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Had he but listened to them, and yielded himself not temporarily but really to their
influence! But he was now the old Saul, only sensibly destitute of the Divine help,
presence, and Spirit, and with all the evil in him terribly intensified by the
circumstances. He had all the feelings of a man cast down from his high estate
through his own sin, disappointed in his hopes and ambition, and apprehensive that
at any moment the sentence of rejection, pronounced against him, might be
executed, and that "better" one appear to whom his kingdom was to be given. And
now an angel of evil from the Lord affrighted him with thoughts and visions of what
would come to pass. For man can never withdraw himself from higher influences.
As one of the fathers has it, "When the Spirit of the Lord departs, an evil spirit takes
His place. And this should teach us to pray with David: 'Take not Thy Holy Spirit
from me.'"
Yet, in the wonder-working providence of God, this very circumstance led David
onwards towards his destination. The quiet retirement of the shepherd's life was
evidently of deepest importance to him immediately after his anointing. We can
understand what dangers - inward and outward - would have beset a sudden
introduction to publicity or rush into fame. On the other hand, humble avocations,
retirement, thought, and lonely fellowship with God would best develop his inner
life in constant dependence upon God, and even call out those energies and that self-
reliance which, in conjunction with the higher spiritual qualifications, were so
necessary in his after-calling. Nor was it time lost even so far as his outward
influence was concerned. It was then that the Spirit-helped youth acquired in the
neighboring country, and far as Eastern story would carry it, the reputation of "a
mighty, valiant man, and a man of war," when, all unaided and unarmed, he would
slay "both the lion and the bear" that had attacked the flock which he tended. But,
above all, it is to this period of inward and spiritual preparation in solitary
communion with God that we trace the first of those Psalms which have for ever
made "the sweet singer," in a sense, the "shepherd" of all spiritual Israel. And here
also we love to connect the plains and the shepherds of Bethlehem, who heard angels
hymning the birth of our dear Lord, with His great ancestor and type, and to think
how in those very plains the shepherd-king may have watched his flock in the quiet
of the starlit night, and poured forth in accents of praise what is the faith and hope of
the Church in all times. No doubt this talent of David also, though probably only
viewed as a worldly gift, became known in the neighborhood. And so, when the
courtiers^163 of Saul suggested music as the well-known remedy in antiquity for
mental disturbances, such as those from which the king suffered through the "evil
spirit," one of the servant-men in attendance, probably a native of the district around
Bethlehem, could from personal knowledge recommend David as "cunning in
playing,... knowing of speech,^164 ... and Jehovah is with him."
(^)