The Garden of Eden 18

The Garden of Eden 18

XXXII

 

THE BLEATING OF THE SHEEP

 

 

In the midst of the Adventure of the Great Trembling, a strange thing

happened.

 

King Saul, when he sent his soldiers to chase the Philistines, forbade

them to taste food till the setting of the sun. And this he did in a

very solemn manner, making a vow, like Jephthah. He said that if any man

ate anything before the sun went down, that man must be put to death.

But as the day went on, the soldiers grew very hungry. At last they came

to a wood, where there were honeycombs lying on the ground; but no man

put his hand to his mouth, for they remembered the king’s vow. Then came

Jonathan and saw the honey, and before anybody could stop him he reached

out a stick and took some honey on the end of it and put it in his

mouth. For he knew nothing of the king’s commandment.

 

Then the sun went down, and after supper Saul said, “Let us go again in

pursuit of the enemy.” But the priest forbade it. The priest said that

there was sin in the camp. They must first find out the sinner and

punish him as the king had vowed. And Saul said, “Come near now, all

you chiefs, and let us see where the sin has been this day. For, as the

Lord liveth, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But

there was not a man among all the people that answered him. Then said

the king, “Stand you all on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be

on the other side, and we will cast lots.” And they cast lots, and Saul

and Jonathan were taken; and they cast lots between Jonathan and Saul,

and Jonathan was taken. And Saul said, “My son, what have you done?” And

Jonathan answered, “I did but taste a little honey with the end of the

rod that was in my hand, and so I must die.” And Saul said, “God do so

and more also: for thou shah surely die, Jonathan.” But up rose all the

people, and cried, “Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great

salvation in Israel? The hero of the battle, the king’s son, shall he

die? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his

head fall to the ground: for he hath wrought with God this day.” So the

people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.

 

Somehow, King Saul was never the same man after that. It seemed as if

the dreadful strain and distress of that night had affected his mind.

Much of the time he was like himself; but again there were days when he

would speak to nobody, but would sit apart thinking dreadful thoughts.

 

One day, Samuel came to Saul and said, “I have a message for you from

the Lord. He wishes you to go to war with the men of Amalek.” Now the

Amalekites were the oldest enemies of Israel. They lived down south in

the deserts, and had been the first to attack the Israelites when they

came out of Egypt. And ever since, they had been like the wild Indians

in the days of our forefathers. They would dash up, with bows and

arrows, and fire upon the villages of the Israelites and kill the

people. “Now,” said Samuel, “you must go to war with these savages and

destroy them utterly. You must not leave any of them alive, and you must

destroy all that they have, that they may be no more a nation.”

 

So Saul marched against the Amalekites, and won a great victory. But he

did not as Samuel had told him. He spared Agag, king of the Amalekites,

and the best of the sheep and oxen. And back he came, and his victorious

army, driving the cattle before them, and bringing Agag as a captive.

 

That night the word of the Lord came to Samuel, and the Lord said, “Saul

has turned back from following me, and has not performed my

commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all

night. And early in the morning Samuel went to meet Saul, and Saul

greeted him and said, “Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the

commandment of the Lord.” And Samuel said, “What, then, is the meaning

of this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen

which I hear?” And Saul said, “The people spared the best of the sheep

and oxen to sacrifice them to the Lord.” And Samuel said to Saul, “Stop!

let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And Saul said,

“Say on.” And Samuel said, “The Lord sent you on a journey, and said ‘Go

and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites.’ Why did you not obey?”

And Saul said, “I have obeyed the Lord: except that the people brought

Agag and the sheep and oxen to sacrifice them to the Lord.” And Samuel

said, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than

sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Because thou hast

rejected the word of the Lord, he hath rejected thee from being king.”

 

And Saul fell down before Samuel and cried, “Forgive me, and the Lord

forgive me; I have sinned.” But Samuel turned to go away. And Saul

caught hold of Samuel’s cloak, and the cloak rent. And Samuel said,

“Thus hath the Lord torn from you the kingdom of Israel this day.” And

Saul cried, “Do not tell the people: honor me now, I pray thee, in the

sight of the people.” And to this Samuel consented. He went with Saul,

and with his own hands hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord. But from

that day he sought another king to set over Israel in the place of

Saul.

