David in Saul's Service

1 Samuel 16

¹⁴ _t But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and _u a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul's servants said to him, "Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. ¹⁶ "Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will _v play it with his hand when the ₁ distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well." ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ₂ "Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me." ¹⁸ Then one of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and _w the LORD is with him." ¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." ²⁰ And Jesse _x took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. ²¹ So David came to Saul and _y stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. ²² Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight." ²³ And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

1. Cross References
   Numbers 27:18
   And the LORD said to Moses: "Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.
   1 Samuel 10:6
   Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
   1 Samuel 10:9
   So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.
   1 Samuel 10:10
   When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
   
2. Cross References
   Judges 16:20
   And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
   1 Samuel 11:6
   Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.
   1 Samuel 18:12
   Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.
   1 Samuel 28:15
   Now Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, "I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.
   
3. Cross References
   Judges 9:23
   God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech...
   1 Samuel 16:15
   And Saul's servants said to him, "Surely, a dis...
   1 Samuel 16:16
   "Let our master now command your servants, who ...
   1 Samuel 18:10
   And it happened on the next day that the distre...
   1 Samuel 19:9
   Now the distressing spirit from the LORD came u...
   1 Kings 22:19 - 22
   Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of ...
   
4. Cross References
   1 Samuel 18:10
   And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand.
   1 Samuel 19:9
   Now the distressing spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand.
   2 Kings 3:15
   But now bring me a musician." Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
   
5. Cross References
   1 Samuel 3:19
   So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
   1 Samuel 18:12
   Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.
   1 Samuel 18:14
   And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him.
   
6. Cross References
   1 Samuel 10:4
   And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands.
   1 Samuel 10:27
   But some rebels said, "How can this man save us?" So they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
   Proverbs 18:16
   A man's gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.