1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 15 - 21

1 SAMUEL15

1 And Samuel said to Saul, “Now YHWH
Sent me to anoint you to do
As king over Israel, His folk,
Now therefore listen to what spoke
The voice and words of YHWH by oak.
2 So says YHWH of armies, I mind
What Amalek did in the bind
Against Israel, how he set down
Himself against him in the crown
On the way up from Egypt’s town.
3 Now go attack Amalek, and
Utterly destroy what’s in hand,
And have no mercy, but kill all,
Man, woman, child, and in the stall
Ox, sheep, camel, and donkey’s brawl.”
4 And Saul called the folk to Telaim,
And counted two hundred in claim
Of thousands of infantrymen,
Ten thousand of Judah again.
5 Saul came to Amalekite towns
And lay in ambush on the downs.
6 And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go
Out of the Amalekite show,
Lest I destroy you with their store,
For you showed kindness once before
To Israelite people when they
Came up here out of Egypt’s sway.”
So the Kenites fled from among
Amalekites when they were hung.
7 And Saul attacked Amalekites
From Havilah within the sights
Of Shur, east of Egyptian flights.

If Saul makes war, at least he lets go free
The innocent from enemy country.
That’s more than oil diggers do on the shore
Of Basrah, when they come to find the store
Of black gold to invest the president
With even more money than he has spent
On the election, armed with sophistry.
Beloved, save me from the elected and
The kings by lot, although I think a band
Of legislators not elected but
Chosen by chance of lottery unshut
Would be far better than what we have got:
Rulers set up by the large lobbies’ plot,
Of those we have enough and to the glut.

8 He took Agag the king alive
Of the Amalekites to strive,
But completely destroyed the folk
With mouth of sword to the last bloke.
9 But Saul and the folk spared Agag
The best of the sheep in a bag,
The oxen, young of second birth,
And all that was good and of worth,
And did not completely destroy,
But only what was sickly toy
And feeble, those they slew with joy.
10 Then came to Samuel word of YHWH
Saying, 11 “I’m sorry that I do
Make king of Saul, for he has turned
Back from following Me, I’m spurned,
And has not kept My word as learned.”
And it grieved Samuel, and he cried
To YHWH all night till morning tide.
12 And Samuel got up early in
The morning to meet Saul for sin,
And they told Samuel, “Saul has come
To Carmel to set up in sum
A monument, and turned about
To pass on down the Gilgal route.
13 And Samuel came to Saul, Saul said,
“Blessed are you of YHWH, I’ve been led
To do as YHWH commanded spread.”
14 And Samuel said, “Then what’s the sound
Of bleating sheep I hear around
And lowing oxen on the ground?”

Each time I come to You, Beloved, to say
How much I have done in Your blessèd way,
You answer with a question, what to say,
“What’s this bleating of sheep along the bay,
And lowing of cattle behind your house?”
My innocence is nibbled by the mouse
Of attention to my own benefit.
Beloved, teach me to mind only what’s writ
Instead of what I stand to gain from grit.
Polite phrases conventional and smooth
Are what the priests in churches like to truth,
And join Saul in the smiling confession
Of having kept Your law in all they’ve done.
Beloved, let me turn my back on the sun.

15 And Saul said “They have brought them out
Of Amalek what folk devout
Saved of the best of sheep and ox
To sacrifice to YHWH of flocks,
To your Ælohim, and the rest
We’ve completely destroyed at best.
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay and
I’ll tell you what YHWH said in hand
To me this night.” And he replied
To him, “Speak on and nothing hide.”
17 And Samuel said to Saul again,
“When you were little in your own
Sight, were you not set on the throne
Of Israel’s tribes, and YHWH anointed
You king of Israel appointed?
18 “And YHWH then sent you on journey,
And said ‘Go destroy completely
The sinners the Amalekites,
And fight against their dames and knights
Till they’re consumed.’ And why did you
Not obey the clear voice of YHWH,
But flew upon the spoil with greed,
In sight of YHWH did evil deed?”
20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I
Have obeyed YHWH’s voice on the wry,
And have gone where YHWH sent me to,
And have brought Agag the king too
Of Amalek, and slaughtered all
The Amalekites in their stall.
21 “But the people took from the spoils
The best flocks and herds in their coils
Of that which was destroyed indeed
To sacrifice before YHWH’s heed,
And to our God on Gilgal’s meed.”

Every excuse a man’s heart can invent
Sounds righteous to his ear when he gives vent.
Religion is made of the ways that men
Artistically circumventing Your pen.
Rajaraja’s temples in carving stone
Relieve him from killing of flesh and bone,
And Saul’s sacrifices in pious prayers
Atone for his mercy before the stares
Of the damned. My Beloved, see how I set
My face against both faith and piety.
I turn away with a disgust well met,
Not from my lust and greed and cruelty,
But from my faith and goodness and the stand
Of beauty that comes forth from brain and hand.

22 But Samuel said “Does YHWH delight
As greatly in burnt offerings’ sight
And sacrifices as in choice
To obey when hearing YHWH’s voice?
See, to obey is better far
Than sacrifice upon altar,
And doing what God says to do
Is better than rams’ butter too.

In name of God both Merciful and Gracious,
I pray do make my heart both true and spacious.
Give me the wisdom to desire the right
As, at the office, on the road at night,
Or in the field, I come to places where
The thing to do by everything that’s fair
And well-thought-of by friends and neighbourhood,
Conflicts with what You say, Beloved, I should.
Give me the courage to inflict death sentence
On pregnant mother sins and unrepentance
Before it grows from babyhood to age,
To clean and keep clean church and parsonage.
And may my sacrifice be worthy of
Obedience to mercy, justice, love.

23 Rebellion is like witchcraft done,
And stubbornness under the sun
Is like idolatry as sore.
But you’ve rejected what is more
YHWH’s word, and so He has as well
Rejected you from kingship’s spell.”

Beloved, most merciful and gracious, hear.
I plead for Saul the king, for whom I fear.
Beloved, You understand what he’s gone through,
You know, Lord, of the pressures hitherto.
I’m sure it’s stress, not wickedness, that makes
The king transgress, or maybe belly-aches.
Does tall and handsome cut no ice with You,
But that the handsome are as handsome do?
Think not, Beloved, that Saul the king rebels.
His heart is better than his action tells.
I’m sure he meant to do just as You said.
It’s politics have hit him in the head.
Forgive, by grace, I know he’ll turn a leaf.
For peace and safety, please don’t fire our chief.

