Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
This reference to Saul’s prophesying (1 Samuel 19:23-24), which happened near the place where he prophesied shortly after his anointing (1 Samuel 10:12), became "an ironic comment on Saul’s life story." [Note: Baldwin, p. 134.] Saul had begun his reign with great potential plus God’s enabling Spirit, which resulted in his praising God (cf. 1 Chronicles 25:1-3; 1 Corinthians 12:3). Yet now he was almost a raving madman. This passage does not support the theory that the prophets became ecstatic when they prophesied. Neither do 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Kings 18:29; 1 Kings 22:10-12; 2 Kings 9:1-12; Jeremiah 29:26; Hosea 9:7; or any other passages. [Note: See Wood, The Prophets . . ., pp. 40-56, 92-93.] Saul drove himself to the brink of insanity by refusing to submit to God, who still exercised sovereign control over him despite the king’s attempts to go his own way.