The Spirit Departs

He had been chosen.

Head and shoulders above every man in Israel.

The people had asked for a king and God had given them Saul.

At first he was humble. He hid among the baggage when they came to crown him.

But something changed.

He offered a sacrifice he had no authority to offer.

He kept the best of the spoils when told to destroy everything.

He made excuses both times.

Samuel told him: Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.

That was the sentence.

But Saul kept the crown for years after.

He wore it. He sat on the throne. He commanded armies.

Outwardly, nothing changed.

Inside, everything had.

The Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul.

And a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him.

His servants noticed. They said his spirit had left him.

They suggested music. They sent for David.

David played the harp and Saul felt better.

For a while.

Then he tried to kill David with a spear.

Twice.

The thing that soothed him became the thing he hated.

He would spend the rest of his life hunting a shepherd boy.

Burning energy on destroying the one God had already chosen to replace him.

He died on a battlefield. Fell on his own sword.

His sons died with him.

The crown he had clung to ended up on the head of the man he had hunted.

He had been chosen. And he had chosen himself instead.

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