This work was very pleasant when the weather was fair and warm, but sometimes it grows very cold in the hill country of Judea. The wind blows and the ground is covered with snow. Sometimes the shepherd is forced to stay out all night with his flock. Sometimes a lamb [{140}] is lost, and the shepherd has to search all night in the darkness, along dangerous paths in the hills. Sometimes wild beasts attack the flock and the shepherd must beat them off. Sometimes the wild people of the East try to carry off the sheep, and the shepherd is in danger of his life.
But this hard work and constant danger made David a strong, brave boy. He grew very skillful with the sling, which was a weapon much used in those days. With it even a boy could throw a stone very hard and far. Once when he was keeping the flock, a bear came to steal a lamb, and, at another time, a mountain lion, and David killed them both.
While David was still no more than a big boy, war broke out between his country and the Philistines. These people lived in the lower country to the west of Judea, and the two nations were very often at war. This time the two armies camped on opposite sides of a narrow valley.
The Philistines had a giant in their army, who used to come out every day and challenge anyone in the army of the Israelites to fight. This is how the giant is described:--
WATER WORKS IN OLD PHILISTIA
From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.
This unusual picture was taken at the village of Yebnah, between. Jaffa and Ashdod, in the country of old Philistia. The camel is harnessed to a pole, and, walking in a circle, turns the clumsy machinery which lifts the water from the well.
