Shepherd’s Tales: King David


The day ends with significant stress for David
But to him, this was not a challenge
As he walked through the hamlet and passed by an inn,
‘Hello David! Have a drink with men,
Come and have some fun, will you?’
A soldier called David passed
‘Oh no, sire, I will be late for dinner,
My brothers will be visiting tonight
I must be home before nightfall…’
The soldiers grunted a goodbye,
‘Alright, anyone seen this giant Philistine?
They say he has got two heads…!’
The soldiers discussed amongst themselves
And David’s ears had picked up a word… two heads!
What manner of man will this Philistine be?
David shrugged; he wasn’t meant to fear
David called out to his sheep, whistling softly
As they gather, running towards home together
Bleating joyfully over a full stomach of rye
On the door of the caravan…
David could hear his brother’s voice
Happy memories flood back to him
And he quickly locked the barn door,
Patting his favourite sheep on the head
‘Halo there! Look at you, all grown!
Aww, is that a moustache, is that?’ Elihu said
‘Come here, little brother… Have a sit’
The taciturn Abinadai said happily
David bowed before his brothers
And walked in, leaning his shepherd’s stick
Upon the wall by the window side
‘Tell me about your sheep and everything’
Elihu said, amused at David’s appearance
‘Oh, the sheep! They are awesome!
They are cute and beautiful
I like most the feel of their grey tongues
When they lick off the grass from my palms
I have killed a hungry bear and scared off a lion
When I take the sheep grazing, the sun shines
Look, brothers, I learnt the harp while in the fields
The smell of grass in the early mornings, ah!
That I can not equally describe,’ David quipped
The look of disgust fills his brother’s face
As they looked at each other over the table
‘Well, I must commend your efforts, David,
But we missed your absolute nonsense
Hope you become a man soon enough
And here is a toast to our little brother!’
Elihu raised his mug, and everyone followed,
To drink to David’s health and pastoral life
Lying on the bed, David clutched his pillow
Looking through the window towards the barn
Up in the dark skies, the full moon shone
He thought of his sleeping humble sheep
He dozed off, smiling at his shepheshepherd’slege
Dreaming that one day he will care for his people, Israel
The same way God made him tend to his father’s sheep