 

 

 

 

XXXIII

 

A SHEPHERD OF BETHLEHEM

 

 

The largest farm in Bethlehem belonged to a man named Jesse. Although he

was now advanced in years, he had lived on the farm all of his long

life, and his father had lived there before him. Indeed, it was still

remembered in the neighborhood how Jesse’s grandfather, as he harvested

the wheat and barley of his broad acres, had fallen in love with a poor

girl named Ruth, who worked among the gleaners, and had married her, to

the surprise and delight of the village.

 

The corn in the little valleys of the hill farm stood so thick that it

seemed to laugh and sing as it danced with the wind. Apples grew in the

orchard, and grapes in the vineyard. Morning and evening the cows came

to be milked, and Jesse’s wife made the milk into cheese and butter.

Sheep lay along the hillside, and she spun the wool into stout clothes

for Jesse and their sons and daughters.

 

There were eight sons, most of them grown into tall men; and one of the

older daughters had three boys, who were sturdy lads, Joab and Asahel

and Abishai. About of an age with these three boys was Jesse’s youngest

son, whose name was David.

 

There was a gleam of red in David’s hair and a glow of red in David’s

cheeks, and he was as brave as he was handsome. His part of the

farm-work was to tend the sheep. In the wild woods near by were lions

and bears, who looked with hungry eyes upon the sheep, and David had to

fight them. When he went out to the pasture he carried not only a bag

which his mother had filled with things to eat, but a thick stick and a

sling. Sometimes he fought the lions and bears with the stick, and

sometimes with the sling; and if the boys of Bethlehem could throw as

well as the left-handed sons of the Benjamin family near by, David could

sling a stone at a hair and hit it. This was an accomplishment which he

afterwards found useful.

 

Most of the time, however, the tending of the sheep was an occupation so

easy and peaceful that David found leisure to gaze at the clouds, and at

the stars, and to make songs and sing them, to the great satisfaction of

the sheep, accompanying himself upon a harp. He had his music lessons,

and practiced several hours a day.

 

One day, while David was out in the hill pasture, there came to the

village an old man, driving a cow, and having in his hand a horn of

precious oil. When the men of Bethlehem saw him they were as frightened

as if the cow had been a red lion and the horn had been attached to a

unicorn. For the old man was Samuel, the prophet, who, they thought,

could call down thunder and lightning out of the clear sky. And they

said, “Do you come peaceably?”

 

And Samuel said, “Peaceably. Come with me, all of you, while I offer a

sacrifice to the Lord.”

 

So the men followed Samuel till they came to the village well. But David

was minding the sheep. And after the sacrifice, Samuel held his horn of

oil high above his head and looked about among the men. At first his eye

lighted on Eliab, David’s oldest brother; for he looked like a king in

the clothes of a farmer. But the Lord spoke in Samuel’s soul and said:

“The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward

appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” So it was also with

David’s other brothers.

 

Then said Samuel to Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

 

And Jesse answered, “There is one more, the youngest. He is keeping the

sheep.”

 

“Send,” said Samuel, “and fetch him.”

 

So David came, ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look

upon. And when Samuel saw him, immediately he poured the horn of

precious oil upon him. Then Samuel went away, leaving the people

perplexed and wondering. But David knew in his heart that he had been

chosen to be the king of Israel.

 

Now King Saul was every day growing worse of his disease. Trouble and

disappointment and a perplexed conscience and the stress of war were

telling terribly upon him. He could not sleep. At times, he was beside

himself, and acted like a crazy man. At last, the doctors told him that

the best remedy for him was music. “Find a man,” they said, “who is a

cunning player on the harp; and it shall come to pass that when the evil

spirit is upon thee he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be

well.”

 

And somebody said, “I know a young man in Bethlehem, a son of Jesse, who

is cunning in playing. He is a mighty valiant youth, and good, and

good-looking.”

 

And the king said, “Tell him that I want him.”

 

And the next day there was great excitement among Jesse’s neighbors.

There was David at the farm gate, and his father and mother and his

brothers and sisters telling him good-by, and the king’s messengers in

waiting. On one side of David was an ass laden with loaves from his

mother’s oven; on the other side was a little kid of the goats; and over

his shoulders was a skin of wine made from the grapes which grew on the

warm side of the hill. These were gifts for the king. And in his hand

was his harp.

 

Thus the shepherd boy became the minstrel of the king. And when the evil