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DEPOSITED BY THE

LINONIAN AND BROTHERS LIBRARY

DAVID,

KING OF ISRAEL

HIS LIFE AND ITS LESSONS.

BY THE

REV. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D.D.,
MINISTER OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE, NEW YORK CITY.

NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1875-

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
Harper & Brothers,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE

THE Psalms of David are the throbbing heart of Holy
Scripture. But they can not be fully understood unless
we read them in the light of the experiences out of which
they sprung. Hence the life ofthe son of Jesse must be ever
interesting to the devout student of the Word of God ; and
many have undertaken to set it forth in distinctness before
the modern reader.
In adding another to the works already existing on this
portion of sacred history, I have no other apology to offer
than that which arises out of the interest, amounting almost
tp a fascination, which it has long had for myself. I have en
deavored to give vividness and reality to the far-off past, and
to draw from it lessons of " doctrine, of warning, of reproof,
of correction, of instruction in righteousness" for the present.
In attempting to do this I have availed myself of all the light
which I could obtain from every quarter. I have not con
sciously evaded any difficulty, or strained any statement ;
and while I have carefully noted my obligations to others, I
can not forbear expressing in this place my indebtedness to
Dean Stanley's " Lectures on- the Jewish Church," and the Bi
ble dictionaries of Kitto, Smith, and Fairbairn.
Such as it is, I desire to lay my work at the feet of Him
"whose I am and whom I serve ;" and if it shall in any meas
ure increase my reader's interest in the Old Testament Scrip
tures or add to his enjoyment of the sacred Psalter, or min
ister to his spiritual profit, I shall be abundantly rewarded.
Broadway Tabernacle, September 30, 1874.

CONTENTS.

Page
I. The Anointing at Bethlehem  9
II. Medicinal Music  24
III. The Conflict with Goliath  41
IV. David and Jonathan  . 58
V. The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah  75
VI. The Valley of Deceit  93
VII. Songs in the Night  112
VIII. Cave Songs  -  133
IX. Nabal  153
X. Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa  170
XI. Hebron and Jerusalem  191
XII. The Bringing up of the Ark  210
XIII. Nathan's Message  230
XIV. David's Administration  . 245
XV. The Great Transgression  264
XVI. The Bereavement  283
XVII. The Revolt of Absalom  299
XVIII. Absalom's Defeat and Death  320
XIX. The Restoration of David to his Throne  338
XX. Famine and Pestilence  360
XXI. Even-song  379
XXII. The Coronation of Solomon  399
XXIII. Last Words  415
fNDEX  435

DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL.

i.
THE ANOINTTNG AT BETHLEHEM.
i Samuel xvi., 1-13.
IN entering upon the consideration of the life-story of Da
vid, King of Israel, it is needful that we have a clear
conception of the state of affairs in the land at the time
when he first appears upon the scene.
Samuel, to whose history the interest of every reader is
drawn with a peculiar fascination, was now an old man ; and
had, in a great measure, retired from public life to his home
at Ramah, where, however, he still presided over one of those
educational institutions which in the Old Testament are
called "schools ofthe prophets." He had judged Israel for
twenty years with prudence, impartiality, and success, and
was in every way as worthy as ever ofthe veneration and con
fidence of the community. But moved, partly by the fact that
his sons did not walk in his footsteps, and partly also by
that ostentatious rivalry of their neighbors, which is the bane
of states as well as of families, the tribes desired a king. This
request at first greatly distressed the aged prophet, but after
consulting God upon the subject he was led to acquiesce in
the proposal, and at a solemn gathering of the people he ad
dressed them in a strain of mingled tenderness and reproof,
took them to witness that he had managed their affairs with
moderation and integrity, and then summoned them to ap
point their king, not however by popular election, but by lot,

10 David, King of Israel.
thereby reminding them that he who should be set over them
would be, after all, only the vicar and representative of their
true King, Jehovah. The whole narrative impresses us with
a sense of the dignity and self-control of Samuel ; and we
see that he was a truly patriotic and self-sacrificing man,
willing to be any thing, or to do any thing, for the sake of his
people and his God.
The man on whom the lot at this time fell was Saul, the
son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. He had an imposing
appearance, great martial prowess, and considerable intel
lectual ability, and if he had been willing to sink his person
al ambition in the service of the Lord, he might have be
come truly great, but ever and anon he rebelled against and
overpassed what may be called the constitutional restraints
of the theocratic monarchy ; and so he lost the great op
portunity of his life, and left behind him a name around
which the saddest associations hover, and to which no real
nobility belongs.
At first his appointment to the regal office was the occa
sion of discontent, and almost mutiny, among the people ;
but the promptitude and valor which he evinced in the res
cue ofthe citizens of Jabesh-gilead secured to him the will
ing homage of his subjects. His reverence for God, howev
er, was not 'equal to his daring on the field of battle, and he
fretted and chafed under what he regarded as the interfer
ence of Jehovah with his management of public affairs.
On at least two memorable and testing occasions he show
ed his determination to take his own way, in defiance of the
commands of the Almighty.
The first of these was in connection with an effort to rid
the people of the vexatious bondage under which they were
held by the Philistines, who still maintained several garri
sons in the midst of the Promised Land, from which they
came forth ever and anon to plunder and murder the inhab-

The Anointing at Bethlehem. ii
itants. Jonathan, Saul's noble son, had taken the strong
hold of Geba ; and the king, desirous of following up this
success by a general assault upon the enemy, summoned
the people to Gilgal. It would appear, however, that Sam
uel had, in the name of Jehovah, forbidden him to do any
thing until he had arrived and offered sacrifice, and that he
had appointed the seventh day for that purpose. In the
mean time, the Philistines, hearing of the movements of the
Israelites, had assembled in great force, and came up to of
fer battle. Their appearance occasioned a panic among the
Israelites, and Saul's soldiers were deserting on every hand,
so that, in his view, it became necessary to act at once.
Hence, on the seventh day, though Samuel had not yet come,
Saul, thinking to stay the panic that had set in, and perhaps
also imagining that he would raise himself in the estimation
of the army, assumed the office of priest, and offered sacri
fice with his own hands.
He had scarcely finished when Samuel arrived ; and hav
ing heard what the king had done, the prophet sorrowful
ly, yet sternly, said, " Thou hast done foolishly : thou hast
not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he
commanded thee : for now would the Lord have established
thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom
shall not continue : the Lord hath sought him a man after
his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be
captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that
which the Lord commanded thee."*
The second similar occasion was in connection with a
commission which Saul received to destroy the Amalekites,
who were ancient foes of Israel, and whose extermination
was needful to the establishment of the great theocracy.
The order was very severe. No one was to be spared, and
* I Sam. xiii., 13, 14.

12 David, King of Israel.
all the cattle were to be destroyed. But Saul faltered in
carrying it out. From a spirit of self-glory he spared Agag,
the chief, that he might grace his triumphant return to Gib
eah. In the same arrogant disposition, he set up a memo
rial of his victory near Carmel ; and preferring his own way
to God's, he spared the flocks and herds under pretense of
making a great offering to Jehovah. Again, however, he
was confronted by Samuel, who upbraided him with his self-
will, and gave utterance to that great principle which had in
it the forecast of the Gospel, " To obey is better than sacri
fice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Thereafter the
prophet repeated his solemn announcement, " Because thou
hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected
thee from being king." This declaration deeply affected
Saul, and he sought by every means to draw from Samuel
some revocation. In the earnestness of his appeal he even
laid hold upon the prophet's mantle, but, from the rending
ofthe garment in the royal hand, Samuel only took occa
sion to repeat the prediction in another form, saying, " The
Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day,
and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than
thou."* Still, commiserating the humiliated monarch, the
prophet yielded to his entreaty so far as. to continue to hon
or him that day before the people, but after he had with his
own hands put to death the chief of the Amalekites, Samuel
withdrew to his retirement in Ramah ; and so far as the rec
ord bears he saw Saul again no more, save for a brief space
at Naioth, until that night of terror and dismay at Endor,
when he came forth from his grave to say to him, " To-mor
row shalt thou and thy sons be with me."
Alas ! for Saul. With many elements of greatness about
him, and having withal such a disposition that those who
* i Sam. xv., 22, 23, 28.

The Anointing at Bethlehem. 13
were most intimately connected with him could not help lik
ing him, he was yet the creature of impulse, swaying ever
more between his better and his worse nature. Now he was
among the sons ofthe prophets entering enthusiastically into
their occupations, and catching the spirit of their service ;
and anon he was carried away by some caprice of self-con
ceit, or some freak of personal inclination, to do what was
utterly inconsistent with the position which he occupied, as
the servant of the Lord upon the throne of Israel. Had he
yielded to the promptings of his nobler self, and the draw
ings of God's Spirit, he might have been one of the grandest
characters in sacred history ; but he allowed his lower nature
to predominate, and though to the last we have occasion
al outflashings of his old generosity and religiousness, these
were but like the glimmerings of an expiring lamp, which
went out in a darkness so profound as to sadden the heart
of every beholder. As Dean Stanley has truly remarked,
" His religion was never blended with his moral nature — his
religious zeal was always breaking out in wrong channels on
irregular occasions in his own way •" and again " it broke out
in wild, ungovernable acts of zeal and superstition, and then
left him a prey more than ever to his own savage disposition."*
With splendid opportunities and great abilities, he yet failed
to profit by either, because he knew not " the day of his
visitation," and because he repudiated the conditions within
which alone he could have risen to greatness. Yet there was
a strange charm about him too. Even as in our own day we
may know some reckless youth, with frank, impetuous dispo
sition, and occasional impulses to right things, who is making
shipwreck of himself, and whom, in spite of his folly, we can
not help liking, so we are drawn toward Saul notwithstand
ing his wickedness, and we can well understand how Samuel
* " The Jewish Church," vol. ii., pp. 21, 24.

14 David, King of Israel.
felt when he "mourned" over him. He had hoped so much
from him ; he had seen so much that was lovable about
him ; and yet he had been so sadly disappointed in him, that
we do not wonder at his sorrow. Haply, too, he was cher
ishing the expectation that he might yet come to himself, and
redeem the promise of his earlier time. But it was not so to
be, for now the command comes to the prophet, " How long
wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
, reigning over Israel ? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will
send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite : for I have provided me
a king among his sons."
The town to which Samuel was now sent was but a little
one among the thousands of Judah, and up to this time had
not come into any great prominence in the history of the
tribe. It is about five miles south of Jerusalem, a little to
the east of the' road that leads to Hebron. It stands upon
the summit and slopes of a narrow ridge, which projects east
ward from the central chain of the Judean mountains. The
sides of the hill below the village are carefully terraced, and
even in modern times they are occupied with fertile vine
yards j while in the valleys beneath, and on a little plain that
lies to the eastward, there are some corn-fields whose produce,
perhaps, gave the name Bethlehem, or house of bread, to the
town with which they were connected. Beyond these fields
is the wilderness of Judea, the chief features of which are
white limestone hills, thrown confusedly together, with deep
ravines winding in and out among them.
The place never was' of any great political importance in
the land, but around it cluster associations which, throughout
eternity, will make its name illustrious. In the immediate
neighborhood, memorial of the tenderest sorrow of Jacob's
life, was the tomb of Rachel. In yonder corn-fields Ruth
gleaned after the reapers of Boaz, on those never-to-be-for
gotten harvest-days which so materially changed the circum-

The Anointing at Bethlehem.

i5

stances of the alien woman, and made her the ancestress of
a royal line, whose representative sits now at God's right
hand. On the slopes of these hills David was watching his
father's flocks on the occasion before us ; and here, too, was
announced to shepherds, as they tended their charge by
night, the glad tidings of the birth of him who "has brought
life and immortality to light."
It was an appropriate training-place for the future king
and bard of Israel, and no occupation could have been more
conducive to the development in him of those qualities of
prudence, promptitude, and prowess which his after-life re
quired, than that of a shepherd. Its solitude would cast him
upon the companionship of God; and when the night unveiled
the glory ofthe stars, he would become familiar with the gran
deur ofthe heavens, thus storing his mind with lofty thoughts
and holy musings, which, either then or at a later day, came
forth glorified and made immortal by the music of his verse.
Nor was this all : his unceasing labors and occasional conflicts
with wild animals from the neighboring wilderness would give
him physical strength; while, again, his proximity to the tribe
of Benjamin would call forth in him a desire to outrival, in their
friendly matches, the skill of those eminent marksmen "who
could sling at a hair-breadth and not miss," and so, all un
consciously to himself, prepare him for the work which lay
before him.
But we must not anticipate. When Samuel received his
commission he was filled with dismay, and said, " How can I
go ? if Saul hear it, he will kill me." This fear on the part
of one who was usually so brave may indicate, either that
the mental malady with which Saul was latterly afflicted had
already begun to show itself in fierce outbreaks of passionate
cruelty, or that he had somehow manifested that unscrupu
lous disregard of human life which he evinced at a later date
on more than one occasion, and more particularly when he

1 6 David, King of Israel.
caused the seventy priests of Nob to be put to death. But
the Lord's will must be done. So he is commanded to al
lay suspicion by summoning the inhabitants of Bethlehem
to a sacrifice. Here, however, was no subterfuge. There
would have been disingenuousness if he had professed to of
fer sacrifice, while he really meant to do nothing of the kind;
but he did carry out his design in that matter, though for pru
dential considerations he made no public allusion to the oth
er commission with which he was intrusted. If any surprise
be felt at the offering of sacrifice, in a place other than that
appointed in the Mosaic law, the explanation is to be found
in the fact that the ark of the covenant of the Lord was not
at this time in the Tabernacle, but in the city of Kirjath-
jearim, and so the Tabernacle had ceased for the present to
be the only place of the nation's worship.*
The appearance of the prophet approaching the city, and
driving a heifer before him, created quite a sensation among
the people. They feared that in some way they had offend
ed God, and that he had sent his servant to denounce them
and to bring some punishment upon their heads. Thus nat
ural is it for men whose consciences tell of guilt, to fear when
any thing reminds them of Jehovah. Hundreds of years af
ter this, when the heavenly light was seen in the same place
by the shepherds, they too were " sore afraid ;" but there was
as little ground for fear in the one case as in the other ; for
in both there was a provided sacrifice, and in both the mis
sion was one of peace ; yea, as Samuel came to anoint David
to be a king, so the angel-heralded Jesus appeared " to make
us kings and priests unto our Lord and his Father."
Having exhorted them to make suitable preparations for
the sacred service, and having gone through the necessary
ritual observances, the prophet invited Jesse and his sons to
* See Keil on I Samuel, p. 168.

The Anointing at Bethlehem. 17
take their places at the feast with which the sacrifice con
cluded ; but just as they were about to sit down, he looked
intently at the young men to see which of them was the
Lord's anointed. The eldest attracted his attention by his
countenance and his stature, and he said within himself,
" This must be he ;" but God, reminding him, perhaps, of the
same features about Saul, declared that he had refused him,
because he read in his heart unfitness for the royal office.
Similarly the rest were passed, until, in great perplexity,
Samuel said to Jesse, "Are here all thy children?" The
answer revealed to him that the youngest was in the field
following the sheep, whereupon he affirmed that they could
not proceed until he appeared, and directed that he should
be sent for immediately.
While, therefore, they await the return of the messenger,
we may briefly give you all that we can gather from the page
of Scripture of the genealogy and position of Jesse and his
family. From the table at the end of the book of Ruth,
taken in connection with that prefixed to the gospel of Mat
thew, we learn that Jesse was the ninth, in direct descent,
from Judah, the son of Jacob ; and as in the first chapter of
the book of Numbers we have the name of Nahshon, the fifth
in that lineage, with the title " prince of the house of Judah "
attached to it, we may fairly presume that the family was of
great importance in the tribe. We know, too, that Boaz, the
grandfather of Jesse, was a wealthy magnate in Bethlehem ;
and so we may conclude that Jesse was, if not the chief man
in the place, at least one of its most influential inhabitants.
In the tables to which I have referred the names of two
Gentile women occur — Rahab of Jericho, and Ruth of Moab
— and it is by no means improbable that the connection of
his ancestors with Gentile nations may have had, when he
came to know it, a considerable influence on the mind of
David, while, perhaps, it contributed in after -days to his

1 8 David, King of Israel.
choice of Moab as an asylum for his parents when it was no
longer safe for them to remain in Bethlehem.
The family of Jesse consisted of eight sons and three
daughters. David was the youngest child ; and so great a
difference was there between his age and those of some of
the elder ones, that the sons of his sister Zeruiah seem to
have been brought up as boys along with him, and were
through life associated with him — not always to his advan
tage. Of his mother we know almost nothing ; her name
has nowhere been preserved for us in sacred history. Some
have supposed that she was Jesse's second wife, and others
have not scrupled to place her in a less honorable relation
ship ; with no good ground, however, so far as I can see.
David in his Psalms styles himself, on more than one occa
sion, " the son of God's handmaid ;" and this leads us to be
lieve that she had a holy influence upon him, and that it was
most likely from her lips that he first heard the wondrous
story of God's former dealings with his people, as well as
the simple, pathetic pastoral of Ruth. His father is not re
ferred to by him in any such way as to evince that he owed,
either intellectually or spiritually, very much to him. In
deed, as one has said, Jesse "seems to have been a sort
of dull country squire, with not many thoughts beyond his
sheep, and not many aspirations beyond the advancement
of himself and family. He manifestly thought very little of
his youngest son ; perhaps because he was a quiet, thought
ful, pious lad, who liked better to make hymns and sing
them, than to pursue those arts by which his older brothers
were seeking to push their way in the world."* But he had
a firm hold on his mother's heart ; and we can imagine how,
when he came home at night fatigued by the day's toils, she
* Dr. W. L. Alexander, of Edinburgh : "Christian Thought and Work,''
pp. 256, 257.

