THE narratives of the Old Testament lose none of their value as historical records while symbolically teaching us many beautiful spiritual lessons. Some lessons may be learned from reading the history of David as it is related in the books of Samuel. David was the youngest of the sons of Jesse, and although he was away from home, following the lowly calling of a shepherd, he was sent for to appear before Samuel the high priest, to be anointed the future king of Israel, and we are told that "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." This "Spirit of the Lord" must have been the conscious knowledge of spiritual reality and power, which came to David as it must some time come to each one who awakens to the truth of being, but we notice that David had many experiences before he became king.
After his anointing he returned to his task of caring for the sheep. This lonely, quiet occupation does not seem a very suitable training for a future warrior king, unless we bear in mind the fact that David was to come upon his enemies in the name of the Lord of hosts; then we see that in tending the sheep he was given opportunity to cultivate the spiritual qualities of thought, "innocence; inoffensiveness" (Science and Health, p. 59), and thus to gain the self-discipline wherein the spiritual sense of man was to rule. He was called from tending the sheep to perform the first active service in the kingdom over which he was to reign, service to King Saul, whom he would succeed on the throne, the closing years of whose reign were filled with many discords. Saul was fond of music, and David was sent for to play for him on the harp. David's sense of harmony healed Saul, for we read: "So Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him." Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 21), "Music is the rhythm of head and heart." David understood this, and restored harmony to the king's troubled sense, a service which gave him favor in Saul's sight, and he became the king's armor-bearer.
David did not, however, follow Saul to war, but returned to the tending of the sheep. The next time we hear of him, several years later, he is standing before Saul, offering to fight against the champion of the Philistines. When Saul expressed doubt as to David's ability to meet this foe, David told of his contests with a bear and a lion, wherein he conquered. We thus see that he had not only cultivated his spiritual qualities of thought, but had fought and won in the battle with animal propensities. Now he was called upon to cope with the more educated forms of tyranny and brutality, personified by Goliath. David's spiritual understanding showed him that he could not fight error with error's weapons, so he refused the armor and weapons offered him by Saul,—for he had not "proved them." His outward preparations for going forth to meet the mighty giant were very simple. We read that "he took the staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near the Philistine." As to the result of the encounter, the chronicler says: "So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David."
