The 3 Spirits of 1 Samuel 16 (Part 1)

1 Samuel 16:1 "And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons."

The story of Saul's fall from the anointing of God is very tragic, yet it releases a series of events that deals with 3 separate spirits we still face today. One is very, very positive, but the other two are very, very negative and destructive. I believe that this is why God wants us to read this chapter very carefully and see what one destructive spirit can bring into the life of a person infected by it.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

So what are these three spirits mentioned in 1 Samuel 16?

(1) The first is the Spirit of Mourning.

Verses 1 "And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons."

 Samuel was so grieved over the failure of Saul that he could not look at the present or the future with eyes of faith. He was frustrated by this spirit of mourning over the loss that the kingdom of God has suffered that he could not anticipate what blessings God had in store for His people. To mourn means to feel or express sorrow or grief. Samuel was so distraught over Saul that it clouded his view of what God wanted for the future of Israel.

 -It is all right to mourn, but if we are not careful that spirit of mourning will bring a lifetime of ineffectiveness and defeat.

 Jesus said in Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

 Ecclesiastes 3:4b "A time to mourn, and a time to dance."

Psalm 30:5 "For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

 -When the spirit of mourning attaches itself to you, your hope and belief that today and tomorrow will be better is stolen away.

Isaiah 51:11 "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."

Isaiah 61:3 "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."