And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.
We have here Saul falling and David rising. I. Here is Saul made a terror to himself (Sa1 16:14): The Spirit of the Lord departed from him. He having forsaken God and his duty, God, in a way of righteous judgment, withdrew from him those assistances of the good Spirit with which he was directed, animated, and encouraged in his government and wars. He lost all his good qualities.
Commenting on 1 Samuel 16:14-23
And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul,.... See Sa1 16:14 though the word evil is not in the text here; wherefore Abarbinel thinks that this here was the Spirit of God, which stirred up in him thoughts of divine things, put him in mind of what God had said, that he had rejected him from being king, and...
David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well--The ancients believed that music had a mysterious influence in healing mental disorders. Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 17