knowledge in the ways of men, and in the arts of government, which, though necessary, could not be acquired on the solitary plains of Bethlehem.

Saul, it is said, loved David, and made him his armor-bearer. Courtly favor and elevated distinctions are apt to corrupt minds educated in privacy, and unused to the world. But the principles of piety had taken deep root in the heart of David; and the gayeties of a palace, honorable appointments,

and the smiles of a monarch, could not alienate his affections from his native home, or make him ashamed of his humble original. How long he continued at the court of Saul is not mentioned, for the Scripture history passes over those periods of time which afford no incidents of public concern. With pleasure and admiration we behold this amiable youth returned to his paternal mansion, and resuming his shepherd's crook. He readily quits the gaudy scenes of courtly grandeur, the frivolities and allurements incidental to such a situation, and in the very opening of life, when the passions are most liable to be captivated by false impressions, he returns to his fleecy charge, and on the plains of Bethlehem sings the high praises of his GOD to the sound of the harp. From some of the psalms of this sweet singer of Israel, it is evident that the night season saw him thus employed. In the stillness of the midnight hour, when all nature was hushed to re

pose, when not a wind rustled amidst the trees to disturb his thoughts, his soul was elevated to his Creator, and the moon and the stars were so many ascending steps which conducted him to the throne of GoD. At such a time it was that he breathed out this sublime and devout aspiration: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor." Ps. viii. Here one might imagine, that after contemplating the stupendous works of GOD, the psalmist ends in admiring that exceeding grace which hath distinguished man above all other creatures, but an evangelical expositor assures us that the divine composer had a higher object in view; and that in celebrating the supremacy of the son of man, David meant the MESSIAH, who hath obtained the pre-eminence over all created things, in heaven and upon earth.

Thus in his juvenile days was David made to see and to predict the glories of His reign, whose type he was ordained to be in many important respects.

But we hasten now to one of the most distinguished events of his life. Not long after his return to Bethlehem, a war broke out between the Israelites and the Philistines. Saul, who seems in a great measure to have been relieved from his despondency, musters his forces and marches against the enemy. The contending armies encamped over against each other on the sides of opposite hills, watching a fit opportunity to begin an attack. While they lay in this position, neither of them willing to run the risk of an action, a Philistine of extraordinary stature and strength, named Goliath, came into the plain that lay between the two armies, attended by his shield-bearer, and in a haughty tone demanded a champion to fight with, upon the condition that the nation to whom the vanquished belonged should become tributary to the other.

Fear and terror seized upon the Israelitish army, and not one among all its warriors would venture to encounter so formidable a foe, though Saul had offered profuse riches, high distinctions, and even his own daughter to the man who should slay him.

Every morning and evening, for forty days, did this arrogant monster traverse the plain between the two armies, repeating his challenge, and accompanying it with blasphemies and threats. Saul was despondent: his soldiers partook of his dejection, and all Israel stood abashed in the presence of the giant. In this posture stood affairs when Jesse, whose three eldest sons accompanied Saul, sent David to the camp to inquire after their welfare and to take them some necessaries, together with a present for the captain of their company. When the youth arrived he hastened to embrace his brethren, and while he was talking with them the champion of the Philistines drew near, on which the Israelites fled. This circumstance could not but interest the heroic youth. He was curious to know all the particulars; and while some of the soldiers were relating to him the high rewards which the king had offered to the man who should conquer him, David betrayed the most lively emotions. He wondered that, amongst all the warriors of Israel, none was hardy enough to engage in so glorious an undertaking; and he repeated his inquiries with an eagerness which gave great offence to Eliab, his eldest brother, who reproved him in severe terms for “leaving his sheep and coming to the camp." David replied, in a firm but respectful tone, "What have I now done? Is there not a cause?" 1 Sam. xvii. 29. Turning then from his brother he resumed the subject which had roused his feelings into heroic ardor, and having expressed his contempt of the uncircumcised Philistine in terms which plainly indicated that he was willing to encounter him, his words were reported to Saul. The king was curious to see this champion; but when David appeared before him he was astonished to behold a rustic lad without a weapon, when he had expected to meet with a hardy veteran clad in armor. On being introduced into the royal presence, David boldly expressed his resolution of "fighting with the Philistine;" but Saul rejected the offer, saying, "Thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." The observation of the king of Israel was reasonable, according to human appearances and judgment, but David was actuated by another spirit, and knew that the hand of the LORD was with him. But to remove the objection raised against him on account of his youth, he related an instance of his rescuing a lamb which had been taken from his flock by a lion and a bear, and his slaying both those powerful animals. The manner in which he described this unequal contest, and the inference which he drew from it, exhibit unequalled modesty, piety, and intrepidity :-"Thy servant slew

both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living GOD. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."

The faith and resolution of the youth struck Saul with astonishment. He concluded that David was inspired with a divine courage, and he consented to his request. The royal armor was put upon the youthful hero, but finding it cumbrous, he put it off, and

resolved to trust to his sling and a stone. Choosing some pebbles from a brook, he put them in his shepherd's bag, and with his staff in his hand hastened into the valley to meet his formidable antagonist. As usual, Goliath appeared, and being informed that a combatant awaited him, he looked around, but seeing only a ruddy boy without armor, he exclaimed, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And he cursed David by his gods." The arrogant and presumptuous Philistine expected to meet with some hardy warrior with whom he might wage a glorious contest: what then must have been his mortification to be encountered by a shepherd's boy clad in a russet coat, and who had no warlike weapon in his hand! Goliath concluded himself sure of a conquest, even though he should be assaulted by the most valiant of all the tribes; but this interview with David was a mockery which provoked his rage to

blasphemy. After venting his impious execrations upon his youthful antagonist, he challenged him to approach with a terrific menace; "Come to me," says he, "and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field." The presumption of the giant proved his destruction. He could see no possibility of danger from a boy who had neither sword nor spear, and therefore he regarded him as a prey which he might destroy at his pleasure. David was unmoved by the appearance and menaces of his adversary. He replied to his blasphemous and arrogant challenge in these animated and prophetic terms:"Thou comest to me with a sword,

VULTURE'S HEAD.

and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the GoD of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth: that all the earth may know that there is a GoD in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our

hands." This declaration touched the pride of the Philistine to the quick, and instantly he hastened to crush the stripling to the earth; David was equally eager; the rival