In answer to comment by Joann

Harden Hearts

The question at hand is: Does God harden hearts or do we harden them?
There has been much discussion about this topic some people, some believers have used one or maybe two verses of scripture to defend one position or another. I think we have to be careful and discover the whole of the truth.
The first instance which is used is the story about the Pharaoh, which we see in Exodus 4:21. God says He will harden his heart. The scripture does not tell us that Pharaoh’s heart was already hard, which I believe is the case. So it was a case of God allowing pharaoh to harden his heart even more.
The whole issue about who does the hardening has some controversy, but I think it is clearer when we look into:
1 Sam 6:6
6 Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
NIV
It is apparent from this verse, that both the Egyptians and Pharaoh did the hardening of their hearts based on the actions of God, the harsh treatment He was giving them in order to bring about Glory for Himself.
We know it was to bring glory to Him because of:
Ex 14:16-18
17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The
NIV
We can also see in the following verses that it is man who hardens his own heart. It is man who has the choice to respond to situations either it be from life itself, the actions of other men, or the actions of God.
Gen 1:1 - Ps 95:8 Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, NIV

Heb 3:7-8
Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,
NIV

Heb 3:15
15 As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
NIV

Heb 4:7
7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts."
NIV

Now to deal with the idea that an evil spirit came from God to Saul is a little different than a hardening of a heart.
But I think we can have some clarity if we examine the Hebrew text.
I think this is the verse you are referring to:
1 Sam 16:14
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.
NIV
In the Hebrew the word translated into from actually does not really have an English word for the Hebrew.
OT:853
sign (marker) of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative case
So in other words it indicates that God was responsible for an evil spirit to torment Saul.
This would indicate to me, God allowing the evil spirit access to Saul much in the same way He allowed Satan access to Lot. It does not specifically imply God directed the evil spirit or created the evil spirit or the evil spirit was a part of God’s army or arsenal to inflict torment on His people.
There is, in most cases, actions by God to bring us to repentance. Correction, discipline, teaching, rebuking or in this case a situation which should bring about the desired result of Saul harkening to the voice of God. We do not want to put God in a box, nor diminish His authority over His creation. In actuality, He can do whatever He desires to do, at any time to anyone, in any way He wants to. He is the creator, we are the created. If he desires to destroy us, that is His call, not ours. But I do believe He has given us the ability to disobey His commands, harden our hearts, to His voice, and in doing so, better acknowledge the fact there could be consequences.

I hope this helps, not sure I dealt with everything, but rather a brief explanation of my short look into it.