QT 12/1/2022 1 Sam 16:14-23, Sin begets sin

1 Samuel 16:14–23 (ESV) —

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

 

NOTE: The harmful spirit is a result of Saul's disobedience. The words for harmful spirit could also be translated as an evil mind or moral perverseness. Sin (disobedience) begets sin. Every lie makes the next one easier. Every theft makes the next one more likely if we do not respond to the guilt or shame correctly. Repentance is required to break the hardening of the heart. But if a person refuses to repent, or only repents because he is caught, the hardening increases. In today's culture, we are told that guilt and shame are a product of outdated religious beliefs. We are told to be proud about our so-called sin, the exact opposite of guilt. It is no wonder sin increases. It is no wonder we kill each other without remorse today versus 40 years ago when a higher percentage of households had guns but rarely ever used them against human life. We used to believe we were made in the image of God and that life was sacred, but 60 million dead babies have convinced us otherwise. We are morally perverse, much worse than Saul. We need a changed heart. We need to repent. We need Jesus to create in us a new creature.

 

PONDER:

1. Have I been born again?
2. Am I a new creature with a new heart? Or just a pretender, a religious person?

 

PRAYER: Father, I am glad of the very obvious rebirth many years ago, but sin still attacks me. I still need repentance. I still need to protect my heart from the enemy. Sin is crouching at the door and it desires to take me over. Protect me from the enemy's evil schemes.