David and the Spider

When King David was still a little boy he enjoyed walking through the fields, shepherding his flock and viewing nature. He was thrilled to see how each living creature gave something to the world: hens laid eggs, bees made honey, cows produced milk and sheep grew soft wool. Until he came across a spider. “Why was he created at all?” David wondered, finding nothing useful in the spider’s web. God replied to him, telling him that everything in creation had its purpose and its role, and that the day would come when David would see that the spider also had its uses.

Years went by and David became a hero who had saved his people and was very popular. King Saul was envious of him, and feared for his throne. He gathered his army and set out to hunt David and his followers down. One day during the chase David was hiding in a cave but Saul and his soldiers tracked him and were getting closer. David’s life was in danger. Who came to his rescue? A small spider, who quickly spun a web across the entrance to the cave. Saul and his soldiers didn’t bother to brush it aside and go into the cave, because they took the spider’s web as a sign that no one had entered it. That’s how David realized that the spider, like all other creatures, can be useful, and he immediately thanked it and said he was sorry for doubting that.

Ephraim Sidon has put to rhyme a Jewish legend from the Talmud which teaches that everything has its place on the face of the earth.