Young David defeated the Philistine champion Goliath (I Samuel 17:1-51); and soon David was a covenanted friend of Jonathan son of King Saul (18:1-4) and then married to Michal daughter of King Saul (18:20-28). But deep anxiety was growing in the king’s soul, described as “an evil spirit from God” (18:10); and as time went by “Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy from that time forward” (18:29).

Jonathan interceded with his father on David’s behalf, and it looked like a peaceful resolution had been reached (19:1-7), but after David’s latest victory “an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear” (19:9-10). David escaped from the palace to his own home; but King Saul sent soldiers to watch his house and capture him in the morning. His wife Michal warned him, and he fled out the window and out of town (19:11-16).

The ascription for Psalm 59 proposes that this situation was precisely the occasion for the psalm’s composition. We should note that various scribes and copyists added the titles to the psalms much later, and many of those titles are of uncertain quality; yet we should also note that those scribes were much closer to the text than we are today. “Even now they lie in wait for my life; the mighty stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready” (Psalm 59:3-4). Psalm 11 may also come from this event, or from the following events when David was hiding in the wilderness from Saul’s pursuit: “Look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart” (Psalm 11:2).

King Saul had found in David an effective army commander with exemplary courage, strength, and leadership, who was succeeding in defeating the Philistines to provide security for Israel. We today might label the king’s raging efforts to kill David “paranoia,” while the text calls it “an evil spirit from the Lord” – this may reflect that the ancient world had no categories for mental illness, but also properly recognized that the sovereign Lord is after all in charge of every thing in the world. In any case, it shows us David trying to deal with the fact that his father-in-law really did want to kill him.

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You are righteous, O Lord, and you love righteous deeds: and our confidence is that in your mercy we will behold your face. Grant us courage in the midst of conflict, and enable us to remain steadfast even when those who should be our best supporters turn against us.

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