The Anointing at Bethlehem. 19
would soothe and solace him, and minister to his wants,
bringing with her some well-saved dainty which she knew he
would prize ; how, when he spoke to her some of his musings
over the realities of the world unseen, she would enter into
his views and feelings, and deepen every salutary impres
sion ; and how, when he sung to her some simple song
which he had made that day while following the flock, she
would shield him from the ridicule of his brothers, and
give him, in her loving appreciation of his verse, a new in
spiration, firing his heart with the ambition of some day
producing such poetry that " the world would not willingly
let it die."
But yonder he comes ! with his shepherd's crook in his
hand, his face flushed with the exertions he has been mak
ing to obey his father's call, his auburn hair* flowing in the
breeze, and a light flashing from his fair, bright eyes. We
can easily picture him to ourselves as, with bashful surprise,
he felt the holy oil suffuse his head, and saw it flow even to
the skirts of his garments.
We are not informed whether Samuel explained to him, or
to his father, the meaning of this sacred rite. The likeli
hood is that he did not, because his words would have been
sure in some way or other to have reached the ears of Saul,
and then all his prudential measures would have been taken
in vain. But David would receive all needful knowledge
from another quarter, for " the Spirit of the Lord came upon
him from that day forward." Not with stormful gust, like
that which swept over the soul of Saul when he met the
children of the prophets, and which speedily passed away ;
but with the gentle silence of the opening dawn which bright
ens into perfect day, the Spirit came into David's heart, and
soon, by his secret, supernatural suggestions, he would dis-
* I Sam. xii., 6.

20 David, King of Israel.
cover for what purpose the prophet had emptied his horn of
oil upon his head.
It was a crisis in his history. He entered from that mo
ment upon a higher stage of life than that on which hereto
fore he had stood. The light-hearted boy became a thought
ful youth, forecasting the duties and responsibilities of his
future career ; but, far from considering the tending of his
sheep a work too menial for one on whom the consecrating
oil had been shed, he went back to it, seeing in it a new sig
nificance as a preparative for the nobler labors that lay be
fore him. He sought to fit himself for the loftier sphere by
continuing faithfully to discharge the duties of the humbler ;
and while he was far from putting away from him the exal
tation which was in store for him, he was content to wait un1
til it was God's time for him to rise to it. The revelation
of the future neither soured his heart at the present, nor
turned him away from the work he was required to do.
The day that was passing over him only acquired new im
portance in his eyes because of the revelation of the future
which had been given him ; and he was not the less watchful
as a shepherd, but rather the more, because he knew that
there was a throne before him.
How much is there in all this to instruct us who believe
in Jesus Christ ! By the holy anointing of the Spirit we
too have been designated for a throne, but let us not be
high-minded because of that. Let us rather continue here
at the daily work which he has set us, grappling manfully
with the spiritual enemies by whom we are beset, even as
David slew the lion and the bear that came to his flock,
and soothing our spirits the while with the music of a psalm,
even as David sang while following his sheep. Then, when
it is God's time for us to rise, we shall hear his voice saying
to us, " Come up hither," and shall discover that, by the daily
discipline of duty done in the name of the Lord Jesus, we

The Anointing at Bethlehem. 21
have been making ourselves ready for the throne on which
we shall be placed.
The narrative over which we have thus come, introducto
ry though it be, is rich in practical suggestiveness ; but we
can stay now to give point to only two or three reflections.
We may see in the history of Saul, which we have briefly
summarized, how important it is that we should make the
most of the opportunities which God puts before us. There
came to the son of Kish a tidal time of favor, which, if he
had only recognized and improved it, might have carried
him, not only to greatness, but to goodness. But he proved
faithless to the trust which was committed to him, and be
came in the end a worse man than he would have been, if
no such privileges had been conferred upon him. We can
not read his history without observing how, as his life wore
on, the good features in his character disappeared, and he
who once promised to bear much goodly fruit had in the
end " nothing but leaves," and was blighted by the curse of
barrenness. His career is a melancholy illustration of the
truth of the Saviour's words, " From him that hath not, shall
be taken away even that he hath." Let the young take note
of the lesson and the warning. Whether you know it or
not, God has given you special opportunities, and according
as you deal with these he will deal with you. There have
been times, mayhap, when you too were " among the proph
ets," and felt within you the stirrings and strivings of the
Holy Spirit; but what has been the result? Were you
changed thereby merely into " other " men ; or did you be
come "new creatures" in Christ Jesus? Depend upon it,
after all such experiences you can not continue quite as you
were before. If you have not been the better for them, you
must be the worse, and if they come again, beware how you
deal with them ! Once, long after, Saul came again under
influences and impressions similar to those which he felt at

22 David, King of Israel.
the beginning of his career ; but he let that day of grace
also pass, and in the end he felt that God had departed
from him. Let it not be so with you. " Quench not the
Spirit " by your follies and your sins, but yield yourselves up
to God through Jesus Christ, and live always and only for
him ; so shall the opportunities which he has given you be
come the steps on that great life-ladder up which you climb
to heaven. See that you know the " day of your visitation ;"
and that you may make no mistake, where mistake is so fa
tal, let every day be to you a day of grace. Determine by
the help of God's Spirit to make the best of it for the devel
opment within you of a holy character, and for the promo
tion around you of the good of souls. God has anointed
you to rule over your own spirits, and to bring them "into
captivity to the obedience of Christ ;" but if you despise
this glorious royalty, and give yourselves over to iniquity, he
will despise you, and give you over to destruction.
We may see, again, in Jehovah's expostulation with Sam
uel concerning Eliab, the solemn truth that in the eye of the
All -seeing the heart is the man. "God looketh on the
heart." It makes little matter, therefore, what the outward
appearance is, while, if the heart be wrong, nothing can be
right. There is much, no doubt, in the bodily development
to attract the eye, and I would not undervalue attention to
the symmetrical discipline of the physical frame. Yet mus
cularity is not Christianity, and bodily beauty is not holiness.
The character, therefore, ought to be the principal object of
your attention. Not how you look, but what you are, ought
to be the first care of your lives ; for if you have a selfish dis
position, a sordid soul, or a sinful life, your outward beauty
will be like " a jewel in a swine's snout," and your bodily
vigor will only be like the strength of a safe in which noth
ing worth preserving is locked up. Let your aim be to be
holy ; and if you will only turn in faith to Jesus, and follow

The Anointing at Bethlehem. 23
in the footsteps of his example, your soul will become beau
tiful in Jehovah's eyes, and your life will become, even in the
view of your fellow-men, bright with a glory which is not of
earth. We may see once more, from the anointing of David, that
we need a special preparation for the service of God. In the
old economy, the prophet, the priest, and the king were set
apart to their offices by the pouring of oil upon their heads ;
and this was, as the history before us makes apparent, the
symbol of the conferring ¦ upon them of the Holy Ghost.
Under the New Testament dispensation there are no such
offices, or, rather, every believer is himself, in a subordinate
sense, a king, priest, and prophet, all in one. Now, for the
services which we are as such to render to God and to our
fellow-men we need a special unction of the Holy Ghost.
Be it ours, therefore, to make earnest application for this su
preme anointing. We*have each his own work to do, but
we shall fail to do it rightly, unless the Spirit of glory and of
God do rest upon us. To-night, like another Samuel, I am
sent to tell you that God is willing to consecrate you as his
" kings and priests ;" that you may serve him in the Gospel
of his Son, alike in your daily labor and your sacred exer
cises. Despise not, I pray you, this baptism of the Holy
Ghost. Uncover your heads for this heavenly oil ; open your
hearts for the admission of this celestial influence ; and hear
these words from the mouth of Him who solemnly ordains
you to this ministry of life : " Know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own ? For ye are bought
with a price : therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's."

II.
MEDICINAL MUSIC.
i Samuel xvi., 14-23.
AFTER Samuel's rebuke at Gilgal, Saul appears to have
become more abandoned than ever. He brooded
over his rejection as if it had been a wrong done to him ;
and though in his -inmost heart he felt that he had sinned,
he would neither make acknowledgment of his transgression,
nor return to a proper mind. He became moody, irritable,
vindictive, and gloomy, a source of misery to himself, and a
cause of anxiety and terror to all who were around him.
The moral balance of his nature, weak and unsteady as it
had always been, seems now to have been almost destroyed,
and even his intellect became beclouded, for he exhibited
symptoms closely akin to those of mental aberration.
The cause and nature of the malady with which he was
afflicted are described in the narrative by these two phrases :
"The Spirit ofthe Lord departed from Saul," and "An evil
spirit from the Lord troubled him." There is thus both a
privative and a positive proposition, and it is extremely dif
ficult to determine what precisely is indicated by their com
bination. In regard to the negative or privative declaration
to the effect that "the Spirit ofthe Lord had departed from
Saul," we may take it to mean that God withdrew from him
all those special aids which, in connection with his anointing
to the royal office, had been conferred upon him. Perhaps,
also, we may include in it the taking away from him of those
gracious influences of the Holy Spirit without which a man
becomes, in the saddest and solemnest of all senses, " aban-

Medicinal Music. 25
doned." This is what Paul has described as a "being given
over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;" and what, in the simple Saxon of our common
speech, we call " a being left to one's self." The Saviour
has said, " From him that hath not shall be taken away even
that he hath." Now, in Saul, as we have already hinted, we
have a deeply suggestive instance of the execution of this
sentence. He had received not one talent only, but many ;
yet he failed to improve them, and so they were taken from
him, and he was left, in a large degree, the mental and moral
wreck of his former self. He was deprived of all the special
gifts which had been conferred upon him, and set free from
all those restraining influences which had been exerted upon
him, and which had kept him from those aggravated iniqui
ties into which he afterward fell.
This was sad enough, for, as Delany says, "No man needs
a heavier chastisement from Almighty God than the letting
loose of his own passions upon him."* Still the positive ex
pression, "An evil spirit from the Lord troubled him," would
appear to indicate that there was something more, and more
dreadful even than this, though what that something was, it is
not easy now to determine. On such a subject it would be
the height of folly for any man to dogmatize ; but just as in
the case of Job, the Lord permitted Satan to visit him with
calamity and evil, with the view of bringing out thereby more
vividly before men's eyes the saintliness of the patriarch's
character ; and as in that of Paul, a messenger of Satan, in
the shape of a thorn in the flesh, was permitted to buffet him
lest he should be exalted above measure ; so here, it seems
to me, that God made use of an evil spirit in order to inflict
judicial punishment upon Saul ; and, for my own part, I do
* " Historical Account ofthe Life and Reign of Davrd, King of Israel,"
vol. i., p. 26.

26 David, King of Israel.
not see any thing more mysterious in such an employment
of evil spirits ii> the present state, than there is in the idea
that these spirits shall in some terrible way intensify the mis
ery of the lost in the world to come. We have here, then, as
we think, something like a case of demoniacal possession,
having its root and origin in the moral perversion of the soul
itself. It would be wrong, indeed, to assert that in all cases
of that sort described in Scripture, the malady was the con
sequence of special sin in the individual afflicted by it ; nev
ertheless, as Trench has remarked, " It should not be lost
sight of, that lavish sin, superinducing, as it often would, a
weakness of the nervous system, wherein is the special bond
between the body and the soul, may have laid open those un
happy ones to the fearful incursions of the powers of dark
ness."* And, from the peculiar language here employed,
there is hardly room for doubt that, by the mysterious judicial
permission of God, and as a punishment for his stubborn
rebellion, such a spirit now laid hold on Saul, widening and
deepening the gulf of separation which already existed be
tween him and Jehovah. He that will do evil of his own
choice is ultimately given over to evil as his master. This is
the dreadful law, and in the present instance that mastery
was maintained by the personal agency of one of those spir
itual beings which are subordinate to the prince of darkness.
Farther than this on such a subject we dare not venture, only
we may take to ourselves the lesson of warning with which it
is fraught, and learn to be on our guard, lest, refusing the
guiding influence of God's Holy Spirit, we too should be
given over to the dominion of Satan ; for though demoni
acal possession in its ancient form has disappeared from
among us, it is yet too sadly possible for the prince of dark
ness to hold us captives at his will, and to rule in those

_^ Notes on the Miracles," p. 161.

Medicinal Music. 27
high places within us, in which God alone should be en
throned. The servants of Saul, devoted to him by that personal at
tachment, of which we have already seen a remarkable in
stance in Samuel himself, were deeply concerned on his ac
count, and did every thing that they could think of, to alle
viate his misery and cheer his spirit. But it was of no avail.
At length, becoming convinced that the thing was of God,
they bethought themselves of some special remedy ; and one
would have imagined that, as they saw so clearly the divine
hand in the malady, they would have counseled their lord
to return in submission to Jehovah, and to call in the aid
of Samuel. But, whether they feared that such advice would
have been unwelcome, and might therefore rather have
tended to' aggravate the evil, or whether they were them
selves so defiant of God as deliberately to pass him over in
their thoughts, we can not tell. All we know is, that they had
recourse not to a spiritual, but to a material remedy. They
suggested music ; and if the disease had been merely a phys
ical thing, they had prescribed well, for there is a virtue in
" the concord of sweet sounds " to soothe the fretting brain
and calm the troubled nerves ; and men in every age, from the
invention of musical instruments till now, have in such cases
availed themselves of its aid with much effect. Interesting
instances in illustration of this are given in abundance, by
those who have made this subject a special study. We may
mention a few. Seneca tells us that Pythagoras quieted the
troubles of his mind with a harp ; and in Pindar ^Esculapius
figures as healing acute disorders with soothing songs. "A
story, too, is told of Farinelli, the famous singer, being sent
for express to Madrid, to try the effect of his magical voice
on the King of Spain (Philip the Fifth), who was then buried
in the profoundest melancholy, proof against every appeal to
exertion, living without signs of life in a darkened chamber,

28 David, King of Israel.
the unresisting prey of dejection beyond relief. The vocal
ist was desired by the physicians to sing in an outer room,
which for a day or two he did, without any effect upon the roy
al patient. But at length it was noticed that the king seemed
partially roused from his stupor, and became an evident list
ener ; next day tears were seen starting from his eyes ; the
day after he ordered the door of his chamber to be left open ;
and at last ' the perturbed spirit entirely left him, and the
medicinal voice of Farinelli effected what no other medicine
could.' Similarly, we find that in literature and the drama
kindred effects are ascribed to music." Readers of Scott will
remember how a frenzied Highlander is soothed into self-
restraint by the minstrelsy of Annot Lyle. Goethe makes
the first bar of an air by Gretchen suffice to lull the sorrows
of young Werther, who protests that "instantly the gloom
and madness which hung over him were dispersed, and he
breathed freely again." And Robert Browning has these
beautiful lines, as the utterance of one who is listening to
sweet sounds :
"My heart ! they loose my heart, those simple words ;
Its darkness passes, which naught else could touch,
Like some dank snake that force may not expel,
Which glideth out to music sweet and low."*
But it is more pertinent to our present purpose to remind
you that, when Elisha's spirit had been fretted and chafed
by the presence of the wicked Jehoram, he called for a min
strel, and under the soothing strains of his music he so re
gained his wonted composure that the Spirit of the Lord
came upon him. Now this last instance may fitly illustrate
all that music could do for Saul. It could not effect a per
manent cure. It simply created a temporary alleviation.

* For these and many similar allusions, see " Scripture Texts Illus
trated," by Francis Jacox. First series, pp. 55-60.

Medicinal Music. 29
The words of Delaney here seem to me most judicious.
"We have reason," says he, "to believe, nor will the best
philosophy forbid us, that quieting the perturbations of the
mind is absolutely necessary toward receiving the sacred in
fluences of the Spirit of God ; and if so, then we may fairly
conclude that the same state of mind which fits us for the
influence of good spirits as naturally unfits us for the influ
ence of such as are evil ; and therefore the same power of
music which quieted Elisha's rage (and indignation against
the idolatrous Jehoram), and fitted him for the agency of
the Holy Spirit of God, might for the same reason, by quiet
ing Saul's unruly passions, unfit him for the agency of the
evil spirit which troubled him, and of consequence work his
cure for that time."* Hence, though it did not go to the root
of the evil, the suggestion of Saul's servants was valuable
so far as pointing to a temporary mitigation of the calamity.
Their advice seems to have been given in one of the mon
arch's lucid intervals ; and it so met his approval that he at
once gave the command, "Provide me now a man that can.
play well, and bring him to me." On making inquiry, it was,
found that one of the servants of his house had met David,
and. had either heard him play, or had heard of his great
musical ability, and on his report a messenger was at once
dispatched to Jesse desiring the immediate attendance of his
youngest son at Gibeah. Notice the description that is here
given of the youthful shepherd : " Cunning in playing, and a
mighty, valiant man, and prudent in matters (or, as the mar
gin has it, in speech), and a comely person, and the Lord is
with him." We are not surprised to find here mention made
of his skill in music and his comeliness in person, but it
is not so easy to account for the fact that he is styled " a
* "Historical Account of the Life of David, King of Israel," vol i.,
p. 28.