24 And Saul said to Samuel, “I’ve sinned
In that I’ve transgressed commandment
Of YHWH, and your words disciplined,
Because I feared the folk for choice
And listened rather to their voice.
25 So now I pray forgive my sin,
And go back with me, do consent,
To worship YHWH without chagrin.”
And Samuel said to Saul, “I’ll not
Turn back with you, for you have sought
To reject YHWH’s word, and so YHWH
Has rejected you from the pew
Of being king of Israel’s crew.”
27 As Samuel turned around to go,
He grabbed hold of the wings that show
Upon his robe, tore calico.
28 And Samuel said to him, “Now YHWH
Has torn the kingdom of the crew
Of Israel from you this day, and
Has given it to your neighbour’s hand,
One better than you to command.
29 Also Israel’s glory will not
Lie nor repent of this new plot,
For He is not a man like you
That He should repent what to do.”

Ah, my Beloved! Just listen to this word!
You are no man, much less a beast or bird!
How many faiths along the wall would see
You to be one or more in trinity
Of flesh and feather. My Beloved, just see!
The prophet Samuel, man I must agree
Responsible for Your word to the free,
Says You are not a man, not on the tree
Nor in the manger with the oxen stirred.
Beloved, I seek You not in stone nor gold
Nor in the mighty hand of a man bold,
Nor in the brilliant feats now or of old.
I seek You in the still small voice within,
And in the thunder of Sinai for din.

30 And Saul said “Though I’ve sinned abroad,
Yet honour me now on the sod,
I pray you, before elders of
My people, and before the love
Of Israel, and return with me,
That I may bow to YHWH your God.”
31 So Samuel turned back after Saul,
And he bowed to YHWH at His call.
32 Then Samuel said “Bring me Agag,
The Amalekite king in bag.”
And Agag came to him in chains.
And Agag said “Surely I stand
Free of death’s danger on the land.”
33 And Samuel said to Agag then,
“As your sword has bereaved women
Of their children, so shall your mom
Be made childless and with aplomb.”
And Samuel cut Agag in pieces
Before YHWH in Gilgal’s releases.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and
Saul too returned to his own land
And house in Gibeath-shaul’s band.
35 And Samuel never saw again
Saul till the day of his death’s pen,
For Samuel mourned for Saul, and YHWH
Repented that He’d made Saul do
As king over Israel and crew.

Beloved, though I never see face of You
No matter what I pray or fast in view,
I do not think that You grieve for my sin
In Ramah by the well You’re buried in.
Beloved, though Your face is a face apart,
I know that I like everyone with heart
Shall one day appear there with horse and cart
To be judged by the law and my own mart.
I cannot see Your face till then, until
You stand back to judge me before the mill.
But now You are too near for me to see,
Too close to jugular vein on the spree,
Too close to eye for me to focus on
Divinity in sunset or in dawn.

1 SAMUEL 16

1 YHWH said to Samuel, “How long will
You mourn for Saul, seeing I still
Reject him as Israel’s king?
Fill your horn up with an oil spring
And go, I’ll send you to Jesse
The Bethlehemite, for I see
A king among his sons for Me.”
2 And Samuel said “How can I go?
If Saul hears it, he’ll kill me sure.”
And YHWH said “Take a heifer too
And say ‘I sacrifice to YHWH.’”
3 And call Jesse to sacrifice,
And I’ll show you what things suffice,
And you’ll anoint the one to me
Whom I shall tell you king to be.”

This is the effect of having a king
When You alone could be lord of the string.
As soon as there’s a king, one has to make
Allowances for danger at the stake.
The king’s eyes see wrong in who would impose
Your rule of righteous living on his toes.
So even prophets have to slink around
With heifers for excuse that they are found.
The State makes honesty dishonest boot
By being there and coming from the root.
Beloved, I love You and I love Your prophet,
But when it comes to kings I have to scoff at,
And presidents are like as not to be
Worse than the kings having their own lobby.

4 And Samuel did all that YHWH spoke,
And came to Bethlehem for broke.
The elders of the city came
To meet him trembling as for blame,
And asked “Come you in peaceful aim?”
5 And he said “In peace, I have come
To sacrifice to YHWH a sum,
So sanctify yourselves and come
With me to sacrificial hum.”
And he sanctified Jesse and
His sons and had them be at hand.
6 It happened when they come, that he
Looked at Eliab, said “Surely
YHWH’s anointed now takes the stand.”
7 But YHWH said to Samuel “Don’t look
At face or height, since I forsook
Him, for it is not like a man
Sees things only in outward scan,
But YHWH looks at the heart, and can.

Democracy fails at this very place,
The favourite of holy populace
Is always someone with a pretty face,
But having heart that would not win the race
In Your eyes. I suggest a lottery
To choose our princes from the bond and free.
At least then You would have a chance to put
A finger in to slant the chance a-foot.
As it is now the world goes gaily on
Forgetting right and wrong upon the lawn,
Defining justice by the job enhanced
By media twisting the facts advanced.
Beloved, reveal Yourself or then Your man
In justice as against the present ban.

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab,
And he passed by Samuel’s confab,
And he said “Neither has YHWH picked
This one, because He is so strict.”
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by.
And he said, “Neither is this guy
YHWH’s chosen one beneath the sky.”
10 And Jesse made seven of his sons
Pass before Samuel on their buns,
And Samuel said “YHWH has not picked
Any of these super and slicked.”
11 And Samuel said to Jesse then,
“Are these all your children and men?”
And he said “There is still one more,
The youngest, see, he’s out of door
Keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said
“Send and fetch him and have him led
In here, for we shall not break bread
Before he comes, nor none be fed.”
12 And so he sent and brought him in.
Now he was red, handsome as sin
With pretty eyes. And YHWH replied
To Samuel, “Get up off your side
And anoint David, he’s My pride.”
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil,
And anointed him in the coil
Of all his brothers, and then came
The spirit of YHWH on his name
From that day forward mightily.
So Samuel got up from the spree
And went back to Ramah to be.

I too have been anointed by the brick
To pray and sing before the rich and slick,
But then let out to pasture with the sheep
To live on the cold hills and vigil keep.
If any prophet comes to call me in
Who was despised as too young as a sin,
He shall not find me ruddy, no, nor fair.
He’ll find me grey and balding with the wear.
Beloved, I come before You, and alone,
Not like David with brothers to the throne,
But without any to despise or praise.
I come alone before You all my days.
And yet Your oil is sure, Your table filled
With banquets that the fattened hogs had swilled.

14 Now the spirit of YHWH had gone
From Saul, and an evil anon
Spirit from YHWH frightened the john.
15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Now
An evil spirit anyhow
From Ælohim disturbs your brow.”
16 Let our lord now command your slaves
Who stand before your crown and staves,
To seek out a man skilled in tune
Of harp, and it shall be when soon
Evil spirit from Ælohim
Shall come on your waking or dream,
That he’ll play with his hand and you
Shall be well comforted as due.”

