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A few centuries before Homer was singing his wonderful songs through the streets of Greece, a great king of the Jews was singing other wonderful songs in Canaan. This king was named David, and he wasn’t born a king. He was only a shepherd boy in King Saul’s army. This is the way he happened to become king.
At first, as you remember, the Jews had no kings; but they had asked for kings, and at last they were given one by the name of Saul.
David had killed the giant Goliath. We all love this Bible story because we are always glad when the skillful little chap beats the great, big, bragging bully.
Well, King Saul had a daughter, and she fell in love with this brave and athletic young David the Giant-Killer, and at last they were married.
After Saul died, David became king, and he was the greatest king the Jews had ever had. Although Saul had been king, he had lived in a tent, not in a palace, and he didn’t even have a capital city.
David eventually conquered a city in Canaan called Jerusalem and made this city the capital of the Jews.
David was not only a brave warrior and a great king; he wrote beautiful songs as well.
The blind poet Homer sang of his fairy-tale gods. The great King David sang of his one God.
These songs are the Psalms , which are still read and sung in churches and synagogues.
Nowadays even a popular song is popular for only a few months, but the songs that David wrote almost three thousand years ago are still popular today! The Twenty-third Psalm, which starts, “The Lord is my shepherd,” is one of the most beautiful and a good one to learn by heart. David likens himself to a sheep and his Lord to a good shepherd, who tenderly looks out for the comfort and safety of his sheep.
David’s son was named Solomon, and when David died Solomon became king.
If a good fairy had asked you what you would rather have than anything in the world, I wonder what you would have chosen. When Solomon became king, God is said to have appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he would rather have than anything else in the world. Instead of saying he wanted to be made rich or powerful, Solomon asked to be made wise, and God said He would make him the wisest man that ever lived. Here is a story that shows how wise he was.
Once upon a time two women came to Solomon with a baby, and each woman said the baby was her own child. Solomon called for a sword and said, “Cut the baby in two, and give each a half.” One of the women cried out to give the baby to the other rather than do this, and Solomon then knew who was the real mother and ordered the baby to be given to her.
Solomon built a magnificent temple made of cedar-wood, from the famous forest of Lebanon, and of marble and gold and studded with jewels. Then he built himself a wonderful palace, which was so gorgeous and splendid that people came from all over the world to see it. The Bible tells us just how large this temple and palace were, not in feet but in cubits. A cubit was the distance from a man’s elbow to the end of his middle finger, which is about one foot and a half.
The queen of Sheba, among others, came a long distance across Arabia to hear the wise sayings of Solomon and see his palace and the temple he had built.
Although the palace and temple were considered extraordinarily magnificent at that time, you must remember that this was a thousand years before Christ.
Solomon’s temple and palace have disappeared long since. But his wise sayings are preserved in many languages and read by many people all around the world. There are thousands of buildings now in the world that would make his palace, if still standing, look like a child’s toy house. But no one has ever been able to say any better the things he said. Do you think you could? Suppose you try. Here are some of them. They are called proverbs.
A soft answer turneth away wrath;
but grievous words stir up anger.
What’s that mean?
A good name is rather to be chosen than great
riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold.
What’s that mean?
Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth.
What’s that mean?
Solomon was the last great king the Jews ever had. After he died the Jewish nation gradually broke up and then came back together again. Then, six hundred years later it finally went to pieces and, for about two thousand years, the Jewish people were without a king, without a capital, and without a country of their own, though they are found in many other countries of the world. Then at last they formed a new country, a country called Israel. Israel is in the land that used to be called Canaan.