30 David, King of Israel.
mighty valiant man, and a man of war;" and from the diffi
culty which these words present, it has been supposed that
by some accident there has been a transposition of two sec
tions of the narrative at this particular portion of the book
of Samuel. To put the case clearly before you, we must an
ticipate one or two of the incidents in the succeeding chap
ter. Observe, then, that it is said that after David's perform
ances on the harp, Saul made him his armor-bearer; and
again, that after the conflict between him and Goliath, Saul
asked, "Whose son is this youth?" as if he had been, up till
that moment, ignorant of every thing about him. It is hence
inferred by some that the narrative on which we are now
engaged has fallen out of its proper place, and that it should
be taken in after the next chapter, or rather between the
ninth and tenth verses of the eighteenth chapter. But this
seems to me to be a violent cutting of the knot, while, in re
ality, it does not free us from the difficulty; for if the descrip
tion of David by Saul's servant in the section before us were
given after the duel with the giant, it is inconceivable that
no mention should have been made of that great victory ;
while again, after the events of that memorable day, it is im
probable that Saul should not have known and recognized
who David was from his servant's description of him ; and
as after that deed of prowess DaVid was the special object
of Saul's jealousy, his presence would have tended rather
to aggravate, than to mitigate, the malady from which he suf
fered. On the whole, therefore, though the narrative is by
no means free from difficulties, I prefer to take it in the or
der here given, the rather as there is nothing in any of the
Hebrew manuscripts, or in any of the ancient versions, to
indicate that a transposition has occurred.
But what, then, is the meaning of the words "a mighty
man of valor," and " a man of war," as applied to a youth
like David ? I answer that the reference may be to his sue-

Medicinal Music. 31
cessful encounters with wild beasts in the keeping of his
flocks, or to his valiant resistance of the wandering Arabs,
who then, like the modern Bedouins, roamed through the
land, making prey of every thing on which they could lay
their hands. Stories of David's youthful prowess, as well
as of his skill in music and his pre-eminent piety, must have
been common in the neighborhood, so that already he had a
reputation for bravery before he faced Goliath ; and proba
bly it is to his local renown for such encounters that Eliab
refers when, on David's appearance in the Valley of Elah,
he taunts him with having left his sheep, and upbraids him
with having come for no other purpose than to see the bat
tle. The phrase "prudent in matters," means also, "skill
ful in words ;" and so it may refer either to his signal sagac
ity, or to his ability in the composition of extempore verses,
with which, like the Italian improvisator, and the minstrels
of the Scottish border of a later day, he accompanied the
music of his harp.
In any case, the description so pleased Saul that he sent a
messenger to Jesse forthwith, saying, " Send me David thy
son, which is with the sheep." We can not tell with what
feelings Jesse received this command. What could Saul
want with his son ? Could there be any evil hanging over
his house ? or was it, that the visit of Samuel to him was now
about to bear visible fruits ? Between these two anticipations
of fear and hope his mind would vibrate ; and as he laded
the ass with the simple present that David was to bear to
Saul, we can imagine with what unwonted fervor he would
commend his youngest-born to the keeping of his God. But
who may describe the feelings that swelled up in the heart
of the young shepherd himself? When, as he followed his
sheep, he thrilled the strings of his much-loved lyre, he had
little idea that it was by his harp he was first to be brought
into prominence in the land ; and now as he sets out for Gib-

32 David, King of Israel.
eah, and thinks of the anointing that he had received from
Samuel's hands, and ofthe future that lay all untrodden before
him, I can almost imagine him anticipating some of his later
strains, and saying, " Hold up my goings in thy paths, that
my footsteps slip not. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me :
for thou art the God of my salvation ; on thee do I wait all
the day."* " Truly," as Kitto says, "it is a pleasant picture
to conceive the future king of Israel stepping lightly along
behind the ass, with his shepherd staff and scrip, and en
tertained as he went by the gambols of the kid. His light
harp was no doubt slung to his back ; and it is likely that
he now and then rested under a tree and solaced his soul
with its music. His fearless temper would not allow him to
look forward to the result of his journey with misgivings ;
or if a doubt crossed his mind, he found sufficient rest in
confidence in God."f
The distance from Bethlehem to Gibeah was a little -short
of twelve miles, and the road lay down the valley of Reph
aim, near to the stronghold of Zion, which was still held by
the Jebusites. As he passed Moriah's rocky ridge, did there
come into his young heart any premonition of the day when
his own palace should crown the hill of Zion, and the thresh
ing-floor of Araunah should be consecrated for Jehovah's
temple ? We can not tell ; but often, I doubt not, in after
times, as he looked abroad from the heights of Jerusalem, or
from the roof of his palace, there would rise up before him
the remembrance of this early journey, when, with his lowly
present and his humble harp he went to begin the world at
the court of Saul ; and, as then, he thought of God's favor to
him through all the intervening years, I can almost hear
him saying, " O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast
laid up for them that fear thee ; which thou hast wrought for
* Psa. xvii., 5 ; xxv., 5. t "J^ily Bible Illustrations," vol. iii., p. 229.

Medicinal Music. 33
them that trust in thee before the sons of men ! Thou shalt
hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of
man : thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the
strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord : for he hath showed
me his marvelous kindness in a strong city."*
Arrived at Gibeah, David was at once presented to Saul,
upon whom he made such a favorable impression that he
was taken forthwith into his regard, and appointed as one
of his armor-bearers ; nay more, the king desired his con
stant presence at the court, and sent to Jesse, saying, " Let
David, I pray thee, stand before me ; for he hath found fa
vor in my sight." And ever as some new attack of his mal
ady seized him, David was there with his harp and holy
hymns to soothe his soul, and " Saul was refreshed, and was
well, and the evil spirit departed from him." To borrow
the lines of James Montgomery,! in his " World before the
Flood," and substituting in them the name of David for that
of Jubal, we may thus describe the scene :
" David with eager hope beheld the chase
Of strange emotions hurrying o'er his face,
And waked his noblest numbers to control
The tide and tempest of the maniac's soul.
Through many a maze of melody he flew;
They rose like incense, they distilled like dew,
Passed through the sufferer's breast delicious balm,
And soothed remembrance till remorse grew calm."
But it was only a temporary relief after all. A more won
drous triumph was yet destined to be wrought by that same
harp when, tuned to words by God's own inspiration given,
it should not only soothe the soul of the singer himself, but
also give forth notes that would reach through all time, and
* Psa. xxxi., 19-21.
t For this application of Montgomery's lines, I am indebted to Blaikie's
" David, King of Israel," p. 37. 2

34 David, King of Israel.
lift the devout spirit above all evil influences. How often
have these holy lyrics done for men a grander work than
that wrought by this music on the mind of Saul ! Luther
felt their influence when, inspirited by their strains, he went
forth to his great reforming work ; and the souls of many
anxious ones have been quieted by their trustful utterances
when their hearts, like Eli's, " trembled for the ark of God."
The lone widow has dried her tears as she has listened to
the music of the words, " God lives ! blessed be my rock,
and let the God of my salvation be exalted." The helpless
orphan has been directed to a friend above, as this soft strain
has fallen on his ear, "When my father and my mother for
sake me, then the Lord will take me up." The desponding
saint has seen the heavens grow bright above him while he
heard these trustful notes : "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou
in God : for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my
countenance, and my God." The dying one has felt as if the
glory-gate was already opening to him while the melody of
these words has distilled like the dew over his spirit : "As
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness : I shall be
satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Yea, mightiest
achievement of all, it was a strain from David's harp which
upheld the Redeemer's soul when from the depths of his in
finite agony he cried, " My God, my God, why hast thou for
saken me ?" Truly, as well as eloquently, has one said, "The
temporary calm which the soft notes of David's harp spread
over the stormy soul of Saul was but a superficial emotion
compared with the holy rest on the bosom of their God to
which the Psalms have guided many an anxious and weary
sinner. The one was like the passing emotion of an orato
rio, the other is the deep peace ofthe Gospel."*

* Blaikie's " David, King of Israel," p. 38.

Medicinal Music. 35
Pausing here for the present, let us bring together a few
inferences from our subject which may be profitable for doc
trine and practice. We can not help observing, then, in the
first place, how God works out his purposes through the agen
cy of men who are acting according to their own free choice.
Evermore, as we read history, or look back upon our own ex
perience, we see distinctly marked these two things, the plan
of God, and the liberty of man. We can not get rid of either,
nor can we see how they can be perfectly harmonized ; yet
there they are, constantly running parallel to each other,
and forming, so to say, the two lines of rail on which the
chariot of human progress rolls along. It was the design
of the Lord that David should sit upon the throne of his
people, and it was needful thereto that the young shepherd
should, in some way or other, be introduced to the court
of Saul, while, at the same time, it was essential that the
circumstances of his introduction should excite no suspi
cion as to his future career. Now, see how all this was
brought about. David, in his devotion to his harp, had no
thought of thereby rising to the royal favor ; the servant who
mentioned his name to Saul had no idea of the fact that he
was already anointed to be Saul's successor ; yet each, in his
own way, and by working out the choice of his own free-will,
was helping on the fulfillment of the purpose of God. So it
is still, the only difference being that, in ordinary history, we
are not always thus permitted to see the different agencies at
work. Usually we are like men looking on the watch-dial
and reading off results, according as the fingers indicate.
Here, however, we are privileged to look within, and to see
how the various instrumentalities work together to bring
about the outward and visible effect. But we must not for
get that in every thing, as really as in this history, God's
providence is working itself out through the free agency of
men, though at the moment they may not be thinking of

36 David, King of Israel.
him at all. Oh, matchless mystery, whereby these two ap
parent opposites are held in harmony ! Oh, most consoling
truth, whereby in all circumstances we are reminded that
" all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose."
But passing from this mysterious theme, let me hold up
before the young people of my audience the example of Da
vid here, that they may be stimulated to improve their leisure
time in acquiring some useful information, or in learning some
useful art. While David followed the sheep, he had ample
time at his disposal, but instead of letting it go by in idle
ness, or frittering it away in spasmodic study, now of this
thing and now of that, he specially concentrated his atten
tion on the art of music, until he acquired rare skill and ex
cellence in playing upon the harp ; and it was through this
self-taught attainment that he was first called forth into pub
lic life. Now it is of immense consequence, that the young
people of these days should clearly see the necessity under
which they are laid, of acting in a similar manner. I speak,
observe, of leisure time, and any thing which I may say is
not to be misconstrued into an admonition to neglect busi
ness for other pursuits. By no means. David did not neg
lect his sheep for his harp. He was as ready to encounter
the lion and the bear as he was to play upon his lyre ; but
with his work he combined the cultivation of music in his
spare moments. And I earnestly exhort you, my youthful
- hearers, to have some one study or pursuit on hand to which
you devote your leisure hours.
I advocate this on the ground of economy. As things are
with most of you, your spare moments go you can not tell
how. To-day they are given to one thing, to-morrow to an
other ; so that with this continual social and mental dissipa
tion, it would be difficult for most to tell, either what they
have done or what they have learned, out of business hours

Medicinal Music. 37
last week. And yet they have been occupied all the while.
" As they were busy here and there," at one thing or anoth
er, the week " was gone," and they have nothing to show for
it ; whereas, if they had systematically devoted their hours
of leisure to the prosecution of some plan in some depart
ment of self- culture, they would have acquired something
which would remain with them, and be of signal service to
them in after-life. Bind together your spare hours, therefore,
by the cord of some definite purpose, and you know not how
much you may accomplish. Gather up the fragments of
your time, that nothing may be lost.
I advocate this on the ground of recreation. Some, indeed,
may be apt to say that they have no strength for the pros
ecution, after the labors of the day, of such a work as that
to which I would incite them. But not to say that there is
nothing more wearisome than idleness, unless it be the dis
sipation of pleasure, I would remind you that the truest re
laxation is a change of employment.
" A want of occupation is not rest,
A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed."
No doubt there must be some physical recreation, but for
rest to the mind we need something else than exercise for
the body ; we need occupation for the mind itself in some
other sphere of thought, and this can be best obtained by the
systematic prosecution of some favorite pursuit. Try it,
young men, and you will acquire from it buoyant elasticity
of mind, while at the same time you will obtain substantial
information, or proficiency in some elegant art.
I advocate this on the ground of self-protection. Idleness
is the mother of vice, and it is a sadly suggestive fact that a
man is commonly either made or marred for life by the use
which he makes of his leisure time. It is not at business, or
at work, that temptation first assails a youth ; it is when he

38 David, King of Israel.
is at leisure ; and commonly when he falls into iniquity in
business it is in order that he may procure the means of
indulging in the vicious habits which he has learned dur
ing his leisure. If, therefore, you would keep temptation
at a distance from you, and deprive the haunts of iniquity
of the power to attract you, seek to give yourself to some
favorite study in your spare hours, with all the ardor and
energy of your nature ; and when one comes to entice you
into sin, you will be able to say, " I am doing something bet
ter, and I can not go with you."
I advocate this use of your spare time, lastly, as a prepar
ative for future eminence. It is interesting to observe
how many have passed through this very gate to usefulness
and honor. Hugh Miller raised himself from the position
of a working mason by his devotion, first to geology, and af
terward to literature, in. his leisure moments; and Michael
Faraday, while a book -binder's apprentice, was reading
chemical books, and making electrical machines in his
evening hours — thereby laying the foundations of that great
work which as a man of science he was afterward to accom
plish. You can not all become Millers or Faradays indeed,
but, by following their example, you will attain to something
nobler than you otherwise could reach, and make the best
of yourselves for God and for the world.
It may seem to many as if in speaking thus I were draw
ing a merely secular lesson from a sacred theme ; but to the
Christian tl^ere is nothing secular. He wants to make the
most of himself and of his opportunities for Christ, and he
must learn this lesson, else when occasions come he will not
be able to avail himself of them. The men who have been
unsuccessful on the earth have failed, not for want of op
portunities of succeeding, but because they were never ready
to avail themselves of the opportunities which did come to
them ; and this unreadiness may be traced to the frittering

Medicinal Music. 39
away by them of their leisure hours in strenuous idleness, or
in frivolous amusement, or in vicious indulgence.
Again, as we see David setting out from Bethlehem, we
are reminded of the feelings, the difficulties, and the dangers
which are usually attendant upon the first leaving of the fa
ther's house. I have not attempted to describe to you what
David's emotions were as he parted from father and mother,
and looked forward to the delicate position which he was
to occupy; but I can not help employing this incident to
remind the young people who may have come to this great
commercial centre from a distant home, that there are parents
looking after them with longing solicitude, and earnestly be
seeching God to bless them. It may be, indeed, that in some
instances the parents from whom they have parted are now
in glory ; yet I am sure that they all look back to their early
abode with the tenderest feelings, and regard it as surround
ed with the holiest associations. Are you living now, my
young friends, as those parents would have you ? Would
you care to have your mother perfectly acquainted with all
you did last week ? How does your present life look when
you think of your father now in heaven ?
It may be, too, that there are some here preparing to leave
' their father's House, and go like Abraham, hardly knowing
whither, save only that duty calls them. Let me entreat them
to go in Abraham's faith, and above all to secure that, as in
the case of David here, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
them, making them prudent in matters. With this posses
sion, no matter where we go, all will be well. Without it, no
matter what worldly prosperity may attend us, we shall be
poor indeed. They are never far from home who take God
with them, for he is himself their dwelling-place.
Finally, we may learn, from Saul's experience, how tran
sient is the relief which mere earthly influences can give in
the case of a moral and spiritual disease. David's music

4© David, King of Israel.
went so far, but it did not touch the root of the evil. Only
when Saul returned to God would God return to him. He
needed a new heart ; and no earthly music, even from Da
vid's harp, could give him that. So let us be admonished by
his folly. Vain are all merely worldly prescriptions for the
sin-burdened and depraved soul. Well-meaning friends may
say to the anxious sinner, " Go to the opera, come to the
theatre, visit this and the other place of amusement ;" but it
is all to no purpose. These may give temporary relief, but
in the silence of the solitary chamber the agony of heart
comes back more violently than before. There is but one
who can hush its troubled perturbations into peace, and that
is He "who stilled the rolling lake of Galilee." To Him,
therefore, O anxious one, betake thyself, and He will give
thee a new heart, which will be itself like a well-tuned harp,
whose strings will vibrate evermore with holy harmony in
thy secret ear ! He will make thee independent of all out
ward influences, by giving thee quietude and holiness within.
To Him, then, make thy way; for has He not said, "Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest ?"

