14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.
15 Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.”
17 “All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.”
18 One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” 20 Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine.
21 So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.
22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”
23 And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.
– 1 Samuel 16:14-23 (NLT)
As I was reading 1 Samuel 16, I was drawn to verse 14. It begins with the Spirit of the Lord leaving Saul and the Lord sending a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. As someone who studies psychology and the work of psychotherapy, I can see how verse 14 is not something a scientist nor a psychologist may entertain or even accept. This verse, taken for truth, has many implications to the ideologies about the Lord, and depression and fear.
The first implication I’d like to point out is the fact that a tormenting spirit filled Saul with depression and fear. Based on that statement alone, it seems that there might be a spiritual pathology to depression and fear that may need to be recognized in the discussions of depression and fear. The idea of being filled with depression and fear may suggest a solution that requires some form of pouring out. By nature of depression and fear, the symptoms often cause people to isolate and take forms of “going inward” whether it’s physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, relationally or even socially. Another point I’d like to make is that it seems that depression and fear, in this particular instance, was spirit driven, as it was mentioned that tormenting spirit was the means by which Saul was being filled with depression and fear. This may suggest that a solution should at least, in part, be spirit driven.
Another implication from verse 14 is the fact that the tormenting spirit was sent by the Lord. This may bring about questions of whether negative things or “bad” things can come from God and perhaps you may be even wondering about your own situations and circumstances. If not, I’m sure there have been seasons in your life where you wrestled with similar questions. I find the story of Job to be encouraging in these moments. In the words of Job, “…Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong (Job 2:10).
Verses 15 and 16 suggests a treatment not for the symptoms of depression and fear but rather for the proposed cause, which is suggested to be the tormented spirit. It does not say that he worshiped or sang songs of praise for Saul but that he played soothing music. It should be mentioned that Ancient Eastern traditions involving sounds were very common in healing practices. Perhaps the spiritual component may be found in verse 13 “….And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on…,” and verse 18 “…and the Lord is with him.” Maybe it was the fact that the Spirit of the Lord that was upon him and with him, that caused the tormenting spirit to go away and Saul to feel better. I do not know for sure and it might be hard to exegesis from this text. However, my personal experience may serve as a confirmation bias that it was the Spirit within David that anointed his playing to bring what was in David out, so that the tormenting Spirit would leave and Saul would be better.
I remember waking up feeling super anxious and feeling that something in my spirit was off. I noticed that when I was trying to do other things, I would unconsciously start singing worship songs. They were not songs that I was currently listening to, nor were they songs I had recently listened to in the past couple months, but they seemed to capture my heart’s desire in words. So I thought to myself, maybe I should pick up my guitar and play these songs. As soon as I started playing these songs and singing these words, my whole being started to feel better. I realized that my spirit was desiring a filling of the Holy Spirit. I was filled with anxiety, fear and depression and I needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure if it was just the singing and playing guitar that did it but I’d like to believe that it was the aligning of my spirit to God through singing and playing that enabled me to receive what I needed in that moment. It was the Holy Spirit in me, through Christ Jesus, that brought life to the words and music that flowed out of my heart.
Disclaimer:
I’m not an expert, so don’t take my word for it. Take His word!