THIS signal victory materially confirmed Saul’s supremacy. Acting no longer merely on the defensive, he now directed expeditions against Moab, Ammon, Edom, and even the king of Zobah, a region east of Cœle-Syria and extending towards the Euphrates. While in the full tide of his success he received a visit from Samuel, who on the strength of a Divine command, entrusted him with a commission, which he was to execute to the very letter. The treacherous hostility of the powerful tribe of Amalek, when they fell upon the exhausted rear of the Israelites at their departure from Egypt, had not been forgotten by God (Ex. xvii. 8, 14; Num. xxiv. 20). Since then they had on more than one occasion evinced the same hostility243. They were now devoted to utter destruction. Go and smite Amalek, ran the Divine commission; utterly destroy all that they have; spare them not; slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass (1 Sam. xv. 2, 3).
Thereupon Saul mustered a force of 210,000 at Telaim in southern Judah, and after warning the Kenites to betake themselves to a place of safety, he attacked the Amalekites and smote them from Havilah to Shur. All the people he utterly destroyed, but, in direct violation of the express instructions he had received, spared all the best of the spoil and Agag the Amalekite king. Returning from this expedition he set up a place, or, probably, a monument of his victory, at Carmel in the mountainous country of Judah, and thence repaired to Gilgal. A Divine intimation had already made known to Samuel how imperfectly the king had executed his commission, and with a heavy heart he went forth to meet him. With a haste which betrayed the misgivings of his conscience, Saul no sooner saw the Prophet than he boasted of his execution of the Divine mandate. But Samuel was not thus to be deceived. The bleating of the sheep and the lowing of oxen on all sides revealed but too clearly the lax interpretation which Saul had chosen to put upon his instructions, and he only increased his condemnation by trying to throw the blame of his own shortcomings upon the people, who, he declared, had spared the best of the spoil to sacrifice to Jehovah. The Prophet sternly reminded him that Jehovah had far more delight in obedience to His commands than in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, and for the second time intimated that the continuance of his dynasty was forfeited; he had rejected the Word of the Lord, and the Lord had rejected him from being king (1 Sam. xv. 12–23).
With much contrition Saul then confessed his error, and as the Prophet turned to depart, grasped the skirt of his mantle to induce him to stay. The mantle rent, and Samuel interpreted the omen; the Lord had rent the kingdom from its unworthy head, and designed it for a neighbour of his, who was better than he. Without denying the justice of the sentence, Saul entreated the granting of one concession, imploring Samuel to honour him before the elders of his people, and turn with him and worship Jehovah. The prophet yielded, and for the last time the two offered sacrifice together. But if Saul had neglected his duty, Samuel could not forget the captive king, whom the Divine decree had devoted to death. He ordered Agag to be brought before him. The king came forward delicately, remarking, as if to disarm hostility, surely the bitterness of death is past. As thy sword, rejoined the Prophet, hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women; and he hewed him in pieces before the Lord. The commission of Jehovah thus vindicated, Saul returned to Gibeah, and Samuel to Ramah, there to mourn for one, whose career, once so hopeful, was now obscured with such dark forebodings of coming doom (1 Sam. xv. 24–35).
The sorrow of Samuel for Saul’s shortcomings was real. But he was before long roused from his grief by a Divine commission to take a horn of oil and go to Bethlehem, there to anoint another king. Fear lest the purport of his errand should reach Saul’s ears would have deterred him from venturing on the journey, but he was bidden to take a heifer and invite the elders of the town to a sacrificial feast. In obedience to this command he left Ramah, and proceeded on his way. As he ascended the long gray hill leading to the village, his approach was discerned by the elders, who trembled when they saw the venerable Prophet. Comest thou peaceably? they enquired anxiously. Peaceably, was the reply, and they were bidden to prepare to accompany him to the feast.
