Friday, May 25
Ezekiel 46: In this chapter the interest goes from sacred space to sacred time. The west gate of the temple’s inner court, the gate facing east, is to remain closed on ordinary work days, but the Sabbath and the monthly feast day (“the new moon”) are to be marked by the gate’s opening (verse 1).
The civil authority (“the prince”) will regularly consecrate the life of the nation by appearing reverently at that gate on those appointed days to present a special sacrifice (verses 2,8). The gate will also be opened for the prince whenever devotion prompts him to make an additional offering (verse 12). The prince shall also see to it that regular offerings are made, twice daily, at morning and at evening.
The prayers designated for those two times of daily sacrifice became a standard component of Jewish piety and eventually passed into Christian discipline as the “canonical hours” of Matins and Vespers; this explains the language about sacrifice found in the traditional texts of those two daily services of prayer.
Verse 18 indicates a return to the ancient Mosaic mandate keeping inherited real estate within family ownership (cf. Leviticus 25:10-17).
First Samuel 10:17-27: The last time Samuel assembled the Israelites at Mizpah, the Lord’s deliverance proved that they needed no earthly king (7:5-12). It is profoundly ironical, therefore, that the people are now summoned to Mizpah for the purpose of choosing an earthly king (verse 17). Samuel takes back nothing, however, from his earlier declaration: Israel’s craving for a monarch is tantamount to a rejection of the Lord (verse 19; cf. 8:7).
God’s choice of a king is determined by a process of casting lots (verses 20-21; cf. 14:41; Joshua 7:13; Acts 1:15-26). The chosen Saul is reluctant, notwithstanding the “signs” he had been given (verses 1-13). He is burdened by the same sense of modesty (verse 22; cf. verse 16; 9:21). It is hard, however, for a tall man to hide (verse 23), and Samuel is clearly impressed by Saul’s height (verse 24). (The Lord will later caution the prophet on this point—16:7!)
“Long live the king!” (verse 24) became a customary acclamation in the Bible (2 Samuel 16:16; 1 Kings 1:25,34,39-40; 2 Kings 11:12).
This is to be a “constitutional monarchy,” and Samuel is charged to compose the charter (cf. Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
Now that the Lord has made His will known with respect to Saul, our author takes a dim view of those who oppose him (verse 27). Later opponents of the throne will merit the same negative regard (2 Samuel 16:17; 20:1; 23:6).
For the present, there is nothing further for Saul to do (verse 26). He must wait until some occasion presents itself: “Do whatever comes to hand, for God is with you” (verse 7). The new king will not have long to wait, for trouble is brewing in the land of Ammon.
Saturday, May 26
Ezekiel 47: A secret spring, flowing from the holy place, sends fresh waters eastward, and Ezekiel is taken outside to see the growing stream. Since the eastern gate of the temple is forever locked and the southern gate lies in the area of the flooding water, he exits the temple by the north gate. The river deepens as it goes along through the Judean desert until it reaches the Dead Sea (verse 8). This stagnant pool is refreshed by the new living water flowing from the temple, so that fish can live in it and trees grow on its banks.
This is the living water of which Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman in John 4. This is the stream of Genesis 2:10-14 and Revelation 22:1-2. It is the living water of Pentecost. This living stream, flowing from God’s glory in the temple, is the life-giving water of Baptism.
The rest of this chapter (verses 13-23) contains a detailed geographical outline of the Promised Land, which prepares for the distribution among the twelve tribes in the next chapter.
One observes in this section (verse 22) an attitude toward non-Israelites far more positive than the attitude expressed in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which narrate Israel’s actual return to the Promised Land.
First Samuel 11: The abrupt beginning of this chapter appears to be truncated. In fact, a longer version of it was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the last century (4QSam). It reads,
King Nahash of the Ammonites was severely oppressing the Gadites and Reubenites, boring out every right eye, and allow no one to save Israel. Among the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan, no one was left whose right eye King Nahash of the Ammonites had not bored out. Nonetheless, seven thousand men had escaped from the power of the Ammonites and had arrived at Jabesh Gilead.
This expanded version was apparently known to Josephus (Antiquities 6.5.1[68]), who recounts the story this way:
Nahash had done a great deal of mischief to the Jews that lived beyond Jordan by the expedition he had made against them with a great and warlike army. He also reduced their cities into slavery, and that not only by subduing them for the present, which he did by force and violence, but by weakening them by subtlety and cunning, that they might not be able afterward to get clear of the slavery they were under to him; for he put out the right eyes of those that either delivered themselves to him upon terms, or were taken by him in war; and this he did, that when their left eyes were covered by their shields, they might be wholly useless in war.