III.
THE CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH.
i Samuel xvii.
AFTER David's music had produced such a beneficial
effect upon Saul, the young shepherd seems to have
returned to his former charge upon the slopes of Bethlehem.
This may appear strange, especially after the statement that
"the king loved him greatly," and made him his armor-bearer.
But if we take a correct view of the character of Saul, and
consider how at a later date he vibrated between the two
extremes of inordinate admiration and spiteful persecution
of David, our surprise will cease, and we shall have in Da
vid's departure from Gibeah at this time only another illus
tration of that fickleness and instability for which Saul was
so remarkable. With his restoration to health, his love for
David cooled ; or, perhaps, he did not care to be constantly
reminded of his malady by the continuous presence' of the
young minstrel, and so he sent him to his home again.
How long David remained at Bethlehem before the occur
rence of the events narrated in this seventeenth chapter, we
are not informed, and it is vain to make any attempt at con
jecture. All we know is that he was brought again into
prominence in connection with the renewal of hostilities be
tween Saul and the Philistines : and as this is the first occa
sion on which we come into contact with that ancient and
warlike people, we may pause a few moments to gather into
one brief paragraph the main features of their history and
character.

42 David, King of Israel.
Coming, as the ablest critics have generally agreed, from
Egypt,* they occupied the strip of country lying along the
south-east coast of Palestine, and comprising a confederacy
of five united yet independent towns — Gaza, Ashdod, Ash
kelon, Gath, and Ekron. When the children of Israel took
possession of the land, this territory was given, by lot, to the
tribe of Judah ; but it was not until the days of David that
they could be said actually to possess it; and, indeed, all
through the history ofthe Jews, there was danger of collision
between them and this fierce nation. • They had early attain
ed to great skill in the arts alike of war and peace; they
probably possessed a navy, for they had harbors at Gath and
Ashkelon ; they were eminent as smiths and armorers ; and
their images of golden mice and emerods, referred to in one
ofthe early chapters ofthe first book of Samuel, imply an ac
quaintance with the work of the founder and the goldsmith.
We are told, in the first chapter of the book of Judges, that
Judah took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, with their coasts ;
but the resources of the Philistines were such that they
speedily regained their territory and asserted their suprem
acy. In the days of Shamgar, Jephthah, and Samson, they
held the Jews in hard and cruel bondage ; and it was only
under Samuel that the chosen people had been able in
any serious degree to break their power. Even after that,
however, they re -asserted their dominion, and were able
successfully to dispute with Saul the ownership of the soil,
and so to cripple the tribes, that there was no proper imple
ment of war to be found among them, save only in the hands
of Saul and Jonathan. The mode of warfare pursued by
them was of the guerrilla description. They made a series
of sudden raids on unprotected places for purposes of plun-
¦  •  _a  .
* See the article Philistines, in Smith's "Dictionary ofthe Bible ¦"
and also that on the same subject in Fairbairn's " Imperial Bible Dic
tionary."

The Conflict with Goliath. 43
der. They seized some commanding position, which they
strongly fortified, and from that they sent out bands of ma
rauders to spoil the surrounding district. This system of
incursions kept the Israelites in constant anxiety ; and when
the alarm of the approach of their oppressors was given, the
people betook themselves to hiding-places, or fled across the
Jordan. It was in the storming of such a fortress as I have
described that Jonathan won his first laurels as a warrior,
and though, as a result of his success at that time, the nation
had enjoyed a brief season of repose, the chapter before us
represents the land as ringing once again with the alarm of
war. '
The Philistines, hearing perhaps of Samuel's separation
from Saul, and encouraged by that circumstance, and by their
possession of a famous champion, had taken the field again.
They encamped at Shochoh, which belonged to Judah, be
tween Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim ; and the
children of Israel, in response to the summons of Saul, made
their rallying-point in the Valley of Elah — literally, the valley
ofthe terebinth-tree, the name having been probably given to
it because of the plentifulness of such trees in the vicinity.
"T-he valley," says Dr. Porter, " is now called Wady-es-sumpt,
because it abounds in acacias. It is a remarkable fact, and
tends to throw light on the origin of the ancient name, that
one of the largest terebinths in Palestine may be seen in a
branch ofthe valley, only a few miles distant from the scene
of the battle." The valley itself, according to the same au
thority, "runs in a north-westerly direction, from the mount
ains of Judah, through the low hills at their base, into the
plain of Philistia, which it enters a little north of the site of
Gaza. The ruins of Shochoh, now called Shuweikeh, cover
a natural terrace on the left bank of the valley ; and Azekah
appears to have stood on a conical hill some two miles dis
tant on the same bank. Between them, on the slope of the

44 David, King of Israel.
ridge, the Philistines encamped ; and opposite them, on the
right bank, were the Israelites. The distance between the
armies was about a mile ; and the vale beneath is flat and
rich. Through the centre winds a torrent-bed, the banks
fringed with shrubbery of acacia, and the bottom covered
with ' smooth stones.' The ridges on each side rise to the
height of about five hundred feet, and have a uniform slope,
so that the armies ranged along them could see the combat
in the valley."* The place was about twelve miles south
west of Jerusalem, and therefore probably not more than
seven or eight miles from Bethlehem.
In the army with Saul were the three eldest sons of Jesse:
Eliab, Aminadab, and Shammah. It was the law of Israel,
that in times of war each able-bodied man between certain
ages was to carry arms ; and so, whenever a summons was
given, suspense would reign in every home. On the present
occasion, however, as the war was defensive,- and as the lives
and property of the people depended on the character ofthe
resistance that was offered to their enemies, there would
probably be no great difficulty in securing a large army ; yet
the parents of such as went to the front would naturally feel
much solicitude concerning their safety. We do not wonder,
therefore, that Jesse was anxious to know how things went
with his sons. Indeed, considering his comparative proxim
ity to the two encampments, it was the' most natural thing in
the world that he and his wife should desire to send some
home comforts to their sons. Accordingly he took David
from his sheep, and dispatched him to Elah, with an ephah
of parched corn, and ten loaves for his brothers, and ten
cheeses for the officer of their company. He instructed him
also "to take their pledge," that is, as I suppose, to bring
with him in his hand some token or pledge of their safety in

* Kitto's " Cyclopasdia," by Alexander, article Elah.

The Conflict with Goliath. 45
the camp. So, leaving his sheep with a keeper, David has
tened to Elah, and arrived just as the battle-cry was being
raised in both armies, and the ranks of each stood in formal
array against the other. Seeing this state of matters, the
eager youth left his baggage at the wagon-line by which the
camp was surrounded, and ran to look for his brothers.
Scarcely had he found them, and asked them of their wel
fare, when there stalked forth from the front of the Philistian
line the tall champion of Gath named Goliath. This man,
probably a descendant ofthe Anakim, is described as six cu
bits and a span in height. The cubit was originally the length
from the elbow to the point of the middle finger, and is com
monly taken as about eighteen or nineteen inches. Accepting
the smaller of these as correct, the stature of Goliath would
be about nine feet nine inches. Josephus and the Septuagint,
however, read four cubits and a span, and this would reduce
his height to six feet nine inches.* This enormous height
apparently did not interfere with the development of his
strength, for the weight of his armor was such as could
have been borne only by one of Herculean might. Taking
the shekel at half an ounce avoirdupois, his coat of mail
must have been one hundred and fifty-six pounds in weight,
and the head of his spear must have been eighteen pounds
twelve ounces.
It is not surprising, therefore, that when he came forth into
the space between the armies and defied Israel, consternation
and dismay took hold upon the soldiers of Saul. Nor was
this the first occasion, on which he had made his appearance
thus. For forty days he had come repeating his boastful and
* Keil on 1 Samuel, p. 173, says: "His height was six cubits and
a span, i. e., according to a calculation made by Thenius, about nine feet
two inches Parisian measure — a great height, no doubt, though not alto
gether unparalleled, and hardly greater than that of the great-uncle of
Iren, who came to Berlin in the year 1857."

46 David, King of Israel.
insulting words : " Why are ye come out to set your battle in
array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul ? choose
you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be
able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your serv
ants : but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye
be our servants, and serve us. I defy the armies of Israel this
day ; give me a man, that we may fight together." To this
challenge there was not spirit enough among the Israelites to
make response. Saul was probably restrained from person
ally accepting it by motives of dignity ; but we can not read
the record without contrasting his silence, and the utter hope
lessness of his army, on this occasion, with the enthusiasm
which he displayed, and the bravery which they manifested
that day at Jabesh-gilead, when they drove their enemies be
fore them like chaff before the wind. We read, indeed, of
the royal promise to enrich the man who should slay his en
emy, and to give him his daughter in marriage, and to make
his father's house free in Israel ; but there is no word of any
calling upon God, or any application to the high-priest, that
with his Urim and Thummim he might give direction from
on high. Suggestive silence this ! Saul was still self-reliant
and defiant ; and so this was to be the occasion of bringing
his successor forth before the people's eyes.
David, young as he was, was astonished at what he saw
and heard. Apparently he had no fear of the giant, but he
did wonder at the craven-heartedness of his fellow-country
men. He asked again and again into the particulars, and
was so specially minute in his inquiries about what Saul had
promised to the victor, that his eldest brother began to sur
mise that he was himself purposing to accept the challenge,
and said to him, in a sneering, cynical, elder-brotherly fash
ion, "Why earnest thou down hither? and with whom hast
thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy
pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart ; for thou art come

The Conflict with Goliath. 47
down that thou mightest see the battle." But David did not
allow himself to be provoked ; he ruled his spirit for the
time^-a harder task and a yet nobler achievement even than
the conquest ofthe giant, and he simply said, "What have I
now done ? Is there not a cause ?" At length, however, as
he talked with one and another, the report spread out that
there was one who would fight the giant, and finally it was
told to Saul, who sent for him, and sought to dissuade him
from his purpose, saying, " Thou art not able to go against
this Philistine to fight with him ; for thou art but a youth,
and he a man of war from his youth." But the young- shep
herd was not to be daunted thus. Rehearsing his deeds of
valor in the defense of his flock, and tracing his successes on
these occasions to the help of God, he said, " The Lord that
delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw
ofthe bear, he will deliver me out ofthe hand of this Philis
tine." This was precisely the spirit that was needed for the
stern encounter ; and Saul, recognizing in it that in which he
was himself so deficient, at once made answer, " Go, and the
Lord be with thee !" At first .the king proposed that he
should array himself in the royal armor ; but David was not
at home in that, and, with a true stroke of military genius, he
determined to go forth with the weapons with which he was
most familiar. He took his shepherd's staff in, his left hand,
and his sling in his right, and having his sachel suspended
from his neck, he went out in front ofthe lines. As he cross
ed the dry bed ofthe brook, he selected some smooth stones,
one of which he fixed in his sling, and the others he dropped
into his bag. It has been commonly supposed that, in lay
ing aside Saul's armor and preferring his own sling, David
was giving up every advantage, and that the chances of his
success were materially lessened by the fact that he was thus,
comparatively speaking, defenseless. But that is a mistake.
The genius of David was made manifest in the choice of his

48 David, King of Israel.
weapons, and so soon as he had determined to use the sling
the issue was not doubtful. The giant was open to attack
only on the forehead ; but then he was cased in such heavy
armor that he could not move with swiftness, and so he could
prove a formidable foe only when he was fighting at close
quarters. David, on the other hand, was free, and could run
with swiftness and agility; while using the sling he could be
gin the attack from a distance, and out ofthe range of his ad
versary's weapons. So far, therefore, as weapons were. con
cerned, the advantage was clearly on David's side, provided
only he could preserve his precision of aim and steadiness
of hand. He was like one armed with a rifle, while his ene
my had only a spear and a sword ; and if only he could take
sure aim, the result was absolutely certain. Goliath, howev
er, despised his simple weapons, and in spiteful indignation
cursed him by his gods, saying also, " Come to me, and I will
give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of
the field." Nothing daunted, David made reply: "Thou
comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield : but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast de
fied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand ;
and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee ; and I
will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day
unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth ;
that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
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." As modern warfare is con
ducted, such a colloquy as this between two combatants
seems to be ridiculous ; but every one who is familiar with
Homer's " Iliad," either in the original, or in one of its spir
ited translations, will see a wonderful similarity between the
speeches of Goliath and David, and those which the father

The Conflict with Goliath. 49
of poetry puts into the mouths of his heroes in similar cir
cumstances.* But now the time for parley is at an end, Goliath is ad
vancing to meet his antagonist, and David, seeing that his
only opportunity is to strike him while yet he is at a dis
tance, makes haste and runs. As he runs, he re-adjusts the
stone in his sling ; and taking unerring aim, he sends it
whizzing to its mark in the forehead of the giant, who forth
with fell with his face to the ground. Then rushing forward,
he took the sword of his adversary and cut off his head,
which he carried with him as a trophy of victory. When
the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turn
ed and fled ; but the Israelites pursued them hotly even to
the gates of Ekron, and the victory was complete.
Two things mentioned as consequent upon this encounter
are apt to perplex the general reader. The first is, that
David took the Philistine's head to Jerusalem, and put his
armor in his tent. Now it is said by some that Jerusalem
was not yet in the hands of the Israelites, but only came
into their possession years afterward, when David conquered
the Jebusites. But, as obviating this difficulty, we may re
mind you that it was not Jerusalem that David took from
the Jebusites, but rather the stronghold of Zion, which was
only a part of Jerusalem ; and it is quite likely that before
it was taken by David the other portions of the city were
occupied by the Jews. Or perhaps the reference may sim
ply be to Nob, the site of the Tabernacle, which, though in
the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, was yet so near to Je
rusalem as to be within sight of it. Then, as to the putting
of the armor in his tent by David, we are not to suppose
that this was meant by him as its ultimate destination, but
* See, in particular, the speeches of Glaucus and Diomede, in the sixth
book of the " Iliad :" " Come hither," says Glaucus, " that you may
quickly reach the goal of death." 3

50 David, King of Israel.
we may well enough understand that it was put there for
safety until he should have an opportunity of laying it up
before the Lord in the Tabernacle ; while, if any should be
surprised that he should have a tent in the camp, considering
that he had only come casually from Bethlehem, we may re
move their astonishment by suggesting that, after so signal
a victory as that which he had been honored to achieve, ev
ery thing would be done to show him gratitude, and we may
be sure that a tent would be put at his disposal. The sec
ond and more formidable difficulty is in connection with
Saul's inquiry after David. We read that he said to Abner,
" Whose son is this youth ? And Abner said, As thy soul
liveth, O king, I can not tell. And the king said, Inquire
thou whose son the stripling is. And as David returned
from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and
brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine
in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou,
thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of
thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." Now how shall we
account for Saul's non-recognition of David after having had
him formerly at his court, and numbered among his armor-
bearers ? Some would get rid of the difficulty by alleging
that there has been a transposition of the narrative here, and
that the account of David's minstrel visit to Gibeah should
come in after the record of the incidents which have been
before us now; but for the reasons which I formerly ad
vanced, 1 can not accept this theory. Others think that in
the state of mind in which Saul was when David played be
fore him on the harp, he would not be able to take any par
ticular notice of him, and therefore when he saw him again
might not recognize him. While others still suppose that
the purpose of Saul's question was not to know who David
was, but to inquire into the character and condition of his
family, that he might make good the promise which he had

The Conflict with Goliath. 51
made to the man that should slay the Philistine, to the effect
that he would give him his daughter in marriage, and make
his father's house free in. Israel. This is the solution pro
posed by Keil, who says : " It was not the name of David's
father alone that he wanted to discover, but what kind of a
man he really was ; and the question was put not merely in
order that he might grant him exemption from taxes, but
also that he might attach such a man to his court, since he
inferred, from the courage and bravery of the son, the exist
ence of similar qualities in the father. It is true that David
merely replied, " The son of thy servant Jesse the Bethle
hemite ;" but it is evident from the expression in chapter
xviii., 1 : "When he had made an end of speaking unto Saul,"
that Saul conversed with him still further about his family af
fairs, since the very words imply a lengthened conversation.*
Dr. Kitto, however, is perhaps nearer the truth when he sug
gests that in the interval between David's appearance at
court and his fighting with the giant, he had passed from
early youth into manhood, and so grown, as it were, out of
Saul's recognition. Here are his words : " You would scarce
ly know him for the same person that you saw some three
years- ago; he was then a growing youth, but he has now
attained to greater fullness of stature, and to more firmly
knit limbs ; above all, his beard has grown, and to those
who, like us, remove the beard as soon as it appears, the
great difference produced by the presence of this appendage
on the face of one who a year or two ago was a beardless
youth, is scarcely conceivable. "t That was written by the
good doctor twenty-three years ago. I imagine that in the
interval we have had a good deal of experience in the mat-
* Kiel on I Samuel, p. 178, note.
t Kitto's " Daily Bible Illustrations," vol. iii., p. 240. See, also, this
whole subject very fairly argued, though there is a leaning to the trans
position theory, in " The Land and the Book," p. 568. English edition.

