The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."
"Elijah Raising the Widow’s Son"
Benjamin West, 1774
Elijah assures the widow of God's provision.
"For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.'"
Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised.
Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
"But will God really dwell on earth?
The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.
How much less this temple I have built!"
And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
"And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life." Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
Luca Giordano (1634-1705)
The Dream of King Solomon, 1694-1695
"Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, 'Long live King Solomon!'"
William Osborne Hamilton
David declaring his will that Solomon should succeed him to Zadok, Nathan and Bonaiah
Oil on canvas
My Lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God: 'Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.' But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my Lord the king, do not know about it.
Arent de Gelder (1645-1727)
Bathsheba makes an appeal to David, 1685-1690
Oil on canvas
86 cm (33.8 in) x 100 cm (39.3 in)
King David repents.
Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, "Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house."
This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
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
On 1 Peter 5:7 After a question asked of @CSLCHSnMore
The New International Version (NIV) translates 1 Peter 5:7 as 'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you'.
J.B Philips' New Testament paraphrase rather beautifully expresses it like this:
So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.
But what does this mean practically?
I came to Christ in my late forties having spent a lifetime looking for meaning everywhere but in God. Initially my interest in the Bible was one of intellectual curiosity. But as I read that started to change, to a point where things flipped from curiosity to conviction and unequivocal faith.
It took a while for me to let down my defences and pray properly. But when I did it really felt like throwing myself at Christ’s feet and saying ‘here I am; I believe; you are real and I know you are there for me’.
To the question asked: when I share my burdens in prayer, or even just get on my knees, address God and mumble jumbled thoughts in my head (which happens when it’s all too much or I’m too tired to think straight) I feel lighter afterwards. Physiologically less stressed. Years ago I was once prescribed diazepam for anxiety and the result is the same (though without the disinhibition associated with medication). When I think about the effect that prayer has on my stress response, given how foreign the concept of prayer was and my initial skepticism about it's power, I still find it remarkable.
There is a reason why people over the centuries have got on their knees to pray, head bowed, hands clasped. It is a posture of submission. In some respects a posture of defeat; an acknowledgement that my works have failed; that I give myself to you, God. That you have authority and control over me and my circumstances and this world.
Prayer can be a balm, a salve.
Throwing your anxieties on God is something very real when you have true belief that He is listening and that in Him you will not be tested beyond your limit. We believers must remember that we have the Holy Spirit within us who strengthens us beyond anything we could have imagined before we were first saved.
But that is something for another day. You will know it when you see it.
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.