The deep human suffering of the tyrant king was never expressed so well as in this work. Rembrandt, the greatest master of rendering the human soul in painting, filtered out of the twenty-five-hundred-year-old story what he had to say to his own seventeenth century Holland, while at the same time he fashioned a musical solution to spiritual suffering with the use of an eternal allegory of uplifting influence of artistic beauty.

The life-size bust figures of Saul and David appear in a narrow opening against the dark background. With this composition the painter created the most intimate connection between the viewer and the figures in the painting. Within the picture, however, there are two strikingly different worlds. The broken old king, weighed down by his sufferings, turn inward in his lonely torment, no longer raving and ready to attack. His is a faraway look, and he limply holds onto the spear. With his left hand he wearily draws the blue velvet curtain to hide his sadness dissolving into tears. The fragile figure of the young David playing the harp is outside the dark circle of this misery. The light bouncing off his white collar and cuffs emphasizes his head, gently bent over his instrument and his finely formed hands. He is totally involved with his music, which connects the two and unifies them in this, the purest moment of catharsis.

David has beaten the Philistines and is returning to the court of King Saul. The superstitious king considers David a threat to his already weakened position. We see him trying to think of a way to get rid of the young hero. At the same, he is moved by David's harp playing - Saul dries his eyes with his cloak.

The people would probably rise against him if he were to kill David. The javelin in his hand is useless. So he promotes David to "captain over a thousand", hoping he will die in battle.

In Rembrandt's painting, the old suffering king is clearly touched by David's playing. David is completely absorbed in his music. It is a much more melancholic and touching interpretation than his earlier rendition of the same episode, which Rembrandt created in 1630.