the fair-faced, light-haired youth come forth against him from the armies of Israel, with the weapon he would have used against a dog. Words of defiance passed. Goliath declared he was going to give the flesh of the bold lad to be eaten by the birds and beasts of prey, and David solemnly replied in his turn that though Goliath came with spear, sword, and shield, he came in the name of the Lord of Hosts, to take up the challenge for Him, and that his own weakness would be another token to Israel that it is not by sword or shield that the Lord saveth. Then, as Goliath came thundering forwards, expecting to cleave him where he stood, the light-footed shepherd sprang to meet him, thereby giving the swing forward to his sling. The stone flew forth, and striking the proud forehead of the Philistine, sank into it, while his strength becoming instantly vain, he fell; and David, running up, stood over him and cut off his head with his own sword, David himself having none. Then came a terrible panic and confusion among the Philistines, and a pursuit by the Israelites by the way of Shaaraim, in the lowlands of Judah, even to their own towns of Gath and Ekron. The Israelites were delivered from their long terror, and the victory was more complete than any that had been won for centuries past. David kept the armour of his foe, and apparently offered it for a thank-offering at the Sanctuary; and the head, which he had cut off, he afterwards, when many years later he conquered Jerusalem, also placed there. In the Greek version of the Scriptures there is a short Psalm, said to have been David's thanksgiving at this time:

I was small among my brethren,

And the youngest in my father's house;

I was feeding my father's sheep;

My hands made a harp,

And my fingers fitted a psaltery;

And who shall tell it to thy LORD?

He is the LORD; He heareth.

He sent His messenger, and took me from my father's fock,

And anointed me with the oil of anointing

My brethren were beautiful and tall,

But the LORD was not pleased with them.

I went out to meet the Philistine;

And he cursed me by his idols,

But I drew his sword, and beheaded him,

And took away his reproach from the children of Israel.

Most likely David rejected this Psalm as merely praise of his own exploit, and not fit for the worship of God; but Israel's affection preserved it, and has handed it down. And in his victory we see beforehand Christ, the Anointed, the Son of David, bruising the head of the Great Enemy, the champion of the hosts of evil. There too we see, as before said, the battle that every Christian has to fight with the Enemy.

Not with sword and shield and lance,

But with charm-words from our Book,
Gems from our baptismal Brook,

Meet his stern advance.

He through every gate of sense,
Eye and ear, taste, touch, and smell,
Fain would hurl the shafts of hell.
Seek thou strong defence.

Guard in time those portals five

With the smooth stones from the fount,
With the Law from God's own Mount,
So thy war shall thrive.

LESSON LXVII.

SAUL'S JEALOUSY OF DAVID.

B.C. 1063.-I SAM. xvii. 55-58; xviii. 1—11.

And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling * is.

And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Saul took him tnat day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house.

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

* Young lad.

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets,* with joy, and with instruments of musick.

And the women answered one another as they played, and said,

Saul hath slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands.

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed † David from that day and forward.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided ‡ out of his presence twice.

COMMENT.-Either David had altered so much in growing from boyhood to youth that he was not easy to recognize, or else, if Saul and Abner did know him as the harper, they did not know his family; and this concerned Saul much, since the slayer of Goliath was to be the husband of his daughter. Observe, too, the rough asseveration of the irreligious Abner, so far beyond the "let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay," which the third commandment enjoins, and showing, too, some dismay lest an unknown shepherd should marry the daughter of the first King of Israel, and all through one of Saul's hasty promises. But when David came back with the frightful head of the Philistine in his hand, and was led before the King, his answer, "I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite," showed him to be of one of the noblest families of princely Judah-as indeed he was already, in a measure, the lion of the tribe.

And while his words were spoken, one of the most generous hearts that ever beat went forth and was fast bound to him. Probably Jonathan had been withheld from offering himself for the battle with the Philistine by his father's command, or else by

* Timbrels.

+ Watched with dislike.

↑ Escaped.

knowing that Saul's jealousy would not brook to see him again hailed by Israel as their deliverer. Duty held him back; but when he heard the brave young shepherd simply own that same trust which had led him to victory at Michmash, he loved him with all his heart. Jonathan must have been a much older man than David, but he treated him with the equal friendship of a young companion. He entered into a covenant-a mutual promise of love and brotherhood—with him; and, after a frequent custom of the East, did him honour by presenting him with his own robes and weapons, even his girdle, his sword, and the bow, with which he specially excelled. Nor did that love ever swerve, although Jonathan was not long in perceiving that it was David who was to sit on the throne that might have seemed his own right. Such pure, unselfish love is one of the most beautiful examples we have. Indeed, during the campaign against the Philistines that followed, all was prosperity. David was received as one of the King's family, and was numbered among his valiant men; he had a command in the army, and, young as he was, he behaved himself wisely. All went well till the host returned in triumph, and then the jealous temper of Saul was roused by the women who came out with timbrels and ringing triangles of brass, dancing and singing songs in honour of the conquerors:

Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.

That was enough to set the King brooding in envy and vexation on the implied rivalry. "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil." Saul's sullen anger did give place to the devil. It brought another access of his frenzy, inspired by the evil spirit; and when David came in haste with the former remedy, his sweet music, he cast the spear-his sceptre—at him, hoping to nail him to the wall with it. David, taking this as part of his madness, persevered; but the attempt was made a second time, and only the harper's alertness saved him. Self-will, obstinacy, jealousy, malice—these are the evils that grow from a small beginning, and by and by lead us utterly away from God and heaven.

LESSON LXVIII.

DAVID'S MARRIAGE.

B.C. 1062.-I SAM. xviii. 12-30.

And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.

Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.

Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?

But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.

And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son-in-law.

And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry,* but the death of a hundred Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law: and the days were not expired.

Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

* Marriage gift.