Relief Without Understanding
Devotions for Week 2: David: Finding Peace When We Are Troubled (WATCH HERE)
1 Samuel 16:23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
In 1 Samuel 16 we see Saul tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord. His heart is restless and troubled, yet God provides a remarkable solution. David, the youngest son of Jesse, is brought to Saul to play the harp. As the music flows, Saul experiences relief. The torment is lifted, and peace fills the room. Yet nothing has fundamentally changed in Saul’s relationship with God. The peace is genuine but incomplete. God allows David’s presence to restrain the torment, even while Saul remains unaware of the true source of his calm. The Spirit of the Lord is not yet fully at work in Saul’s heart, but God still provides relief.
Scripture shows that this pattern is not unique to Saul. In Judges 8, we read that Midian was subdued and the land enjoyed peace for forty years during Gideon’s lifetime. The people experienced calm and security, yet this peace was temporary. Their hearts would drift later, and they would again turn from God. God often grants seasons of relief and stability not as a reward, but as a gracious gift. Jesus reminds us of the same principle in Matthew 6. “Do not worry about tomorrow,” He says. “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Daily peace is a gift, not a guarantee earned by understanding or merit. God meets us in ways we sometimes do not recognize.
Many of us have experienced something similar. Peace can come in unexpected forms. Music, a quiet walk in nature, or the rhythm of a daily routine can calm our spirits without our even noticing God behind the moment. Like enjoying warmth without acknowledging the sun, we receive a real benefit even when the source is overlooked. Saul felt relief, and the nation under Gideon enjoyed calm, yet neither fully recognized the hand of God granting it.
This temporary peace is an invitation. It points us to a greater reality. God often meets us with relief before we are ready to name Him as the giver. The question is whether we will stop at relief, enjoying the moment as an isolated blessing, or allow it to draw us deeper into a relationship with Him. When God grants calm, He invites our hearts to see beyond the moment, to recognize His presence and trust Him more fully. Peace is a signpost, not the destination. It points to the ultimate source, the one who alone can satisfy the restless heart.
Reflect: Where have you felt calm, security, or relief even when you did not recognize God’s role? How might He be drawing you deeper through those experiences, inviting you into trust rather than settling for a fleeting sense of ease? These moments are not accidents. They are glimpses of the God who longs to make His presence known, who offers the quiet assurance that carries us through the next trial, the next uncertainty, the next restless night.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the peace you give even before we understand it. Open my eyes to recognize you as the source of every good gift. Draw me beyond relief into trust, beyond fleeting calm into a deeper awareness of your presence. Help me to follow where you lead, even when the path is not yet clear, and to find rest in the assurance that your Spirit works in my life in ways I may not yet see. Amen.
Does God send evil spirits?
Devotions for Week 2: David: Finding Peace When We Are Troubled (WATCH HERE)
Is today one of those days you didn’t feel like getting out of bed? Do you felt discouraged or despondent? Perhaps worried or anxious? Maybe you are struggling to see meaning and purpose in your day or life. Maybe a sin in your life is creating guilt and shame that you don’t feel like God can do something about. Your spirit is downcast.
No one likes these moments or seasons. At times you can “push through it.” You can embrace the motto, “Just keep moving” (even when you don’t feel like it). The sun will come out tomorrow…seems like the only positive perspective you can carry.
Is it possible that these moments or seasons where our hearts lack peace have a divine purpose? Would God allow them…let alone send them for a reason?
1 Samuel 16:14 says this, “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”
You might be able to understand the phrase, “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul.” He had chosen to disobey the word of the Lord and act in a way contrary to the Lord’s direction when he fought against and defeated the Amalekites. It was the final straw that God rejected Saul and his family as future kings of Israel.
We can understand a pattern of pseudo obedience and half-hearted following of the Lord’s words would lead the Lord to anoint David as the next king. Saul’s heart had drifted from the Lord.
But the second phrase is more challenging. “…an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” Thoughts first might turn to the question, “Did God send a demon to Saul?” No, this is not demon possession. However, it is a bad spirit that manifested in discouragement, despair and a depressed soul.
Saul’s spiritual condition was manifesting in a physical way.
When we drift from the Lord and his word of truth, the Lord allows a troubled spirit to torment us. Deuteronomy 28:58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. …64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. …There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.
God had warned Israel hundreds of years before that when hearts drifted and deserted the Lord and his word, the Lord would send an anxious mind, despairing heart, and minds filled with dread…an evil spirit.
So today is an opportunity to sit with the emotions and ask, “What is God revealing about my heart?” Am I drifting from the Lord? Am I neglecting his word or ignoring it? Am I putting someone or something else as priority in my life?
Knowing God is good and everything he does is for our eternal good, perhaps his purpose in allowing an evil spirit to come to Saul and to us at times is to pause to understand where our heart is out of alignment with the Lord and take time to reorient all to the Lord.
For only there will the despair and despondency be replaced with peace and hope.
Reflect: What emotions have you felt recently? What do they communicate about your relationship with the Lord and his Word?
Prayer: Lord, when you send an evil spirit into my heart, allow me to see it as a gift to address what is out of alignment and with your Spirit’s power align all of my life to you. Grant me your forgiveness, power and peace in the process. AMEN.
Every Thread Matters!