Amongst those invited on this occasion was Jesse, sprung from one of the oldest families244 in the place, the son of Obed, and grandson of the Moabitess Ruth. He was an aged man at this time, and the father of eight sons, of whom seven now accompanied him to the feast (1 Sam. xvii. 12). When they were all assembled, and waiting to commence, the Prophet looked upon the eldest, the tall Eliab, and thought that of a surety he beheld the Lord’s anointed. But the Divine Voice bade him not look upon his countenance, or the height of his stature, for the Lord, who looketh not upon the outward appearance but upon the heart, had refused him. Then the old man’s second son Abinadab passed before him, and his third son Shammah, and after them four other sons, but the Lord had chosen none of them. Are here all thy children? enquired Samuel. There remaineth yet the youngest, said Jesse, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. Send and fetch him, rejoined the Prophet; till he come hither, we cannot sit round (1 Sam. xvi. 11, margin).
Accordingly a messenger was sent to the sheepfolds, and brought in the youngest, David (the beloved, the darling), the Benjamin of Jesse’s house. With his shepherd’s staff in his hand, his scrip or wallet round his neck (1 Sam. xvii. 40), a mere stripling beside the tall Eliab, ruddy or auburn-haired, with fair bright eyes245, comely and goodly to look to (1 Sam. xvi. 12, 18), he stood before the Prophet. Arise, anoint him, for this is he, whispered the Divine Voice, and there in the midst of his brethren and the assembled elders, Samuel poured upon him the consecrated oil, on which the feast so long delayed was celebrated, and Samuel rose up and returned to Ramah. (See Ps. lxxviii. 70–72.)
Meanwhile the Spirit of God, which came upon David from that day forward, departed from Saul, and an evil spirit troubled him (1 Sam. xvi. 14). He became moody and liable to fits of sudden phrensy. To rouse him from this distressing state, his servants advised that a clever player on the harp should be sent for, that by the charms of his music he might soothe his spirit. When enquiry was made for such a minstrel, one of the royal servants mentioned the name of the son of Jesse as not only cunning in playing, but of tried valour, prudent in speech, comely in person, and prospered with the blessing of the Lord (1 Sam. xvi. 18). Saul thereupon sent for him, and Jesse dispatched him with a humble offering. Even the troubled spirit of the king was soothed by the music of the future Psalmist of Israel; he loved him, and made him not only his minstrel but his armour-bearer, and retained him about his person (1 Sam. xvi. 21).
When the paroxysms of Saul’s malady abated, David would seem to have returned to his old occupations on the bleak downs of Bethlehem, where his faithfulness in a few things fitted him to become a ruler over many things. His shepherd life called into action some of the best qualities in human nature. Firmness, nerve, energy and constancy were all required of him, who would in true devotion to this calling, endure the heat by day and the frost by night (Gen. xxxi. 40), climb narrow ledges and scale lofty precipices in quest of pasture for his flocks, and defend them against wild beasts, such as lions and wolves, bears and panthers, or robbers of the desert. All these tests David had stood. His strength and courage were well known beyond the boundaries of his native village. Once during his solitary shepherd life a lion, and at another time a bear attacked his father’s flock. He fled not like a “hireling shepherd,” but put his life in his hand, and went after them and slew them (1 Sam. xvii. 34–37).
Meanwhile the ever active Philistines had once more risen in arms against the Israelites. Gathering together their forces they took up a position on a height, which, probably from being the scene of frequent sanguinary encounters, was known as Ephes-dammim (the boundary of blood), situated on the frontier hills of Judah between Socoh and Azekah. Separated from their foes by a deep ravine or glen, Saul and his followers pitched on the north side of the Valley of Elah246 (the terebinth). For forty mornings and evenings there descended into this valley from the camp of the Philistines a giant named Goliath of Gath. Of enormous height and clad in complete armour, he openly defied any one of the Hebrew host to mortal combat, and offered to stake the supremacy of either people on the issue. Even the tall majestic Saul declined the challenge, and, like his people, was dismayed and greatly afraid (1 Sam. xvii. 11).
While the two armies thus stood confronting each other, early one morning David entered the camp, having been bidden by his father to visit his three eldest brothers, then serving in the army. As he drew near the outskirts of the camp, the host with the well-known war-cry was advancing to take up its daily position in battle-array. Hastily leaving with the keeper of the baggage the provisions which his father had sent as a present to their captain, he hurried within the lines, and was in the act of saluting his brethren, when the voice of the giant was audible calling across the ravine his morning challenge. David heard his words of haughty defiance, and lost in wonder at the despondency of the people, listened eagerly to the bystanders, as they recounted the reward, which the king had promised to bestow on any one who was willing to accept the giant’s challenge, and slew him in the fight. Heeding nothing the taunts of his eldest brother Eliab, who would have had him mind the few sheep he had left amidst the pastures of Bethlehem, instead of coming thither to see the battle, he went from soldier to soldier listening again and again to the account of the king’s promised reward, till at length his bold defiance of the giant reached the ears of Saul (1 Sam. xvii. 31).
