Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Samuel 16:18 (New Living Translation)

18 One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”

And so begins the (hi)story of Saul and David. It ended with a civil war when David became King. David from Bethlehem is recommended to King Saul because the King has a tormenting spirit. I’m not sure what we call that today, but I don’t think we use the word “tormenting.”

Note, this advice comes from trusted insiders. These folks knew what they were saying, right? Yes, they give other attributes to David from being a warrior to having good looks (and also the LORD is with David), but they begin with this harp playing stuff.

Can you imagine someone telling the President of the United States, “You need to calm your torment. I know this harp player who could do that for you.” How about telling the leader of Russia, China, North Korea, etc. something like that?

Perhaps that is what we all need to be telling everyone we know who seems to be tormented.

“Relax, listen to some live music from someone playing a harp.”

As long as the harp player also had the LORD with ’em, that might be the best advice anyone could offer. We could be on to something here.