Then said Samuel to Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
And Jesse answered, “There is one more, the youngest. He is keeping the sheep.”
“Send,” said Samuel, “and fetch him.”
So David came, ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look upon. And when Samuel saw him, immediately he poured the horn of precious oil upon him. Then Samuel went away, leaving the people perplexed and wondering. But David knew in his heart that he had been chosen to be the king of Israel.
Now King Saul was every day growing worse of his disease. Trouble and disappointment and a perplexed conscience and the stress of war were telling terribly upon him. He could not sleep. At times, he was beside himself, and acted like a crazy man. At last, the doctors told him that the best remedy for him was music. “Find a man,” they said, “who is a cunning player on the harp; and it shall come to pass that when the evil spirit is upon thee he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.”
And somebody said, “I know a young man in Bethlehem, a son of Jesse, who is cunning in playing. He is a mighty valiant youth, and good, and good-looking.”
And the king said, “Tell him that I want him.”
And the next day there was great excitement among Jesse’s neighbors. There was David at the farm gate, and his father and mother and his brothers and sisters telling him good-by, and the king’s messengers in waiting. On one side of David was an ass laden with loaves from his mother’s oven; on the other side was a little kid of the goats; and over his shoulders was a skin of wine made from the grapes which grew on the warm side of the hill. These were gifts for the king. And in his hand was his harp.
Thus the shepherd boy became the minstrel of the king. And when the evil spirit came upon Saul, David took his harp and played with his hand, and the music refreshed Saul, and he was eased of his distress. And the king loved the boy, and he made him his squire, to bear his armor.