Back Aa

Young Folks' Bible

<div class='chaptertitle'>SAMUEL THE MAN OF GOD.</div> When E-li died, Sam-u-el was made a judge in Is-ra-el. And he went from place to place to teach men the law. And as the ark had not been brought back to Shi-loh, Sam-u-el built an al-tar in his own house and served God there. The chil-dren of Is-ra-el set up strange gods, and the Phil-is-tines went to war with them. And Sam-u-el told them to give up their false gods and serve the Lord, and he would save them from their foes. And they did so. And he said, Come up to Miz-peh, and I will pray to the Lord for you. [148] And they came to Miz-peh, and gave their hearts to the Lord, and were in grief for their sins. And when the Phil-is-tines heard they were at Miz-peh, they went up to fight them. And the chil-dren of Is-ra-el were in great fear, and Sam-u-el plead for them, and when the fight came on the Lord sent a fierce storm that put the Phil-is-tines to flight, and they fled from the field with great loss. And Sam-u-el set up a stone at Miz-peh, and gave it the name of Eb-en-e-zer—"The Stone of Help." When Sam-u-el was an old man he set his two sons to judge Is-ra-el. But his sons were not just men, and did not rule as their fath-er had done. If a man did wrong, they would say it was right if he paid them for it. And the wise men came to Sam-u-el, and said to him, As thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways, make us a king to judge us. Sam-u-el felt hurt when they asked him to choose a king, and asked the Lord to tell him what to do. And the Lord told Sam-u-el to choose a king for them. Now there was a man whose name was Kish, and he had a son whose name was Saul, a tall young man of fine form and good looks. And the ass-es of Kish were lost. And he said to Saul, his son, Take one of the men with you, and go find the ass-es. [149] And they went a long way and could not find them. And Saul said to the man with him, Come, let us go back, lest my fath-er think we are lost. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_054.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="491" alt="setting up the stone" /> THE STONE OF HELP.</div> And the man said to Saul, There is a man of God here, and what he says is sure to come to pass. It may be that he can tell us what we ought to do[150] Saul said, Thy word is good; come, let us go. And they went to the town where Sam-u-el, the man of God, was. And they met him on their way. And the Lord made it known to Sam-u-el that this was the man he should choose to reign in Is-ra-el. And Saul drew near to Sam-u-el, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. And Sam-u-el said, I am the seer; and the ass-es that were lost are found. And he took Saul and his man to his own house, and made them spend the night there. The next day Sam-u-el took Saul to the roof of his house, and had a talk with him. Then they went out on the street, and as they drew near the gate of the town, Sam-u-el said to Saul, Bid thy man pass on, but do thou stand still for a while, that I may show thee the word of God. Then Sam-u-el took a horn of oil and poured it on Saul's head. This was done when a man was made a high-priest; and the same thing was done when he was made a king. And God was pleased with Saul, and gave him a new heart; but as yet none but these two knew that Saul was to be King of the Jews. Sam-u-el spoke to the chil-dren of Is-ra-el and told them once more all that the Lord had done for them, how he had brought them out of the land of[151] E-gypt, and set them free from their foes, and yet they would not serve the Lord, but cried out for a king. So he bade them all go up to Miz-peh that the Lord might choose them a king. <div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_055.jpg" width-obs="353" height-obs="400" alt="Hiding" /> SAUL IN HIS HID-ING PLACE.</div> And the Lord chose Saul. But when the men went to seek for him, they could not find him. And the Lord said, He hath hid in the midst of the stuff. And they ran and brought him out, and he was so tall that all the rest had to look up to him. And Sam-u-el said, This is he whom the Lord hath sent to rule thee. There is none like him, as thou canst see. And they all cried out, God save the king! Then Sam-u-el told them what they were to do,[152] and how the king was to rule, and wrote it down in a book. When Saul had been king for two years, he set out with his son, Jon-a-than, to fight the Phil-is-tines. And a great host went with them. And the Phil-is-tines had more men than they could count. And when the Jews saw the strength of their foes, they were in great fear, and ran and hid in caves and pits, or fled to the high hills where the rocks would screen them. So there were but few left to go out with Saul, and they shook with dread. And Saul came to Gil-gal, where he was to meet Sam-u-el, but he was not there. Sam-u-el had told him to wait for him, and he would tell him what he was to do. But at the end of a week Saul had the flesh brought to him and laid on the stone, and he set fire to it, that the flame might rise to God and bring peace to the land. And as soon as Saul had done this thing, Sam-u-el came. And Saul went out to meet him, that he might bless him. And Sam-u-el said, What hast thou done? And Saul told of the strait he was in, and that the Phil-is-tines were near in great force, and said that when Sam-u-el did not come he felt that he must send up a plea to God for aid in this hour. Sam-u-el told him that he had done wrong.