Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."
So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me." One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him."
Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
1 Samuel 16:14-23
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
At the beginning of Samuel, Chapter 16, the Lord sends Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to select and anoint the next king of Israel. This was because Saul, the first selected king, had been sinful and fallen out of favor with God who rejected him in favor of a man after His own heart…a man who would be David. As David is selected and anointed, scripture told us the “Spirit of the Lord came upon (him) in power.”
Conversely, we see in our passage that “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul”, replaced with “an evil spirit from the Lord” which “tormented him”. We see that God holds control over all things, including the wicked and evil spirits. Part of Saul's consequence for willfully disobeying God and rejecting the guidance of His Holy Spirit was to be tormented by an evil spirit instead.
Well, Saul had some faithful, caring attendants who were concerned for him and asked Saul to allow them to “search for someone who can play the harp” because they felt that Saul would feel better is the harp was played “when the evil spirit from God” came upon him. Saul agrees with their plan and tells his attendants to, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me." To this, “one of the servants answered” Saul saying, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him." Of course, the servant is talking about none other than David…the man chosen to replace Saul as king however Saul doesn’t know that yet. So he (Saul) sent a message to Jesse saying, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep” and Jesse complied, sending David along with a “donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat”.
David would enter Saul’s service and find favor with him, becoming one of his armor bearers. In fact, David was valued greatly by Saul who “sent word to Jesse” saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." And Jesse allowed David to stay.
But David was far more than just an ordinary armor bearer. No…he was far greater than that because he had the Spirit of the Lord within him. And scripture tells us that “whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul” and afflicting him, “David would take his harp and play”, bringing relief to Saul who would “feel better” as “the evil spirit (left) him”. The power of the Holy Spirit in David’s music from the harp overcame to evil spirit and brought relief and comfort and peace to Saul.
Indeed, there is power in Spirit-filled music that is like no other. I discovered this in my own life as I because born again and truly found Christ in my life over 16 years ago.
I had always loved music and listened to a lot of different genres, none of which were Christian. I knew all the top artists and songs on the radio, owning over 200 CDs and cassettes. But I was enjoying music from a world view and perspective…and once born into Christ as a new creation, my view was changing…and so was my look on music.
I remember getting back into church and re-learning the hymns that I learned as a young child going to church with my parents. Oh how I cherished the awesome power in the words of some of those songs…
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now can see.”
“Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord, God Almighty. Early in the morning, our song will rise to Thee. Holy, Holy, Holy. Merciful and Mighty. God in three persons. Blessed Trinity.”
“Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night. Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.”
“Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine. O what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit. Washed in His Blood. This is my Story, this is my song. Praising my Savior, all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior, all the day long.”
I could go on and on but you get the point. There was a power in this music that the secular world couldn’t come close to matching. This is because there is a power in the Holy Spirit that transcends everything else by comparison…because the Lord transcends everything else in power by comparison. “God in three persons”…Father, Son and Holy Spirit…the ”Blessed Trinity”…empowering everything that they come into…including music.
Well, my musical spiritual awakening was just starting. Because I couldn’t get enough of music that energized me spiritually. There was a relief, comfort and peace that I found in Christian music that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I began to watch a show on Black Entertainment Television called “Video Gospel” and remember plain as day falling in love with my first contemporary Christian song titled “Addictive Love” by BeBe and CeCe Winans. The lyrics were as follows:
All I want do is just explain
Why that we feel the way we do
What a joy to share with you
For me to live is Christ, to die is gain
If anymore I need to say
Th list goes on and on all day
I'll cherish that moment for life
And I know it might sound crazy
It's alright, take a seat, hold tight
Chorus:
Time to admit it,(time we should admit it)
I'm so addicted
You see He's taken my heart
And showed me the right way
No doubt about it,(doubt about it, no doubt)
See I'm lost without it
You see this love takes me higher
I didn't know why then
I found it was addicted love
Now that we've evened up the score
What do you mean there's so much more
I need to tell why we adore
The reason why I smile when I, when I wake up
And also the reason why I dream
My love, my joy, my everything
And I'll cherish that moment for life
And I know it might sound crazy
It's alright, take a seat, hold tight
Time to admit it,(time we should admit it)
I'm so addicted
You see He's taken my heart
And showed me the right way
No doubt about it,(doubt about it, no doubt)
See I'm lost without it
You see this love takes me higher
I didn't know why then
I found it was addicted love
So much love
He's given to me everything I longed for
And everything I need
That means I'm never alone, so glad
And everything I've dreamed and much
More, so much more
And I'll cherish that moment for life,
For the rest of my life, yeah
And I know it might sound crazy, but it's not crazy,
I'm not crazy
I've never known anyone to love me
Quite the way you do
And I'll tell you it's hopeless, I've
Finally noticed that
I'm just forever addicted, forever, forever in love
Time to admit it,(time we should admit it)
I'm so addicted
You see He's taken my heart
And showed me the right way
No doubt about it,(doubt about it, no doubt)
See I'm lost without it
You see this love takes me higher
I didn't know why then
I found it was addicted love
This song spoke to my soul then and still does today. The Lord had taken my heart and shown me the right way. After receiving the Holy Spirit in my life, I found that I would be lost without it and the connection to the Lord it brought…a connection that kept me in the midst of an Almighty Love like no other I had ever experienced…an Addictive Love that I couldn’t get enough of. I couldn’t then…and I still can’t today.
In fact, this Addictive Love took me from this first contemporary Christian song to many others there after. I found that my secular music held no more meaning for me…no power or substance when I listened to it. In fact, I started to be more acutely aware that the secular music sought to pull me into the world and its ways…ways that were more often than not away from what the Lord expected of me. And so, I sold all my secular CDs and cassettes…over 200 of them. And in their place, I bought more and more Christian music…growing my new music collection.
I remember going to the public library and checking our Christian music to listen to a variety of artists and groups. If I liked them, I would buy them for myself. If I didn’t particularly like the music, I would just return the CD or cassette to the library. Before long, my Christian library grew to be as large as my secular library had been. And today, my collection has grown far beyond that. I still can’t get enough of the power of the Holy Spirit in the music I listen to…a power that Saul discovered in the harp that a Spirit-filled David would play.
Maybe you have your own testimony concerning a Christian song that changed your life in some way…or maybe just a Christian song that you love for some special reason. I invite you to leave a comment to today’s devotion with a song or songs and your personal testimony. Together, let’s accentuate the awesome, amazing power found in Christian music, praising and thanking the Lord for it.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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