Summoned into the royal presence, David declared his readiness to go forth and encounter his gigantic foe, and at Saul’s request tried on his armour, which, however, did not fit him, and he speedily put it off again. Then, choosing five smooth stones from the dry torrent-bed which ran through the ravine, he placed them in his shepherd’s script, and with his staff in one hand, and a sling247 in the other, drew near the Philistine. The latter enraged at the youthful appearance of his assailant cursed him by his gods, and threatened to give his flesh to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. Undismayed David returned threat for threat, and as his foe drew near, put his hand into his bag and took thence a stone, which he slang with all his might, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. Then without delay he stood upon the prostrate body, and drawing the giant’s huge sword from its sheath, finished the work by cutting off his head. The sight of their champion lying weltering in his blood filled the Philistines with consternation, and they commenced a precipitate flight. Raising their well-known war-cry, the Israelites then rushed across the ravine and up the opposite heights, and chased their foes to the gates of Ekron and Gath, and spoiled their tents. On their return the youthful warrior, who had in so signal a manner proved that the Lord saved not with sword and spear, bearing the head of his gigantic enemy in his hand, was conducted to Saul’s tent by Abner the king’s uncle and captain of the host. Some two or three years had probably elapsed since the days when David soothed Saul’s melancholy with the strains of his harp, and in his altered visage the king did not recognise his former minstrel248. But he now took him permanently into his service, and would let him no more return to his father’s house (1 Sam. xviii. 2).
THE victory over Goliath was the turning-point in David’s life. He was now no longer the obscure shepherd of Bethlehem, but the recognised deliverer of Israel, and the chief of Saul’s men of war (1 Sam. xviii. 5). Moreover he now became the devoted friend of Jonathan, the king’s son. The hero of Michmash would naturally sympathise with the daring shepherd of Bethlehem, and his soul was knit with the soul of David (1 Sam. xviii. 1; Comp. 2 Sam. i. 26). The two ratified a solemn vow of undying friendship, and Jonathan bestowed on his new-found friend almost every article of his attire, not only the costly robe that he wore, but even his sword, his bow, and his girdle (1 Sam. xviii. 4).
But the hour of David’s triumph was the signal for the commencement of those embittered relations which subsisted between him and Saul till the day of the latter’s death. As the royal party returned from the Valley of Elah, they were met by companies of Hebrew maidens, who in their songs expressed the discerning feelings of the nation, singing, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. To the king this was gall and wormwood; in the youthful warrior he saw that other more worthy than himself, for whom the kingdom was designed, and he eyed him from that day and forward (1 Sam. xviii. 9).
As the king’s armour-bearer David did not neglect his musical talents, and when Saul’s fits of madness were upon him he soothed him with the strains of his harp. But more than once he did so at the peril of his life, for in a sudden paroxysm of rage the king flung at him the long spear he held in his hand, and would have pinned him to the wall, had he not escaped out of his presence (1 Sam. xviii. 11). Perceiving that the Divine favour was withdrawn from himself, Saul now became afraid of David, and in the hope of getting rid of him gave him the command of a thousand men (1 Sam. xviii. 13), and sent him on several expeditions; but David’s uniform success and the prudence he displayed only won for him still more the favour of the people. The king then tried other expedients. He promised him his eldest daughter Merab in marriage, on condition that he fought against the Philistines. David went, and instead of falling in battle, only covered himself with fresh glory, but when the time for the marriage came, Merab was given to another (1 Sam. xviii. 19).