52 David, King of Israel.
ter to which he refers, and may therefore be the better pre
pared to accept his explanation as the correct one.
In the Greek version of the Old Testament made by the
Seventy, there is an apocryphal Psalm, numbered the 151st,
which purports to have been written by David on the occa
sion of this victory ; but it has nothing in it either of the
beauty or the grandeur of David's odes, and is probably a
mythical production made by some ordinary person on read
ing the history, and attempted by him to be palmed off as
the work of the young hero.* Yet, though there was no spe
cial ode composed by David on this occasion, we can see in
many of his lyrics traces of the influence which this, his first
great victory, produced upon him. Thus I can not doubt
that he remembered the whole incidents of this eventful day,
when he sang these words : " I will not trust in my bow,
neither shall my sword save me. In God we boast all the
clay long, and praisethy name forever, "f And again, " There
is no king saved by the multitude of a host : a mighty man
is not delivered by much strength. Our soul waiteth for
the Lord : he is our help and our shield."$ Nor can I help
remarking that in this recognition of God, and confidence in
' him, with which David entered upon public life, we have the
root of the difference between him and Saul. You never
hear Saul expressing his trust in God, as David did when he
went forth to meet Goliath ; whereas, as we proceed in the
history, we shall find that with David it- was habitual. The
tendency of Saul's life was toward himself: any thin°- incon
sistent with that in him, or about him, was but fitful and spas
modic. But it was just the reverse with David. The lean
ing of his soul was toward God, and though at times self and
sin sadly and terribly asserted their power, yet these times
* See, for a translation of this Psalm, Stanley's "Jewish Church " vol.
ii.,p. 56.
t Psalm xliv., 6, 8. . t Psalm xxxi;i) l6> 2Q_

The Conflict with Goliath. 53
were only occasional, and out of keeping with the usual
course and current of his character. His sins, like Saul's
impulses toward good things, were but occasional eruptions
of that which it was the habit of his, soul to repress ; his pie
ty, like Saul's impiety, was the principle of his life. And
herein we account for the acceptance of the one, and the re
jection of the other, as the occupant of the throne of Israel.
But it is time now that we should seek for some practical
guidance from this subject for our daily lives, and for the
better understanding of the Gospel of Christ. Every reader
of the narrative will see many points in which it both touches
and illustrates New Testament themes. Thus, without going
the length of adopting the view that David was in all this a
type of Christ, we can not see him confronting the giant with
his sling and stone, and consummating his destruction with
his own sword, without being reminded of a greater than He
who foiled the prince of darkness with a triple thrust of the
sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and who
" through death destroyed him that had the power of death,
and delivered them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage."
Again : when we think of the tribal inheritance of Judah,
still in a large degree retained by the Philistines, who ever
and anon arose to reclaim it all, and sometimes nearly suc
ceeded, we have a striking analogy to the heart of the be
liever, wherein, though he has given himself to Jesus, and has
been renewed by the Holy Spirit, divers sins and lusts do
still contend for the mastery ; and sometimes one of them,
attaining Goliath-like proportions, threatens to enslave him
altogether. Who has not felt himself thus menaced by some
fierce passion ? Each of us has his own giant to fight, and
here, too, it must be single combat, with no one to help us
but Him who went forth with the stripling David. With
some of us it is temper ; with some avarice ; with some ap-

54 David, King of Israel.
petite; with some ambition ; but whatever it be, let us learn
to resist it courageously, relying on the might of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the victory will be ours.
Or, yet again, in contending with external evils, we may
sometimes feel that they have assumed such magnitude as
to appall us. Thus, which of us is not brought almost to a
stand-still, when he surveys the ignorance, infidelity, intem
perance, and licentiousness by which we are surrounded?
It seems to us sometimes, in moments of depression, as if
these evils, and perhaps the last of them the worst, were
stalking forth defiantly before the armies of the living God,
and laughing them, Goliath-like, to scorn ; and our courage
is apt to cool as we contemplate this show of force. But
we must not allow these feelings to prevail. The God of
David liveth, and he will still give us success. The great
clanger that besets the Christian at such times is that of at
tempting to fight with the world's weapons. The worldling
will always overcome him when he does so, because the
Christian in such armor is not at home. He can not use it
unscrupulously as the worldling does ; and the moment he
undertakes to employ it, he seals his own defeat. Let him
go forth with the cross of Christ in his hand, and by that he
will conquer ; but if he seek a lower weapon, and try to fight
with force of law, or with earthly philosophy, or with mere so
cial expedients, he will inevitably fail. What David's sling
and stone were in the Valley of Elah, that is the cross of
.Christ in the theological controversies, and social wranglings,
and moral antagonisms of our age ; and so long as we preach
Christ crucified, it matters not though men ridicule it as fool
ishness, it shall prove to be " the power of God and the
wisdom of God." "The weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but" (though they are not carnal — nay, just because
they are not carnal) " mighty, through God, to the pulling
down of strongholds." Arrayed in the armor of the world

The Conflict with Goliath. 55
the Christian will be weaker than the weakest of his adversa
ries ; but let him be but panoplied from the spiritual armory
of God, and he will be mightier than the mightiest of his foes.
But leaving these general applications of this many-sided
story, we may learn from the bearing of David all through,
two or three valuable lessons, with the enumeration of which
I shall for the present conclude. There is, first, an exam
ple of meekness. When the haughty and scornful Eliab
assailed him with taunting words, the young shepherd kept
his temper, and we feel how difficult that must have been for
him, when, as we read the story, our own hearts rise in burn
ing indignation at the spirit which the elder brother evinced.
Probably this was not the first time that Eliab attempted to
lord it over him, for unhappily it is only too common for the
seniors in a family to tyrannize over and torment the jun
iors; but David kept himself calm, and like Another, in a
yet more trying hour, " when he was reviled, he reviled not
again." "He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that
taketh a city ;" and to my thinking this calmness of soul un
der Eliab's taunt was a greater thing in David than his bold
ness before the giant. I do not, of course, in thus emphasiz
ing David's meekness, extenuate the rudeness of Eliab. On
the contrary, it was worthy of all reprobation, but David felt
that he was called not to fight with Eliab in this matter, but
with himself, and so he held his peace. Let us try to imi
tate his example, and when we are assailed in our home, or
beyond it, with scorn and derision, let us remember, that out-
real conflict in such a case is not with the scorner, but with
ourselves. Let our effort be put forth not to silence him, but
to control ourselves, and then we shall succeed in obtaining
a victory over both.
But we have here again an example of faith. David believed
God, and his name might fitly have been included by Paul in
that illustrious catalogue which he has given us in the elev-

56 David, King of Israel.
enth" chapter of the Hebrews. He was not afraid of Goliath,
because he saw God beside himself. And one great reason
why his faith was now so strong was that he remembered
God's former kindness to him; He thought of the day when
he prevailed over the lion and the bear, and he reasoned that
the God who had heard his prayer and helped him then, would
assist him now. Similarly, in all difficult enterprises, let us
Christians realize that God is with us ; and to this end let us
recall those former occasions when he has strengthened and
delivered us. We have all had former deliverances of some
kind, and particularly we have all been redeemed by the
great price ofthe blood of Christ. : Let us think of that when
we have dangerous work to do, and we shall be nerved to do
it bravely. " He that spared not his own Son, but deliver
ed him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things ?" " This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith."
Finally, we have here an example of humility. David's
purpose, in all he did (and this shows how thoroughly Eliab
had misunderstood him), was not to display himself, but to
honor God. Mark these words : " That all the earth may
know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly
shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear :
for the battle is the Lord's." Here was the secret of David's
victory. He went to do God's will. He sought not to glo
rify himself, but to serve Jehovah ; and by this trait in his
character he takes his place in the noblest brotherhood of
heroes of whom sacred history makes mention. As we read
these words we think of Elijah, on the brow of Carmel, con
fronting the hosts of Baal, and saying, in his fervent prayer,
" Let it be known this clay that thou art God in Israel— hear
me that this people may know that thou art the Lord God."
We think of John the Baptist turning away from the tempta
tion that was set before him to. proclaim himself Messiah

The Conflict with Goliath. 57
saying, " He must increase, but I must decrease." We think
of Peter calling to the wondering crowd that thronged around
the lame man -who had been cured, " Why marvel ye at this,
or why look ye so earnestly at us, as though by our own pow
er or holiness we had made this man to walk?" We think
of Paul writing from Rome, with his chained hand, to the
Philippians, and saying, "According to my earnest expecta
tion, and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but
that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall
be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death."
David, Elijah, John, Peter, Paul — where are the men who
have clone more valiantly in the world than they? and yet
they did it by putting God uppermost, and seeking his glory
first. That was the secret of their success, and that we are
not like them in that is the explanation of our failure. We
succeed in little, because we are aiming after our own honor,
and not after the honor ofthe Lord. This keeps us from en
tering at all- on many fields of usefulness, and prevents us
from working with a right loyal, hearty, and self-sacrificing
spirit, even in the best directions. And yet how little we se
cure honor to ourselves after all ! The men who are always
grasping after greatness and distinction never get them —
they only degrade and belittle themselves by their efforts ;
while they who put the Lord Jesus first, and seek his glory,
become at length sharers in his divine renown. " Them that
honor me, I will honor." This is the great law. Let us,
therefore, merge self in him ; let us, whether in pulpit, or
pew, or home, or counting-house, or senate-chamber, or hall
of judgment, hide ourselves behind the Lord Jesus ; and
then, working from love to him, we too shall do valiantly :
and though our weapons be no more than a sling and a
stone, the spiritual adversaries with whom we may contend,
gigantic though they be, shall fall before us, for " we shall be
more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
3*

IV.
DAVID AND JONATHAN.
i Samuel xviii., 1-30.
DAVID'S interview with Saul after the slaughter of the
giant must have lasted a considerable time, and must
have embraced other subjects than his parentage ; for its re
sult was that Jonathan, the king's son, was so favorably im
pressed by him, that he took him to his special regard, and
formed with him a league of friendship, which for sincerity,
constancy, and romantic pathos is unrivaled in the annals
of history, whether sacred or profane. As we have already
seen, there were in David both physical and moral qualities,
which tended to win for him the affection of those with
whom he came into contact. His ruddy complexion, beau
tiful countenance, and well-knit frame would immediately
evoke a warrior's admiration, while, in his encounter with the
giant, he had exhibited such a mingling of courage, prudence,
and humility as must have captivated the chivalrous heart
of Jonathan. Perhaps, also, in the conversation, some flash
es of his poetic genius might gleam forth, or some evidence
of his piety might appear, to increase the attraction ; but in
any case, " the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of
David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." As a sub
stantial token of this affection, he gave to David "his robe
and his garments, even to his sword, and his bow and his
girdle." It is not said that David gave him any thing in
return, but it is likely that there was some exchange made
between them, and that the present of David to Jonathan
was of so little value, comparatively speaking, that no men-

David and Jonathan. 59
tion is here made of it. At all events, such interchanges
of gifts were not uncommon between friends in ancient
times, and Homer gives us some instances that may illus
trate what is here recorded. In particular he tells that
Glaucus exchanged armor with Diomede, "golden for brazen,
the value of a hundred oxen for the value of nine."* Per
haps, therefore, there was some similar reciprocity here, as
the seal of the new-born affection between Jonathan and
David. According to the common chronology, Jonathan was con
siderably older than David ; but there was such community
of sentiment between them on the highest and most impor
tant of all matters, and such similarity of tastes generally, as
fitted them for each other's fellowship. They were one in
their faith in God, and in their devotion to his will ; for on
the memorable occasion when Jonathan went forth, with his
armor-bearer as his sole companion, to attack the Philistine
stronghold, he said, in a spirit of sublimest trust, " It is all
one to the Lord to save by many or by few ;" and in after-
days, when he parted from David for the last time, in the
wilderness of Ziph, we are told that " he strengthened Da
vid's hand in God." Then they had both a genius for mili
tary leadership, and this would help in some measure to ce
ment their friendship.
But though all this must be admitted, and though we do
not wish in the least degree to disparage David in this mat
ter, yet there are special considerations which must be taken
into account, and which are peculiarly to the credit of Jona
than. I can not allude to them all without, in some degree,
anticipating the narrative ; but it is so important to have a
clear and distinct idea of the whole intimacy between these
two remarkable men, that I may be excused for referring at
* " Iliad," book vi., lines 232-236.

60 David, King of Israel.
this early stage to incidents which will come up for review
at a later portion of the history.
In the outset, then, we can not fail to be impressed with
the disinterested nature of this friendship, as far as Jonathan
was concerned. The king's son had, humanly speaking, at
this date nothing to gain from the shepherd of Bethlehem.
Jonathan might be of great service to David, but it was
scarcely likely that David could do very much for him.
His taking of David to his heart, therefore, was a purely un
selfish thing. It was the outgoing of his affections toward
an object to which they were attracted, and all his joy was
in yielding to the charm by which he was influenced. Too
frequently the favorites of kings, and perhaps more fre
quently of king's Sons, have been those who have risen to
their position by pandering to the prejudices, or toadying to
the weaknesses, or, worse than either, by ministering to the
vices, of those by whom they were valued. But Jonathan had
no such reasons for binding David to him. He saw in the
young hero a congenial soul and a true man. He was at
tracted by his piety, his patriotism, and his prowess, and he
yielded up his heart to him in the unselfish impulse of disin
terested affection.
.Again :-this friendship was not tainted on Jonathan's side
by the slightest trace of envy or jealousy. There are, I fear,
few such friendships between those who are nearly equals
in eminence in the same profession. The proverb says that
f two .of a trade can never agree," and it takes high-toned
principle to rejoice in the rise, to an equal position with our
selves, of one who is in the same calling with us. Provided
there be a sufficient distance between us, either in excellence,
or in success, the difficulty is not greatly felt on either side.
The young statesman, just entering on public life, has neither
jealousy nor envy of the veteran leader, who has by genius
and perseverance made his way to the front rank of politi-

David and Jonathan. 6i
cians, and the leader, in his turn, feels it easy to be cordial
and encouraging to the youthful aspirant. But let the one
see the other as nearly as possible on a level with himself,
even in his own chosen department of excellence, and feel
that probably he must soon consent to be second to him,
and the case is altered. Then, almost in spite of themselves,
jealousies and envyings will spring up between them ; they
will look askance at each other, and though they may not
break out into open foes, there will be, what I may call, a sort
of armed watchfulness between them, and a very little matter
will set them in direct antagonism. The nearer individuals
come into competition with each other, the greater is their
tendency to be spiteful toward each other. It is easy to be
a patron, and, stooping down from a lofty height, to take by
the hand some struggling beginner; it is easy, too, to be. an
admiring pupil of one who is acknowledged to be a great
way above us ; but it is a much harder, and therefore a
much nobler, thing to be the warm appreciative friend of one
who is in the same calling with ourselves, and who is bid
ding fair to outshine and surpass us. But it was just this
hard and noble thing, that Jonathan did, when he took to
his heart the youthful David. He did not seem to care that
the duel with the giant would, in the after - history of the
nation, be seen to rival his own brilliant achievement at
Geba. He did not think of himself at all ; but having
found a man whom he could love and trust, he "grappled
him to his soul with hooks of steel." Nay, even when he
came to discover that David was the predestined occupant
of his father's throne, the heart of Jonathan was never alien
ated from him. He accepted the lot which was before him,
and rejoiced in it for David's sake, saying only " Thou shalt
be king in Israel, and I shall be next unto thee."* I have
* i Sam. xxiii., 17.

62 David, King of Israel.
a high idea of David's magnanimity, but I doubt whether it
could have equaled this of Jonathan; and so, in the matter
of this friendship, I am disposed to give the palm to the son
of Saul. And I greatly mistake if, as you. read the record,
you shall not grow into the belief which I have long enter
tained, that there are few characters in Old Testament his
tory which, for genuineness, chivalry, self-sacrifice, and con
stancy at once to his father and his friend, can be put into
comparison with Jonathan.
This leads me to say, further, that we are deeply im
pressed with the fidelity with which, on Jonathan's part, this
friendship was maintained even in the face of personal dan
gers. When Saul's heart was stirred against David, and
was filled with murderous intent regarding him, Jonathan
was placed in a very difficult and perplexing position. He
was called to decide between his father and David, yet he
was true to his friend, without being unfilial to Saul. In
David's absence he stood forth in his defense before the
king, and once so provoked the royal indignation, that his
own life was endangered. Still he adhered to David after
all this ; and there are few more touching incidents record
ed in history than that of their parting by the stone Ezel,
when " they kissed one another, and wept one with another
until David exceeded ;"* or that of their last interview, in the -
forest of Ziph, when, though the son of Jesse was fleeing
from his father, "Jonathan strengthened his hand in God."f
That is the stoutest cable which can stand the strain of the
fiercest storm, and truly heroic must that friendship have
been which lasted through such dangers and heart perplexi
ties as did this of Jonathan for David. Nor, to be just to Da
vid, ought I to forget to add that it was on his part intensely
appreciated. It was his solace as a fugitive and exile ; it

* I Sam. xx., 41. f 1 Sam. xxiii., 16.

