not only the human forefather but also a type of his Greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul merely asked for a man to play soothing music but he got far more in the person of David. The servant described David as not only a man who "knows how to play the harp" but also: "He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him" (16:18). How true this is when we come to Christ seeking forgiveness. We receive that of course, but much more beside.
This is beautifully illustrated in the parable of the Prodigal Son. The repentant son came home from the far country, trembling to his father. He could only expect to be treated as a servant, which in the circumstances, was all he deserved. But what happened? His father embraced him with outstretched arms of love and forgiveness. The father commanded, "Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf … let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:22-24).
The Prodigal Son came to his father just as he was in his rags. It reminds me of a story I read of artist who saw in a street urchin what nobody else saw - a potential masterpiece. So when he promised the boy he’d pay him to come and sit for him, the urchin said, "Yes!" But the next day he showed up with his face washed, his hair combed, and wearing a new suit his mother had borrowed from a neighbour. Totally disappointed, the artist said to him, "I’m sorry I can’t paint you like this; I wanted you to come - just as you are." And that’s the only way any of us can come to God. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, we can do to make ourselves more acceptable to him. Whether we’re of a high moral character, or the lowest of sinners, the only way into heaven is by trusting in Christ alone.
Not only does Jesus offer pardon for the past, but full provision for the present and future. He gives us his Spirit to resist evil, he gives us peace because the sin question has been dealt with, and he offers a wonderful prospect for the future of eternal life with him in heaven. So much for the Remedy that Saul found. We must look at the:
RESTORATION THAT TOOK PLACE
King Saul quickly sent for David. The story tells us that "David came to Saul and entered his service." We’re told that "Saul liked him very much … Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. The relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him" (21-23). As David played, healing flowed with the music and Saul’s depression left him. Doesn’t this remind us of the ministry of Jesus? A verse of an old song tells us: "He came and they were blessed, he made the weary rest; he made the blinded eyes to see; he fed the hungry souls and made the wounded whole by the waters of blue Galilee."
Jesus is still at work today if we’ll let him. Saul had endured the torment of this spirit of affliction, yet all the time the very person who could help him was available. David might well have known of the king’s distress but couldn’t be of use unless and until he was admitted into the king’s presence and allowed to use his gift of bringing peace to a troubled mind. Saul had to exercise his free will. How like the Lord Jesus. He awaits the opportunity to come into our lives and minister God’s peace. The Bible tells us that Jesus "is able to save completely those who come to God through him" (Heb 7:25). There’s a note of certainty in those words; we can depend upon them.
This Old Testament story has been preserved for us as an illustration of the human condition, speaking to us mankind’s Relapse with the inevitable Result. That’s man’s side, but then there’s God’s intervention in the coming of Jesus to provide a Remedy to make possible our Restoration. May we have the good sense to accept it.
