THE NATION UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON
After Saul's death his son Ishbaal fled across the Jordan where the
Philistines were not yet in control, and was accepted as king by the
East Jordan tribes. More and more, however, the hearts of all the
Hebrews turned toward the young David, who, under the Philistines, to
whom he paid tribute, now became king over the tribe of Judah in the
south.
DAVID AS A LEADER
David was a born leader. Physically he was an athlete. With his sling
he could throw stones straight, as Goliath, the Philistine giant,
discovered to his sorrow. He had the gift of winning friends, even
among those who might naturally have been his enemies, for example
Jonathan and Michal, son and daughter of Saul, and Achish, the
Philistine king. His followers with few exceptions were deeply devoted
to him, risking their lives, sometimes, to gratify his slightest wish.
He was wise in his dealings with men, knowing when to be stern and
when to be lenient.
=The nation united under David.=--For a few years there was more or
less of war between the followers of David and the followers of
Ishbaal. David did not like this war. He had no heart for fighting his
own kinsmen, the people of the north. His method was to win them over
without conquest. His chief difficulty in this was to restrain his own
followers. Fighting always leads to more fighting. A bitter personal
feud flamed up between Joab, David's chief general, and Abner, who
was the real power in the other kingdom. David did not dare to punish
Joab, yet he plainly showed his displeasure. When finally Ishbaal
himself was murdered in his sleep, David put the assassins to death.
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By this policy he pleased the people, both in the north and in the
south. And after seven years of division the leading men of all the
tribes came to David at Hebron, in Judah his headquarters, and made
him king over the entire Hebrew nation, north, east, and south.
=David's victories.=--Soon after this David declared his independence
of the Philistines. War broke out and for a time it went against the
Hebrews. But in the end they were able to rally their resources under
their new leader, and inflicted two crushing defeats on their old
enemies, which made them instead of the Philistines once and for all
the masters of Canaan.
From the Philistines David turned against the other petty enemies who
had so often taken advantage of the weakness of the Hebrews. Already,
while a vassal of the Philistines, he had thoroughly punished the
Amalekites, in the deserts of the south; and now he gave the Ammonites
and Moabites and other enemies on the east a taste of Hebrew warfare.
Before many years passed they had all learned their lesson, and there
was peace in Canaan.
PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION
During all those years when the Hebrews were fighting for existence
life in their little villages and towns had been anything but
pleasant. Not only was there constant danger from human enemies and
from famine, there was also a lack of the comforts and pleasures of
civilized life. There were no books to read, no musical instruments
to play on, and few opportunities for any kind of recreation. They had
only coarse, rough clothing to wear, and coarse, ugly furniture for
their homes.
=The development of commerce.=--Now that peace and security had been
achieved, David did much to make the daily lives of all his people
happier. One way was through commerce. The great merchants of those
days were the Phoenicians, the people of Tyre and Sidon, whose daring
sailors steered their ships into every harbor on the Mediterranean Sea
and even out upon the stormy Atlantic and up to the tin mines of
Britain.
Very wisely David made a treaty of friendship with Hiram, king of
Tyre, and as a result Phoenician artists and artisans came down to
Jerusalem and helped to beautify the city. Phoenician wares also began
to be peddled in all the towns of Canaan: fine linen fabrics, such as
the Hebrews did not know how to weave; beautiful jars and cups, such
as Hebrew potters had not learned to fashion; jewels of silver and
gold and precious stones, over which Hebrew maidens hovered with
longing eyes. Soon one could see that the homes in these little towns
of Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim were cleaner and better furnished,
and the people were more neatly dressed. Commerce of the right kind is
always a blessing.
=Education.=--Better than fine clothes and jewels and furniture are
the things that feed the mind. David himself was a skillful harpist,
and no doubt this helped to make harp-playing popular. On one occasion
the ark of Jehovah, the sacred chest which had been carried in the
desert, was brought up to Jerusalem. It was accompanied by a chorus of
singers and a band of instrumental players, "with harps and lyres and
cymbals." In the worship of the temple at Jerusalem music from this
time on had an important place. And all up and down the land here and
there, one could hear in humble homes the tinkle of harp strings; and
boys and girls who liked music could learn to play.
If not in David's time, then very soon after, the first Hebrew history
books were written. These contained stories which had been handed down
from generation to generation; stories about the beginnings of things;
stories about Abraham and Moses and other early heroes.
There were, of course, only a few copies of written rolls of stories,
as compared with the millions of volumes which are constantly being
turned out to-day by our great printing presses. But these few were
much read, and those who read committed many of the stories to memory
so that they could repeat them again and again in their home circles.
In this way life grew more rich in pleasure and interest for many a
Hebrew youth and maiden.
DAVID'S SUCCESSOR, SOLOMON
After David's death his son Solomon was made King. He also encouraged
commerce, both by land and by sea. His ships sailed down the Red Sea
to India, and back, and over the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. They
brought back, according to the author of First Kings, "gold and
silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks."
=Solomon's folly.=--Alas for the happiness of the people, Solomon was
a different kind of a man from his father. Like so many other sons of
good kings he was spoiled by too much luxury and too little
discipline. He had the reputation of being very wise, but in reality
he was very foolish. His chief ambition was to have splendid palaces,
and to make a great display of riches, like the kings of Egypt and
Babylonia.
In order to build these fine buildings and have great numbers of
servants it was necessary to extort the money from his people by heavy
taxes. They were also compelled to labor without pay in his quarries
and elsewhere. So with all the increased wealth in the land and with
all the seeming progress in civilization, the common people were
really wretched--almost worse off than in the old days of disunion and
confusion and fear.
=The disruption of the kingdom.=--As a result of this cruelty and
oppression, the northern tribes, after Solomon's death, rebelled
against his son Rehoboam, who seemed likely to become even more of an
oppressor than his father. The tribe of Judah in the south remained
faithful to the family of David. So the nation was split in two parts,
which were never reunited.
If only all kings could be like David! He indeed was far from perfect;
he was guilty of some very wicked crimes. But on the whole he came
nearer than most kings to the best ideals of the Hebrews for their
rulers: a man "from among thy brethren: ... neither shall he greatly
multiply to himself silver and gold, ... that his heart be not lifted
up above his brethren, ... and that he turn not aside from the
commandment, to the right hand nor to the left."
STUDY TOPICS
1. Look up Joab in a good Bible dictionary, and see how much David
owed to this extraordinary man for his success.
2. Read 2 Samuel 23. 13-17, as a good example of the devotion and
loyalty David was able to awaken in his followers.
3. With which did David do the more for the happiness of his people,
with the sword, or with his harp?
4. Why did Solomon grow up with selfish and extravagant habits and
ideals? Read 2 Samuel 11, 12 for an explanation.