Meanwhile Michal, the king’s second daughter, had fallen in love with her father’s armour-bearer. As if to bring his previous designs to a positive fulfilment, Saul named as her dowry proof that David had slain a hundred of the Philistines. At the head of his men David went, and slew twice that number, and brought the required proofs of their death. The marriage was celebrated, and David became captain of the royal body-guard, second only, if not equal, to Abner. But the king’s jealousy of his successful rival was only the more increased, and he went so far as to propose to Jonathan and his servants that David should be put out of the way, and was only dissuaded by the moving intercession of Jonathan himself. A partial reconciliation with the king ensued, and David returned to court. But his life was not more secure. On one occasion his own vigilance in eluding the royal javelin, on another the devotion of his wife Michal, alone saved his life. On the last occasion, the officers charged to put him to death had actually penetrated into his chamber, but only to find in the bed, in place of the object of their search, an image, or household god, with the head enveloped in a net of goats’ hair249. During the night his wife had let him down from the window. (Comp. Ps. lix.)
David now fled away to Naioth250, the huts or habitations near Ramah, where he enjoyed a brief respite from danger and anxiety in the congenial society of the aged Samuel, whom he had not seen since the occurrence at Bethlehem, and of the company of prophets there gathered together under his superintendence. News of his hiding-place reached the ears of Saul, who forthwith sent messengers to take him. But the sight of the prophets performing their sacred functions under the eye of the venerable Samuel and their strains of sacred melody so wrought upon the messengers, that they could not refrain from joining in their religious exercises. A similar issue attended a second, and even a third deputation. At length Saul went in person to the great well or cistern of Sechu, not far from Ramah, and enquired for the Prophet and the fugitive. But as he drew near the place, he himself could not resist the prophetic impulse, and for the second time justified the enquiry, Is Saul also among the prophets? (1 Sam. xix. 24).
Thus the danger was for the time averted. But this state of suspense was intolerable, and David felt there was but a step between him and death. Probably by Samuel’s advice, he now obtained a secret interview with Jonathan at Ezel, a well-known stone near Gibeah. In pathetic language he poured out his whole soul to his friend, and besought him to make an effort to ascertain once for all the real feelings of his father, which he might think had undergone a change after the incidents at Naioth. The morrow was a festival of the New Moon. Saul would hold a solemn feast, and at his table would sit Abner and Jonathan, but David’s place would be vacant. The demeanour of the king on observing his absence was to be taken as an omen. If he acquiesced in Jonathan’s explanation that David was absent at a similar festival under the family roof at Bethlehem, all would be well. If he was wroth, then it would be certain that the old grudge was not healed, and that evil was determined against him. A solemn compact was then ratified between the two. Jonathan undertook to ascertain his father’s mind; David promised to shew kindness not only to Jonathan himself, but to all his posterity (1 Sam. xx. 5–10).
When this compact had been duly ratified, Jonathan suggested an expedient, whereby the news was to be made known to David. Within three days he would again repair to the “great stone” with his bow and arrows, and accompanied by a little lad. He would then shoot three arrows, as though he shot at a mark, and his words to the lad, which David would overhear, must decide the point. If he said to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them, then David might come forth, and know that all was well. If he said, The arrows are beyond thee, then he might go his way, certain that the wrath of the king could not be appeased. The day came, and David repaired to his hiding-place. In due time Jonathan and his little lad appeared, and the three arrows were shot as agreed upon, and as the lad ran to pick them up, he cried, Is not the arrow beyond thee? Then David knew that he must fly, and, when the lad was gone to carry back the bow and arrows to Gibeah, rose from his hiding-place, and with passionate embraces and many tears parted from his friend, who once more commended his posterity to his care (1 Sam. xx. 35–42).
David now betook himself to Nob, a sacerdotal city in the tribe of Benjamin, and situated on an eminence near Jerusalem. Here the High-priest Ahimelech resided with the Tabernacle, and trembled when he saw the captain-general of the royal troops approaching alone, and unattended by his usual retinue. But David disarmed his suspicions by pretending a secret mission from the king, and in this character obtained, in the failure of other bread, the sacred251 loaves of Shew-bread, which having served their turn in the weekly course, were about to be replaced by new loaves. With these and the sword of Goliath, which was brought forth from its receptacle behind the ephod, he fled away, resolved to seek refuge amongst his enemies the Philistines252.
On his arrival at the court of Achish, king of Gath, he was recognised by the royal guards as the famous champion of Israel, and the sword he carried doubtless recalled bitter memories of the Valley of Elah. He was accordingly thrown into prison253. But in this dilemma he changed his behaviour, scrabbled on the doors of the gates, let his spittle fall upon his beard, and gave every sign of being insane. The oriental respect for madness254 procured him his release, and he was suffered to depart.
