The life of David makes an epoch in Jewish history and human history.  Nations, like plants, have their period of flowers and of fruit.  They have their springtime, their summer, autumn, and winter.  The age of David among the Jews was like the age of Pericles among the Greeks, of Augustus among the Romans, of Louis XIV. in France, of Charles V. in Spain.  Such periods separate themselves from those which went before and from those which follow.  The period of David seems a thousand years removed from that of the Judges, and yet it follows it almost immediately.  As a few weeks in spring turn the brown earth to a glad green, load the trees with foliage, and fill the air with the perfume of blossoms and the song of birds, so a few years in the life of a nation will change barbarism into civilization, and pour the light of literature and knowledge over a sleeping land.  Arts flourish, external enemies are conquered, inward discontents are pacified, wealth pours in, luxury increases, genius accomplishes its triumphs.  Summer, with its flowers and fruits, has arrived.

When a nation is ripe for such a change, the advent of a man of genius will accomplish it.  Around him the particles crystallize and take form and beauty.  Such a man was David,—­a brave soldier, a great captain, a sagacious adventurer, an artist, musician, and poet, a man of profound religious experience; he was, more than all these, a statesman.  By his great organizing ability he made a powerful nation out of that which, when he came to the throne, consisted of a few discordant and half-conquered tribes.  In the time of Saul the Israelites were invaded by all the surrounding nations; by the Syrians on the north, the Ammonites and Moabites on the east, the Amalekites and Edomites on the south, and the Philistines on the west.  In the time of David all these nations were completely subdued, their cities garrisoned, and the power of the Israelites submitted to from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean.

Most great men are contented to be distinguished in one thing, and to lead a single life; but David led three lives, each distinct from the other,—­the life of a soldier and statesman, the life of a poet and artist, the life of deep religious experience.  We will look at his character in each of these three directions.

We have already said that David found the Israelites divided and half conquered, and left them united and conquerors.  By means of his personal qualities he had made himself popular among the tribes.  He was known as a brave and cautious guerilla chief.  His native generosity and open-heartedness won him the love of the people.  His religious tendencies gained for him the friendship of the priests, and the great influence of Samuel was always exerted in his favor.  He was thus enabled to unite the people, and gain their confidence till he could make use of them in larger enterprises.  The Jews were not naturally a military nation, and were never meant