Soft Music for a Hard Heart, Part 2

Today, on Insight for Living from Chuck Swindoll. If you've ever served a boss who harbors a bitter spirit or followed someone who's angry and cynical, you know it can be a miserable exercise. Trying to gain their favor becomes a true test of your humility and patience. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll continues a message introduced yesterday based on our study in 1 Samuel 16.

We're watching the dramatic transition. When Saul's leadership was coming to a close, he'd become old, ornery, and impossible to please. Chuck titled his message, Soft Music for a Hard Heart. There's something about music that soothes and ministers.

It goes all the way back to the first genealogical record where a man was gifted on the pipe and lyre. And a little later on we find in the Bible a whole book of songs right in the middle as if God is saying, sing them often and learn them well. These are my songs over twice the length of any other chapters or any other book of the Bible.

150 of them, half of them are more written by David, who put them together on the hills of Judea. Who knows, maybe in the very context we're looking at in 1 Samuel 16, in the threatening presence of a madman named Saul. Saul's strange melody starts these verses, beginning at verse 14, and carrying us down to the end of the chapter we're going to see the part that music played in soothing his savagery. Let's look at the 14th and 15th verses to start with. The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. Saul's servants then said to him, it's obvious that they could see the maddening results, and they said to him, behold now an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. Christians read those words and they fear that could happen today.

Let me clarify that tonight. Before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, prior to that time the Spirit of God never permanently rested on any believer. It was not uncommon for the Spirit of God to come for a temporary period of strengthening or insight or whatever was the need of the moment, and then to depart, and then to come back for another surge of the need of the moment, then to depart. The exception rather than the rule was that the Spirit of God came to stay. However, at Pentecost and from that time all the way through our present era when the Spirit of God comes at salvation, he never leaves. Now we're reading in 1st Samuel before Pentecost, of course, and we are not surprised therefore to read that in this moment of severity in the life of Saul, the Spirit of God departed from Saul, and there was a vacuum created, and God sent an evil spirit to terrorize him. I don't know why.

No one knows why. No one can explain God's permission in this place except for the fact that he was put out with Saul. It was as if to say, I will punish you for presuming on your office as a king and walking against my will. And so the friends said to Saul, verse 16, let our Lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp.

Now I want you to see the perspective. He's a shepherd in the field strumming a guitar. He's destined for the throne. There is no way on earth a shepherd will ever see the inside of the courtroom of the king unless God does it. I want you to see how God worked to get this man some exposure in the protocol of the king's court. It's beautiful, just beautiful how God used the gift of music to put him right into the very presence of the king's chamber. The king fell in love with him.

Okay, let's go. 16, let him seek a man who is skillful on the harp, and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well. So Saul said to his servants, provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. Earliest archaeological records show us that ancients believed music soothed passions, healed mental diseases, and even held in check riots and tumults. There's an ancient black obelisk of Shalmaneser the third.

Why I worked on that all week to get it out just right. That great black obelisk that stands and on that are a card some characters who have the instruments that they're strumming. As far back as those ancient ancient Assyrians who got those instruments right there, and God had his hand on David who put together music that not only filled the Bible but filled the heart of a depressed king in his tent. You ought to read Browning's Saul to feel the depression of that man. I took a trip to the library and checked it out and I just read through it as I was working through the the feeling of Saul and I sort of would overwhelmed in the sense of Saul's the blackness of the tent and into that canvas like attachment where he was living came David with his with his little liar and he walked into that place and there was Saul.

The madness of his depression. Well you notice how David is described Saul was willing to try anything verse 17 he says provide a man I don't care who it is bring him. Now then one of the young men answered and said and notice how God puts together the missing link that's needed to bring David to the throne. There is a guy who happens to hear that Saul's depressed and he knows a fellow who knows David and he says I know the guy that can do that and he's described in six words or six well his resume includes six things.

Number one he is the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is one a skillful musician he knows music. Two he's a mighty man of valor. Three he's a warrior. Four he's prudent in speech. He's got control of his tongue. Five he's handsome. Six the Lord is with him. That's not a bad resume is it? He's good-looking he knows music he knows how to keep his mouth shut and he's ready to go he's available. Hey never discount anything of your past.

