14 And the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him;
And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the spirit of sadness `from' God prospereth over Saul, and he prophesieth in the midst of the house, and David is playing with his hand, as day by day, and the javelin `is' in the hand of Saul,
and God sendeth an evil spirit between Abimelech and the masters of Shechem, and the masters of Shechem deal treacherously with Abimelech,
And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Why hast thou troubled me, to bring me up?' And Saul saith, `I have great distress, and the Philistines are fighting against me, God hath turned aside from me, and hath not answered me any more, either by the hand of the prophets, or by dreams; and I call for thee to let me know what I do.'
Cast me not forth from Thy presence, And Thy Holy Spirit take not from me.
And the Spirit of God doth prosper over Saul, in his hearing these words, and his anger burneth greatly,
and he saith, I go out, and have been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets; and He saith, Thou dost entice, and also thou art able; go out and do so.
And a spirit of sadness `from' Jehovah is unto Saul, and he is sitting in his house, and his javelin in his hand, and David is playing with the hand, and Saul seeketh to smite with the javelin through David, and through the wall, and he freeth himself from the presence of Saul, and he smiteth the javelin through the wall; and David hath fled and escapeth during that night.
For though they nourish their sons, I have made them childless -- without man, Surely also, wo to them, when I turn aside from them.
and the evil spirit, answering, said, `Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with; and ye -- who are ye?' And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaping upon them, and having overcome them, prevailed against them, so that naked and wounded they did flee out of that house,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 16
Commentary on 1 Samuel 16 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 16
At this chapter begins the story of David, one that makes as great a figure in the sacred story as almost any of the worthies of the Old Testament, one that both with his sword and with his pen served the honour of God and the interests of Israel as much as most ever did, and was as illustrious a type of Christ. Here
1Sa 16:1-5
Samuel had retired to his own house in Ramah, with a resolution not to appear any more in public business, but to addict himself wholly to the instructing and training up of the sons of the prophets, over whom he presided, as we find, ch. 19:20. He promised himself more satisfaction in young prophets than in young princes; and we do not find that, to his dying day, God called him out to any public action relating to the state, but only here to anoint David.
1Sa 16:6-13
If the sons of Jesse were told that God would provide himself a king among them (as he had said, v. 1), we may well suppose they all made the best appearance they could, and each hoped he should be the man; but here we are told,
1Sa 16:14-23
We have here Saul falling and David rising.