The Bible Story Part 164

And David said to Jonathan, "Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third day at even. If thy father miss me at all, then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city: for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.' If he say thus, 'It is well'; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be wroth, then know {401} that evil is determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee: but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?"

And Jonathan said, "Far be it from thee: for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?"

Then said David to Jonathan, "Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answer thee roughly?"

And Jonathan said to David, "Come and let us go out into the field."

And they went out both of them into the field.

And Jonathan said to David, "The Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, be witness; when I have sounded my father about this time to-morrow, or the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send unto thee, and disclose it unto thee? The Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do thee evil, if I disclose it not unto thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father. And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not: but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David everyone from the face of the earth."

So Jonathan made a covenant with David.

And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him: for he loved him as he loved his {402} own soul. Then Jonathan said to him, "To-morrow is the feast of the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. And when thou hast stayed three days, thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself before. And I will shoot three arrows, as though I shot at a mark. And, behold, I will send the lad, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the lad, 'Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee: take them,' then come; for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as the Lord liveth. But if I say thus to the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond thee': go thy way; for the Lord hath sent thee away. And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord is between thee and me for ever."

So David hid himself in the field: and when the feast of the new moon was come, the king sat down to eat. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty.

Nevertheless Saul spoke not anything that day: for he thought, "Something hath befallen him." And it came to pa.s.s on the morrow after the new moon, which was the second day, that David's place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to-day?"

And Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: and he said, 'Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren.' Therefore he is not come unto the king's table."

{403}{404}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

RUINS OF THE FORTRESS OF Ma.s.sADA, WILDERNESS OF JUDAEA

This is another picture of a portion of the "Wilderness of Judaea."

It is easy to see how David, who was thoroughly familiar with the country, could hide himself and his men safely from pursuit during the time in which he was an outlaw and a fugitive from the king.

This fortress was the scene of a terrible siege and ma.s.sacre in 70 A. D., after the fall of Jerusalem. About a thousand men, women, and children fled to this place. The Romans followed and in spite of almost insurmountable difficulties besieged the place. Driven to the last extremity, the defenders killed the women and children and then themselves. Only two women and five children survived [End ill.u.s.tration]

{405}

Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said, "Do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame? For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be stablished, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die."

And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Wherefore should he be put to death? what hath he done?"

And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to put David to death. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

And it came to pa.s.s in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. And he said to his lad, "Run, find now the arrows which I shoot."

And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, "Is not the arrow beyond thee?"

And Jonathan cried after the lad, "Make speed, haste, stay not."

And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came {406} to his master. But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said unto him, "Go, carry them to the city."

And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of his hiding place, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another. And Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord shall be between me and thee, and between my family and thy family, for ever.'"

And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

DAVID AN OUTLAW.

_How He Showed Mercy to His Enemy_.

(After this David became a fugitive from the king, who pursued him and tried to kill him. David gathered a band of followers and for a time lived as an outlaw, hiding in caves, plundering farms, living from hand to mouth. Several times he had the king in his power, but each time he allowed him to escape. This is the story of one of these adventures.)

And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, "Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?"

Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the {407} desert. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was certainly come. And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay within the barricade of the wagons, and the people were encamped round about him. Then said David, "Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp?"

And Abishai said, "I will go down with thee."

So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the barricade of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head: and Abner and the people lay round about him. Then said Abishai to David, "G.o.d hath delivered up thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not need to smite him the second time."

And David said to Abishai, "Destroy him not: for who can put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?"

And David said, "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into the battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed: but now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go."

So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's {408} head; and they went away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them. Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great s.p.a.ce being between them: and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, "Answerest thou not, Abner?"

Then Abner answered and said, "Who art thou that criest to the king?"

And David said to Abner, "Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept watch over thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord's anointed. And now, see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head."

And Saul knew David's voice, and said, "Is this thy voice, my son David?"

And David said, "It is my voice, my lord, O king." And he said, "Wherefore doth my lord pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand? Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be the Lord that hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave to the inheritance of the Lord, saying, 'Go, serve other G.o.ds.'

{409}{410}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A SHEPHERD NEAR DAVID'S HOUSE LEADING HIS FLOCK OVER THE JUDEAN HILLS.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

The princ.i.p.al business and the greatest interest of the people in the hill country of Judea was connected with the flocks.

"If, as we have seen, the prevailing character of Judaea be pastoral, with husbandry only incidental to her life, it is not surprising that the forms which have impressed both her history and her religion upon the world should be those of the pastoral habit.

Her origin; more than once her freedom and power of political recuperation; more than once her prophecy; her images of G.o.d, and her sweetest poetry of the spiritual life, have been derived from this source. It is the stateliest shepherds of all time whom the dawn of history reveals upon her fields--men not sprung from her own remote conditions, nor confined to them, but moving across the world in converse with great empires, and bringing down from heaven truths sublime and universal to wed with the simple habits of her life.

These were the patriarchs of the nation. The founder of its one dynasty, and the first of its literary prophets, were also taken from following the flocks. The king and every true leader of men was called a shepherd. Jehovah was the Shepherd of His people, and they the sheep of His pasture. It was in Judaea that Christ called Himself the Good Shepherd, as it was in Judaea also that, taking the other great feature of her life, He said He was the True Vine."

[End ill.u.s.tration]

{411}