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to take him, he sent out spies to watch him. And when Saul had pitched his camp, David drew near to the place where he was. And he beheld the place where Saul lay in the midst of his men, within the trench which surmounted the camp. Then David said to Ahimelech and Abishai, who

were captains among his men, "Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp ?" And Abishai said that he would go with him.

So when the night had come, David and Abishai went down silently and entered the camp, and went to the place where Saul lay sleeping, with Abner the captain of his host, and his people round about him; and the spear of Saul was stuck in the ground close to his head. Then Abishai said to David, "God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the earth at once." But David said, "Destroy him not, for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless ?" And as he stood and looked on Saul, he said, "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall

come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed."

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Then David took the spear of Saul, and a vessel of water that was near his head; and they turned and left the camp again. And no man saw it nor knew it, for they were all asleep, and did not awake, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

Then David went and stood on the top of a hill afar off, that looked down upon the camp of Saul; a great space being between them. And he cried aloud to Abner, the captain of Saul's army, and said, "Answerest thou not, Abner? Wherefore hast thou not kept thy lord, the king; for there came one of the people in to destroy the king. Now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster."

And Saul knew David's voice, and said, "Is this thy voice, my son David?" And David said, "It is my voice, my lord, O king." And he said, "Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done, or what evil is in mine hand?"

Saul was again moved by David's faithfulness and truth, and he again confessed his sin. He said, "I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly." Then Saul, as if moved by God to prophesy good of him whom he hated, said, "Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail."

Then Saul returned and went back to his home at Gibeah; but David remained in the wilderness of Ziph, for he feared to trust the promises of Saul.

1 Samuel xxiv. xxvi.

Loyalty, is dutifulness and faithfulness towards the king, whom we are bound to obey.

To err,

is to wander from the right way; to sin.

Chapter CXVIE.

THE DEATH OF SAUL.

DAVID had now, for a long time, led a wandering life, hunted from place to place by Saul, in deserts

and mountains, and caves of the earth, and in continual fear lest his enemy should find him. God proved his faith by many years of trial. For six years he had wandered as an outcast, destitute, afflicted, and evil entreated, in the land over which God had promised that he should reign as king. Twice he was tempted to raise his hand against Saul, and by killing him, his enemy, to end his trials, and take to himself the kingdom which God had promised should be his. The people of Israel loved him, and Samuel the prophet of the Lord had anointed him to be king, and it might have seemed to him an easy thing to have made himself king at once, had he chosen to kill Saul when God had placed him in his power.

But the faith of David did not fail under his trial; twice he was tried,-twice he stood firm, and endured the trial well. He ruled himself, and checked the inclinations of his heart, and walked in the fear of the Lord. He waited patiently till God, in His own good time, should fulfil His promise, and give him the kingdom. Like' Joseph, in the house of Potiphar, he thought it better to

suffer and be in trouble for a while, than to raise his hand against the Lord's anointed, and sin against the Lord.

Yet though David's heart was right towards God, and he sought to serve the Lord with all his soul and all his strength, he had erred at times. He had deceived Ahimelech, the high priest at Nob, in order that he might save his life. And now at last his heart fainted for fear of Saul, and he resolved to go and dwell among the heathen, in the land of the Philistines. For all men sin and are imperfect: but few have served God with so true a heart, and bold and faithful spirit, as David the son of Jesse.

Saul had shown himself to be worse and more cruel than the heathen, and David could not trust his words. He said within himself, "There is nothing better than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul shall despair of me; so shall I escape out of his hand."

So David went forth from the land of Judah, with six hundred men who followed him, and he came to Achish, a Philistine prince, the king of

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