Neville Goddard on 1 Samuel 19:9-24 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Samuel 19 in context

Scripture Focus

9And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

10And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

11Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

12So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

13And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

14And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

15And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.

16And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster.

17And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

18So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

19And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

20And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

21And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

22Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah.

23And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

24And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

1 Samuel 19:9-24

Biblical Context

Saul, tormented by an evil spirit from the LORD, tries to kill David while David plays; David escapes with Michal's help, and Saul's attempts to seize him trigger the Spirit of God upon the messengers and even Saul, who prophesies.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within the story the evil spirit is not an external demon but a state of consciousness that rises when attention forgets its unity with God. Saul’s javelin represents a thought aiming to pin your awareness to fear and separation, while David, the musician, is the living image of your imagination, the I AM playing to still the storm. When Saul hurls, David slips away not by fighting but by returning to a higher state of mind—refusing identification with threat and letting fear dissolve against the wall of memory. Michal’s image in bed and pillow of goats' hair is the mind's trick of appearances, showing that what seems real can mask your true nature. The Spirit of God coming upon the messengers and Saul prophesying signals the inner Spirit taking possession of your acts and transforming them; the outward world mirrors the shift of your inner state. Is Saul among the prophets? It invites you to awaken as the prophet of your own life, right here, right now.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and assume you are already delivered; feel the I AM presence as you imagine David-like music dissolving the 'evil spirit.' Declare, 'I am the Lord's protected, present now,' and rest in that feeling.