Chapter 63—David and Goliath
This chapter is based on
1 Samuel 16:14-23
;
17
.
When King Saul realized that he had been rejected by God, and
when he felt the force of the words of denunciation that had been
addressed to him by the prophet, he was filled with bitter rebellion
and despair. It was not true repentance that had bowed the proud head
of the king. He had no clear perception of the offensive character
of his sin, and did not arouse to the work of reforming his life, but
brooded over what he thought was the injustice of God in depriving
him of the throne of Israel and in taking the succession away from his
posterity. He was ever occupied in anticipating the ruin that had been
brought upon his house. He felt that the valor which he had displayed
in encountering his enemies should offset his sin of disobedience.
He did not accept with meekness the chastisement of God; but his
haughty spirit became desperate, until he was on the verge of losing his
reason. His counselors advised him to seek for the services of a skillful
musician, in the hope that the soothing notes of a sweet instrument
might calm his troubled spirit. In the providence of God, David, as
a skillful performer upon the harp, was brought before the king. His
lofty and heaven-inspired strains had the desired effect. The brooding
melancholy that had settled like a dark cloud over the mind of Saul
was charmed away.
When his services were not required at the court of Saul, David
returned to his flocks among the hills and continued to maintain his
simplicity of spirit and demeanor. Whenever it was necessary, he was
recalled to minister before the king, to soothe the mind of the troubled
monarch till the evil spirit should depart from him. But although Saul
expressed delight in David and his music, the young shepherd went
from the king’s house to the fields and hills of his pasture with a sense
of relief and gladness.
David was growing in favor with God and man. He had been
instructed in the way of the Lord, and he now set his heart more fully
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