THE SHEPARD KING
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Not many years after Ruth the Moabitess lived and died among her adopted people, the children of Israel became convinced that if they were to survive in the Promised Land against the pressure of the Philistines and other pagan peoples they would have to be united under a king. At this time the most respected Hebrew figure was Samuel, a great prophet and man of God. Samuel pointed out a tall warrior from the tribe of Benjamin named Saul, and the people accepted him as their first king.
At first Saul proved a bold leader and courageous fighter who won some dramatic victories. But he did not always follow the word of God as laid down by Samuel. As a result, the spirit of the Lord no longer guided him. In it's place came an ever increasing melancholia punctuated by fits of violence that were close to madness.
Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, telling him to seek out another candidate for the throne. He was told that he would find this future king among the sons of Jesse, a patriarch who lived in the little town of Bethlehem.
Jesse, grandson of Ruth and Boaz, had eight sons, the youngest a mere lad who spent most of his time on the lonely hillsides tending his fathers sheep. This youngster, named David, was handsome, gifted, and brave. When Samuel saw him, he anointed the boy with the sacred oil as a sign that one day he would be king.
David himself had no such ambitions. He whiled away the long hours in the hills by playing his harp, composing songs to amuse himself, and practicing with his shepards sling, the weapon he used to drive off lions and bears that preyed on the flocks. He ws amazed when messenges arrived from Sauls court. The king had heard of Davids great musical gifts. Music seemed to soothe the black moods that descended on him from time to time. He wanted David to come and be his harpist and live at the royal court.
By this time the children of Israel were in a state of constant warfare with the Philistines who lived on the nearby coast and made constant raids on the hill country. At one point the Philistine invaders brought with them a giant of a man, over nine feet tall, so huge and ferocious that when he challenged any of Sauls warriors to single combat, not one dared to face him.
While this monster was terrorizing the Hebrew ranks, David happened to visit three of his older brothers who were soldiers with Saul's army. The sight of Goliath strutting about and bellowing his threats infuriated him. "Who is this miserable pagan," he cried, "who thinks he can defy the armies of the living God?" He declared that he ws willing to accept Goliath's challenge and meet him in hand to hand combat.
No one thought the rash teenager had a chance against the terrfying giant. Saul tried to persuade David to wear his royal armor, but it was to heavy and clumsy for the slender redhead. He decided to face Goliath with nothing but his shepard's staff, his sling, and five smooth stones that he selected from a nearby brook.
Both armies stared in amazement as the youth walked calmly toward what seemed like certain death. Goliath lumbered forward brandishing his enormous spear while another Philistine soldier staggered under the weight of his huge shield. Roaring threats and curses, the giant promised to feed David to "the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field." In reply, David whirled his sling around his head. At exactly the right moment he released the stone with tremendous force and deadly accuracy. It struck Goliah in the forehead, stunning him. Down he crashed, like a great oak struck by lightening. Swiftly the shepard boy ran forward, drew the giant's own sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head. Astounded and heartened by this incredible victory, the Hebre army plunged across the valley and routed the foe on the opposite mountainside.
Overnight David found himself a national hero. Saul gave him one of his daughters in marriage. Saul's son, Jonathon, became Davids closet friend. He and David led many succesful campaigns against the Philistines.
But gradually, as David's fame and popularity grew, Saul's affection for him turned to jealousy and hatred. Twice, in fits of unprovoked rage, the half demented king hurled his javelin at the young harpist. Finally David had to flee for his life. He became an outlaw, living in caves, harrassed and hunted by Saul and his soldiers. In the end, he had to take refuge with the hated Philistines, who welcomed him as an enemy of Saul.
By this time, Saul had become a pathetic caricature of a king. He knew the Philistines were preparing a major offensive against him. He had driven his ablest soldier, David, into exile. Samuel was dead; he could no longer turn to the old prophet for advice. Frantically Saul tried to ascertain the will of the Lord, but no sign, no revelations came to him. Finally in desperation, he decided to consult a medium, although previously he had banashed all sorcerers and magicians from his realm.
Saul's servants told him about a woman living ina place called Endor who was said to be capable of summoning up the spirits of the dead. Saul went to her in disguise, by nigt, but she rcognized him anyway. When he guaranteed her protection, she did call up an apparation that seemed to be the ghost of Samuel. But this gave little comfort to Saul. The spirit predicted that the next day the children of Israel would be defeated in battle by the Philistines. Saul and his sons, the ghost added, would be slain.
Everything the ghost of Samuel predicted came true. Jonathon and his two brothers were killed in battle. Saul was so badly wounded by arrows that he fell on his own sword rather than be captured alive by his enemies. The defeated Hebrews were split into two monarchies. In the South, David became king of Judah. In the north, one of Sauls surviving sons became king of Israel.
Eventually the son of Saul was assassinated, and David was able to reunite the two kngdoms. He captured the city of Jerusalem and made it his capital. He pushed back his enemies on all fronts until Israel became recognized as a powerful nation, not just a handful of divided tribes. All men respected and honored David. He had many wives and concubines. Everything seemed to be going well. The Lord was pleased with him. And then this great but also very human king made a grievous error. He became involved with another man's wife.
The other man was Uriah, a captain in the king's army. While Uriah was taking part in a military expedition. David remained in Jerusalem. One day from the roof of his palace, he happened to see a woman bathing in the courtyard of a house nearby. It was Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. She was so beautiful that the king became infatuated. He summoned her to the palace, treated her like one of his concubines, then sent her home again.
That might have been the end of it, but shortly Bathsheba sent word to David that she was going to have a child, and that he was the father, as an all powerful monarch, David might simpy have ignored this message, but he didn't. He arranged to have Uriah ordered into the fiercest fighting. When Uriah ws killed, David maried Bathsheba himself.
"But," says the Bible, "the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." He sent the prophet Nathan to tell David that Bathsheba's child would die soon after it was born. Moreover, David would be punished by violence and treachery inside his own family.
David was allready sorry for what he had done, and he said so publicly. But all the grim phrophecies came true. Bathsheba's first child did die. A few years later David's favorite son, Absalom, led a conspiracy against his father and tried to seize the throne. David's loyal troops finally defeated the rebels, but in the battle Absalom's mule ran beneath the low spreading branches of a great oak tree, the young prince's head was caught fast, and while he dangled there helplessly David's soldiers killed him. When the king was told that his son was dead, his grief was pitiful. The wages of sin are never easy to pay, and certainly they were not in David's case.
Altogether, David reigned for forty years. Perhaps because he felt he owed her something, he promised Bathsheba that another child of hers, Solomon, would inherit the throne. David kept that promise. When he felt his life beginning to ebb away, he called in the young man. "Be thou strong" he told him," and show thyself a man, and keep charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest."
Thirty centuries have passed, but David's loyalty and courage and faith in God still live on in the hearts of men. Each one of us can draw hope from the knowledge that although David was a sinner, as we are sinners, God forgave and loved him, as He forgives and loves us.
: )
Jesus loves you!
1|1|Thank you,i saw this movie last night|WillaD|wila111@bellsouth.net|23:38:52|03/15/2010|
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If you are on the btl or btw,please
don't email me about trading(this is
for those on these lists)
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If you are going to hold my envie until
you get your envie please lmk up front--
I JUST LOVE THIS HOBBY
Willa 2|1|Thank you so much!|Skaytes|skaytez@gmail.com|05:44:06|03/16/2010|
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