God can pick it up and use it in the most incredible ways incredible ways. I remember while I was doing a hitch in the Marine Corps I was overseas for 18 months and 10 of those 18 months were delightful I should say maybe 12 of the 18 were delightful and the other section we'd just like to forget about I was in the infantry regiment and I realized early after getting there that God's hand was somehow in my life and I was going to be used in some capacity in the future I didn't know where but I knew the infantry wasn't contributing to it and I wanted to be in leadership or at least know how leadership was done. I'd never had any training in it just a ruffled untaught vessel stuck in the Marine Corps on Okinawa and it dawned on me that if I'm ever going to get any kind of relief so that first of all I can do intensive Bible study with some kind of leisure and really get a hold of the Word of God I'm gonna have to have some time free and the infantry will not provide it. So I drew on so well six years earlier I had played the reed instruments clarinet and saxophone and oboe and I'd played a little on the flute so I thought hey I'll try out as an audition with the band third division band I'll never forget it I hadn't touched a clarinet for six years so I decided I'll go in and audition so I walked in and to remind myself which end which which way and I stuck it together and I fiddled around for about 30 minutes and and the captain called me in and and I auditioned and I sight read and played marches and played some things from memory God brought it all back and I was in in two days I had made the transfer and would you believe that the most familiar surroundings for our third division band was with General Shoup who became later the commandant the Marine Corps and our constant concerts and combos and whatever we were involved in were in the presence of the general a dumb-dumb like me sitting in the presence of the general evening in and evening out in fact got to know him and talked with him one of the few men that jumped from a major general to full four-star general they also lost 18 lieutenant generals when that happened I might add but that's the kind of man he was what a leader leader of the entire third division and here I was a grunt in the infantry I would never even see the shoes he wore and suddenly I'm now playing music for him in a quartet and a woodwind quintet which he loved and here we were looking eyeball to eyeball and I watched the protocol of a general as he did his thing just because of music it opened the door that's David here is David plucking away on his lyre whistling Dixie out in the fields of Judah he's never even met Saul and he's Saul's replacement get that he's Saul's replacement and there he comes trucking down with the messenger that said Saul wants to see you I want you to see it it's incredible how it happens first 19 Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said send me your son David who's with the flock now here's Jesse good father that he is he just hasn't gotten his word about his son Samuel anointed him and in the early part of the chapter and Jesse let him go back with the sheep and here's another runner says from the king Saul wants to see your youngest son so Jesse lets him go verse 20 it's a funny scene Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine the young goat looked like the grapes of wrath going over towards Saul he had a goat hung on the thing and he had a jug of wine and some bread he didn't know why it was going guitar slung over his shoulder looked like he was out to lunch and he was on his way to see saw he didn't know it but he was getting ready to learn how to king it that's God's program he knows how to work you sit here tonight and you think some old ancient skill you knew back several years ago has lost you wasted all your time doing such and such don't you believe it God can draw from your background the most incredible things and put you right in the right place with a little bit of skill and you're there with the chief now that's the way it was with David he walked in the tent look at what happened this is good David came to Saul and he attended him they had never met I think it's beautiful David never once says to Saul I'm gonna take your place pal never once did he pull rank on Saul he was never jealous or envious of that position he'd been anointed but he let the Lord open the door that's the kind of guy David was hey you pushing somebody out of his job let God open the door okay are you in a subservient position towards someone else you make that boss successful you lift him up you use your talents to let him look good you support him God will put you where you ought to be just at the right time you have to manipulate that David comes in and he attends Saul remember our guy David no badge no words he never opened his mouth Saul had no idea who that young guy was standing in front of him with a liar slung over it slung over his shoulder hey that was his that was his successor standing in front of him you may be your boss's successor he may not know it you may have already been told you're your heir apparent hey let God open the door okay let him do that David came to Saul and attended him and and Saul loved him he loved him he became his armor bearer he was right in the in the chamber of the king why did he love him 23 because it came about whenever the evil spirit came to Saul David would take the harp and play it with his hand that beautiful is David in the corner here's Saul on his cot maybe in his bedchamber writhing in the madness of those depressive moments and David playing out the songs who knows maybe they sang together after a while maybe he taught Saul the songs we're not told but they were bound together in love and Saul loved that young man because he brought deliverance to his life you will be beloved when you minister to people you'll be a beloved person for helping them in their misery and malady you'll you'll be attached to their heart and you can't drive a wedge between it in the most simple things the things that just come naturally to you you minister he says in verse 22 let David now stand before me for he has found favor in my sight what a statement invited to the throne room he won the heart of the king just a shepherd lad and now the king says to the father verse 22 let your son stay he's effective he's got it together let me show you one other thing see verse 23 two things happen to show how effective David's