But David told Saul how God had once given him strength to slay both a lion and a bear that had stolen a lamb from his flock, and he said that the same God would deliver him out of the hand of the Philistines. Saul, struck with the wonderful faith of the lad, said, Go, and the Lord be with thee.'

Saul gave David a suit of armour; but when he had put them on, he said that he could not wear them, for he was not used to them; so he only took his staff and his sling, and five smooth stones out of the brook, and went forth to meet the giant.

And when Goliath saw David he despised him, for he was only a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance,' and wore no armour. And the Philistine said to David, 'Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the field.'

To this David answered in these brave words, among others, I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands.'

Goliath was furious at hearing such words from a stripling, and he drew near to meet David, making sure that he could lay him low in an instant, but David was not dismayed; he hasted and ran to meet the giant, and putting one of the stones in his sling he aimed it so truly and with such strength, that the stone sunk into the forehead of the Philistine, and he fell on his face to the earth.

MEPHIBOSHETH.

HILE Saul was still king of Israel, he went out once with his son Jonathan and an army, to fight against the Philistines. Jonathan's little son, named Mephibosheth, was five years old, and was left in the care of the nurse in the

palace at Gibeah. In 1 Sam. xxix. 1, you may read how it fared with Saul and Jonathan in the war: The Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek; and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel,' and there a great battle was fought. In 1 Sam. xxxi. 1, you may read how it ended: The men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa;' and among those slain there was King Saul, his three sons, his armour-bearer, and all his men.

There were, however, some men of Israel 'on the other side of the valley,' and when they saw what had happened, they fled away from their homes, and left them to the Philistines; and some of them ran with the terrible tidings to Gibeah, where the young child Mephibosheth was.

The sad news 'out of Jezreel' came into the palace. The faithful nurse of Jonathan's little son, expecting that the cruel soldiers of the Philistine army would come to plunder the king's house and to kill the king's children, took up the little boy of five years old in her arms and hastened to escape. But as she made haste to flee,' in her terror she let him fall, and ever afterwards he was lame; and though he lived

to be a man, yet he was a cripple to the day of his death. You will learn this from his own lips, if you turn to 2 Sam. xix. 26. In that part of his history Mephibosheth is excusing himself for not having gone out with David when he was driven from Jerusalem by his wicked son Absalom, and these are his words: 'My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.'

The short Bible story may teach us some useful lessons. It reminds us that though we are all in constant danger of death or injury, yet that children are chiefly so; for here even a careful nurse, anxious to keep her child safe, stumbles and lets him fall, so that he becomes a cripple for life; and if there is danger when mother or nurse is anxious and watchful, how much more danger is there when they are thinking more of themselves than of their children! What dangers, then, have we all passed through? What a mercy it is that we are alive and well, that we are not lame or cripple, or blind or deaf, as we might be! To whom do we owe this? First to our parents, but chiefly to God.

If, then, we are neither lame, nor blind, nor deaf; if we can work or play without hindrance; if we can hear the song of birds and the sound of pleasant voices; if we can see the cheerful sunshine, and the bright flowers, and the faces of those we love, then we should be thankful to God, who up to this very hour has kept us from all danger

Human watch from harm can't ward us,

God must watch, and God must guard us.

And let us remember that one way of showing that we really are grateful to God is by being kind and gentle to

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