Now when the king of the Ammonites had served those beyond Jordan in this manner, he led his army against those that were called Gileadites, and having pitched his camp at the metropolis of his enemies, which was the city of Jabesh, he sent ambassadors to them, commanding them either to deliver themselves up, on condition to have their right eyes plucked out, or to undergo a siege, and to have their cities overthrown. He gave them their choice, whether they would cut off a small member of their body, or universally perish. However, the Gileadites were so affrighted at these offers, that they had not courage to say any thing to either of them, neither that they would deliver themselves up, nor that they would fight him. But they desired that he would give them seven days’ respite, that they might send ambassadors to their countrymen, and entreat their assistance; and if they came to assist them, they would fight; but if that assistance were impossible to be obtained from them, they said they would deliver themselves up to suffer whatever he pleased to inflict upon them.
Both Josephus and the Septuagint indicate that this happened one month after Samuel’s meeting with Israel at Mizpah.
Already designated by prophetic inspiration (9:15-16) and oracular verification (10:17-24), Saul will now be elected king by popular acclaim (verses 12-15). The acclamation follows Saul’s quick executive response to the crisis at Jabesh Gilead (verses 5-7). Whereas the report from that city caused great sorrow and consternation throughout Israel (verse 4; Josephus, Antiquities 6.5.2[74]), only Saul arose to take the matter decisively in hand. He thus demonstrated early the prompt resolve and high energy level that would, in due course, prove to be his undoing.
“The Spirit of the Lord” came on Saul (verse 6), as was the case with Samson (Judges 14:6,19; 15:4). Josephus describes him as “enthusiastic” (entheos), in the literal sense of being “God-possessed” (6.5.2[76]). This possession was marked by a righteous anger.
Anger, in turn, inspired fear, as Saul intended it should (verse 7), so a significant military force was assembled at the Jordan, ready to cross over and relieve the siege of Jabesh (verse 8).
The exact size of this force—about which there is no agreement among the Hebrew text, the Septuagint, the Qumran scroll, and Josephus—is unclear. It was certainly smaller than the English translations indicate, because the Hebrew term ’eleph, almost always translated as “thousand,” more properly means “band.” These “bands” of soldiers usually included far fewer than a thousand soldiers. In any case, Saul’s force was more than adequate for the given task.
Nahash, misunderstanding the deliberately ambiguous response from the besieged city, was ill prepared for the surprise attack Saul launched at his rear and both flanks (verses 10-11). This attack followed an all-night forced march by Saul’s army (Josephus, 6.5.3[79]). Saul’s maneuver, apparently borrowed from Gideon and Ahimelech (Judges 7:16; 9:43), demonstrated that his powers of military leadership were supplemented by genuine tactical skill.
The victory was thorough. According to Josephus (6.5.3[80]) Saul next turned his army south for a full-scale invasion of the Ammonites. Josephus was certainly wrong, however, in his claim that Saul slew Nahash (cf. 2 Samuel 10:2).
The city of Jabesh would be forever grateful to Saul for its deliverance (cf. 31:11-13; 2 Samuel 2:4-7).
Elated by the victory, Saul would countenance no reprisals against those who had opposed his kingship (verses 12-13). This was a shrewd move on this part, because this amnesty established a precedent for executive pardon. That is to say, it strengthened his claim to the throne.
The victorious army retired to Gilgal in order to make Saul—–yet once more—their king (verses 14-15). Josephus (6.5.4[83-85]) recognized the decisive importance of this event in Israel’s political history:
So the prophet [Samuel] anointed Saul with the holy oil in the sight of the multitude, and declared him to be king the second time. And so the government of the Hebrews was changed into a royal government; for in the days of Moses, and his disciple Joshua, who was their general, they continued under an aristocracy; but after the death of Joshua, for eighteen years in all, the multitude had no settled form of government, but were in an anarchy; after which they returned to their former government, they then permitting themselves to be judged by him who appeared to be the best warrior and most courageous, whence it was that they called this interval of their government the Judges.
