April 1 - 1 Samuel 18-20: Saul Played the Fool

The story of Saul, Jonathan and David is such a compelling read.  I don't want to put it down, even though I know the ultimate ending. I'm enjoying reading this story through new eyes and in its context of God's love for and discipline of Israel.

That said, chapter 19 is difficult for me to understand.  Yesterday, Lisa commented on God sending a black mood (16:14) to Saul.  In today's reading, we see "a black mood from God settled over Saul and took control of him" (19:9).  As the wife of a psychologist and the sister of a mentally ill brother, this passage does raise questions for me.  I know just enough to be dangerous and not enough to be of any real insight.  And even more puzzling are the crazy rantings and mindless ravings brought on Saul's men by the Spirit of God.  (At this point, I'm seriously considering just writing about the friendship of Jonathan and David - a much nicer, more straightforward part of the story!)

Here's some commentary from Eugene Peterson:

"What precisely the “prophetic frenzy” was eludes our understanding, but the thrust of the story is clear enough.   The same spirit from God that overwhelmed Saul at the outset of his kingship (10:9-13) also marks the end of it.  David, after Saul’s sixth attempt on his life, runs for protection to the prophet Samuel at Ramah... Saul sends messengers to bring him back, but when the messengers enter the spiritual assembly they are caught up in the prophetic ecstasies, overwhelmed by God’s spirit... Disgusted, Saul takes matters into his own hands and goes to Ramah.  He arrives with murder on his mind, but he and his evil intent are no better able to withstand God’s spirit than did the messengers.  He is soon completely under the influence of God’s spirit, stripped of his royal robes and prostrate before Samuel, giving witness to God’s power and presence.  “This once great man, still tall but no longer great…clearly not in control, shamed, now rendered powerless in a posture of submissiveness” [Brueggemann, First and Second Samuel].  He has fallen under the spell of goodness and is rendered temporarily incapable of evil.  In the long run, evil does not stand a chance against goodness. " [Eugene Peterson, 1 and 2 Samuel]

What am I to do with these actions of God that do not fit into my God-box?  These messy, crazy, unresolved mysteries of God?  These are the kind of passages that remind me that the Bible is not a list of principles to apply or stories to entertain or axioms to live by.  It is God's Word, living, powerful, and revealing enough of God for us to know a measure of His vast love for us and our desperate need for His grace.

If I'm confused, I wonder what David was thinking in the midst of this chaos.  He'd been anointed by God and now hunted like a dog.  Psalm 59 is titled, "A David Psalm, when Saul set a Watch on David's House in Order to Kill Him".  (Yeah, don't think the title will help it be a bestseller on iTunes!)

My God!  Rescue me from my enemies, defend me from these mutineers. Rescue me from their dirty tricks, save me from their hit men...

Wake up and see for yourself!  You're God, God-of-angel-Armies, Israel's God! Get on the job and take care of these pagans, don't be soft on these hard cases...

But you, God, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes.  Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you.  God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin...

And me?  I'm singing your prowess, shouting at cockcrow your largesse, for you've been a safe place for me, a good place to hide.  Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you - God, my dependable love.

There are times like this when we can't make the text fit any tidy motto to repeat. It's God's largeness, His mystery, His strength, His love that we can depend on and that we are overwhelmed by. And for now, that is enough. "Keep reading."