The people in those times thought they could move
An evil spirit that came to reprove
With harp music well plucked and sung to groove.
Since then the Middle East has seen the rise
Of exquisite measures for healing wise
With music’s power, physician’s enterprise.
But what’s to be done if the evil thing
Came from Your belated, berated wing?
Unless You have mercy, no one can sing
Away the powers of darkness nor the fruit
Of having sinned against You too to boot.
Beloved, look on my exercising sting
And see how much I need the comfort of
Your harp and song, Your mercy and Your love.

17 And Saul told his servants, “Provide
Me now a man and bona fide
Who can play well, bring to my side.”
18 Then answered one of the young men,
And said “See, I have seen again
Jesse the Bethlehemite’s son,
Who’s skilful in playing a run,
A strong man of valour when done,
A man of war, wise in affairs,
A handsome person without airs,
And YHWH is with him on the stairs.
19 So Saul sent messengers out to
Jesse and said, “Send David who
Is your son keeping sheep in view.”
20 And Jesse took a donkey load
Of bread, a bottle where he stowed
Grape juice, and one goat kid and sent
Them with David his son who went
To Saul. 21 And David came to Saul,
And stood before him at the wall,
And he loved him greatly, and he
Was his armour-bearer in fee.
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying
“Let David, please, stand here and sing,
He pleases me in everything.”
23 It happened when the spirit came
From Ælohim as if in blame
On Saul, that David took the harp,
And set his hand to play it sharp,
And Saul found relief, it was well
With him and the evil to tell
In spirit left him and its spell.

From keeper of the sheep to court musician
Is very fine to improve the position.
But I admire both prodigies when I
Remember such folk I’ve had under eye.
The skill of the musician lightens heart,
But skill of the sheep herder has its part
As I have seen them on the barren hills
Of the Hittites where Turkey’s dawn distils.
Beloved, I have no shepherd’s task nor yet
The voice of the musician better set.
The one job I have done with pride and well
Was cleaning toilets, till after a spell
Someone even found fault there, though the folk
That used them came past others to uncloak.

1 SAMUEL 17

1 The Philistines came to wage war
And were gathered at Socoh’s shore,
Which belongs to Judah in store,
Encamping between Socoh and
Azekah, Ephes-dammim’s land.
2 And Saul and Israel’s men came out
And pitched in Elah’s vale about,
And set the battle in array
Against the Philistines that day.
3 The Philistines stood on the mount
On the one side, and Israel’s count
Was on the other mountain side,
The valley between them to bide.
4 Then there went out a mighty man
From the camp of Philistian,
Goliath was his name, from Gath,
His height six cubits and a span,
His heart and hand both filled with wrath.
5 He had brass helmet on his head,
And wore a breastplate, it is said,
Of chain armour, the breastplate’s weight
Was five thousand shekels, so great,
Of brass and iron. 6 He’d greaves of brass
Upon his legs, a spear to pass
As brass between his shoulder blades.
7 And the staff of his spear for raids
Was like a weaver’s beam in trades,
And his spear’s head weighed six hundred
Shekels of iron, in his stead
Went his shield-bearer as he led.

The heroes of this world in every time
Have three things in common where they all climb.
They have both height and strength to beat a dime,
They have protection of servant and rime
Of armour made of iron, brass and at last
Depleted uranium with its massed,
And weapons, last and not least unsurpassed.
This heroes’ trinity disdains rag-assed.
Beloved, I come before the fatal fray
With nothing in my hand to meet the day.
I cantillate Your name and in its power
I look to see what rises from the hour.
The heroes rush past and leave me alone
To bow down head and heart before Your throne.

8 And he stood shouting to the hosts
Of Israel, saying in boasts,
“Why do you come out to the fray
To set your battle in array?
Am I not a Philistine, and
You are servants at Saul’s command?
Choose you a man for you to stand
And send him down to meet my hand.
9 If he can fight with me and kill,
Then we shall fill your servants’ bill,
But if I win against him and
Kill the bugger, then you shall stand
As our slaves to serve foot and hand.
10 And the Philistine said “I do
Taunt Israel’s hosts this day in view,
Give me a man so we can fight.”
11 And when Saul and all Israel’s wight
Heard those words of the Philistine,
They were scared to death of the swine.

Some taunt their enemies as they go out
Into the desert where they flag and flout
Justice for oil and politics and shout
Down Your law that requires to live in peace.
But behind taunting brute come out to fleece
The poor and poison water without cease
Is the parade of power set up in walls
Of marble and laid out in velvet halls.
Beloved, it does not finish the offence
To slay Goliaths giving pounds for pence.
When he is dead the awful presidents
Still breathe injustice at the world’s expense.
Beloved, let giants come and go but still
The corrupt voice and hand set on the hill.

12 Now David son of one of them
Ephrathites come from Bethlehem
In Judah, whose name was Jesse,
And he had eight sons, whereas he
Was old in Saul’s time and feebly.
13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse
Had gone after Saul to the guessy
Battle, and the names of his three
Sons that went to the battle, see,
Were Eliab the first born and next
Abinadab the unperplexed,
And third Shammah, all faithfully.
14 And David was the youngest son,
The three eldest followed the run
Of Saul. 15 Now David went back and
Returned to feed the sheep at hand
Of his father at Bethlehem.
16 And the Philistine drew near them
Morning and evening presenting
Himself forty days on the sting.
17 And Jesse told David his son,
“Take now for your brothers on run
An ephah of this parched corn done,
And these ten loaves, and carry them
Quickly to your brothers’ camp’s hem.
18 “And bring these ten cheeses here to
The captain of their thousand crew,
And to your brothers bring my peace
And take from them their news release.”
19 Now Saul and they and all the men
Of Israel in the vale again
Of Elah fought the Philistines.
20 And David got up with the pines
Early in the morning, and left
The sheep with a keeper as deft,
And went as Jesse told him to,
And he came to the barricade
As the host which was going through
To the fight shouted in parade.
21 And Israel and the Philistines
Put the battle under ensigns
Army against army arrayed.

Look, my Beloved, upon the battle plan
And see the place where stands each man for man.
Your one anointed is the one who goes
Along the road wriggling in dust his toes,
The one even the Philistines let pass
With bread and cheesed loaded upon an ass.
Your fine appointed don’t drive limousines
Or find their mugs in front of magazines.
Instead, Beloved, they trek on dusty feet
Carrying bread for others, and their meat.
Beloved, I look at all the spread of men,
The great and humble, and guess once again
Who is Your one appointed in the way
Of tank and ox cart shunted from the fray.

