1 Samuel 16:14-16
Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil[a] spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15 Sauls attendants said to him, See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.
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What I don't understand here is this, Saul had sinned a lot and according to the bible people seemed to know he had fallen out of grace, the spirit of God had left him. According to christian doctrine, we believe that God accepts repentance and our pleas for forgiveness. We can have the hope that God restores us if we humble ourselves.
But why didn't anyone tell this to Saul? I mean, why did his house put up with his evil? Why did they just want to soothe him? Or am I missing something that is between the lines here?
I mean, how crazy was this Saul? He hated and hunter after David all the time, yet he must have known that such hatred of your brother was repugnant to God. God knows we are sinners and at other places in scripture it says clearly that God doesn't always punish us like we would deserve it. How did Saul fall and become so depraved that he didn't see things realistically anymore? Is that an instance of what calvinists consider God withholding repentance from a sinner in his wrath? Or is that an example of a society that didn't understand and mistook mental illness for an evil spirit? Was there no hope for Saul?
Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil[a] spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15 Sauls attendants said to him, See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.
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What I don't understand here is this, Saul had sinned a lot and according to the bible people seemed to know he had fallen out of grace, the spirit of God had left him. According to christian doctrine, we believe that God accepts repentance and our pleas for forgiveness. We can have the hope that God restores us if we humble ourselves.
But why didn't anyone tell this to Saul? I mean, why did his house put up with his evil? Why did they just want to soothe him? Or am I missing something that is between the lines here?
I mean, how crazy was this Saul? He hated and hunter after David all the time, yet he must have known that such hatred of your brother was repugnant to God. God knows we are sinners and at other places in scripture it says clearly that God doesn't always punish us like we would deserve it. How did Saul fall and become so depraved that he didn't see things realistically anymore? Is that an instance of what calvinists consider God withholding repentance from a sinner in his wrath? Or is that an example of a society that didn't understand and mistook mental illness for an evil spirit? Was there no hope for Saul?
