The Spiritof the LORD

The Spirit of the LORD

(1 Samuel 16:13-16)
We see here that the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward, but departed from Saul and that an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. If we read carefully we see that the spirit that came upon David belonged to the LORD, but the evil spirit that came upon Saul was different; the LORD controlled it.

This is most interesting, to find out more, let's go back a bit.: And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.; (1 Samuel 8:1-5); And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.; (1 Samuel 8:7-20)

So the LORD gave them a king, his name was Saul and in 1 Samuel chapters 9 and 10 we see the providence of the LORD over Saul.

In all these passages we see the hand of the LORD over His chosen people, trying to lead them in His ways. We also see that they were just the same as the nations around them. God required that they joyfully follow Him, but no, they wanted a leader on a worldly level, someone they could see and submit to.

And this is why there are so few God-given miracles today; the professors lack faith in God, a faith that they shall receive when they ask the God that they know and worship on a personal basis.

The above Old Covenant passages still apply to us today, but with a slightly different emphasis. You see, all born again Christians have the Holy Spirit in them, just like David "from that day forward", and I don't know whether God the Father will give us New Covenant children an evil spirit, if like Saul, we are disobedient to His wishes. However, look at what is stated in these New Covenant passages:: But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.; (James 3:14-16); From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.; (James 4:1-8)

If we submit ourselves to our Creator, humbling our pride in our own accomplishments, studying the word of God under the power of the Holy Spirit and being obedient when spoken to, we shall start experiencing a wonderful rapport with God that can only grow stronger the longer that we carry on doing so.

What a wonderful future we can inherit.