22 And David left his baggage in
The brace of baggage keeper’s bin,
And ran to the army and came
And gave peace to his brothers’ name.
23 And as he talked with them, behold,
Out came the champion and the bold
Philistine of Gath, one whose name
Was Goliath, out of the claim
Of the Philistines, and he spoke
According to the same words’ cloak,
And David heard them to his shame.
24 And all the men of Israel, when
They saw the man, fled back again
In great fear of the denizen.
25 And Israel’s men said “Have you seen
This man that’s come up? It’s his scene
To taunt Israel, and it shall be
That the one who kills him surely
The king will give him store and gear
As well as his daughter to steer,
And make his father’s house free in
Israel.” 26 And David in chagrin
Spoke to the men that stood by him,
Saying “What shall be done the grim
Man that kills this Philistine, and
Takes away the taunt from the land
Of Israel? For who is this one
Uncircumcised man under sun
Of Philistines, that he should taunt
The hosts of Ælohim and daunt
The living God?” 27 And the folk said
To him in answer, “So instead
Shall it be done to the man bred
That kills him.” 28 And Eliab his
Eldest brother heard what a whiz
He spoke to the men, and the wrath
Of Eliab flamed in the path
Of David, and he said “Why did
You come down? And where have you hid
Those few sheep in the desert rid?
I know your pride and naughtiness
In your heart, for you came no less
Than to look at the war’s address.”

Elder brothers remain forever so.
They never learn a thing from David’s show.
Respect of personage is given while
The recipient is filled with the vile,
But where the innocence of divine power
Rests on the soul, it makes his brother glower.
Familiarity breeding contempt
Makes every hardened heart and soul exempt
From visions of Your glory. That is why
The sound of Your voice speaking from the sky
Is rarely heard. You speak, but those who hear
Turn in anger and bend a deafened ear
Because Your pedigree is one unknown
And You sit on an invisible throne.

29 And David said “What have I done?
Is there no cause here under sun?”
30 And he turned from him to another
And spoke the same way to the brother,
And the folk answered him again.
31 And when the words were heard by men
That David spoke, they told the thing
To Saul, and brought him to the king.
32 And David said to Saul, “Let not
The heart of my lord king be brought
To sorrow, your servant will go
And fight this Philistine below.
33 And Saul said to David, “You can
Not go against Philistine man
To fight with him, for you’re a youth
And he a man of war in truth.”
34 And David said to Saul, “Your slave
Tended his father’s flock as grave
When a lion came and she-bear
And took a lamb from the flock’s care.
35 “Then I went after it and struck
It and saved the lamb from its muck,
And when it rose against me, I
Caught it by the beard and that’s why
I struck it and killed it, no lie.

The secret of David is that he made
Transfer of knowledge that he had waylaid
Following sheep across the desert sand.
The best tool is the tool that is to hand.
What kills a lion, it can kill a bear,
And what kills bears can be found anywhere
To break the power of Philistine as soon.
I gaze in rapture at the frozen noon,
Beloved, and see that arm of peace and boon
Of bounty that in morning fed and grave
May in the afternoon rise up as brave
To crush the tottering tyrant and to save.
I crush the bigot first in my own soul
And open up the gates to find the goal.

36 “Your servant struck both lion and bear,
And this uncircumcised one there,
This Philistine shall be like them,
Since he’s taunted the host and hem
Of the living God Ælohim.”
37 And David said “YHWH that saved me
From lion’s paw and the claw free
Of the bear, He’ll deliver me
From this Philistine’s hand again.”
And Saul said to David, “Go then,
And YHWH shall be with you amen.”
38 And Saul dressed David in his clothes,
And put brass helmet for trousseaux
Upon his head, and decked him out
In a coat of mail and redoubt.
39 And David buckled up his sword
And started out the unexplored,
For he had not proved it ungored.
And David said to Saul, “I’ll not
Be able to go with these taught,
Since I’m not used to the store-bought.”
So David took them off deplored.
40 And he took his staff in his hand,
And chose five smooth stones from the sand
Of the brook, and put them into
The shepherd’s bag he had in view,
Even in a scrip, and his sling
Was in his hand like anything,
And he came near the Philisting.
41 And the Philistine came on and
Approached David, and on the sand
The man bore the shield at his hand.
42 When the Philistine looked about
And saw David, he shut him out,
Because he saw that he was just
A boy with a red face robust.

I set out with doctor’s degree in hand,
Appointed and hired by the mission band,
Ordained by church and by the hopeful stand
Of prejudice and insult to command
Souls into heaven. But the coat I wore
Was too heavy for innocence I bore.
I stopped myself from ritual and prayer,
Rejected hymn and offering on the stair,
And came to You with empty hand to hear
The sound of Your voice rampant on my ear
Tuned to the Hebrew syllables that sear
My heart with love and joy as they appear.
Beloved, I turn alone to You and see
The glories unguessed of eternity.

43 The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog and on the skid
That you come with sticks to unlid?”
The Philistine then cursed aloud
David by his gods in a crowd.
44 The Philistine said to David,
“Come here and do just as I bid,
And I’ll give your flesh to the birds
Of the air, and to beasts as turds.”
45 And David told the Philistine,
“You come to me with sword and fine,
And with a spear and shield, but I
Come to you in the name of YHWH
Ælohim of hosts of the crew
Of Israel, the One whom you
Have mocked day by day out in view.
46 “This day will YHWH put you in my
Power and I’ll kill you, with a cry
Cut off your head and give your limbs
And Philistine host’s limbs for whims
Today to the birds of the air
And the wild beasts on earth to share,
That all the world may know that there
Is a God in Israel’s affair.
47 “And all who watch here, they will know
That YHWH saves not with sword and show,
With spear and such, for battles go
According to the will of YHWH,
And He’ll give you to us as due.”
48 It happened that the Philistine
Got up and came near to incline
To meet David, so David ran
Quickly toward the army scan
To meet the coming Philistine.
49 And David put his hand into
His bag, found a stone and withdrew
It and slung it, and struck the man,
The Philistine on forehead’s tan,
And the stone sank deep in his head
And he fell down on his face dead.

It’s Philistine now throws the brick and rock
Into the tank wheels with sickening shock.
But now the Philistine is not one fed
On pork nor has a foreskin left unbled.
The sons of Judah and of Abraham
Fall to the fight as at the ancient ram
Of Saul and Ekron. Now the fight lays bare
The truth that You are One shot in the air,
While answering, there comes not cry of gods
Multiplied in Gath, but the cloud of sods
With shout that God is Great and there is none
Other God but He left under the sun.
Beloved, in three thousand years gone and done
We’ve learned, as we keep fighting, You are One.