Devotions for Week 1: David: Finding Peace When We Are Overwhelmed: Every Thread Matters (WATCH HERE)
Just after Christmas, our family went to see the new movie, “David.” The movie inspired this series and was very well done to capture the early life of David. David is known as “one after God’s own heart.” Yet, he was not born that way. God developed him through joys and challenges, overwhelm and obstacles. David’s confidence grows as a God-fearing young man and eventually into the kingship of Israel. He truly over time found peace with his Lord.
One of the songs in the movie is called, “Tapestry” (WATCH HERE).
The knitting project that God started in the womb is woven by the events and experiences of our life. It’s hard to know how the Lord is weaving every aspect of your life together, but as the master weaver, we can have trust that every thread he uses, every color he chooses is for your blessing and his glory.
There is a reason for every color, every thread in your story.
Peace comes when we remember who is weaving our life together. We may not always see the full picture. We may not always feel like the pattern makes sense, but God is the designer.
David knew and grew in this. Enjoy the psalm he wrote to capture these truths: Psalm 139.
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Reflect: Which truth from the Psalm is a truth that you need most right now? How can the peace of knowing God is weaving your life together carry into your conversations and choices?
Prayer: Lord, when life feels overwhelming, anchor us in your promises. Help us trust that every thread matters because you are weaving our story in love. Through Jesus, our peace. Amen.
God Walks with Us All the Way!
Devotions for Week 1: David: Finding Peace When We Are Overwhelmed: Every Thread Matters (WATCH HERE)
1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
Everything changes quietly for David. Samuel takes the horn of oil and anoints him in the presence of his brothers. Then the account tells us something crucial. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day forward. This single sentence carries great promise and deep realism. David receives God’s Spirit, but his circumstances do not suddenly improve. There is no immediate promotion, no public celebration, and no removal of danger. What David gains is not an easy life, but the abiding presence of God.
This moment corrects a common misunderstanding about God’s work in our lives. We often assume that God’s presence will smooth the road ahead. Yet David’s story moves in the opposite direction. After receiving the Spirit, David will return to obscurity, face jealousy from Saul, endure long years of uncertainty, and flee for his life. The anointing does not spare him from struggle. It assures him that he will never face those struggles alone.
The Spirit’s coming marks God’s commitment to walk with David through everything that follows. God does not promise David safety from every threat. God promises strength, guidance, and sustaining presence. The Spirit equips David to trust, to repent, to persevere, and to worship even in the lonely and oppressed seasons. The same God who calls also stays.
Imagine a hiker standing at the edge of a long and difficult trail. The path is steep and unfamiliar. What gives the hiker confidence is not the ease of the trail, but the presence of a trusted guide walking alongside them. The guide knows the way, sets the pace, and does not leave when the climb becomes hard. In the same way, God’s Spirit does not remove the steep places in David’s life. God walks them with him.
Where are you asking God primarily for escape rather than for presence? It is natural to want relief, but Scripture invites us to trust something deeper. God often answers not by changing our situation immediately, but by strengthening us within it. The Spirit given to David is the same Spirit who sustains us today. God’s presence is not proof that life will be easy. It is proof that we will not be abandoned.
Remembering how God has walked with us before can anchor us in the present. David would later look back on this anointing as a reminder that God was with him even when the road was dark. We are invited to do the same. Past faithfulness becomes fuel for present trust.
Reflect: When have you experienced God’s presence carrying you through a difficult season? How does remembering that moment help you face what lies ahead with peace and courage
Prayer: God of presence, thank you for walking with us through every valley and every unknown path. When the road feels heavy, remind us that your Spirit is with us. Strengthen our hearts for the journey ahead and teach us to trust you step by step. Amen.
God Calls Before We Fully Know
Devotions for Week 1: David: Finding Peace When We Are Overwhelmed: Every Thread Matters (WATCH HERE)
1 Samuel 16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”
In 1 Samuel 16 we watch a quiet and surprising moment unfold. Jesse presents his sons before Samuel, one by one. Each seems impressive in his own way. Yet the Lord repeatedly says no. God is not scanning resumes or measuring visible strength. He is looking at the heart. When David is finally called in from the fields, he is not dressed for ceremony or expecting a future crown. Still, the Lord speaks clearly and decisively. “Arise, anoint him, for this is the one.” God claimed David before he understands what that claim will cost or where it will lead.
This passage teaches us that God calls before the path is explained. David receives oil on his head long before he receives a throne. He will face years of obscurity, danger, and confusion. None of that is mentioned in the moment of anointing. God does not outline the steps. God establishes identity. David is chosen because God has set his love and purpose upon him. The calling rests on who David is in God’s sight, not on what David has yet to do.
In a similar way, a parent names a child before the child understands anything about the world. The name is spoken with hope and love. The child grows into it over time. The name does not depend on future achievements or failures. In the same way, David is named and claimed by God before he understands the journey ahead. The anointing comes first. The story follows.
Many of us wait for certainty before trusting God. We want clarity, security, and predictable results. David had none of these when oil ran down his head. He simply stood and received what God declared over him. Our baptism reminds us of the same reality. God claims us as beloved before we understand where he will lead us. Faith begins with receiving God’s word about us and then walking forward in faith one step at a time.
Reflect: What does it mean for you to be called and loved by God before you perform or prove anything? How might this truth bring peace or courage to a place of uncertainty in your life today?
Prayer: Faithful God, thank you for claiming us as your own before the road is clear. Help us trust your voice above our fears and walk forward in the identity you have given us. Teach us to rest in your faithful love. Amen.