Here is a question I am sure a lot of Bible readers have, and it relates to 1 Samuel 19:23-24-
So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
The question is: Is what Saul did of God or not?
In order to answer that question, we need to know the context. The story begins back in verse 19, where we learn that King Saul is in hot pursuit of David, intent on killing him. When the king heard that David was hiding out with the prophets, he sent a team of soldiers to get him. However, when the soldiers approached the prophets and saw that the revered Samuel was there among them, these soldiers were apparently touched by what they saw and joined in the emotional worship of God, returning to the king without David.
The same thing happened two more times to two different teams of soldiers. At last, Saul took matters into his own hands and went to get David from the prophets. Some time before this, Saul and Samuel had a falling-out (1 Samuel 15:17-35), where Samuel made it clear to Saul that God had officially rejected Saul as king of Israel. For this reason, Saul was reticent in approaching Samuel, which is why he sent two teams of soldiers to do the work.
King Saul was a man with severe mental problems, often given to wild mood swings (1 Samuel 14:14-23; 18:10-11; 19:9). As Saul got closer to the prophets and saw them prophesying and worshiping God, he found himself caught up in the excitement for no particular reason. Remember, he was not going to see the prophets to worship God, he was going to capture David, God’s anointed, with the express purpose of killing him. Influenced by what he saw and experienced, Saul began to shout and sing and dance right along with the prophets. This isn’t the first time this happened to Saul; earlier in his life a similar incident occurred, 1 Samuel 10:5, 6, 10. Saul seemed to be a man who was easily influenced by those around him.
Unlike the rest of the prophets, who were genuinely moved by the Spirit of God to worship, the king got so carried away in his ungrounded enthusiasm that he stripped off his clothes and carried on naked, eventually collapsing in exhaustion.
He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (19:24)
This saying among the people was a compliment, it was an insult that no doubt humiliated the king even more. This embarrassing episode, ending in complete humiliation, was a judgment from God on a man who opposed the will of God at every turn and lived in open rebellion of Him. So, in answer to the question, we might say that what Saul did was, in fact, of God, but not in the way we might first think. God was behind what Saul did, but in judgment of him.
There is a valuable lesson here. It is very easy to get “caught up” in emotional exuberance in the presence of God. While there is nothing wrong expressive praise and worship, such praise and worship must be motivated by God, not on one’s feelings in the moment.
