Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

elders of his own tribe of Judah. Everyone who had helped and
supported him and his followers in the mountain refuges when he
had been forced to flee for his life were remembered.
As David and his warriors worked to restore their ruined
homes, they watched for news of the battle fought between Israel
and the Philistines. Suddenly a messenger entered the town, "with
his clothes torn and dust on his head." He was at once brought to
David, and he bowed before him as if David were a powerful prince
whose favor he desired. The messenger reported Saul's defeat and
death and the death of Jonathan. But he went beyond a simple
statement of facts. He hoped to obtain honor for himself as the one
who had killed the king. With an air of boasting the man said that he
found the monarch of Israel wounded, and that at his own request
the messenger had killed him. Then he gave David the crown from
Saul's head and the golden bracelets from his arms. He confidently
expected a rich reward for the part he had acted.
David Grieved for Saul
But "David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so
did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and
fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people
of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by
the sword."
After the first shock of the terrible news wore off, David's
thoughts returned to the stranger who had brought the news and the
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