Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Praise the name of Yahweh. Job 1:20-21 HCSB
James 1:17 tells us every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with whom there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. God had blessed Job. God had given him a family; he had given him a large number of livestock and land. Job was a wealthy man both in an economic sense as well as a spiritual sense.
In a matter of minutes, God had allowed Satan to take from Job everything but his wife. Job mourned his losses but through all of this, Job did not sin or blame God for anything. When Job said the LORD gives and the LORD takes away, he simply acknowledged God’s sovereignty.
This morning, I read 1 Samuel 19:23-24. There is a lot packed into these two verses, but I will summarize it by saying, it brings King Saul full circle. Saul had been anointed king, and he had come upon a group of prophets in Ramah during his inauguration. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied with them.
Saul would be disobedient as king and the Lord would remove or take His Spirit away from Saul. We are told in 1 Samuel 16:14 that the Spirit of the Lord left Saul. To make matters worse, God sent an evil spirit to torment him. Back in Old Testament times the Spirit of the Lord would come upon someone to give them the ability to do what God had called them to do.
Many military leaders had the Spirit of the Lord come upon them to make them successful in battles God had called them to fight.
Like Job, we should acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives. We should acknowledge our dependence upon Him. We should be willing to completely surrender to Him. Saul failed to do this.
We must also understand there will be good times and there will be bad times. Even in the bad times, God is working all things out for our good if we love Him and are doing what He has called us to do (Romans 8:28). We must learn to put our trust in Him. Even in bad times, we must trust in God and allow Him to walk us through these times.
During Saul’s inauguration, He prophesied with God’s prophets. When Saul had gone mad with jealousy and rage toward David, he went to Ramah to kill David. But God sent His Holy Spirit upon Saul to divert Saul to prophesy with the prophets instead of killing David.
The Spirit of the Lord also prompted Saul to strip off his armor and royal garments to signify that the Lord’s Spirit had departed from him and anointed David as his successor. The Lord’s Spirit brought Saul from a place of jealousy, rage, and bitterness to a place of humility.
It’s interesting to note that when Saul was anointed king, he was humble, and the Lord’s Spirit came upon him to give him the ability to do what he would need to do as Israel’s first king and military leader. During this time, he prophesied with the prophets.
When he had failed as king due to his pride and disobedience to God, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him this one last time to distract him from killing David and lead him to prophesy with the prophets. God humbled him by stripping him of his royal garments signifying the loss of his kingship.
If you don’t surrender to the Lord and humble yourself before Him, He will humble you. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
When Saul was humble, God exalted him. When Saul failed to trust and obey God, God disciplined him. In his pride, Saul wanted to do things his way. As you can see, this didn’t work out so well for him. God had to humble him. Saul’s removing his royal garments symbolized God’s rejection of him as king.
God gives us good things but will also take those things away. It could be to test our faith, or it could be to discipline us and humble us. Whatever the reason, we must trust in Him in both the times of plenty and times when we are lacking.
We must live our lives in faith and obedience to Him. We should never allow pride to get the best of us.
Have a great day!