There was once a time when the enemies of David sought his life. The love which King Saul had always borne for the shepherd lad whose harp strings had charmed away his melancholy turned suddenly into hatred on that unfortunate day when the women singers were heard chanting that "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." The narrative plainly states that at this "Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him. . . . And Saul eyed David from that day and forward." From that moment, it seems, the trouble began; just as it sometimes has been known to begin in recent times, when mortal mind has been roused to fury at hearing that another has equaled, if not excelled, its own best efforts. For the carnal mind did not cease to put forth its claims to being reality and power when Saul finally "slept with his fathers," centuries ago. To-day, as in his day, it takes a nature rarely great to hear with equanimity the praises of another sung; and Saul's mental fiber was plainly not equal to the test. We find him, on the contrary, turning against his one-time friend so bitterly that David fled for his life into the wilderness, that rough and rocky place where fugitives in those days hid from their pursuers.
Word, however, was brought to Saul that David was in the wilderness of Ziph; so, with three thousand of his men, he started out to capture him. It was true. David was there; and had he chosen to remain there they would undoubtedly have found him. But the story goes, that when David learned that Saul was coming he quickly left the wilderness, "and came to the place where Saul had pitched," which was "the hill of Hachilah." There he won a victory over enmity and hate, which began, as all such victories must, with a victory over himself.
When one recalls the metaphysical meaning of the word "wilderness," this apparently simple incident becomes vibrant with interest to us, as Christian Scientists, in the midst of the mightiest mental upheaval that the world has ever known; for David is not the only one against whom error, as typified by Saul and his three thousand, seems sometimes to come in hot pursuit. On page 597 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," by Mary Baker Eddy, our beloved Leader has defined wilderness as meaning in part, "Loneliness; doubt; darkness." So that is where David seemed to be dwelling, in loneliness, doubt, and darkness. It is no wonder, then, that his enemies went out so confidently against him; for if he were living in that state of thought they knew exactly where to find him.