50 So David beat the Philistine
With sling and stone come to combine,
And struck the Philistine down dead,
With no sword in David’s hand red.
51 And David ran and stood upon
The Philistine, took his sword drawn
Out of its sheath, and killed him there
And cut off his head in the air.
And when the Philistines saw that
Their hero was dead, they fled flat.
52 The men of Israel got up
Along with Judah like a tup
And shouted and pursued at length
The Philistines with all their strength
Until you come to the valley,
The gates of Ekron, as they flee
The wounded Philistines fall down
By Shaaraim and to the town
Of Gath and to Ekron’s renown.
53 And the men of Israel returned
From chasing Philistines they spurned,
And spoiled their camp for what they earned.
54 David took the Philistine’s head,
Brought it to Jerusalem’s bed,
But put the armour in his tent.

David is wise to save for himself those
Iron and brass helmet and mail-clad clothes.
Even the hero of the day may be
Vulnerable when the clock turns a wee.
He gives the head to celebration’s spree,
But keeps the armour in his tent for free.
Bless David, my Beloved, and bless his throne,
Who was wiser that three other men grown,
Jesus, who was caught in the garden’s moan,
Husseyn without water beside the stone,
And I who leave my breast open and bare
To find the sacrificial knife strike there.
Beloved, the corners of the weak are sure
To bend sometime before wicked, impure.

55 And when Saul saw David who went
Against the Philistine, he said
To Abner captain of his spread,
“Abner, whose son is this youth bred?”
And Abner said “As your soul lives,
O king, I cannot tell what gives.”
56 And the king said “Well then, find out
Whose son that boy is and whose scout.”
57 As David came back from the killing
Of the Philistine, Abner willing
Took him and brought him back to Saul
With the Philistine’s head on wall.
58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are
You, young man?” And David the star
Answered, “I am the son of your
Slave Jesse from Bethlehem’s shore.”

The king does not recognize David’s song,
He does not know him, not knowing the wrong
From right, bereft of heaven’s spirit and long
Inured to goodness and accustomed to
Betrayal and mistrust and derring-do.
When David acts the part of tried and true
Warrior upon the field, then Saul awakes
And looks about to find out what are stakes.
But Abner does not know the humble boy
Whose strength is in the low, faithful employ
Of stone to protect flock from lion and bear.
Abner knows only captains of the snare.
But Bethlehem brings forth from manger and
Sheepcote the small and silent of the land.

1 SAMUEL 18

1 It happened when he finished talking
To Saul, Jonathan’s soul was stalking
And knit with David’s soul until
He loved him as his own soul’s fill.
2 And Saul took him that day and would
Not let him go home more for good
To his father’s house. 3 Jonathan
Made an agreement with his man
David, because he loved him so,
As his own soul. 4 And at a go
Jonathan stripped off his own suit
That was on him and gave to boot
To David his clothes and his sword,
His bow and belt he could afford.
5 David went wherever Saul sent,
Behaved wisely and competent,
And Saul set him over the men
Of war, and it was good again
In the sight of all the folk and
And in sight of Saul’s servant band.
6 As they arrived when David came
Back from the slaughter and the claim
Of Philistines, the women came
Out of all Israel’s cities and
Singing and dancing on the strand
To meet king Saul with timbrels and
With joy of three-stringed instrument.
7 The women began and they meant,
“Saul struck down thousands as he went,
David ten thousands from his tent.”

Watch what the women do to divide men
With praise lavished to jealousy again.
As long as the soldiers were in the field
There was no bad blood in the feud to yield
Between Saul and David, or Jonathan.
But when the women make a show to scan,
Then men get on the high horse and compete
For female favours after horse and heat.
Beloved, I hear the music and the dance
That turn Your liturgy to song and prance,
I see the call of hip and hear the toe
Tap on the prayer-mat where the steel banjo
Replaces the voice still and small and slow
That sings from Sinai sacred circumstance.

8 And Saul was very angry then
And this word displeased him again,
And he said “They have ascribed to
David ten thousands, and then to
Me they’ve only given in due
Thousands, and so he might as well
Have the kingdom of Israel.”
9 So Saul looked suspiciously on
David from that very day on.
10 It happened on the next day that
An evil spirit from God sat
Strongly on Saul so that he raved
In the middle of the house grave,
And David played with hand on harp
As he did day by day as sharp,
And Saul had his spear in his hand.
11 And Saul threw the spear from his stand,
Said “I’ll strike David to the wall.”
And David stepped aside the pall
Out of his presence twice in all.
12 And Saul feared David, because YHWH
Was with him, but abandoned crew
Of Saul. 13 That’s why Saul put him out
Of the court and made him a stout
Captain of a thousand and he
Went out to war continually.
14 And David behaved wisely in
All his ways, and YHWH saved his skin.

The power of music in the hand of one
May make rejoicing for good under sun.
But when the evil spirit from You’s come,
The same art spills in violence for sum.
Saul throws a spear, though David’s melody
Was rank to soothe his heart and deal calmly,
And this shows how the man within may hide
Even from overwhelming feelings’ tide
To perpetrate a hate already sent
That fears the competition of the bent.
You are One, You alone, Beloved, and I
Am Your reflection under every sky,
And in each heart made by Your sovereign will,
And so I come and come back to You still.

15 So when Saul saw his great success,
He was afraid of his address.
16 But all Israel and Judah loved
David, because he pushed and shoved
For them. 17 Then Saul told David, “Here
Is my older daughter to steer,
Merab, I’ll give you her as wife.
Only be valiant in the strife,
And fight YHWH’s battles.” For Saul said
To himself, “Let not my hand led
Be against him, but Philistine
Hand be against him come to dine.”
18 But David said to Saul, “Who am
I, and what is my life in sham,
Or my father’s clan in Israel,
For me to be son-in-law well
To the king?” 19 Then it happened when
Merab Saul’s daughter should have been
Given to David, that she was
Given to Adriel’s applause
The Meholathite to be wife.
20 But Michal Saul’s daughter loved him,
Loved David, they told Saul the whim,
And the thing certainly pleased him.
21 And Saul said “I’ll give her to him
And she will be his stumbling-block,
While the Philistines run amok.”
So Saul told David, “You shall be
My son-in-law today for free
By one of the two faithfully.”

The court intrigue sets women out to breed,
Even the princess of the royal seed,
For motives of politics and of greed.
How rarely does one ask the girl’s desire
When marriages are made from fatal fire.
But Michal loved David, be that her choice,
And yet I wonder, despite her own voice,
Whether her love’s requited by the same.
A woman’s destiny, sometimes to shame,
Is rarely happy, even when her own
Desires come home to roost upon the throne.
Beloved, my soul is set on You alone,
And my love reaches out to touch Your face,
Even where I find fleeting in this place.

