First Lesson: 1 Samuel 16:14-23

Theme: God’s relation to evil

Exegetical Note
The premise for this story of David’s being placed in Saul’s service as a court musician is that the evil spirit that accounts for the king’s apparent "mental illness" comes from God. Such a notion is difficult on several counts for the modern reader, but is grounded in the Old Testament’s firm monotheism, which would prefer to attribute evil to God’s doing rather than to posit any sort of competing counter-deity (such as the Satan-Devil of the New Testament).

Call to Worship
Leader: Brothers and sisters, we gather today to worship the one God.
People: WE MEET AS A PEOPLE FILLED WITH FAITH, BUT ALSO FULL OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.
Leader: In particular, we do not understand evil: why it exists and why especially…