Pentecost Sunday, May 27
Ezekiel 48: This highly schematic distribution of the Holy Land (into long narrow strips running east/west) is marked by several features: First, it is based on the disposition of the temple and adjoining areas as described in Chapter 45. Second, it is completely theoretical, inasmuch as the majority of the twelve tribes of Israel no longer existed as such; most of the ten tribes deported by the Assyrians in 722 had long been assimilated into the peoples of Mesopotamia. Third, the division of the land differs very significantly from the ancient division from the time of Joshua. If the tribes of Gad and Zebulon had somehow managed to return, they would have been very surprised to find themselves living in the Negev Desert (verses 26-27) instead of the fertile fields of Galilee!
In short, there are considerable difficulties attendant on interpreting this chapter of Ezekiel as a literal description of Israel’s return to the Holy Land in 538. Like the mystical waters of the previous chapter, this geographical disposition should be interpreted in the light of New Testament ecclesiology, the twelve tribes representing the whole people of God, which is the Church of Jesus Christ.
These twelve tribes will each be honored with a gate entering the new Jerusalem (48:30-35; cf. Revelation 21:12). Instead of Yerushalaim (Jerusalem), the city will be called Adonaishammah (“the Lord is there”). This is a prophecy of God’s New Testament Church, on which the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost.
Acts 2:1-21: The mission of the Holy Spirit is not something independent of Jesus of Nazareth. The risen Lord, in his transformed body, is the only medium of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit of Christ is not a reality separable from Christ. He breathes the Holy Spirit upon the Church.
Like most breath, the Holy Spirit is invisible. What is visible is Christ. It is to Christ that the Holy Spirit directs our attention. Indeed, the Holy Spirit has relatively little to say about Himself.
Consider the image of breathing: We can take air into us, only because we are surrounded by air. It is thus with the Holy Spirit. We do not have the Holy Spirit in us, unless we are in the Holy Spirit.
This image indicates the moral responsibility we have with respect to the Holy Spirit. That is to say, we have a spiritual atmosphere to protect. In order to guarantee that the Holy Spirit can come into us, it is imperative that we keep ourselves in the Holy Spirit. There is a certain kind of air pollution that we use considerable force to keep out.
This is the reason why we Christians guard our senses. There are certain things we do permit ourselves to see. There are certain sounds to which refuse to attend. There are certain thoughts that we drive from our minds. We have an atmosphere to protect. That atmosphere, on which we depend for our very life, is the Holy Spirit, in whom we live, and move, and have our being.
Monday, May 28
First Samuel 12: This chapter, made up of Samuel’s last public speech—interspersed with the people’s responses—continues the scene at Gilgal from the previous chapter. The context, then, is Saul’s coronation; he is certainly present (verses 3,5,13). (Some commentators disagree, objecting that Gilgal is not mentioned in this chapter, nor is Saul named. However, those objectors forget that the story was divided into chapters less than a thousand years ago. The biblical writers knew nothing of chapters. In fact, chapters 11 and 12 form a seamless narrative.)
Saul’s speech begins with as asseveration of his integrity as Israel’s leader (verses 1-4). This defense has often been compared to the final testimonies of Joshua (Joshua 23:1-16) and St. Paul (Acts 20:18-27). In contrast to the still untested Saul, Samuel’s life was an open book, so he summoned the Israelites to testify to his character and the quality of his service (verse 5).
Next, Samuel reviewed the circumstances of Israel’s request for a king, comparing it to the people’s earlier rebellions against the Lord (verses 6-12). His point? God had consistently raised up charismatic leaders as they were needed. Hence, the people’s wish for a permanent monarchy signified their lack of faith.
The sequence of Samuel’s historical survey—sin, judgment, repentance, and mercy—generally follows a pattern standard in Israel’s historiography. We should likely ascribe its literary form, including the present instance, to the sixth century editor of the Bible’s long historical narrative.
Israel now had its monarchy, argued Samuel, let them make the most of it. The effectiveness of this monarchy would depend—as did everything in Israel’s history—on obedience to the demands of the covenant life (verses 13-15). The difference now would be the added complication of the throne. The moral obligations of the throne would be identical to those of the people.
Samuel’s speech affirmed the ambivalent quality of kingship in Israel: It was at once a punishment and a gift—an institution embodying both the sin of the people and the mercy of the Lord. The career of the king would determine which aspect would prevail.
To demonstrate that he was speaking for God, Samuel requested a heavenly sign, which promptly appeared: an early summer storm, virtually unknown in the Holy Land. This storm, putting the wheat harvest at hazard, was a further sign of divine judgment.