David and Jonathan. 63
kept him repeatedly from laying violent hands on Saul; it
disposed him long afterward to show kindness to the chil
dren and children's children of his early friend; and on that
dark day when, in filial devotion to his father, the warrior
fell on Mount Gilboa, " slain on his own high places," it in
spired him to sing his lament, in that plaintive ode, which,
by its passionate outburst of grief, has given even to this
present age its grandest funeral music.
Having dwelt so long on this beautiful union between two
congenial spirits, you will forgive me if, before proceeding to
less agreeable themes, I say a few words on the principles
which ought to regulate our choice of friends. It is for t,he
most part in early life that lasting companionships are form
ed, and their influence on the course and complexion of the
after career can scarcely be overestimated. " He that walk-
eth with wise men shall be wise ; but the companion of fools
shall be destroyed." There are few ways of pitching one's
tent " toward Sodom " so common, or so insidious as the se
lection of improper friends. Let me earnestly counsel you
all, therefore, and especially the young, to secure first, and be
fore all others, the friendship of the Lord Jesus. Give your
hearts in confidence and love to him. Trust him as your
Saviour. Follow him as your example. Imbibe his princi
ples. Obey his precepts. Seek to possess his spirit, and to
secure his regard. Remember the words which he spake to
his first followers : " Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I
• command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth, but I have called
you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I
have made known unto you." Aim first at securing this con
fidential intercourse with the Lord Jesus Christ, through the
study of his Word, and earnest prayer to the Father in his
name. Then make this, your fellowship with Jesus, the test
by which you determine whether or not you will accept the

64 David, King of Israel.
earthly friendships which are offered to you. You can not
withdraw from all dealings of every sort with the ungodly,
for then must you go out of the world altogether ; but. into
the inner circle of your friends let none be admitted who do
not love supremely the Lord who has redeemed you, and
who can not "strengthen your hand in God." Make this
the indispensable prerequisite to your intimate companion
ship. If he who seeks to beconle your friend would endeav
or to undermine your religious principles, or to loosen the-
bonds that unite you to the members of your Father's house,
or to lead you into places and practices in which you would
lose the fellowship of Christ, then turn away from him, and
say, " My soul, come not thou into their secret ; into their
assembly mine honor be not thou united."
But even among Christians, seek for your friends those who
have the greatest affinity with you, and in whom you can find
your own weaknesses of character most materially strength
ened. There must be some points of contact and resemblance
between you and your friend, otherwise there can be no real
companionship ; but there must also be certain elements of
diversity, otherwise the one can be no help to the other. If
the one be merely the echo of the other, the friendship will
be tame and profitless to both ; but if in the individuality of
each there be qualities which the other lacks, and if these
are allowed by both to have free play in their mutual fellow
ship, great good to both will be the result. This was the
nature of that companionship, the record and memorial of
which has been given to the world by Tennyson, in his " In
Memoriam;" and the idea of friendship is sketched by him
in these lines :" He was rich where I was poor ;
And he supplied my want the more,
As his unlikeness fitted mine."
It may seem, however, that in giving the advice which I am

David and Jonathan. 65
now enforcing I were making friendship impossible, inas
much as, if we are to look for those who are thus richer than
ourselves, the benefit must be entirely one-si'ded. But it is
not so ; for we may be as greatly superior to our friend in
some things as he is to us in others, and he may receive
as much from us in some departments as we may obtain in
others from him. Thus the relationship will become mutu-(
ally helpful. How many instances of such reciprocity have
occurred in history ! John and Peter, Barnabas and Paul,
Luther and Melancthon, have proved at once the possibility
and the advantage of such a friendship as I have suggested ;
and as we see each pair shining like binary stars in the firma
ment of history — two, and yet in a great sense one — we have
before us at once a model and a motive. On this subject I
know few things in our literature finer, or more instructive,
than the lines which Cowper has devoted to its elucidation.
I commend them all to your careful study, and select only
the following stanzas, by way of whetting your appetite for
the rest : " No friendship will abide the test
That stands on sordid interest,
And mean self-love erected ;
Nor such as may a while subsist
'Twixt sensualist and sensualist,
For vicious ends connected.
" Who hopes a friend, should have a heart
Himself, well furnished for the part,
And ready on occasion
To show the virtue that he seeks ;
For 'tis a union that bespeaks
A just reciprocation.
" Pursue the theme, and you shall find
A disciplined and furnished mind
To be at least expedient ;
And after summing all the rest,
Religion ruling in the breast,
A principal ingredient."

66 David, King of Israel.
But we must turn now, with whatever reluctance, to -con
template Saul's treatment of David. Immediately after the
conquest of Goliath, the king seemed to be friendly enough
to the young victor. He was in no haste, indeed, to perform
the promises which he had made previous to the encounter,
but he took him with him to Gibeah, and would let him re
turn no more to his father's house. He made him also one
of his chief captains ; and such was the amiability of David,
that his exaltation, far from .exciting the enmity of the mon
arch's former servants, was approved of and rejoiced in by
them. This very popularity, however, was destined, in a
short time, to turn the heart of Saul against him, and a very
simple occasion was sufficient to rouse his anger and re
venge. After their successful campaign against the Phi
listines, the Israelitish troops returned- in formal triumph
through many of the cities. They were met generally at the
gates by companies of women, who, playing on the tabret
and dancing to their own music, chanted also in responsive
chorus rhythmic lines appropriate to the occasion. At the
end of every strophe there came this refrain, sung by an
swering companies : " Saul hath slain his thousands, and
David his ten thousands." Very likely there was nothing
more meant by this than an expression ofjoy at the nation's
deliverance, with such exaggeration as strong emotion is al
ways prone to indulge in; but the sensitive soul of Saul,
now all the more inclined to be suspicious, since Samuel had
foretold the taking of the kingdom from him, took offense
at the implied preference of David to himself, and seeing,
perhaps for the first time, in the youthful Bethlehemite that
"neighbor better than himself" to whom his kingdom was
to.be given, he murmured thus moodily to himself: "They
have ascribed unto David ten thousand, and to me they
have ascribed but thousands ; and what can he have more
but the kingdom." The thought was gall and wormwood to

David and Jonathan. 67
his heart, and from that moment the determination to check
mate David, and get rid of him by any means, no matter
how unscrupulous, became the ruling passion of his life.
Let it be observed, too, that there was in this not only ha
tred of David, but also a defiant determination to circum
vent and defeat the published purpose of the Almighty. I
am particular to draw your attention to this point, because
it is this, that especially marks the depth to which Saul had
sunk. Samuel had foretold that the kingdom was to be
given to another, and now that there is a sort of prophetic
premonition in his own heart that David was his appointed
successor, he is only thereby roused to more active antago
nism, and seeks to make the fulfillment of the prophecy im
possible. As Herod, long afterward, deliberately inquired
what the meaning of a prophecy was, in order that he might
set himself to falsify it, so Saul here defiantly sets himself
to defeat Jehovah. It was a strange perversity. If the pre
diction had not come from God, why should he have cared
at all about it ? but if it had come from God, could all his
efforts prevent its fulfillment ? Ah me ! how vain the en
deavor to beat back the Almighty ! and how terrible that
confession of defeat which came from Saul on that weird
night when, beside the cottage of Endor, he cried, " Bring
me up Samuel!" But it was' then too late, and Samuel
came only to pronounce his doom.
The first effect of Saul's jealousy was a relapse of his mal
ady, under the influence of which he was in a kind of rapture,
like that of the prophets when the Spirit came upon them ;
but in his case it was a spirit of evil, and not the Spirit ofthe
Lord. David, seeing that he was troubled as before, took his
harp and tuned it to sweetest music ; but instead of being
soothed thereby, the maniac monarch became only the more
enraged, and twice aimed a javelin at the head of the mu
sician, who escaped only by dexterously evading its point.

68 David, King of Israel.
This violence of his frenzy soon spent itself, but it settled
down into a deliberate purpose to compass David's destruc
tion, not at first directly, but by roundabout contrivances.
First, he put him into a position in which he expected that
by his inexperience he would provoke such opposition as.
might end in his death. But David behaved himself wisely,
and nothing came out of that plan. Then, after promising
to give him Merab, his elder daughter, to wife, he insulted
him by bestowing her upon Adriel, the Meholathite, expect
ing, probably, that David would thereby be roused to do or
say something that might be construed into treason, and so
furnish a legal pretext for his being put to death. But nei
ther did he succeed in this. Thereafter he discovered that
Michal, his second daughter, had fallen in love with David,
and, in a most diabolical spirit, he resolved to sacrifice her
most tender feelings to his own vindictive malice, by attempt
ing to make her a snare to him. He caused some of his
servants privately to sound David, who in the most prudent
fashion intimated that he was by no means eager to be the
king's son-in-law, since he was a poor man, and could not
give any thing like a dowry suitable for a king's daughter.
In the East it was usual, and, I believe, is so still, for the
bridegroom to give a large present to.his father-in-law, in ac
knowledgment of the blessing which he expects to receive in
his wife ; and it is to this, probably, that David alludes when
he says, " Seemeth it to you a light thing to be" a king's son-
in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed ?"
On hearing a report of this conversation, Saul saw in the
very poverty of David a means of revenging himself; and
he cunningly and cruelly intimates to him that he would ac
cept, as a dowry for Michal, the proof, "furnished after the
barbarous fashion ofthe times," that he«had slain a hundred
of the enemies of Israel. His intention in all this was to
secure, as far as human calculations could secure David's

David and Jonathan. 69
death, while yet not Saul, but the Philistines, would be the
ostensible authors of the mischief. But he was again disap
pointed, for He who went forth with Othniel when he won
the daughter of Caleb went forth again with David ; so that
•, before the appointed time he returned with evidence that
two hundred of the Philistines had fallen before his compa
ny. After this there could be no possible pretext for delay
ing the marriage : so Michal became the wife of David ; and
though the connection was not such as permanently con
tributed either to David's happiness or holiness, we can not
deny to her the praise of standing faithful to him for a time,
even at the expense of her father's indignation. She would
not allow herself to become the instrument of Saul's re
venge, and in the perplexing position in which she was
placed, she took for the time, without any hesitation, the part
of her husband. This only exasperated her father more ;
and as in all the matters to which he put his hand David's
wisdom and bravery were conspicuous, and his name be
came renowned, Saul's hatred increased yet more and more,
until at length an open rupture became unavoidable.
Here, however, it will be convenient to pause, that we may
gather up some lessons for our modern life from this ancient
chapter of sacred histopy.
In the first place we may see the evil of centring our
thoughts and plans entirely on ourselves. This was' the root
of Saul's misery. He was one of the most ardent. selfists
that ever lived. He had marie self his god. He looked
only and always at his own interests. "How will" this affect
me.?" was his constant question as each new event trans
pired ; and whensoever he imagined that he was to be in
jured by any other man's elevation or advancement, he was
stirred up to seek his ruin. Thus' he was ever moody and
unhappy. He hugged himself to his heart, and as a punish
ment God left him to himself, and no companionship could

70 David, King of Israel.
have been more miserable. But this was not the/worst.
His self-devotion generated envy, hatred, malice, and even
murder in his heart. ' Because, in a woman's song, David
had apparently been set above him, he is filled with rage, and
schemes for the destruction of one who had in former days
been a blessing to him ; who had rid him of one ofthe fiercest
of his foes ; and who in his inmost heart was loyal to him
as the Lord's anointed. Behold how foul a progeny may
spring from one parent evil passion ! Men are apt to re
gard self-worship as a little thing, and in its lower form of
self-conceit they think that it is worthy only to be laughed
at ; but when it is permitted to get the mastery, it may work
incalculable mischief. Who can tell how many alienations,
heart-burnings, jealousies, plottings against others' welfare,
and even murders, grow out of this root? The man who is
determined to be first can brook no competitor, and is led
to wish all rivals out of his way. Let us be on our guard in
this respect, and cultivate rather the noble magnanimity of
Jonathan, than the narrow and miserable selfishness of Saul.
Plow different (I can not but indulge the fancy) Saul's after
life might have been had he only fostered David, and taken
him lovingly to his heart! Instead of the ceaseless hunting
of his son-in-law, which from this point darkens his name, we
might then have read of their happy fellowship and mutual
help. He might not have been able to retain the crown in
his family, but he might have enjoyed peace in his own days,
and in the common devotion* of Jonathan and David to his
interests he might have been relieved from the cares and
anxieties of his office. Thus in quiet enjoyment the years
might have rolled over him at Gibeah, and then at last in
stead of setting in blood behind the mountains of Gilboa, his
sun might have gone down in peace, and Jonathan and Da
vid might have lived to fill in the beautiful outline of mutual
service lo each other, and common devotion to their country

David and1 Jonathan. 71
and their God, which the one had sketched when he said
unto the other, " Thou shalt be king in Israel, and I shall
be next unto thee." But the reality was just the reverse of
all this. The absorbing selfishness of Saul embroiled the
land in civil discord, leaving it open as a prey to its ever-
watchful enemies. It imbittered his own heart; it made
his home a scene of strife and debate ; it chased away from
him one of his most faithful servants and most daring cap
tains ; and, in the end, it. sent him forth in isolation, God-
deserted, to meet his doom on the field of battle by his own
hand. Behold the retribution ! The man who schemed and
planned so constantly for the pre-eminence and profit of
himself perishes at last by his own sword. But is it not al
ways so, in a very real and solemn sense ? The selfish man
is ever a moral suicide. He poisons his own happiness ; he
kills his own joy ; he destroys his own soul. " Whosoever
will save his life shall lose it ; and whosoever will lose his
life for my sake shall find it." Behold here the far-reaching
character of the Saviour's words. He that is determined at
all hazards to seek only and always his own interests, shall
lose that to which he is so devoted ; but he that, for the Sav
iour's sake, is willing to lose every thing, or to be any thing,
shall have the highest degree of honor, and his salvation too.
He who is always thinking of his own happiness and plan
ning for it, is thereby doing his best to drive all happiness
from him. But he who, out of regard to God in Christ,
holds himself subordinate to the Master, and rejoices in the
prosperity of all around him, thinking nothing of himself,
shall have the highest happiness and the purest joy.
When, in the midnight hour, you lie awake and wish for
sleep, the more you try expedients to bring it to your pillow,
the more it seems to flee from your pursuit. But when you
turn your mind away from it altogether, and think on some
thing quite apart from yourself, then with muffled footstep the

72 David, King of Israel.
angel ofthe night steals into your chamber, and "steeps your
senses in forgetfulness." And so, like sleep, happiness and
pre-eminence; the more you seek them, and the more anx
ious you are to obtain them, fly the farther away from you ;
but when, caring nothing for them, you seek the good of oth
ers and the glory of God, they will come in unobserved and
wreathe you with their1 laurels. How deeply philosophical,
therefore, as a recipe for happiness, not to put it in a stronger
form, is the apostolic injunction, " Look not every man upon
his own things, but every man also upon the things of others."
But the Christian has a higher reason for obeying that com
mand than any to which I have yet adverted. In Christ he
has himself an interest, and property in every other Christian.
Hence he may reasonably rejoice in the eminence of every
other believer, inasmuch as the greatness of one is the great
ness of all. "All things are his, whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas" — and so he can rejoice in the distinctive excel
lences of each. The man whose heart holds only himself is
not a Christian, and must be made miserable and wicked by
his devotion to himself; but he who has the Christian public
spirit to see and own that Christ and his cause are infinitely
greater than himself, will rejoice in the appearance of every
young David who comes forward to grapple with the gigantic
evils of his time, and will gladly bid him welcome to his heart
and home.
We may see here, in the second place, that the servant of
God may expect to encounter adversity in an early stage of
his career. David was not to be cradled for his future work
in the lap of luxury. He was " to learn in suffering what he
taught in song." He was not to be like " a bird on a bough,
singing forth free and off-hand, never knowing the troubles
of other men ;" but, led through trials of his own, he was
stimulated and inspired to sing of them in strains which be
cause they came "from the heart of man, speak to all men's

David and Jonathan. 73
hearts." Early, therefore, was he brought into trial; and
there are not a few of his Psalms which seem to take their
tone from these first experiences of difficulty. Take, for ex
ample, the following : " In the time of trouble he shall hide
me in his pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle shall he
hide me ; he shall set me up upon a rock." " Pull me out
of the net that they have laid privily for me : for thou art my
strength." " For I have heard the slander of many : fear was
on every side : while they took counsel together against me,
they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in thee, O
Lord : I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thine hand :
deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that
persecute me."* From all this let us learn to prepare for trial.
It may come in unexpected forms, and from unexpected quar
ters, but let us be always ready to meet it ; for he who is the
friend of God must lay his account with being treated as an
enemy by the ungodly.
Lastly, we may learn here that the wisest course in time
of danger is to do faithfully our daily duty, and leave our case
with God. David went about his work, behaved himself
wisely, and let God take care of him. On other occasions,
as we shall see, he had sometimes recourse to questionable
expedients, and sinful practices, for self-protection ; but in the
present instance he walked steadily on in the right path, and
we may rely that he verified the truth of the words which he
afterward wrote : " Trust in the Lord, and do good ; so shalt
thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight
thyself also in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also
in him ; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring
forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the
noonday."f Let us follow this example when we are in trou-
* Psa. xxvii., 5 ; xxxi., 4, 13-15. t Psa. xxxvii., 3-5.
4

74 David, King of Israel.
ble, and either God will protect us from our enemies, or he
will enable us so to meet their enmity as to glorify him. On
no account let us compromise ourselves and dishonor him by
deserting our post, or employing questionable or sinful means
for preserving ourselves. Faith is not real within us unless
it develop courage ; and he who sins to save himself from
harm is lacking in boldness, because he is deficient in faith.
No matter what may come upon you, therefore, do what you
clearly see to be your duty, and take with you this song of
Norman M'Leod's to cheer you as you do it;
" Courage, brother ! do not stumble,
Though thy path is dark as night ;
There's a star to guide the humble —
Trust in God, and do the right !
" Let the road be long and dreary,
And its ending out of sight,
Foot it bravely, never weary —
Trust in God, and do the right !
" Perish policy and cunning ;
Perish all that fears the light,
"Whether losing, whether winning,
Trust in God, and do the right !
" Some will hate thee, some will love thee,
Some will flatter, some will slight ;
Cease from man and look above thee —
Trust in God, and do the right !
" Simple rule and safest guiding,
Inward peace and inward light :
Star upon our path abiding —
Trust in God, and do the right !"*

* "A Life-Story, with Characters and Comments ;" a Lecture given by
the late Dr. Norman M'Leod, in Exeter Hall, London.

