Sublime

9Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was valuable, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed. 10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11“I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following

9David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of those who say, ‘David seeks to do you harm’? 10This very day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you into my hand in the cave; and some urged me to kill you, but I spared[137] you. I said, ‘I will not raise my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11See, my father, see the

The sacred intoxication of Saul was apparent to all who knew him; for when anointed king, he sees visions, and it becomes clear to all around that he is having an ecstatic experience, for the people ask: “is Saul now among the prophets?” Hebrew prophets of old were also anointed with the unguent and used a variety of other psychedelic plant and

Saul’s “dark night of the soul” endured, until along came an Anointed One, summoned by God, who offered salvation to this afflicted and vengeful soul. For when Saul was anointed for the first time, everything changed, and he was born again as Paul, a Messiah/Christ. He had been taught by the Holy Spirit and was a new man!

9When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.” 10David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11And now, will[130] Saul come down as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, I

King Saul sought to destroy David, but his only success was that he became the instrument of God to put to death the Saul who roamed about in the caverns of David’s own soul. Yes, David was virtually destroyed in the process, but this had to be. Otherwise the Saul in him would have survived.

In the Old Testament, God the Spirit works this way, showing up to empower someone for a specific task or calling—this means God is with Saul to enable him to accomplish his task.

The truth is, if your church leadership reminds you of King Saul, you need to find a new church!