The people, correctly impressed, confessed their sin and sought the prophet’s intercession (verses 16-19). This incident showed Samuel to be a prophet like Moses (cf. 7:8-10; Deuteronomy 9:20; 18:15). Ironically, it was the prayer of Samuel that brought Israel forgiveness for the sin of asking for a king!
The final part of Samuel’s speech (verses 20-25) repeats, summarizes, and somewhat expands the core theme: How to make the monarchy work? Samuel closes with a warning of what would happen if it did not work. The final editors of the story, of course, were well aware of the tragic outcome, five centuries later.
This chapter brings to an end the practical question of choosing a king, which has been the preoccupation since chapter 7. Now it is time to see if the king, introduced several times and with so much promise, will come up to the mark!
Tuesday, May 29
First Samuel 13: This chapter and the next form a single narrative, in which we already discern signs that Saul does not measure up to the Lord’s idea of kingship.
Two preliminary observations are in order, one about the text and the other about the sociological context:
First, following the lead of most Greek manuscripts, we should probably drop the first verse.
Second, the self-references to the “Hebrews” (verses 3,7)—-rare in the Bible—is explained by its contextual connotation. As it was common for non-Israelites to refer to the Israelites as “Hebrews” (verse 19), the usage in this chapter reflects the social condition of the Israelites vis-à-vis these non-Semitic Philistines. Indicating “transients” and a folk of inferior status, the name “Hebrews” in this chapter indicates the contempt the Philistines felt toward them. De facto, the Philistines had become overlords of the Israelites. The military campaign in these two chapters, therefore, was one of liberation, a battle “for freedom” (ep’ elevtheria), as Josephus wrote (Antiquities 6.6.1[98]).
An economic and technical component expressed this social and political subjugation of Israel to the Philistines: the limited access to iron. The events chronicled in the Book of Samuel took place at the beginning of the Iron Age in the Holy Land. Iron was scarce, as was the technology for using it. Four chapters later, for example, we observe that the plentiful armor of Goliath included only one piece of iron (17:7); all the rest was bronze (17:5-6).
The Philistines used this iron monopoly—access to mines, mills, foundries, files, and forges—to control Israel’s economy (verses 19-22) and to enforce a strict arms embargo.
This chapter begins a series of military encounters. In verse 2 the troop numbers suggest a standing militia rather than an entire fighting force. Indeed, Josephus identified these groups as bodyguards (somatophylakein for Saul and Jonathan (6.6.1[95]).
Jonathan, commanding a third of this group, is mentioned without introductory comment, though the Syriac version identifies him here as Saul’s son. Jonathan will be very important, of course, to the story in these two chapters.
After an Israelite victory over the Philistine garrison at Gibeah—perhaps by surprise attack—both sides rally. Saul’s rallying cry, “Hebrews, take notice!” conveys a sense of “slaves, arise” (verse 3). The Philistines, meanwhile, were more successful in raising an army swiftly (verse 5), causing the Israelites to panic.
With a diminished—and constantly diminishing force—Saul grew anxious as he awaited the arrival of Samuel, who was to conduct the appropriate pre-battle sacrifices. After a week passed, he determined to take matters into his own hands (verses 8-10), and at that point Samuel finally came. As the action of the king was disobedient, Samuel condemned it harshly (verses 11-14), seeing in the king’s infidelity a fulfillment of his earlier prophecy that Israel’s kings would be arrogant men.
At this point Samuel declared that Saul’s lineage would not occupy the throne of Israel: “But now your kingdom shall not continue” (verse 14). This threat, of course, directly touches Jonathan, the prince and heir-apparent. As for Saul, he has not yet been rejected outright.
The two armies camped over against each other and prepared for combat (verses 15-18,22).
Wednesday, May 30
First Samuel 14: In the previous chapter Saul forfeited Jonathan’s succession to the throne (13:13-14). In the present chapter we see him put Jonathan’s very life in danger. The irony of this story is introduced by Jonathan’s remarkable military exploit, with which the chapter begins (verses 1-16).
The contrast grows between this son and father: Whereas Saul feared having too small an army to face the Philistines (13:11), Jonathan declared, “the Lord is not constrained to deliver by the many or by the few” (verse 6). He went on to demonstrate that thesis by taking a single companion with him to engage and rout the Philistines, a force earlier described “as the sand on the seashore” (13:4).