V.
THE ESCAPE FROM GIBEAH TO RAMAH.
i Samuel xix.
BAFFLED in his schemes for bringing about indirectly
the death of David, Saul at length gave positive orders
to Jonathan, and to all his servants, that they should kill
him. But, in issuing these commands to Jonathan, he was
unwittingly taking the course which was most likely to de
feat the end he had in view ; for, in a way alike honorable
to his head and heart, that noble man set himself at once
to secure David's safety. He did not, indeed, stand forth at
the moment in open defense of his friend. He knew his
father too well to think of adopting such a course as that,
while David was unwarned ; for, in one of those sudden out
bursts of temper to which he was so liable, Saul might, on
the instant of Jonathan's interference, have sent to order
David's execution. Accordingly, without speaking to any
one upon the subject, Jonathan went privately to David, and
put him on his guard. He requested him, moreover, to hide
in a certain secret place in the field well known to both of
them, and promised that he would lead his father out into the
same neighborhood in the morning, and would there engage
him in such a conversation as would reveal the state of his
heart regarding David. This arrangement was made, as it
would appear, not that David might overhear for himself the
words of Saul, but that he might be close at hand, so that,
if the worst should happen, no time should be lost in finding
him and sending him away to a place of safety.
True to his word, Jonathan brought Saul to the appointed

76 David, King of Israel.
spot, and warmly expostulated with him on David's behalf.
He dwelt on his utter innocence of any disaffection toward
the king, alluded to the fact that, at the risk of his life, he
had rid the country of one of its most formidable enemies,
and referred in the most delicate manner to the joy which
had thrilled Saul's own heart on the memorable day in the
Valley of Elah. Nor was this all ; the piety of the chival
rous prince comes out in his ascription to God of the glory
of David's exploit, and in his plain and thorough condemna
tion of the sin which his father-would commit, if he were to
shed the innocent blood of the young hero, to whom he and
the people owed so much.
This appeal so moved the heart of Saul that he swore,
apparently too with all sincerity, that David should not be
slain ; and so, for the time, David, to whom Jonathan at
once reported the substance of his conversation with the
king, was re-assured, and returned to his place at court. I
do not know many instances in which we have such a man
ifestation of prudence and principle combined, as we have
in the case of this expostulation of Jonathan with his father.
Prudence did not go so far as to make him silent about the
sin which Saul was purposing to commit ; principle was not
so asserted as to arouse his father's indignation. Neither
was weakened .by the other ; but both were so admirably
interblended as to produce the result on which his heart
was set.
Saul's good-will to David, however, was not of long con
tinuance. His envy was soon renewed, and that in a way
which recalls the occasion of his first estrangement from
the shepherd hero. The Philistines had resumed hostilities
against the Israelites ; and in the battles which ensued Da
vid again so distinguished himself as to awaken the enthusi
astic admiration of the people. This, coming to the ears of
Saul, stirred up the old jealousy of his disposition, and that

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 77
in its turn, brought on a new attack of his mysterious mal
ady. Again "the evil spirit from the Lord troubled him."
Sitting in his palace with his spear in his hand, he was a
source of terror to all around him ; but David, unhindered
by any recollection of former danger, and desirous only of
soothing the monarch's heart, went in as aforetime and play
ed the harp before him. This time, however, music was of
no avail. Nay, it seemed only to rouse him to more vehe
ment ferocity, for he attempted to smite David with his jave
lin ; but, dexterously evading the blow, he slipped out of the
royal presence, leaving the spear quivering in the wall, to tell
of the danger from which he had escaped.
This incident opened David's eyes to the imminent peril
in which he stood, and he fled to his own house. But not
even there was he safe from the fury of his infatuated perse
cutor, for Saul sent men to surround his dwelling and bring
him to him for destruction. This design, however, was de
feated by Michal, who learning, probably from some inmate
of her father's house, what was in progress, or, perhaps,
knowing her father so well as to be sure of what he would
do next, insisted on sending David off at once. She let him
down from the window before Saul's messengers had arrived,
and then, that she might gain time for him before they start
ed after him, she took an image and placed it in bed, cover
ing its head with a goats'-hair veil, and lyingly told her fa
ther's emissaries that David was sick. They returned with
this report to the king, who insisted that David should be
brought to him even on his bed. This, of course, led to the
discovery of the trick that Michal had played off upon them
all ; and Saul, turning upon her with the disappointed fury
of a wild beast which has been cheated of its prey, said to
her, " Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine
enemy, that he is escaped ?" But her only reply was the ut
terance of a lie, which came new-minted from her fertile

78 David, King of Israel.
brain : " He said unto me, Let me go ; why should I kill
thee ?"
Now out of this narrative a curious question arises, not
only affecting the character of Michal, but also opening up
a subject which is closely connected with the domestic relig
ion of the Jews. What was this image that Michal employed
to personate David ? and how are we to account for the pres
ence of such a thing in David's house ? The word rendered
image is in the margin given in its Hebrew form, "teraphim ;"
and perhaps the best way to bring the whole subject before
you will be to put together the most important of those pas
sages in which it occurs.
The first mention of it is in connection with the record of
Jacob's flight from the house of Laban, on which occasion
we are told that Rachel had stolen her father's images (or
teraphim), and concealed them in her tent ;* and it is prob
able that Jacob referred to these and similar objects of su
perstitious veneration, when he ordered all in his encamp
ment to put away the strange gods that were among them.
The next time the word occurs is in the very singular his
tory contained in the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters
of the book of Judges, which tells how Michah, an Ephraim
ite, set up in his house a kind of domestic chapel, in which
were an ephod and teraphim ; how he got a Levite to be his
priest ; and how the Danites came and took away both his
priest and his images to Dan, where they set them up for
themselves, and where, in after-ages, this small seed of su
perstitious error developed into the worship of the golden
calf set up by Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.
The next passage in which the word occurs, and which
clearly shows that the use of such an image was sinful, is in
i Sam. xv., 23, where Samuel, in his denunciation of Saul,

* Gen. xxi., 25-35.

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 79
says : " Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborn
ness is as iniquity and idolatry " (or, as the term is, teraphim).
The next, after the narrative that has been before us, is in
2 Kings xxiii., 24, where we are told that " the workers with
familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images (or tera
phim), and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied
in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away."
The next is in the prophecies of Hosea iii., 4, where it is
said, "The children of Israel shall abide many days without
a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and with
out an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim."
Some have supposed that here we have a kind of tacit ap
proval of teraphim ; but when we read the following verse,
we. discover that this is not the case, for it is there said, "Af
terward shall the children of Israel return," intimating that
all the things enumerated belonged to a superstitious and
unspiritual worship. The last reference to teraphim which
I shall specify is in the tenth chapter of Zechariah, second
verse, " For the idols [teraphim] have spoken vanity, and the
diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams," etc.
From all these passages, then, it appears that the teraphim
were images having some sort of resemblance to the human
form ; that they are found as far back as the time of Jacob ;
that they were consulted oracularly; that their use contin
ued down to the days of Zechariah at least ; and that, though
the more lax of the priests and rulers might tolerate their
existence, and even themselves employ them, the prophets
from Samuel downward denounced the employment of them
as inconsistent with a right idea of the spirituality of God.
Observe, however, wherein the special sin of the use of these
teraphim consisted. It was not polytheism, the worship of
gods many and lords many ; neither was it the worship of
a god other than the true God ; but it was the worship of the
true God, under and through the visible representation of an

80 David, King of Israel.
image. In other words, it was not a violation of the first
commandment, which says, " Thou shalt have no other gods
before me ;" but it was a violation of the second, which for
bids the use of any image, even in the worship of the true
God. The distinction may seem a subtle one, but all the
more on that account it needs to be accurately made, espe
cially as it is one of the main points of difference between
the Protestant and the Romanist. Both of these alike pro
fess to worship the one God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost;
but the Protestant will have no visible teraphim, while the
Romanist employs them without scruple. Now, as the use
of such things was forbidden, even under the extremely rit
ualistic system of Moses, it must be still more inconsistent
with the simplicity and spirituality of Gospel worship. The
employment of such images not only tends to idolatry, but,
indeed, partakes of it, and is altogether contrary to the dic
tum of our Divine Master : " God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
But if this be so, if even in the Old Testament times the
employment of such factitious aids to devotion was forbid
den, how comes it that we have here teraphim in David's
house ? Perhaps the history of Rachel and Jacob jnay fur
nish the explanation. Jacob was entirely ignorant that his
wife had carried away Laban's teraphim ; and David here
may have been equally innocent of all complicity in this
kind of worship. In our domestic arrangements it would
not be possible, perhaps, for a wife to indulge in such a
mode of religious service without the cognizance of her hus
band, but it might be quite easily managed in an Eastern
dwelling. Now, if this explanation be accepted, it will help
to account for the weakness which Michal here and at other
times in her history displayed. She was not like David in
the highest and most momentous things. She loved him
indeed, and, as we see, was eager to save his life • but her

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 8i
love for him was earthly and selfish. She was captivated
by the brave and beautiful young warrior, but she had no
right appreciation of the best parts of David's character.
She had no oneness with him in his truest and noblest self.
Hence the deceitfulness which she manifested in the plan
she took to aid his escape and to expedite his flight; hence
also, at a later day, her easy acquiescence in her father's ar
rangement, which, in violation of the sanctity of marriage,
took her from David and gave her to another. No doubt
she loved David ; indeed, as one has said, her affection for
him had "started forth with what we might almost deem
an unmaidenly promptness." But her affection could not
stand the strain of trial. It was not like that of Jonathan,
because it had not, like Jonathan's, its root in devotion to
the Lord. She could not and did not follow her husband
through persecution and exile and clanger, because she was
not one with him in God. She could tell lies for 'David,
but she had not the courage and the faith to go with him
into suffering, or to tell the truth for him. So long as for
tune favored him, she was found beside him, helping him,
too, in her own way ; but when he went forth a fugitive, to
be hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, she did not
say to him, " Whither thou goest I will go, and where thou
lodgest I will lodge," for she could not say, " Thy God shall
be my God." Want of sympathy in spiritual matters be
tween husband and wife is always a painful thing, and fre
quently a perilous. The noblest marriage is not that which
secures a great alliance, or a fashionable equipage, or an am
ple fortune, but that which is made " in the Lord."
But we must resume the narrative. To this episode in
David's life the 59th Psalm, as we learn from its title, refers;
and it is interesting to note, not only the strength of faith
which it evinces, but also the plea by which, in it, he en
forces his petition for deliverance. Again and again he

82 David, King of Israel.
calls God his " defense " and " shield," and asks that the
machinations of his enemies may be confounded, so that
" men may know that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends
of the earth." Very graphically, also, does he describe the
movements of Saul's messengers, comparing them as, under
the cloud of darkness, they went round and round his dwell
ing, to the dogs, which, every Oriental traveler tells us, are
still the nuisance and the danger of all Eastern cities after
night-fall. And then, at the close of the ode, already antici
pating his escape, he gives expression to joyful assurance in
these beautiful words : " I will sing of thy power ; yea, I will
sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning : for thou hast been
my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee,
O my strength, will I sing ; for God is my defense, and the0
God of my mercy."
Leaving Gibeah, David made his way to Ramah, that he
might refresh his soul by converse with Samuel ; but the
prophet, thinking, perhaps, that his house would be no safe
retreat for one who was fleeing from Saul, took him with him
to Naioth in the immediate neighborhood, where there was
a school of the prophets, and where Saul would probably be
restrained from laying hands upon the fugitive. This school
had, in all likelihood, been instituted by Samuel himself, for
the purpose of training young men for becoming the instruct
ors of the nation, and perhaps, also, under the idea that out
of the bands thus educated there might, from time to time,
arise some whom God might commission as his specially-
inspired messengers to his people. Similar establishments
we find at a later date in sacred history, at Bethel and Gil
gal ; and it is supposed that in connection with the existence
of such seminaries there was maintained, from the days of
Samuel till the close of the Old Testament canon, a contin
uous succession of prophets in the land'. Not indeed that
God confined himself to those who were trained in these

The Escape prom Gibeah to Ramah. 83
schools. When he had a word to say to the people, or a
work to do among them, he was never circumscribed in the
area from which he took his instruments. But that he usu
ally employed as his special messengers those who were ed
ucated in these schools may, I think, be inferred from the
words of Amos, who speaks of it as a thing unusual and
strange, that he was no prophet, nor the son of a prophet,
but a plain herdman of Tekoah, taken from following the
flock. These ancient colleges were under the superintend
ence of a recognized prophet, such as Samuel or Elisha,
who was called the father, while the students were styled
his children. They were places of study and devotion, yet
they were not monasteries, as we now understand that word,
seeing that the youths were allowed to marry. They seem
to me to have resembled rather the seminary of the ancient
Culdee Church, the ruins of which still awaken the interest
of the traveler in the island of Iona, and which was not only
a place of retreat and study, but also a great missionary cen
tre, from which laborers went forth in every direction to do
the work of God. The chief subject which engaged the at
tention of the students was the law of Moses and its inter
pretation, but along with that, though subsidiary to it, they
practiced music and sacred poetry. In such a place, there
fore, David would find himself in congenial society, and the
influence of his sojourn there must have been both sooth
ing and salutary to his spirit. We do not know that he
had ever met Samuel since the day when he was anoint
ed at Bethlehem, and we may be sure that the venerable
prophet, while comforting him under his present trials, would
give him many valuable instructions as to the principles
which should regulate his conduct when he should come
into the kingdom. As he had communed with Saul on the
house-top at the period of his anointing, so now again he
would enter with David .into an ample explanation of the

84 David, King of Israel.
terms on which the sceptre was given to him — an explana
tion made all the more sadly clear by allusion to the mis
takes which Saul had committed, and the terrible conse
quences to which these had led. In connection with this
matter, too, we may well suppose that Samuel would speak
of his own wide experience as a magistrate, giving him max
ims and advice which would never be -forgotten ; while, con
tinually, the good old man would commend him to the keep
ing of that God who, through his own long and active life,
had sustained and protected him.
Besides this intercourse with Samuel, the pursuits of the
sons of the prophets, alike in their practice of music and po
etry, and in the study of the Word of God, were just such as
David would most thoroughly enjoy, and as would most ma
terially tend to soothe his spirit after the trials through
which he had just passed, and brace it for the difficulties
which lay before him. I do not presume to fix either the
date or the authorship of all the productions, which have
been brought together into the one book of the Psalms, but
if the 119th Psalm came from the pen of David, as multi
tudes believe, then I do not wonder that many have con
nected its composition, with his residence in the school of
the prophets at Naioth. The calm in which he then found
himself, and the studies which he then prosecuted, might
well have led his musings in the direction of that alphabetic
ode, while there are in it not a few expressions which, to
say the least, may have particular reference to the dangers
out of which he had so recently escaped, and by which he
was still threatened. Such, for example, are the following:
" Princes also did sit and speak against me : but thy servant
did meditate in thy statutes." " The proud have had me in
derision : yet have I not declined from thy law." " Trouble
and anguish have taken hold on me : yet thy commandments
are my delights." Then, in regard, to his present enjoyment,

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 85
we may quote these lines : " O how love I thy law ! it is my
meditation all the day." " The law of thy mouth is better
unto me than thousands of gold or silver;" and in refer
ence to God's dealings with him, he says, " I know, O Lord,
that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness
hast afflicted me." " It is good for me that I have been af
flicted ; that I might learn ' thy statutes." But why need I
enlarge here ? I might well quote the entire Psalm, per
vaded as it is with love of the Word of God, and confidence
in God himself. Let me commend it to your prayerful study,
as a perfect store-house of suggestive thoughts and devout
aspirations. In allusion to its peculiarity of structure, in
accordance with which it is divided into as many parts as
there are letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse of
every part begins, in the Hebrew, with the letter which marks
the part to which it belongs, Bishop Cowper has called it
" a holy alphabet, so plain that children may understand it,
and so rich and instructive that the wisest and most expe
rienced may learn something from it."* This witness is
true, and if only each day of our lives we were to fix in our
memories one verse of this admirable production, and make
it the subject of our meditation in our intervals of rest, we
should grow in every thing that adorns the Christian char
acter, and become both more devout in the closet, and more
holy in the transaction of our daily business.
But not even the sanctity that surrounded the residence
of the sons of the prophets could shield David from the ven
geance of Saul, for so soon as he discovered where his son-
in-law had found an asylum, the king sent messengers to ap
prehend him. By the mysterious power of God's Holy Spir
it, however, when these men came to Naioth, and saw the
sons of the prophets at their daily service, they came under
* Quoted by Plumer, in " Studies in the Book of Psalms," p. 1018.

