{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_25486/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_25486","id":"gutenberg_25486","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25486","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English -- Old Testament","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christianity","David, King of Israel"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Wilson and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he\nkeepeth the sheep.\" 1. Sam. xvi. 11.]\n\n\n\n\nDAVID THE SHEPHERD BOY\n\nBy AMY STEEDMAN\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nTHOMAS NELSON & SONS\nNEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nBOOKS IN THIS SERIES\n\n  JOSEPH THE DREAMER\n  THE BABE IN THE BULRUSHES\n  DAVID THE SHEPHERD BOY\n  THE CHILD JESUS\n  THE GOOD PHYSICIAN\n  THE GOOD SHEPHERD\n\n\nPRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\nThe Story of David\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nUp amongst the hills, perched like the nest of a bird on one of the long\nlow ridges, lies the little town of Bethlehem. It was but a small town\nat the time this story begins, and there was nothing about it to make it\nat all famous. It lay out of the beaten track, and any one wanting to\nvisit it must needs climb the long winding road that led from the plain\nbeneath, through olive groves and sheepfields, up to the city gate--a\nsteep, difficult road, leading nowhere but to the little town itself.\n\nIt was in these fields on the slope of the hills that David, the\nshepherd boy of Bethlehem, spent his days watching his father's flocks.\nThat father, whose name was Jesse, was one of the chief men of the\ntown, and David was the youngest of all his sons.\n\nThere were seven big brothers at home, and it was no wonder Jesse was\nproud of his sons. They were tall, splendid young men, all of them doing\nmen's work now, and taking very little notice of the youngest, who was\nstill only a small boy, chiefly useful in looking after the sheep.\n\nBut though David was but little thought of, no one could say that he did\nnot do his work well. There was not a more careful or watchful shepherd\non all the hills around Bethlehem. He knew each one of his sheep, and\nnever allowed one to stray. He always led them to the best pasture, and\nfound the coolest and freshest water for them to drink. Then, too, he\nwas as brave as a lion, and if any wild beast came lurking round hoping\nto snatch a lamb away, David was up at once and would attack the\nfiercest beast single-handed. Nothing could ever do any harm to his\nflock.\n\nNow it happened that one day while David was, as usual, out in the\nfields that a sudden stir of excitement awoke in the little town of\nBethlehem. Men gathered round the city gate, and with anxious, fearful\neyes looked down the long white road that led up from the plain below.\nAnd yet there seemed nothing there to make them look so terrified and\nanxious. Only an old feeble man was slowly climbing up towards the town.\nHe was driving a heifer before him, and carrying what looked like a horn\nin his hand.\n\n[Illustration: An old feeble man was slowly climbing up towards the\ntown.]\n\nBut the people whispered together that the old man was none other than\nSamuel, the prophet of the Lord, who carried God's messages. He must be\nbringing a message to them, and who knew if it was good or evil. They\ntried with uneasy minds to remember if they had been doing anything\nwrong of late as they watched the old man drawing nearer and nearer.\nThen at last the chief men of the town went out to meet him.\n\n\"Comest thou peaceably?\" they asked anxiously.\n\nThe old man lifted his head and looked at them kindly as he echoed their\nwords.\n\n\"Peaceably,\" he answered at once; \"I am come to sacrifice unto the\nLord.\"\n\nA great sigh of relief went up from the people. The visit was a mark of\nGod's favour and not of His displeasure.\n\nIt was true, indeed, that Samuel had come to offer sacrifice, but he had\ncome also on a secret errand about which no man knew but himself. God\nhad bidden him take his horn of oil and anoint one of the sons of Jesse\nto be king over His people instead of Saul, the present king, who had\ndispleased Him. But it was to be done secretly. Saul must not hear of\nit, or his vengeance would be swift.\n\nIt was in Jesse's house that the feast of the sacrifice was prepared,\nand Samuel ordered that all the sons of the house should pass before him\nas they went to attend the sacrifice.\n\nThe first to come was Eliab, Jesse's eldest son, and when Samuel saw him\nhe felt sure that this was the man who was to be anointed king. He was a\nsplendid young man, tall and strong and handsome, looking almost as\nkingly as Saul himself.\n\n\"Surely this is he,\" murmured Samuel to himself. But God's answer came\nquickly. No, this was not the man. Samuel saw only the outward signs of\nstrength and beauty, but God saw deeper into the heart.\n\nSo the eldest son passed on, and one by one the six brothers followed,\nall sons that a father might well be proud of. But God sent no sign to\nshow that any of them was the chosen king.\n\n[Illustration: \"Surely this is he,\" murmured Samuel to himself.]\n\nSamuel was puzzled. What could it mean? Then he turned again to Jesse.\n\n\"Are here all thy children?\" he asked.\n\nSurprised at the question, Jesse suddenly remembered the little lad,\nhis youngest son, who was out in the fields tending the sheep. Was it\npossible that Samuel had any use for him?