22 Saul charged his servants, “Tell the ear
Of David saying ‘Do not fear,
The king delights in you, and all
His servants love you in the hall,
So now be the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 And Saul’s servants spoke those words clear
In David’s ear. And David said
“To you people does it appear
A light thing to become the wed
Son-in-law to the king, when I
Am a poor man, no royal guy?”
24 And Saul’s servants reported back
To him what David said for smack.
25 And Saul said “The king wants no gift
In dowry, but a hundred lift
In foreskins from the Philistines
In vengeance for vituperines.”
26 And when his servants told these words
To David, it pleased him in herds
To be the king’s own son-in-law.
And the days had not passed by law,
27 Till David got up with his men
And killed of the Philistines then
Two hundred men, and David brought
Their foreskins, and with them he bought
Full dowry that the king had sought.
So Saul gave him Michal as wife,
His daughter in reward for life.
28 Saul saw YHWH with David and too
Michal Saul’s daughter loved his view.

My question is whether David first caught
The Philistines and cut them live when brought,
Or if his soldiers desecrated men
Dead on the field with flint and feathered pen.
If he baptized them in their own blood, then
He gave example to Ferdinand when
They baptized Mexico before the fire
Of martyrdom so that Indian in pyre
Could go to Paradise while Spaniards came
To enjoy all the wealth lying in claim.
But if they only took the prize away
From dead bodies, that’s par in any fray.
Beloved, David’s a man of Your own heart,
While I am just driver of horse and cart.

29 And Saul was even more afraid
Of David. So Saul made parade
Against David as foe first grade.
30 The princes of the Philistines
Went out to battle, as combines,
As soon as they went out, David
Behaved more wisely than the bid
Of all Saul’s servants, so his name
Was much set by to his acclaim.

Diplomacy was what a man must get
Who leaves his sheep and goes to court to set.
The courts of kings and presidents are met
To deprive men of worthiness and let
Depraved desires create ambitions wild
To spoil and warp the sincere heart of child.
David’s humility and wisdom here
Is just the courtly magic of the fear
That guides any man through the run of State.
It’s not for this David is truly great.
Beloved, David is Yours not only for
The oil once poured upon him for the store,
But for the heart You only see behind
The veils of illusion and undivined.

1 SAMUEL 19

1 And Saul told Jonathan his son
And all his servants on the run
To kill David. 2 And Jonathan
Told David, “Saul my father’s ban
Is on you to kill you, therefore
Be on your guard till morning’s door,
And stay hidden in secret place.
3 “And I’ll go out and stand beside
My father in field you reside,
And I’ll talk with Dad about you,
And what I find out, I’ll tell you.”
4 And Jonathan spoke well of him
David to Saul his father grim,
And said to him, “Let not the king
Sin against his slave in this thing,
Against David, because he’s not
Sinned against you, because his plot
Towards you is as good as ought.
5 “For he put his life in his hand
And attacked the Philistine band,
And YHWH made a great victory
For Israel, as you did see,
And did rejoice, now why will you
Sin against innocent and true
Blood to kill David without due?”
6 Saul listened to Jonathan’s voice,
And Saul swore saying at the choice,
“He shall not die, and so lives YHWH.”
7 And Jonathan called David out
And told him all those things with clout.
And Jonathan brought David to
Saul and he stood there in his view
As he did before all the hue.

To survive in the courts of kings and high
One must have a protector by and by.
One day the coast is clear, the table piled
With fruits and nuts and sweetmeats tame and wild,
The next day favour’s turned the other cheek
And there’s nothing but to play hide and seek.
The only way to avoid nastiness
In court is to leave off the power and guess
And hold court alone above all the mess.
Beloved, I seek the gold paved polished floor
That lies beyond Your secret throne room’s door,
And wait without the gate till summoned in
Where there are none to stand for show and sin.
I hold court all alone, and need no more.

8 War broke out once again and went
David against Philistines sent
And killed them with great slaughter, and
They fled before him in a band.
9 An evil spirit from YHWH came
On Saul as he sat in his claim
At home with spear in hand, and there
David was playing with his bare
Hand. 10 And Saul tried to strike David
With the spear, but he went and hid
From Saul’s presence, and so he struck
The spear into the wall, with pluck
David fled and escaped that night.
11 And Saul sent messengers back to
David’s house to keep him in view
And kill him in the morning dew,
But Michal David’s wife was true
And told him, saying, “If you do
Not save your life tonight, in vain
Tomorrow’s light you’ll be once slain.”
12 So Michal let David down through
A window, and he left and fled
Escaping to where he was led.
13 And Michal took a doll and put
It in the bed and then she put
A goats’ hair cover head and foot,
And covered it all with a sheet.
14 When Saul sent messengers to treat
Of David, she said “He is sick.”

If father is a king and mother queen,
The situation’s so, as always seen,
The daughter must tell lies to save her life
From threat to spouse and child by witness knife.
If father is a king, the daughter knows
Soon what to tell aloud to friends and foes.
If mother is a queen, the cat is out
To catch mice by her chair by tail or snout.
Beloved, I too live under queen and king
Whose hand of power extends like anything
Through laws that foster thinking loopholes bring
Justice, and wearing suits and ties make one
A prodigy of honour under sun.
Beloved, look on the world and have it done.

15 Then Saul returned them to David
Saying “Bring him with bed and lid
That I may kill him where he hid.”
16 See, when the messengers came back,
There was the doll in the bed stack
And a goat hair for head, alack.
17 And Saul said to Michal, “Why now
Have you deceived me like a cow
And let my enemy escape?
And Michal said to Saul agape,
“He said ‘Let me go, if you don’t,
I will kill you, see if I won’t.’”
18 So David fled, escaped and came
To Samuel at Ramah for blame,
And he and Samuel went to dwell
In Naioth and stayed there a spell.
19 And it was told to Saul, saying
“See David’s in Naioth to bring
Rebels from Ramah against king.”
20 And Saul sent messengers to take
David, and when they saw the stake
Of prophets prophesying, and
Samuel standing as head of band,
Then they too prophesied full-manned.
21 And when it was told Saul, he sent
Other messengers, and they bent
Also to prophesy assent.

The stratagem of Samuel is what
I also do when opening door shut.
To my hill there come day by day and week
The stragglers of police intent to seek
My life and soul for being against state
Of lawlessness toward Your heavenly gate.
Some come to mock, some come to fight, some come
To drink my spring water and eat my crumb.
But all must stand to hear the prophesy
From my lips and my daughter’s flowing free
As we cantillate from Your word in song
Drawn out in Hebrew letters for the throng.
Beloved, they fall before the flaming sword
And flee when they get up from being bored.

22 Then he himself got up to go
To Ramah, came where waters flow,
And asked, “Where are, for friend or foe,
Samuel and David on the go?”
And then one told him, “See they are
Both at Naioth and at Ramah.”
23 And he went there to Naioth in
Ramah, and came to his chagrin
The spirit of Ælohim on
Him also and he too went on
Prophesying till he came to
Naioth of Ramah and in view.
24 And he also stripped off his clothes,
And prophesied as Samuel rose,
And lay down naked all that day
And all that night, that’s why they say
“Is Saul also in prophets’ sway?”

