Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.
The evil spirit that Yahweh permitted to trouble Saul has been the subject of considerable interest among Bible students. It may have been a spirit of discontent (cf. Judges 9:23), a demon who afflicted him periodically (cf. 1 Kings 22:20-23), or a demon who indwelt him from then on. [Note: See John Davis and John Whitcomb, A History of Israel, p. 224; and Wood, Israel’s United . . ., p. 149.] In any case it was a discipline for departing from God. When people depart from God, their troubles really begin.