\n\n\"Send and fetch him,\" ordered Samuel instantly, \"for we will not sit\ndown till he comes hither.\"\n\nSo a messenger was sent in haste to bring David; and presently he came\nhurrying in, and as soon as Samuel saw him he knew his search was ended.\n\nHe was only a little shepherd lad with the breath of the hills about\nhim, his golden hair tossed by the wind, his fair face flushed, and his\nsunburned hand holding his shepherd's crook. But there was no doubt that\nGod had chosen him.\n\n\"Arise and anoint him, for this is he,\" said God's voice in Samuel's\nheart.\n\nSlowly, then, the old man rose and held the oil aloft and poured it upon\nthe boy's bowed head, while the rest of the company looked silently on.\n\nThey were puzzled to know what it all meant. Perhaps the elder brothers\nwere envious, and wondered why this mere child should be singled out for\nspecial favour. But no one dared to question God's messenger.\n\nNothing further happened just then. Samuel returned as he had come by\nthe winding white road, and before long his visit was forgotten as the\npeople settled to their work again.\n\n[Illustration: Saul tries to kill David]\n\nOnly David, out in the fields, thought more and more about what had\nhappened, and grew more and more certain that it had been a call from\nGod to do some special work for Him. The wonder of it filled his mind,\nbut it never interfered with his work.\n\nThere was little time for idle dreaming in the boy's life. He was as\nwatchful as ever in his care for his sheep and as courageous as ever in\nguarding them from prowling beasts. Even in his leisure time he was busy\ntoo, and there was not one of the sunny hours of daylight that he\nwasted.\n\nHe loved music, and he taught himself to play on the harp, practising so\ncarefully and patiently that his fingers grew most wonderfully skilful.\nThen he made songs to go to the music, some of the most beautiful songs\nthat ever have been made in all the world. Almost every child to-day\nknows his beautiful song about the Good Shepherd: \"The Lord is my\nshepherd, I shall not want.\"\n\nThere was another thing, too, that he learned to do with the same care\nand patient perseverance, and that was to use his shepherd's sling.\nThere was no boy in all Bethlehem who could shoot as straight as he\ncould. He never missed his mark.\n\nIt was no great thing, perhaps, to make music and aim straight, but it\nwas a great thing to do what lay nearest his hand with all his might.\nPerhaps some day God would make use of his singing or have some work for\na boy who had a quick eye and a sure aim. Who could tell?\n\nSo David learned to do his very best, and before very long God's call\ncame to him.\n\n[Illustration: Saul sat day after day in his darkened tent.]\n\nSaul, the King of Israel, sat day after day in his darkened tent ill and\nfull of misery. No one dared to go near him, and his servants whispered\ntogether, \"It is an evil spirit from the Lord that troubles him.\"\n\nThen some one suggested that perhaps music might help to cheer him and\ndrive the evil spirit from him.\n\n\"Let our lord now command thy servants to seek out a man who is a\ncunning player on a harp,\" they said to the king, \"and it shall come to\npass that, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, he shall play\nwith his hand, and thou shalt be well.\"\n\n[Illustration: David drew magic music from his harp's strings.]\n\nSaul listened to their words, and hope crept into his heart.\n\n\"Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him unto me,\" he\nsaid eagerly.\n\nNow the fame of David's playing and singing had spread even beyond\nBethlehem. \"We must send for David, the son of Jesse,\" said the king's\nservants at once. He was the very person they wanted. Not only could he\nsing and play, but he was a good boy, brave and fearless, and best of\nall, as the servants said, \"The Lord is with him.\"\n\nSo the shepherd boy was brought to the king's darkened tent, ready to do\nhis bidding. Sitting there in the dim light, he drew such magic music\nfrom his harp's strings, and sang such sweet songs, that the very song\nof the birds seemed to be filling the tent. The king, as he listened,\nseemed to feel the breath of the mountain fields, to hear the call of\nthe sheepfold and the murmur of the dancing streams. It acted like a\ncharm. The black misery was lifted from his heart, and the evil spirit\nwas put to flight by the song of the shepherd boy.\n\nIt was no wonder, then, that the king, for a time at least, loved the\nboy with his bright face and sunny hair, and wanted to keep him as his\narmour-bearer. But perhaps, as Saul grew well and had no further need of\nthe music, David was no longer wanted, and so he went back again to the\nBethlehem fields to look after his sheep.\n\nGod had made use of David's skill in music, and before very long another\ncall came to him. This time the need was for one who could aim straight,\nwho had a quick eye and a steady hand.\n\nWar had broken out. The fierce Philistines had come up with their great\narmies to try and conquer the land. Every man in Israel who could fight\nwas called up to protect his country. Already David's three elder\nbrothers had joined Saul's army, which was preparing to fight the enemy.\n\n[Illustration: Jesse sends David to the camp.]