1 Samuel 16:14
"But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him."
We read here clearly that when David was anointed King over Israel, God withdraws his Spirit of power from Saul and replaces it with a distressing spirit to trouble him. I don't know about you, but I've always been troubled by this passage, though when I think about it, this is due to my New Testament perspective of the abiding Spirit.
As believers, the New Testament clearly teaches we're filled and sealed by the Spirit of God when we come to faith as a new born child of the King. This Spiritual filling is a permanent act of God upon our lives, marking us as one adopted into the family of God, joint heirs with Christ. Of course, this is a good thing, taking away our tendencies to worry about our qualifications to be loved by Christ. With salvation only coming by faith and God's work in me, I don't have to worry about losing my salvation.
But this security of having the Spirit in me doesn't mean God won't act to take away the Spirit's power. Like Saul, when we choose a path of disobedience in our lives, we're no longer living under the shepherding of the Spirit. In a sense, we've gone astray and need to return. This is why even believers find themselves living in a way that is essentially the same as those who are unrepentant. Without the Spirit's counsel and control, we restore our human natures to lordship and find ourselves outside of the protection of the Lord.
In the case of Saul, the Lord sends a distressing spirit upon him, presumably to cause Saul to return in obedience to the Lord. Don't read this as a bad thing, for it is a picture of God's love and grace. As a child of the Lord, God would not let him go.
It's still this way today. In grace, the Lord is not satisfied to leave us in disobedience. Instead, God continuously calls us to return in faith, even by withholding the comfort of his Spirit and sending a spirit to cause us trouble.
LORD JESUS
Lord, give me a heart to remain faithful to you. Do not withhold your Spirit's touch from my life and give me a heart to return to you whenever I find myself in sin. Amen.
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