It appears that in large part Jonathan owed his victory, not only to his boldness and the advantage of surprise, but also to other conditions: (1) the relative weakness of the picket force guarding the top of the sheer crags (Josephus 6.6.2[108-109]); (2) the drowsiness of the defending army in the early morning light; (3) a confusion among the defenders—a mixed force of allied components (6.6.2[114]—who subsequently turned on one another in the bedlam (verse 20).
Saul, for his part, was showing signs of being what today would be called a “control freak.” Indeed, it was for this failing, which Samuel saw as a failure of faith, that the king was chided in the previous chapter (13:12). Here, too, Saul responded to Jonathan’s bold exploit by, once again, counting his troops (verse 17). The reader comes to realize that Jonathan would make a better king than Saul, and then he reflects that the father has already forfeited the son’s succession to the throne. A strong sense of impending tragedy sets in, and a suspicion that the king is losing his right mind.
At last discerning his army’s advantage, Saul made a precipitous decision to follow up the attack (verses 19-20). Other Israelites in the neighborhood followed suit (verse 21), and the army quickly swelled from 600 to 10,000 (verses 22-24), as deserters (cf. 13:5) came out of their hiding places.
Suddenly rising to a manic state, the king gave an imprudent order, followed by the enforcement of a rash oath: Until the battle was over, no soldier was to eat, under penalty of death (verse 24). By way of explaining Saul’s flight from rationality here, Josephus remarked, “reason runs out on the lucky” (6.6.3[116]).
When Jonathan, ignorant of the oath, violated his father’s injunction and was taken to task by a fellow soldier, he treated the matter with nonchalance, not to say contempt. In the end, the army defended him against his irrational father.
In this chapter the true and effective leadership has clearly passed from Saul to Jonathan, who wins the loyalty of the army. This same leadership and popularity are soon to pass to David.
For the nonce, however, Saul remains king and continues victorious (verses 46-48). The chapter closes with summary comments about his family (verses 49), especially introducing Abner and Saul’s two daughters, who will be important when David comes on the scene. The final verse, about military recruitment, opens yet another door, through which David soon will come on stage (verse 52).
Thursday, May 31
First Samuel 15: Two parts of unequal length make up the present chapter: the war against Amalek (verses 1-9) and the subsequent encounter of Saul and Samuel (verses 10-35). By the end of the chapter, Saul is no longer the Lord’s choice for Israel’s king.
An atmosphere of anger pervades this story: the anger of the Lord against the Amalekites, the anger expressed in the “total war” that ensues, and the anger of Samuel, who was obliged to deal with the aftermath. To modern sensitivities, the overwhelming experience of anger, expressed in violence and destruction, places this chapter among the least congenial in Holy Scripture.
The total destruction of Amalek is portrayed in terms not entirely innocent of hyperbole. If Saul’s invasion really had left no survivors, we would be hard pressed to account for the later troubles caused by the Amalekites, from the time of David (chapters 27 and 30) all the way to Hezechiah in the eighth century (1 Chronicles 4:42-43).
However literally it should be understood, the destruction of the Amalekites was long ago decreed (Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 25:17-19), nor had they done much, in the meantime, to improve their standing with the Lord (Judges 3:13; 5:14; 6:3,33; 7:12; 10:12).
The command given to Saul was not dissimilar to that received by Joshua (Joshua 6:17), nor did his disobedience differ a whit from that of Achan (7:11-26).
Prior to attacking Amalek, Saul took care to remove the Kenites from harm’s way, for these had always proved good neighbors to Israel. It is not clear why Saul’s kindness—in recompense for Kenite friendship (Judges 4—5)—is not narrated in Josephus.
We are not told why Saul spared Agag, the Amalekite king, especially in view of the unequivocal order he had received. Was this an early adventure in international diplomacy, of the sort that would lead Israel’s future kings to make their peace with the world?
The second scene or episode in this chapter is introduced by the Lord’s declaration, to Samuel, that He regretted His choice of Saul (verses 10-11). The king’s foregoing act of infidelity was the immediate cause of the regret. Having already rejected a dynasty for Saul (13:13-14), the Lord now rejected Saul himself.
This story not only prepares for the rise of David, it also outlines, by an initial and concrete example, the means by which the Lord planned to restrain Israel’s kings in the future—namely, by the prophetic word.
In the past the Lord had used the ministry of prophetic figures to address the arrogance and hard hearts of rulers. Broadly considered, the theme was discernible in the instances of Abraham (Genesis 20:1-7; Psalms 104[105]:14-15), Balaam (Numbers 22—24), and especially Moses. Indeed, Moses became, in this respect, the very type of the future prophetic vocation.