\n\nOn either side of a narrow valley, divided by a stream which ran along\nover smooth stones, the two armies faced each other. There they were\nencamped, like wild beasts ready to fly at each other's throats. At any\nmoment the fight might begin, and that stream be stained red with blood.\nOnly the Philistines were far the strongest, and the Israelites had but\nlittle chance of victory.\n\nThis valley was seven or eight miles distant from the little town of\nBethlehem, and Jesse waited anxiously, day after day, for news of his\nthree sons. At last he could bear the anxiety no longer, and he\ndetermined to send David to the camp to carry food to his brothers and\nbring back news how they fared.\n\nSo, very early one morning, David set out on his errand. He had\ncarefully put his sheep under the care of another shepherd, and he took\nwith him parched corn and loaves of bread for his brothers, as well as\nten cheeses which his father was sending to the officers under whom they\nserved.\n\nIt was not long before the boy came within sight of the valley, and his\nheart began to beat with excitement, for he saw that he had arrived just\nas something was about to happen. The armies were drawn up in battle\narray, and suddenly a great shout went up from both sides. It was the\nbattle-cry of the two armies which sounded in his ears.\n\nThere was no time now to carry food and gifts, so David quickly left his\nload at the entrance to the camp and hurried on to search for his\nbrothers. He had learned to find his way about a camp, where for a\nshort time he had been Saul's armour-bearer. So now he went swiftly\namong the soldiers, until at last he found his brothers. \"Were they\nwell?\" he eagerly asked them; \"and what were they doing?\"\n\n[Illustration: Eagerly David began to ask them what it meant.]\n\nBut even while he spoke there was a stir among the Philistines, and all\neyes were turned to watch, all ears were strained to hear the enemy's\nchallenge, which rang out clearly across the narrow valley.\n\nOut of the rank of the Philistines there had stepped a man so tall and\nstrong that he appeared to be a giant. He was more than nine feet high,\nand the armour which he wore was so solid and heavy that it would have\ncrushed any ordinary man to the earth.\n\nThis was Goliath, the great champion of the Philistines. Every morning\nand every evening he strode proudly out and defied the Israelites,\nbidding them find a champion who would come and fight with him. Once\nagain his challenge rang out on the clear air,--\n\n\"Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to\nfight with me and to kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I\nprevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and\nserve us. I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we\nmay fight together.\"\n\nA great silence fell after the champion had shouted his last words of\ndefiance. There was no answer from the Israelites. No man had courage\nenough to dream of accepting the challenge.\n\nDavid looked round him in amazement, and his cheeks burned with shame.\nWhat were the people doing to allow this boasting heathen Philistine to\ndefy the armies of the living God? Eagerly he turned to the men around\nhim and began to ask them what it meant. The soldiers answered him\nshortly. No, there was no one who dared to go forth and fight Goliath.\nThe king had promised great rewards to any man who would kill the giant.\nBut no one had dared to try.\n\nDavid's elder brothers heard his questions, and seeing how amazed he\nwas, they began to grow angry. Did he mean to reproach them? Perhaps he\nthought of offering himself to fight the champion. It was time that this\nshepherd boy should be put in his proper place. So his eldest brother\nturned to him with a sneer.\n\n[Illustration: While he kept his father's sheep he had often to defend\nthem from wild beasts.]\n\n\"Why camest thou hither?\" he asked. \"And with whom hast thou left those\nfew sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy\nheart, for thou hast come down that thou mightest see the battle.\"\n\nIt could not have been very easy to bear this taunt. But David had\nlearned to conquer himself before he set out to conquer giants. So he\nanswered quietly instead of flashing back an angry reply.\n\n\"What have I done?\" he asked. \"May I not ask a harmless question?\"\n\nThere were many questions he still wished to ask, and presently the\nsoldiers began to repeat his words one to another, until at last the\nreport was spread that some one had been found ready and willing to\nanswer the challenge of the giant Philistine. And of course the news\nsoon reached the king's ear. Saul sent immediately and ordered that the\nshepherd lad should be brought to him. He had quite forgotten about the\nboy who had charmed away his black moods with the magic music of his\nharp. And David had grown and changed since those days.\n\nSo now, when David stood before the king, Saul had no idea who he was,\nand his one thought, as he looked at the slender youth, was that it was\nmadness to think of such a mere boy going out to give battle to the\ngreat giant.\n\n\"Thou art not able to go against this Philistine,\" he said; \"for thou\nart but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.\"\n\nBut David answered eagerly. He did not boast, but spoke steadily and\nwisely. True, he had not been trained as a soldier, but his courage and\nhis strength had both been already proved. And he went on to tell the\nking that while he kept his father's sheep he had often to defend them\nfrom wild beasts. Once he had fought with a lion and a bear\nsingle-handed and had killed them both.