“Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.” “All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.” One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.” So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine. So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer. Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.” And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.”
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1 Samuel‬ ‭16‬:‭14‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT

This curious passage raises a disturbing question: “Does God send evil to torment and torture us?” The answer is a lot more nuanced than the simple black-and-white of yes or no. In truth, scripture tells us that God holds evil forces back from hurting us. We have to be careful that we do not see any evil spirit as being aligned with God’s will. However, at times, they are aligned with God’s purpose. In this case, two things are recorded that can give us insight. The first is that Saul was under divine judgment for being willfully disobedient to God. The second is that God needed to move the shepherd boy, David, toward the throne. This spirit served to accomplish this task. In fact, evil spirits have been unwittingly accomplishing God’s tasks for millennia. Whether it is tormenting Paul, assaulting Job, or corrupting Judas, we should not be surprised that God can use evil things as much as good when it suits his purposes. What we must remember is that no matter what is used, everything works out for his glory and everything works out for good for those who love him. If Saul had a repentant heart, there likely would’ve been another way to accomplish God’s tasks at hand, but using an evil spirit made the most sense given the circumstances.

God’s Role in Evil: God does not send evil to torment, but allows it to accomplish divine purposes.

Evil Spirits’ Purpose: Evil spirits, while not aligned with God’s will, can be used by God to achieve His goals.

God’s Sovereignty: God uses both good and evil things to achieve His glory and the good of those who love Him.