- THE
prophet Samuel was in Bethlehem, at God's command, to choose a king for
Israel from among the sons of Jesse.
- Jesse called each of
his sons to stand before Samuel, yet of seven sons not one was chosen. And
Samuel said to Jesse, "Are these all your sons?"
- "There is still a young
one," said Jesse, "but he is tending the sheep."
- The father called for
David, and David came in from the hillsides of Judah. He was a handsome
boy. The Lord said to Samuel, "This is he. Anoint him."
- So Samuel brought out
oil and anointed him king of Israel in the presence of his brothers. This
seemed strange, because there was already a king on the throne - Saul. Yet
from that time on, the spirit of God came upon David, God's chosen king.
Alone with his flocks under the wide sky, he played his harp and sang
aloud for joy.
- Saul was sad when he
learned that God no longer wanted him to be king of Israel. One day Saul's
servants said, "Let us bring you a man who will play on the harp and cheer
you up. Then your sad thoughts will be driven away."
- Then one of the
servants said, "There is a fine player named David, a shepherd, strong and
handsome. And the Lord is with him."
- So Saul sent messengers
to Jesse saying, "Send me David your son who is with the sheep." David
came to Saul. Saul loved him deeply and made him his armor-bearer. He did
not know that Samuel had anointed David. After that, when the sadness came,
David would take the harp and play so sweetly that Saul would forget his
troubles.
- David and Jonathan,
Saul's son, became the best of friends. All the people grew to love David
so much that at last Saul felt jealous. He made up his mind to kill David.
One day when David came to play on the harp, Saul threw his spear at him.
Twice David avoided the spear, and then he fled into the night.
- What a story! Makes us think deeper...
- Love, Tia Célia
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