\n\n[Illustration: Saul puts his own armour on David.]\n\nIt was not in his own strength that he trusted. \"The Lord that delivered\nme out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will\ndeliver me out of the hand of this Philistine,\" he ended triumphantly.\n\nFaith in God was David's sure defence; and Saul as he listened bowed his\nhead in shame, for it was the faith which he himself had lost. It was\nthis faith, he knew, which might win the victory. It was an echo of the\nconfidence he had once felt when his whole trust had been in God, and he\nrecognized the true ring of the boy's courage.\n\n\"Go,\" he said, \"and the Lord be with thee.\"\n\nThen the king was eager to put his own armour on David, and he bade the\nsoldiers arm him with the royal sword and put a brass helmet on his\nhead. But David was not accustomed to wear heavy armour, and had never\nbeen trained to use a sword. No, he would do his best with the only\nweapon he thoroughly understood.\n\nSo putting on once more his shepherd's coat, he took his sling in his\nhand, and as he crossed the brook at the foot of the valley he filled\nhis shepherd's bag with smooth stones and fitted one of them to his\nsling. Then with springing steps he began to climb the opposite side.\n\nThe rage of Goliath was great when he saw the slender, fair-haired boy,\nwithout either armour or sword, coming so boldly to meet him.\n\n\"Am I a dog,\" he shouted, \"that thou comest to me with staves?\"\n\n[Illustration: David's fight with Goliath.]\n\n\"I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies\nof Israel, whom thou hast defied,\" rang out the clear answer. \"The Lord\nsaveth not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He\nwill give you into our hands.\"\n\nThe great giant lifted his spear, ready with one blow to end this\nunequal fight. But David did not wait to come within reach of the spear.\nBefore Goliath came near, the boy stopped suddenly and sent a stone\nwhizzing through the air straight at the giant's head. The stone sank\ninto Goliath's forehead, and the great figure reeled and fell with a\nmighty crash to the earth. Instantly David seized his sword and cut off\nhis head.\n\n[Illustration: David seized his sword and cut off his head.]\n\nSo God's people were saved, and so again God made use of the shepherd\nboy's training and skill, this time to win a great victory for His\npeople.\n\nThe fair-haired shepherd boy had done his duty faithfully in the fields\non the hillside at home, where he was but little thought of. He had\nalways tried to do his best, whether he was keeping the sheep or\npractising with his sling or learning to play the harp. And now,\nsuddenly, the great opportunity had come and found him ready.\n\nHe had entered the camp an unnoticed country lad, carrying provisions to\nhis brothers. Now every soldier in the camp was shouting his name; the\nking was ready to shower rewards and honors upon him. He was the hero of\nthe hour.\n\nThe pleasant days in the Bethlehem fields were now over for David. There\nwas no thought of allowing him to return to his work. No, the king\ndeclared he must remain as a soldier in the army, ready to defend his\nking and country. Though he was still a mere boy he was placed in\ncommand and set over the men of war.\n\nIt was much more difficult work than looking after sheep, and as time\nwent on and dangers and difficulties beset him on every side, David must\noften have longed for the old quiet days on the hillside. His path was\nrough and dangerous now, and sad to say his feet often slipped and he\nwandered far astray, but always he held fast to his faith in God, and\nfound his way back to the straight path.\n\nAs the years went by Samuel's promise was at last fulfilled, and David\nwas made king over God's chosen people. David had often forgotten God,\nbut God had never forgotten him.\n\nWhat a change it was from the days when he wandered about the fields in\nhis sheepskin coat, often sleeping out under the stars, possessing only\nhis harp and his shepherd's sling.\n\nNow he wore royal robes, and there was a crown of pure gold upon his\nhead. Instead of the starry sky for a roof, he now lived in a palace of\ncedar wood.\n\nAnd he knew surely that it was God who had taken care of him; that it\nwas God who had set the crown of gold upon his head, the seal to the\npromise made in that long ago day when the old prophet had poured the\nanointing oil upon the head of the wandering shepherd boy.\n\nLooking back, he saw that he had made many mistakes, that his soul was\nstained with many sins; but he knew, too, that God would listen when he\nprayed, \"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.\"\n\nAs a little shepherd lad he had cared far more for his sheep than his\nown safety. He had always been ready to risk his life for them. So now,\nwhen he became king, his people were just as precious to him as his\nsheep had been. He cared for them with all his heart. He was prepared to\nsuffer himself rather than any hurt should come near them.\n\nSo perhaps he was, after all, not unworthy to stand as a type of the\ngreat King, \"great David's greater Son,\" the little Baby who was to be\nborn in the town of Bethlehem, the Good Shepherd who was to lay down His\nlife for His sheep.","title":"David the Shepherd Boy","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":3973}