AN EASTERN SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP
From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.
This is an exceptionally fine picture of a flock of sheep and their shepherd as they appear in the country of the Bible. This picture was taken in the springtime on the beautiful plain of Sharon which borders the seacoast from Joppa to Mt. Carmel. The prophet Isaiah says, "Sharon shall be a pasturage for flocks." The picture shows how the whole plain is carpeted with bright colored flowers.
And there was good reason, when no one in all the army was brave enough to fight Goliath.
David went to king Saul, who was the general of the army, and offered to fight the giant. The king was very much surprised, and told him he was only a boy, while the giant had been a soldier for many years.
But David told Saul how he had killed the lion and the bear, and said that the God who helped him in his fight with these wild beasts would help him in his fight with the giant.
Then Saul allowed him to try, and offered him a suit of armor. David tried it on, but it was not what the shepherd boy had been used to wear, so he would not take it.
He went down to the brook and picked out five smooth, round stones, just right for his sling. Then, with his shepherd's staff and bag and his sling, he went out of the lines of the army to meet the giant.
When the great giant saw the shepherd lad, he laughed, and then he grew very angry.