[153] When the Lord told him to wait, he should wait. And now his reign would be a short one, and God would choose a new king to take his place. In those days men fought with bows and ar-rows. And while the Jews were held as slaves by the Phil-is-tines they would not let them have swords or spears, lest they should rise up and kill them. And they sent all the smiths out of the land, lest they should make these things for the chil-dren of Is-ra-el. So when they went out to fight none of them had a sword or a spear but Saul and his son. In those days men wore coats of mail, and bore a shield with them so as to ward off the darts. These shields were made of a thick piece of wood, on which the skin of an ox was stretched when dried. Jon-a-than, Saul's son, wore a coat of mail, and had a man to bear his spear and his shield when he did not care to use them. And he said to his man, Come, let us go to the camp of the Phil-is-tines. For it may be that the Lord will help us. And the man said he would go. Jon-a-than said this should be their sign: They would go where the foe could see them, and if they said, Wait there till I come to you, they would know the Lord did not mean to help them. But if the Phil-is-tines said, Come up to us and we will show[154] you some-thing, they would go up, for the Lord would be with them. So Jon-a-than and his man stood out where the foe could see them. And the Phil-is-tines made sport of them, and cried out, Come up to us, and we will shew you some-thing. And the two went up the rocks on their hands and feet, and fought with the Phil-is-tines, and slew a score of them. And the Lord shook the earth, so that the Phil-is-tines were in great fear. Now Saul and the men who were with him did not know what his son had done. But his watch-man, who was on the look-out, saw that there was a fight in the camp of the Phil-is-tines, and told Saul of it. And Saul and his men went to join in the fight. And all those who had hid in caves and holes, or up on the mount, when they heard that the Phil-is-tines had fled, went with Saul, and Is-ra-el won the day. But Saul did not de-sire to please the Lord in all things. For when the Lord sent him out to fight King A-gag, he told Saul to wipe him and all he had from the face of the earth. But Saul kept back some of the spoils, the best of the sheep and lambs, and did not put the king to death as he should have done. And the Lord told Sam-u-el that Saul was not a good king, and his reign should be short. [155] And it made Sam-u-el sad to hear this, and he prayed to God all night. Then he had a talk with Saul, who did not look at his sins in the right light. And Sam-u-el told him that his reign as king would soon be at an end. <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_056.jpg" width-obs="341" height-obs="500" alt="Annointed" /> DA-VID A-NOINT-ED BY SAM-U-EL.</div> God told Sam-u-el not to mourn for Saul, but to go down to Beth-le-hem, to the house of a man named Jes-se, one of whose sons was to be made king. And the Lord said he was not to look for one with a fine face or form. For the Lord sees not as man sees, and he looks on the heart. So he went down to Beth-le-hem, and did as the Lord told him. And Jes-se had his sev-en sons pass one by one be-fore Sam-u-el. And Sam-u-el[156] thought that the first-born must be the one whom God chose to be king. But the Lord told him he was not the one. And they all went by, and not one of them was the one on whom God had set his seal. And Sam-u-el said to Jes-se, Are these all thy sons? And Jes-se said, No there is yet one left; but he is quite a lad, and is now in the field where he cares for the sheep. And Sam-u-el told Jes-se to send for him at once. And Jes-se sent for him, and he was brought in, and his cheeks were red, and his eyes bright. And the Lord said to Sam-u-el, Rise—for this is he. And Sam-u-el rose, and took the horn of oil and poured it on the young man's head. So the Lord chose Da-vid to be king when Saul should be put out of the way. And Da-vid felt a great change in his heart, for the Lord was there to make him strong and wise, and fit for the high place he was to fill. But there was no peace in Saul's heart, and his mind was ill at ease. And his men said it might soothe him to have some one play on the harp. For sweet sounds will some-times calm the mind. [157] So Saul said, Find a man who can play well on the harp, and bring him to me. And one of them said that he knew such a man. He was the son of Jes-se, who dwelt at Beth-le-hem, and his name was Da-vid. And Saul sent men to Jes-se and told him to send Da-vid, his son, who kept the sheep. And Da-vid came to Saul, and stayed with him to wait on him. And when Saul was sad and ill at ease, Da-vid would take his harp and play for him, and he would soon be well. <hr class="chap" /> <h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.