In Samuel’s confrontation with Saul, however, this theme assumes its full form. If pagan kings were not spared prophetic censure, Israel’s own kings how much less! The confrontation we see in the present chapter will be replayed in the instances of Nathan with David, Elijah with Ahab, Isaiah with Ahaz, Jeremiah with Zedekiah, John the Baptist with Antipas, and St. Paul with Agrippa. In short, this story chiefly embodies a prophetic concern: the proper service of the prophetic vocation to the political order.
In outlining this pattern, the present story also pronounces on an important aspect of political power: its need to be restrained. Chiefly by describing the social evils inflicted by unwise and evil kings, Holy Scripture seems everywhere to be at pains to insist that the political good of a society is of limited worth and must in no case be taken as an ultimate good. Except when it speaks of the eschatological Messianic reign, the Bible is ever restrained in its enthusiasm for political power; the biblical authors are normally more Whig than Tory.
This story of Saul’s rejection contains similarities to:
First, the rejection of Eli’s dynasty in 13:7-15: Each case involved a cultic violation, both happened in Gilgal, and both included a confrontation by Samuel.
Second, other biblical pronouncements of the Lord’s preference for obedience over sacrifice (Isaiah 1:10-11; Jeremiah 7:21-26; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Psalms 49[50]:9; 50[51]:18; Mark 12:28-34).
Dominated by anger, chapter 15 ends in sadness (verse 35).
Friday, June 1
1 Samuel 16: As Saul was introduced by the combination of three episodes, so is David, First, there is a private anointing: Saul in 9:26—10:1, David in 16:1-13. Second, there is a more elaborate introduction: Saul in 10:20-24, David in 16:14-13. Third, there is a military exploit: Saul in 11:1-15, David in 17:1-31.
Whereas chapter 15 ended in Samuel’s mourning for Saul, at the beginning of the present chapter the Lord tells him it is time to stop mourning and so something positive about the situation. The time has come to disregard Saul who belongs—already!—to the past. Samuel must forget those things that are behind and reach forward to those things that are ahead.
Like Saul (9:16; 10:1; 11:15), David will be anointed three times: by Samuel (verse 13), by the tribe of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4), and by the elders of Israel (2 Samuel 5:3).
Right from the beginning of David’s rise, Holy Scripture insists that the process of that rise cannot be understood by external observation; considerations of flesh and blood do not explain it. The meaning of it eludes the scrutiny of the “objective historian,” who will see in it only a political narrative. Such a one will comment on the various political forces, including David’s own ambition, which will bring the son of Jesse to the throne. All such considerations, however, fail to cover the case, says Holy Scripture.
Consequently, Samuel is cautioned not to regard the matter with solely human eyes, because “God does not see as man sees.” David will become king because God wants him to be king. Whereas Saul was chosen, in part, because he looked like a king (9:2; 10:23), such considerations must now be excluded from the process (verse 7).
As in the case of Saul (9:12-24), David’s first anointing is preceded by a sacrificial meal (verses 3-5).
As is so often the case in Holy Scripture—Abel over Cain, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Ephraim over Manasseh—David is chosen instead of his older brothers. As the “youngest” (haqqatan—verse 11), David is presumably the smallest, a feature in which he is contrasted with Saul (cf. 9:2; 10:23).
At the end of the first scene (verse 13), the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David and abode there “from that time onward.” Only at that dramatic point is David’s name actually used.
Samuel leaves the scene and will not appear again until three chapters later (19:18).
The second scene in this chapter, which brings Saul and David together for the first time, introduces a situation of mammoth irony. The Spirit of the Lord, in descending on David, departed from Saul. The latter, as a result fell into a state of ever deepening depression—“an evil spirit”—manifested in jealousy (18:3-8), intrigue (18:15), violence (19:9-10; 20:33; 22:16-19), paranoia (20:25), and superstition (28:7-13).
To minister to this rapidly disintegrating king, David was introduced into the court as a musician, because Saul’s depression responded positively to the influence of music. The reader and—except for David—only the reader recognizes that this musician had already been anointed as Saul’s replacement on the throne! The irony is heightened by the fact that Saul cherished David (verse 21).
We may be correct in the suspicion that some of David’s psalms may have come from this period.
In this chapter is our first explicit assertion that the Lord was “with” David (verse 18). Indicating the source of David’s wisdom and strength, this assertion will be repeated several times (cf. 18:12,14,28; 2 Samuel 5:10).