Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1872-12-12
&eadiug fur the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
(Orlg inal.1
DAVID.

known as that of David. Perhaps we know,
or have the means of knowing, more about
David than any individual previous to the
Christian era, except it be one or two of the
Romans. We have continued history OF
him from his boyhood to the time of his death ;
and large portion of the devotional part OF
the Bible is his composition. David was the
son of Jesse, who had, besides him, seven sons
and two daughters. The name of David's
mother is not, that we are able to discover,
any place mentioned in the Bible. The name
also of one of the sons of Jesse is omitted.
In 1st Sam. II: II, it is expressly declared
that Jesse had eight sons; but in 1st Chron.
2: 1915, where the names are given, only
seven are mentioned. 1t is impossible at this
period to tell why eight are mentioned in one
place, and only seven in another. 1t may be
that one had died before the list contained in
1st Chron. 2: was made out. In the Syriac
and Arabic versions of the Scriptures, the
seventh son of Jesse is called Elihu. The
sisters of David were Zeruiah and Abigail.
Here again we meet difficulty. In 1st
Chron. Q: 16, both Zeruiah and Abigail are
said to be the sisters of David but in End
Samuel, II: 25, Abigail is said to be the
daughter of Nahash. 1t may have been that
David's mother was married to man by the
name of Nahash before she married Jesse.
do not know how to account for the fact in
any other way; still I do not say that this is
the way to account for it.
1t is evident that David and his brothers
were not very intimate. His early associates
were, no doubt, the sons of his two sisters.
The sons of Zeruiah we're Abishai, Joab and
Asahel; and Amssa was the son of Abigail.
Between David and his nephews there existed
very great intimacy. 1t is probable that they
were all near the same age.
The first time that David is spoken of is
when Samuel went to Bethlehem, to the house
of his father, Jesse, to anoint him king. 1t
does not seem that Samuel knew which one of
Jesse's SONS was the Lords anointed. Sam
uel was afraid to 60 to Bethlehem, lest Saul
would kill him. God instructed him to take
a heifer and say that he was going to Bethle-
hem to sacrifice to the Lord. This was q
prudential measure adopted by divine author
ity to avoid the cruel rage of Saul 1t has
been supposed by some that at the very time
that Samuel was sent to Bethlehem, some in
dividual had been found dead that no one
could tell how he came to his end. From
the character of the sacrifice this is probable.
See Deut. 21; 2,3. When Samuel arrived
at Bethlehem, the sons of Jesse were called
for in their primogenial order. David was
not present, and the rest all being rejected,
it was asked by Samuel if there was no other
son. David, who was keeping the sheep, was
sent for. The sacred historian then gives US
minute description of his person. He was
what in any country would be called good
looking boy. His hair was red, his eyes come
ly, his skin clear and fair. In stature he was
short, we'll built and possessed of great muscu'
lar strength as we'll as great activity. His
feet were swift as the hind's, and his arms Ca
pable of breaking bow of steel. Psalm 1S:
80, "a. The name David means beloved, and
as names in the Bible are often, if not always,
indicative of character, so it was, no doubt,
in this case. AS David was the youngest
child, Jesse and his mother loved him very
tenderly and called him the lovely or beloved.
His brothers, however, did not so regard him.
This is clear from the fact that he was put to
watching the Aocks. For although much Of
the wealth of Eastern people, at the time of
David, consisted in focks of sheep and cat
tie, still it was customary for these hocks to
be kept by slaves, females, or by the despised
of the children. In the 69th Psalm, David
declares that he had become stranger to his
brethren and an alien to his mothers children.
1t requires no very fertile imagination to dis
cover the fact that David, whilst little boy,
had his trials. His father was an old man,
and perhaps his mother did not have much
influence over the rest of her sons, and Eliab,
the oldest son, seems to have been one Of those
strange men who is ever disposed to trample
into the very dust his interiors in age or mus
cular strength. The same may have been
true of the rest 1t is almost sure that David
was the despised member Of Jesse's family.
1t is interesting to study the history of Da-
vid. In it we see the wonderful dealings of
God with the children of men. God prepared
Moses for leading his people from Egypt and
through the wilderness by first forcing him
by surrounding circumstances to lead sheep
through the wilderness. David, in the same
way, was prepared for even greater work
than that performed by Moses by being forced
to follow sheep over the hills Of Judah. He
was prepared to encounter Goliah q Gath,
by first being driven into conflict with a
lion and bear. No doubt the little fellow
shed many a tear whilst God was preparing
him for the high and difficult Office of king.
1t was as shepherd that David imbibed the
spirit of poesy. There is no poetry in brick
walls and marble palaces. The bleating Of
sheep and the lowing of cattle-green pas
lures and gentle streams awaken the DOR
mant energies of the soul. 1t was whilst
David was shepherd boy that he first knew
God. In remembrance of the holy commu-
nion which he had enjoyed with God whilst a
shepherd, he penned the twenty-third psalm.
The WORLDS MADNEss.-When 1 look
around upon busy, bustling world, eagerly
pursuing and courting disappointment, neg
lecting nothing so much as the one thing
needful; and who, in order to have their por-