Who come to my door with or without sling
Must stay to hear the cantillation’s ring,
And all must take off shoes and coats and put
Them in the closet, and have upon foot
A woollen sock to keep them warm to root.
If Saul lay naked or if in full view
As vulnerable rather than in pew
Of Adamite or nudist, to say true,
My visitor may keep his underwear
To cover shame or blame or ill or fair.
Beloved, naked upon the earth I came
To whirl in sacrifice to You, in flame
Of love to You and Your commandments’ sound.
And naked I before You am still found.

1 SAMUEL 20

1 And David fled from Naioth in
Ramah and came and said before
Jonathan, “What have I for sin
Done? And what is my wicked store?
What is my fault before your dad
That he tries to kill me like cad?”
2 And he said to him, “Not at all!
You will not die at my dad’s call,
He does nothing, nor great nor small,
Without telling me, and now why
Should my dad hide this from my spy?
It is not true.” 3 And David swore
An oath and said “Your father’s core
Knows I have found grace in your sight,
So he says to himself in spite
‘Let not Jonathan know this thing
Lest he be grieved,’ but sure as sting
And YHWH lives, and as your soul lives,
There’s only one step now that gives
Between me and death.” 4 Jonathan
Said to David, “What do you think
I can do for you on the brink?”
5 And David said to Jonathan,
“See now, tomorrow is the ban
Of the first day of the month’s scan,
When I should sit down with the king
To eat, but let me go on wing
To hide in the field till evening.
6 If your father misses me, say
David earnestly asked the day
Off to run down to Bethlehem
His city to his family’s hem
For yearly sacrifice. 7 If he
Says ‘That’s fine,’ it’s then safe for me,
But if he answers angrily,
Then be sure he meant to kill me.
8 But be kind with your servant, for
You have brought your servant before
YHWH in agreement with you, but
If there’s any wickedness shut
In me, then kill me yourself, why
Hand over to your dad to die?”

Beloved, search my heart and my hand and see
If there is in either iniquity,
Then slay that wicked one that hides in me
And I shall be one to eternity
With You, Beloved, and so with soul set free.
Beloved, come searching every heart and mind
And crush oppression of poor and resigned,
And free the soul deluded and well wined
To find You all in all above the blind,
Search and crush, my Beloved, search faithfully.
The soul of David willingly revealed
Its deepest nakedness to a friend sealed,
Ready to sacrifice both head and heart.
Beloved, search and slay me from end to start.

9 And Jonathan said “Don’t say that!
If I knew my dad planned out flat
To attack you, I would say so.”
10 Then David said to Jonathan,
“Who’ll tell me of your father’s plan,
If he should answer mad as can?”
11 And Jonathan said to David,
“Let’s go to the field where you hid.”
And they both went out at the bid.
12 And Jonathan said to David,
“Witness YHWH Israel’s Ælohim,
When I’ve found out my father’s dream,
This time tomorrow, three o’clock,
See, if there’s good towards David’s stock,
I’ll send to you and tell your jock.
13 “Ælohim do to Jonathan
And more also, as much as can,
If my dad would do you an ill
And I do not tell you to fill
And send you away that you may
Go in peace, and so may YHWH stay
With you as He’s been with my dad.
14 “You must show me mercy that’s had
From YHWH while I live and not die.
15 “You’ll not take your kindness away
From my house for ever to stay,
Not even when YHWH cuts off all
The foes of David from the pall
Of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made
Agreement with David’s house stayed,
“Let YHWH require it even laid
At David’s enemies’ parade.”

Court intrigue was invented by the love
Of two friends who protected hand in glove
Each other from the weather and despair
That is found in governments everywhere.
If governments are not today as then,
Why does Mordechai still sit at gate
To greet both just and unjust knight and men?
If the world were now simply free for mate
As claim the riders on both ship and air,
Then Mordechai would go free to speak
In any land and not wait at the peek.
Give every man a partner in the shame
To save him from the arrow and the flame,
Beloved, and then I too will remain meek.

17 Jonathan caused David to vow
Because he loved him anyhow
As his own soul and his own brow.
18 Jonathan said to David, “Now
Tomorrow’s the month’s first day, and
You will be missed from seat and stand.
19 “Day after tomorrow hide well,
Come to the place where you did dwell
Hiding yourself that day a spell
And then stand by the stone Ezel.
20 “And I’ll shoot three arrows aside
As though I shot a target wide,
21 “And see, I shall then send the lad,
‘Go find the arrows on the pad.’
If I say to the boy, ‘See there,
The arrows are this side of stair,
Take them and come,’ then as YHWH lives,
There’s peace for you and no harm gives.
22 “But if I say to the young man,
‘Look here, the arrows are a span
Beyond you,’ go away in peace,
For YHWH has sent you with release.
23 “And of the matter which we two
Have spoken of, see now that YHWH
Is between us forever true.”

I stand beside the stone of Ezel now
To wait Your arrow flying and somehow
Determine whether I should fly or stay
To dine with You, Beloved, another day.
The weeks and months go by, my exile still
Ties me to pine and fir, to Puijo hill,
And yet You meet me on the frozen sod
And teach me in each face to find my God.
Beloved, the sparkling granite at my hand
Speaks of a harsh and cold, yet friendly land.
The mica shines, amphibolites glow rare
In black lust and lustre and also share
Quartz and feldspar my searching eyes with care.
Beloved, by stone of Ezel I still stand.

24 David hid himself in the field,
And when the month’s first day in yield
Arrived, the king sat down to meat.
25 As always he sat on his seat
Beside the wall, and Jonathan
Stood up and Abner by the side
Of Saul, but David’s place to bide
Was empty. 26 Saul said naught that day,
Thinking, “Something came up to stay,
He’s unclean, surely unclean way.”
27 It happened on the second day
Of the month that David’s seat still
Was empty, and Saul said to grill
Jonathan his son, “Why has not
The son of Jesse come to pot,
Neither today nor yesterday?”
28 And Jonathan answered Saul thus,
“David earnestly asked not worse
Than to go down to Bethlehem
To spend the day in family’s hem.
29 And he said ‘Let me go, I pray,
It’s family sacrifice today
In the city, my brother has
Commanded me, and now whereas
I’ve found favour before your sight,
Let me get away before night
And see my brothers. And that’s why
He’s not at the king’s table’s rye.’”
30 Then Saul’s wrath flamed at Jonathan
And he said to the gentleman,
“Son of a bitch, I know that you
Choose son of Jesse over crew,
To your own shame and to the shame
Of your naked mother for blame.
31 “As long as Jesse’s son’s alive
Upon the earth, I do not jive,
You’ll not be set upon your throne.
Now therefore send and fetch him here
To me to die, upon my ear.”