From the Lowlands of the Philistines he now betook himself to the town of Adullam (Josh. xv. 35), at the foot of the mountain-range of Judea, and found a secure retreat in one of the extensive caves, with which the limestone cliffs of the neighbourhood are pierced255. News of his coming reached Bethlehem (1 Sam. xxii. 1), and straightway his brethren and all his father’s house, feeling perhaps insecure from Saul’s vengeance, came down to his stronghold from the Judean hills. These probably included his nephews, the sons of Zeruiah, Joab and Abishai; but besides these, were 400 men who joined him from various motives, some from distress, others to avoid exacting creditors, others from some private sorrow. Not considering, however, his aged father and mother secure even in this secluded spot, David hastily crossed the Jordan, and conveyed them into the friendly territory of Moab, and there consigned them to the king, who agreed to protect them (1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4).
By the advice of his friend the prophet Gad, he now retired to the forest of Hareth, not far from Adullam. It was probably while he was here in hold that the sons of Zeruiah performed the memorable exploit recorded in 2 Sam. xxiii. 14–17, 1 Chr. xi. 16–19. A garrison of the Philistines had established themselves even in David’s native town of Bethlehem. One day, sorely tried by thirst, he expressed a longing for the delicious water of its well near the gate. Upon the word the three heroes burst through the Philistine forces, and returned with the much-coveted draught256. But their leader would not drink of the blood of the men that had gone in jeopardy of their lives, and poured it forth as a libation before the Lord.
Other bands now joined him. Amongst these were eleven mighty men, their faces like the faces of lions, their feet as swift as the roes upon the mountains (1 Chr. xii. 8), from the uplands of Gad beyond Jordan, who swam that river when it had overflowed all its banks (1 Chr. xii. 15), and found their way to his hold. They were followed by men, not only from the tribe of Judah, but from that of Benjamin, with their chief Amasai. This defection of members of Saul’s own tribe at first excited David’s suspicion, but the straightforward, honest words of their leader convinced him of their sincerity, and he associated them in the command of his band of six hundred faithful followers (1 Chr. xii. 16–18).
Meanwhile the Philistines attacked Keilah, a town of uncertain situation in the lowland district of Judah, and robbed the threshing-floors. At first David’s men, in spite of a Divine assurance of success, feared to relieve the place, and so incur the hostility of their powerful foe. A second assurance restored their courage. Keilah was rescued, and the Philistines defeated with great slaughter. Whilst here David was joined by another and an important ally in the person of Abiathar, the son of the high-priest Ahimelech, bearing sad intelligence. On the day of David’s visit to Nob, there was a stranger watching intently all that took place between him and the high-priest. This was Doeg, an Edomite, and the chief of Saul’s herdmen (1 Sam. xxi. 7). When the king was deploring at Gibeah the defection even of his own tribe, Doeg poured into the royal ear his version of what had occurred at Nob. Transported with rage the king sent for Ahimelech, and all the priests of the line of Ithamar, and charged them with befriending his enemies. In vain the high-priest repelled the charge. Saul sentenced the entire body of the priests to instant death, and gave the signal to his guard to execute it. But they declined to imbrue their hands in such a bloody murder. Thereupon he called on Doeg, who straightway obeyed, and falling upon the unresisting priests slew in one day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. Not content with this, the king put the entire population of the place to the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings (1 Sam. xxii. 19). Such was the sad news which the solitary survivor of the house of Ithamar now announced to David. I knew it, replied the latter, I knew it, that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul; I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house257. From this day forward Abiathar remained with David, and having brought with him the high-priest’s ephod, was enabled by his oracular answers materially to aid David’s movements on occasions of difficulty or danger. Meanwhile the entry of his rival into a town that had gates and bars (1 Sam. xxiii. 7) inspired Saul with the hope of at length capturing David. Summoning his forces, as if for a regular military expedition, he marched down to Keilah, to besiege him and his followers. Aware of the king’s secret designs, David consulted the Divine Will by means of the ephod, and thus ascertaining the intention of the townspeople to betray him, he and his men departed, and went whithersoever they could (1 Sam. xxiii. 13).