Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp: and it shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.
The writer mentioned Saul’s fits of terror, in addition to his deteriorating mental state, to explain why Saul called for a musician and how David gained access to the royal court. Saul evidently first met David in about the twenty-fifth year of his forty-year reign. [Note: Merrill, "1 Samuel," p. 216.] It is tempting to suggest that Saul’s mental problems may have resulted from his spiritual rebellion, which is common, but the text does not state that connection outright. Apparently some people already regarded David as a mighty man of valor and a warrior (1 Samuel 16:18) because he had single-handedly defeated lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-35). Most important, the Lord was with David. [Note: Walters, pp. 570-71, and Gordon, p. 160, identified the Lord being with David as another leitmotif for David (cf. 17:37; 18:12, 14, 28; 2 Samuel 5:10).] The fact that Jesse could provide a donkey suggests that he was fairly prosperous, since this is how the more wealthy classes traveled (1 Samuel 16:20). Yet David’s family was not outstanding in Israel (cf. 1 Samuel 18:18).