Beloved, I don’t approve of Saul’s bad speech,
Profanity is something I don’t preach,
And that alone is quite enough to teach
Your hand to set the man off throne and power.
To his own son no less he said that word.
Nothing in the world that ever occurred
Justifies saying such, even heart stirred.
My sympathy with Saul has just gone sour.
But that is just the problem with such kings.
They must commit violent acts and things
To stay in power, and violence breeds lack
Of respect for the rest of Your law’s track.
Beloved, keep me from violence and flame
Of bad language, let respect be my claim.

32 And Jonathan said to his dad
Saul, “What has he done that’s so bad
To be put to a death so sad?”
33 And then Saul lifted up his spear
Against Jonathan for his fear
To kill him, so Jonathan knew
His dad had decided in view
To kill David. 34 And Jonathan
Got up from the table and ran
In anger, and he did not eat
Food the month’s second day for treat,
As he was grieved for David’s sake
That his father shamed him at stake.
35 On the next day Jonathan went
Out in the field at the time meant,
Agreed upon with David and
A little lad went at his hand.

I’m glad to see that Jonathan is just
Like every other child of air and dust.
When things go wrong between dad and himself
He goes to pout or gloat upon his shelf
Refusing to eat anything prepared
By parent in love or duty ensnared.
The greatest barricade to holiness
In faith or any endeavour for mess
Is family quarrels, that’s the testing ground.
Many the prophets and the seers are found
Great in the public eye, but turn around
And see how wife and child fit in the frame.
That is the acid test of any claim.
Beloved, that’s why You’re Father as one name.

36 Then he said to the lad, “Now run
And find the arrows from my gun.”
And as the lad ran out, he shot
An arrow further than he’d got.
37 And when the lad came to the place
Where the arrow fell from the race
Of Jonathan, Jonathan cried
Out after the lad, saying “Bide
Not there, has not the arrow gone
Further and lies there on the lawn?”
38 Jonathan shouted to the lad,
“Hurry up now, run and be glad,”
And Jonathan’s boy gathered all
The arrow and came at the call
Of his master. 39 And the boy did
Not know a thing, only where hid
David knew and Jonathan did.
40 And Jonathan gave to the boy
His weapons and told him “Ahoy,
Go back to the city now, kid.”
41 As soon as the boy had returned,
David got up from where he learned,
And fell on his face to the ground,
And bowed three times, and then they kissed
One another, and wept dismissed
A great while. 42 And Jonathan said
To David, “Go in peace, we’re led
Both to have sworn in name of YHWH,
Saying ‘YHWH be between us two,
Me and you, and between my seed
And your seed for ever indeed.’”
And he got up and went his way,
But Jonathan to town to stay.

My question is, if David was so dear,
Why did not Jonathan join David’s gear
And travel with David’s men in the race
Of desert and mountain and rocky place?
Why did he return to the palace gate
To swarm with Saul the king and meet his fate?
Was not the choice his own? He could have gone
With David and lent his influence drawn
For David’s sake and thus precipitate
The coming of the Messianic State.
Instead he was loyal to clan and dad,
And that will result in a fate as bad
As dying with the king rejected, sad
End to a friendship that still glitters great.

1 SAMUEL 21

1 Then David came to Nob and to
Ahimelech the priest in view,
And Ahimelech came to meet
David with fear of some deceit,
And said to him, “Why have you come
Alone without a single chum?”
And David told Ahimelech
The priest, “The king has given spec
To me a matter and told me,
‘Let no one know anything, see,
Of the business I send you on,
Or what I told in pentagon.’
And I have sent my servants where
They will abide and will take care.
3 “Now then, what do you have on hand?
Give me five loaves of bread in brand
Or whatever’s found in the land.”
4 And the priest answered David and
Said “There’s no common bread on hand,
But only holy bread, but if
The servants have kept from the stiff
With women.” 5 And David replied
To the priest and told him aside,
“Truly women have been kept from
Us about three days worrisome,
And when I came out the young men
Had holy vessels under pen,
And though it was a common trip,
How much more then today to sip,
When they the holy bread shall dip?”
6 So the priest gave him holy things,
For there were no others for springs
But the showbread taken up from
Before YHWH, to replace in sum
With hot bread when he took the crumb.
7 There was that day one of Saul’s men
Detained before YHWH once again,
Doeg the Edomite, he was
Tending the herds of Saul abuzz.

The story of the holy bread is told
Again after a thousand years have fed
The gates of Jerusalem and the fold.
David and his once ate the holy bread.
Before the eye of Edomite and crown,
Before the high priest, a man of renown,
David the fleeing shepherd and strong man
Ate bread in flight from the leviathan.
Beloved, I read David’s words and the words
Of Thomas Hobbes sitting upon the sherds
And think them both too optimistic for
The rate of government and fate of state.
Beloved, David does not yet know the eye
Of Doeg is a fatal one to spy.

8 And David asked Ahimelech,
“Do you have on hand spear or sword?
For I went fast at the king’s beck,
And left behind my weapons stored.”
9 And the priest said, “Goliath’s sword,
The Philistine’s, the one you gored
In vale of Elah, see, it’s here
Wrapped in a cloth behind the gear
Of ephod, if you want that one,
Then take it, since no other one
Is here.” And David said “There’s none
Like that, give me that and have done.”
10 And David got up and he fled
That day for fear of Saul and led
He went to Achish king of Gath.
11 And Achish’ servants on the path
Told him, “Is this not David king
Of the land? And did they not sing
One to another about him
In dances, saying ‘Saul was grim
To kill his thousands and David
His ten thousands when come to bid?’”
12 And David ruminated on
These words in his heart and was drawn
To fear Achish the king of Gath.
13 And so he changed his act and math
Before them, and pretended he
Was insane in their hands for fee,
And pounded on the entrance gate,
And slobbered his beard to a state.
14 Then Achish told his servants, “See,
You find a mad man and in glee
Why have you brought him here to me?
15 “Do I have lack of madmen that
You’ve brought this one to shoot the fat
Before me? Indeed, he shall not
Come in my house for being sot.

A pretty picture’s that David now wears
As he goes down to Gath to look for mares.
He carries sword raised by Goliath’s hand,
And stretches for peace to Philistine land,
Expecting to find friends where foes once stood
Merely because his friends no longer could.
If friends look out to kill, then never should
One seek faith from the enemy once down.
David had better find another town.
Beloved, I too am mad, I lift a sword
Too heavy to swing by me or my lord.
My beard is wet and tangled by the board
Where I consume grapes quartered once and gored.
Whirl me once more, Beloved, who are adored.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html