music was first of all he refreshed Saul verse 23 David would take the harp and play it with his hand and Saul would be refreshed interesting word the Berkley says it eased at Saul the Hebrew word is rawak which means to be wide to be spacious to give space so as to bring relief Moffat translates it he played for Saul till Saul breathed freely music unleashes the caged feelings and soothes the savagery inside of us or I might add it cages us depending on your taste you know me well enough to know that my style is not to harass or nitpick insignificant things but I have become increasingly more concerned with the the things that we let fill our heads as people of God I really had I've taken a hardline look at it with our family we've talked about the choice of music that is acceptable I'm glad we've done that I haven't screamed and yelled and thrown radios out the window and acted stupid like one would be tempted to do when angry I've just sat down and tried to work out what taste is all about what music is trying to say you know me well enough to know that I as a shepherd over a flock and committed to teaching truth and the implication of it I think you need to need to look at what you're looking at and listening to in your leisure is it in fact as with Saul giving you release and relief from evil so that God is greater or is it pulling you down is it cutting against the carnality of your muscular strains within you that we all have or is it encouraging them what do you listen to when you're through can you say Christ means more to me now than he did before it started that's a searching question when David left Saul Saul was relieved the evil presence had departed let's bow together shall we the Lord's saying several things to several different people this evening for some of you the last few comments do not even apply for others of you that's really all you've heard because it strikes right at the jugular of your life began so simple and easy now it's almost a religion with some the beauty and simplicity of the Lord is lost in the pulsation and beat of noise for some of you it's realizing God still got his eyes on you even so even though you're still shepherding the flock in the hills of Judah for some of you been recently promoted and you're really in that place of preeminence like you've never been before hey that's great God knows what he's doing he knows what he's about tonight might be a decision time for some of you to say I need to come to terms with this ridiculous habit that's captivating my time for others of you it's it's saying Lord I I need the patience to wait as you're teaching me the importance of being faithful for some it's I need to support that superior that's hard to get along with but that's what God's saying tonight soft music for a hard heart maybe that's what God's provided for you this evening if you've never met Christ as your Savior that's certainly the most important place to begin he died for you he rose from the dead to give you power the ability to walk away from the drives to control them to live a positive fulfilling life free of the cage that's what I'd like to have for you I'll point you to him Lord we began this service with such a delightful note to you the greatest joy is to provide for your people and to remind us that we are the sheep and you are the shepherd we just rejoice we exult in God together and for the message this evening we have ended on a very searching note some some want to put it out of their minds some want to come to terms with it some are still not convinced some are adequately convicted by your spirit whatever might be the response Lord I pray that your ministry would not be thwarted because even though the sermon ends the word lingers on for some the need is for salvation we pray as we step into the night air and feel the coolness of the night to envelop us that we will have a renewed appreciation for the relief that David brought to his friend and you'll remind us on our way home that there's a soul available to any one of us to whom we can minister doesn't quite know how to reach out and ask for it and we pray that we will not be negligent or reluctant to do so in Jesus name you're listening to the Bible teaching of Chuck Swindoll and a message from his biographical series on David it's called soft music for a hard heart to learn more about Chuck Swindoll and this ministry please visit us online at insight world org just before our time is gone today I'll remind you that inside for living has a long history of providing Bible study tools to complement each series these study tools have been produced because as Chuck said in his prayer a moment ago even though the sermon ends God's Word lingers on along those lines you might want to purchase a copy of the very practical Swindoll study Bible Chuck's warm and personal style comes across on every page and his informed practical insights get straight to the heart of the Bible's message for the world today you can purchase a copy of the Swindoll study Bible right now when you go to insight org slash store or give us a call if you're listening in the United States call 800 772 8888 did you know that Stonebriar Community Church provides a live video stream of their Sunday morning worship service you'll find all the details at insight org slash Sundays finally let me relay a message that one of your fellow listeners left for us recently it said I just returned home from a months-long stay in the hospital which involved a few surgeries I'm isolated I'm not able to work or drive and I feel despair loneliness depression and hopelessness I have yet to express this to God but because of your recent study on Psalm 142 I can tell God my fears and worries and know that he is listening the great king of Israel did and so can I thank you Chuck well moments like these are made possible because loyal friends like you support insight for living and if God is prompting you to give a contribution give us a call if you're listening in the United States call 800 772 8888 or give online at insight org slash donate I'm bill Meyer inviting you to join us again next time when Chuck Swindoll continues our study on the remarkable life of David that's Monday on insight for living the preceding message soft music for a hard heart was copyrighted in 1977 1988 1997 and 2009 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R Swindoll Inc all rights are reserved worldwide duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited