Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.
'Absalom returns to his father, King David', 1642
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1606-1669, oil on panel.
After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years.
And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnons death.
David: "Oh, that I had wings like a Dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest." Psalm 55:6, by Frederic Leighton (1830-1896)
Then Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that his hatred was greater than the love he previously had. "Get up!" he said to her. "Be gone!" "No," she replied, "sending me away is worse than this great wrong you have already done to me!" But he refused to listen to her.
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing — a very beautiful woman.
Bethsabée (Bathsheba) by French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)
Oil on canvas, 1889
60.5 cm (23.8 in) x 100 cm (39.3 in)
When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.
King David on His Throne (2022, United States)
by Virginia S. Benedicte
Public Domain Catholic Painting.
I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth.
That day David feared the Lord and asked, "How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?"
So he was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
Thus the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and all his household.
Image upscaled using Hotpot.ai
David mourns for Saul.
O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The Suicide of Saul, 1562
Oil on panel
34cm (13.3in) x 55cm (21.6in)
Saul and the Witch of Endor.
Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.
Saul and the Witch of Endor.
Watercolor with Bodycolor.
Edward Henry Corbould, 1815-1905
"Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the Lord delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, 'I will not lift my hand against my Lord, since he is the Lord's anointed.'"
Pietro Antonio Magatti (1687 - 1768)
David Spares Saul's Life
Oil painting on unlined canvas
334 x 236 cm
David hides from Saul in Engedi.
David's Camp at Engedi by William Brassey Hole.
undated colour lithograph.
David is reunited with the sword which had slain Goliath.
"There is none like it; give it to me."
Arent de Gelder (1645–1727)
Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David
Oil on canvas, 91.8 cm x 132.4 cm
The bread of God sustains David.
So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
Juan Antonio de Frías y Escalante
The Priest Ahimelech Gives the Bread and the Sword to David, 1667-8.
David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistines sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
So don't you be afraid
Of giants in your way
With God, you know that anything's possible
So step into the fight
He's right there by your side
The stones inside your hand might be small
But watch the giants fall
Illustration 'David and Goliath' by Robert Leinweber (1845–1921).
Lyrics are from 'Giants Fall' by Francesca Battistelli.
Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel,
but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen these."
So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered. "He is tending the sheep."
And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
But now your kingdom shall not continue.
The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. "Look," they said, "you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations." But when they said, "Give us a king to judge us," their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.
And when they realised that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, the Philistines were afraid. "The gods have entered their camp!" they said. "Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before."
Illustration by James Tissot, 'The Ark Sent Away'.
"What was the message He gave you?" Eli asked.
"Do not hide it from me.
May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you."
So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.
"He is the Lord," replied Eli.
"Let Him do what is good in His eyes."
Psalm 83:1-8
For Israel.
O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
"Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation,
so that Israel's name is remembered no more."
With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you --
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
Even Assyria has joined them
to reinforce Lot's descendants.
For Israel.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
For Israel.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who surround me.
Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel (2017)
Two original oil paintings by Anastasiia Valiulina