86 David, King of Israel.
a peculiar influence, which impelled them to do as the stu
dents did. This was told to the king, who sent others in
their stead, and to them it happened in like manner. The
same thing occurred with a third company of messengers ;
and at length, instead of learning from all this that God had
David under his special protection, and giving up his mad
intent, Saul became so exasperated that he set out himself
for Naioth, determined to be the executioner of his own
commands. But lo ! as he drew near the village, even be
fore he came into the company of the prophets, he was him
self laid hold of by the Spirit of God, and as in the early
days of his reign he prophesied — yea, he was filled with the
Spirit so that he stripped off his outer garments, and lay
on the ground, as in a trance, until the following morning.
Thus, again, the proverb which had obtained currency at the
beginning of his reign was revived, and men said once more,
"Is Saul also among the prophets?" Thus, also, by the re
straining might of God's Spirit, he was again kept from lay-
• ing violent hands upon David.
In reviewing the narrative over which we have come, we
are impressed with the proof, which is here furnished, of the
diversified resources, which Jehovah has at command for the
protection of his people. Again and again Saul attempts
to take David's life, but always without success ; and each
time the means by which David was delivered are different.
At first he is defended by God's blessing on his own valor
against the Philistines ; then he is indebted for his safety to
the mediation of Jonathan ; then to the agency of Michal ;
and finally to the miraculous work of God's own Holy Spir
it. In the subsequent portion of fhe history, we shall find
that the same principle holds, and that in each new peril
he is preserved by some new instrumentality. When God
purposes to protect a man, he is at no loss for the means of
carrying out his design. He may find them in what seems

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 87
to' us mortals the most unexpected places, and they may
work in what appears to us to be a very strange — it may be,
also, a very sinful manner ; yet the purpose is accomplished,
while yet the liberty of the different agents is not infringed.
David was at this time, in a very peculiar sense, the ward of
God's providence, and he was kept in .safety. By the ex
periences through which he had passed, he was able after
ward to sing, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about
them that fear him, and delivereth them ;" and from the oc
currences which we have been considering, we may learn
that God will keep us alive, so long as we are needed in his
service. "A man is immortal till his work be done." If in
the purpose of God there is still something to be accom
plished by any one, he bears a charmed life until that be ful
filled. This, of course, must not be understood as~lhiplying
that we should use no means to insure our own safety, far
less that we should recklessly and wantonly rush into danger ;
but it does imply, that when we have taken all proper pre
cautions, we are to trust in God, and wait the issue. Either
they will be fruitless, and then there will be the conscious
ness that the end is come, and that our reward is near ; or
they will be successful, and anew the glorious truth shall
be demonstrated to every beholder, that man's extremity is
God's opportunity. The good man should never despair, for
either God will glorify himself in his protection, or he will
glorify God in suffering for his name's sake ; and in either
case the issue shall be well. "God's providence is his in
heritance." But our review leads us to remark further, on the foolish
and unbelieving deceit which Michal practiced for David's
deliverance. It was unbelieving, for it was equivalent to an
assertion on her part that God could not save her husband
except by her sin ; it was foolish, for, after all, it did not ac
complish very much for David, and only exasperated Saul.

88 David, King of Israel.
Having told one lie, she needed to give that probability, by
a clumsy piece of acting ; and then she had to sustain the
whole by another falsehood, which contained in it such a re
flection on her husband's character, as no true-hearted wife
would have allowed herself to make, even in jest. I can not
but think that Michal's deception here, taken in connection
with her possession of the image, as I suppose, in a clandes
tine way, is an indication of a low moral tone ; and while she
is certainly to be commended for the promptitude with which
she urged David to flee, we must condemn her for the false
hood which she told, and the deceit which she practiced in
connection with his flight. Some, indeed, may say that she
did no more than Rahab did for the spies at Jericho ; and
that since Rahab's faith is praised, we are surely too severe
in condemning Michal. But then we must bear in mind that
Rahab was a heathen, and that her mode of life was such as
was fitted only to harden her in heathenism and sin ; while
Michal was brought up under all the privileges of the Mo
saic law. What Rahab did in sending forth the spies in
peace, betokened that she had faith ; what she did in tell
ing a lie for their sakes, showed how weak her faith was,
after all ; but that she had any faith whatever was a marvel
ous thing, considering her position. With Michal, on the
other hand, it was different, and she must be judged by a
different standard. To borrow an illustration from the his
tory, on a part of which we are engaged — when the Philis
tines handled the sacred ark of the covenant, no death came
to them, for they knew no better ; but when the men of Beth-
shemish looked into it, they were smitten down by the out-
flashing of the sword of Jehovah— even as Uzzah was at
a later date ; for they ought to have known its sanctity.*
And so there might be, comparatively speaking, little mor-

* I Sam. vi., 10-21.

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 89
al guilt in the doing by a heathen of a thing which, when
done by a Jewess, was worthy of severe condemnation. I
know, indeed, that we must not judge Michal by the Gospel
standard. Still, even in the light of the law of Moses, she
was to blame for her deceit, and to us who have the cross of
Christ before us, and the Sermon on the Mount sounding in
our ears, nothing can be more evident than that it is never
necessary to commit sin. It is always wrong to do wrong.
No circumstances or motives, no extenuations or palliations,-
can ever change wrong into right. There is no Darwinian-
ism in morals. There is here no transmutation possible.
Wrong is wrong, and right is right, for evermore. And if,
in criticising a character in real history it is warrantable to
refer to the creations of the novelist, I would place side by
side with Michal here, the Jeanie Deans of Walter Scott, that
you may see the contrast between cunning unscrupulousness
and inflexible integrity. I reckon that delineation, founded
as it is in its main outlines on fact, as one of the noblest that
ever came from the mind of its author ; and in the honor
which we are constrained to pay to her, who would not tell a
falsehood to save her sister's life, though she walked hundreds
of miles afterward to deliver her from the gallows, you may
see, also, how much we blame Michal for her unbelieving de
ceit.* Be it ours, my brethren, to stand unflinchingly by the
right, for the sake of Him who is himself the right. Every
deceit is a dishonor to him, as well as to ourselves, and death
is preferable to such dishonor.
* The parallel here is scarcely perfect, since the heroine ofthe tale was
put upon her oath in a court of justice, while Michal was questioned only
in the ordinary manner. The casuistry of this and similar cases is can
vassed in a note to Froude's " History of England," vol. ii., p. 65. That
author admits that he does not see his way to a conclusion as to the de
gree of guilt attaching to such a kind of unveracity as this ; but he fails to
show, if falsehood be ever venial, within what limits it is to be restrained.

90 David, King of Israel.
Again : in reviewing this chapter, we are impressed with
the gracious long-suffering of God with sinners. When Saul
was laid hold of by God's Spirit, the desire of the Lord was
not merely to restrain him from injuring David; but also to
visit him again with that particular blessing which he had
received at the beginning of his reign. It was a gracious, as
well as a miraculous, visitation to him. Anew the Holy Ghost
was striving within him. Once again he had the opportu-
- nity of turning to God. His heart was moved. He was al
most persuaded ; the tide was at the flood again with him,
and if he had taken it, he might have finished his life in an
other manner; but no : he allowed it to ebb, and it never
flowed again ! Yet see the goodness of God to him in giv
ing him this new opportunity, while, at the same time, you
observe the danger in which those are placed who let such
opportunities go unimproved.
There may be some within the sound of my voice to-night
whose experience is akin to Saul's. They, too, can lookback
upon a former time — some era of great revival, perhaps —
when they were drawn to the truth, and took a prominent
place in the Church and its services ; but a sad declension
came, and for many years they had no care for any thing
spiritual or eternal. They were devoted to ease and self-in
dulgence, making enjoyment their constant idol. But now,
again, in their riper years, with mayhap the hoary locks of
age beginning to appear upon them, their old feelings are
coming back upon them. They are attracted as of yore to
God's house; they enjoy his ordinances; they are moved
many times to tears by the preaching of his Word ; they are
disposed to serious devoutness in God's worship, and to ear
nest holiness, in the family, and in the world. But as yet they
have gone no farther. Oh, let me beseech them to follow
all this up by taking the one decisive step of giving them
selves unreservedly and at once to the Lord, lest, when the

The Escape from Gibeah to Ramah. 91
fervor of their present enthusiasm shall have gone, they may
be left farther from God than they ever were before. Not
always will God forbear with the vacillations of a changeful
heart ; not always will his Spirit strive with men. Oh ! drive
him not away by your carelessness and self-will, but open
your soul to his influences, and yield yourself up to his loving
service. , Ere this spring-tide of opportunity falls, it may be
never to rise again, let it carry you on its bosom into the har
bor of salvation.
Finally, mark here, how men who are themselves godless
observe and criticise the characters of those who join them
selves with the people of God. " Is Saul also among the
prophets ?" said the wits of Israel, when they heard of what
occurred at Naioth. Now this might have been as hon
orable to Saul, as it came to be dishonorable to him, if
only he had in his after history proved himself sincerely
resolved to do the will of God. Thus, when we say of
another Saul, " Is Paul also among the apostles ?" we mean
no reproach to the man of Tarsus, but only desire thereby
to magnify the riches of divine grace, which transformed
him from a persecutor of the Church into a preacher of the
Gospel; and had this occasion been the turning-point in
the history of the King of Israel, as the prostration at Da
mascus was the_ crisis in the life of the Christian apostle,
the proverb before us would have been one of honor, and
not of disgrace. Unhappily, however, by his after conduct
Saul gave occasion to men to speak of his insincerity and
wickedness, and so; " Saul among the prophets " is, even yet,
jeeringly said by us, when we mean to indicate that a god
less, Christless man has found his way into the member
ship or ministry of the Church. Now this proverb, thus
understood, is two-edged. It speaks to those who are as
yet outside of the Church, and says to them, " If you are
not really and truly Christ's ; if you do not love the Lord

92 David, King of Israel.
and desire to serve him, then do not seek to enter the
Church." But it speaks also to those who are within, and
says to them, " If in your hearts you are conscious that you
are- none of Christ's, and if in your conduct you are dishon
oring his name, then go out from the Church. It is not for
such as you ; and your continuance in it will only make men
say, ' Is Saul also among the prophets ?' They who have
named the name of Christ should depart from iniquity."
The reputation of Christ, in the world of to-day, is very much
in the hands of those who profess to be his followers. Let
us see to it, that, so far from allowing it to suffer from our
conduct, we add new adornment to his Gospel by the saint-
liness of our lives, and compel men to take knowledge of us
that we have been with Jesus.

VI.
THE VALLEY OF DECEIT.
i Samuel xx.-xxii.
TAKING advantage of the miraculous restraint which
was put upon Saul at Naioth, David left the school of
the prophets, and hasted back to Gibeah.
Here, on the return of the monarch, it would seem that,
under the influence of his recent experiences, his heart was
somewhat softened toward his son-in-law ; for Jonathan, in
the interesting interview which is described so fully in the
twentieth chapter of i Samuel, speaks at first with the great
est confidence of David's safety ; and David himself, even in
his distress, takes it for granted that his presence would be
expected at the customary banquet on new-moon. But he
had seen so many vacillations in Saul, that he was not dis
posed to build much upon his present gracious mood. Nay,
rather, from brooding morbidly over Saul's treatment of him,
to the entire exclusion from his mind of God's constant care
over him, he fell into despair, and ran into a course of reck
less deceit which brought the most fearful consequences in
its train.
It may appear strange, that all this should have happened
immediately after his pleasant and profitable sojourn with
Samuel, at the school of the prophets. But perhaps the very
contrast between his happiness at Naioth, and his continual
suspense at Gibeah, where he felt himself to be like one
standing on the very edge of an active volcano, may help to
account for his depression. In any case, it is by no means
an uncommon experience, that times of great spiritual ele-

94 David, King of Israel.
vation are followed, by periods of deep dejection. Every
height has its hollow; and as Peter went from the first
Lord's Supper to his denial of the Master, David went from
Naioth to Nob, and from Nob to Gath. It is a suggestive
incident, bidding us be always on our guard against tempta
tion, and then, most of all, when we have been enjoying the
most exalted privileges.
In his distress David sought for Jonathan, and poured his
complaint into the ear of his friend, telling him that Saul
was seeking his life, with such sleepless assiduity, "that there
was but a step between him and death." The king's son
was taken by surprise, and expressed his belief that David
was allowing his fear to overmaster, not his faith only, but
his judgment also. Still, seeing how seriously his compan
ion was taking matters, he offered to do any thing which he
could suggest, in the way either of discovering Saul's inten
tions toward him, or of delivering him from any danger
which might be hanging over him. So an agreement was
made to the following effect : The next day was new-moon,
on which it was the regular custom for Saul to entertain the
captains of his host. On such an occasion it was David's
duty to be present ; but this time he would take the op
portunity of going to Bethlehem, to the yearly feast of his
father's household ;. and Jonathan would see, by Saul's re
marks upon his absence, how he felt toward him. Then, on
the third day, David would return to a hiding-place, known
to both of them, by the stone Ezel in the field, where Jona
than, under color of practicing his favorite sport of archery,
would let him know how matters were. If he said to the
boy who went with him to fetch his arrows, " See they are
beyond thee," David Would know that mischief was deter
mined against him by the king ; if he said, " They are on
this side of thee," he would understand that all was well,
and that he was perfectly safe.

The Valley of Deceit.

95

In the formation of this agreement, the hearts of the two
friends were greatly moved ; and the faith which Jonathan
manifested in David's future, contrasts very strongly with
the despondency which was shown by David himself. How
deeply touching, for example, are these words of Jonathan :
" Thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness
of the Lord, that I die not : but also thou shalt not cut off
thy kindness from my house forever : no, not when the Lord
hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face
of the earth. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, be
cause he loved him : for he loved him as he loved his own
soul." On the feast day, as David had anticipated, Saul observed
his absence ; but, imagining that it was caused by one or
other of those ceremonial defilements, which might make him
unclean until the evening, he made no remark. On the mor
row, however, the absence being repeated, the king asked, in
a tone of displeasure, "Wherefore cometh not the son of
Jesse to meat, neither yesterday nor to-day ?" In reply, Jon
athan stated that, with his permission, David had gone to
Bethlehem, to the annual home-feast of his family ; where
upon Saul went into a paroxysm of passion, saying, in the
most insulting and blood-thirsty manner, to Jonathan, "Thou
son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that
thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion,
and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness ? for as
long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt
not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send
and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die." But though
Jonathan knew, as well as Saul, that David was destined to
sit upon the throne, he was not thereby either estranged from
him, or desirous of his death. So he stood up bravely in his
friend's defense, asserting his innocence, and asking why he
should be slain. This, however, only added fuel to the flame

96 David, King of Israel.
of Saul's evil passion, for he made answer by hurling a jave
lin at the head of his son. That was enough. Loving and
dutiful as Jonathan was, he could stand it no longer, but rose
in great indignation from the table, and at the appointed
time went, in bitter humiliation, to the trysting-stone, where
David lay concealed, to tell him what had occurred. By the
preconcerted signal, he let him know that all hope of recon
ciliation with his father was at an end. But he could not
leave his friend without a parting embrace. So, giving his
bow and quiver to his attendant, with instructions to carry
them into the city, he remained behind, and David came forth
from his hiding-place, " and fell on his face to the ground,
and bowed himself three times : and they kissed one anoth
er, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. And
Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have
sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord
be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed
forever. And he arose and departed : and Jonathan went
into the city." We attempt no remark on this touching
scene, but content ourselves with setting it in vivid distinct
ness before your view as one of the most thrilling illustra
tions of devoted friendship that the world has ever witnessed.
The parting which we have just described occurred, most
probably, on the afternoon of the sixth day of the week, and
David, eager to enter at once into a secure asylum, employed
the brief season before the sunset should usher in the Sab
bath, in hastening forward to Nob, where the Tabernacle at
that time was pitched. This place has not been certainly
identified by modern travelers. It is supposed by some to
have been on one of the shoulders of the Mount of Olives,
and, from other references to it in the Old Testament, it
seems at least certain that it was in the immediate neighbor
hood of Jerusalem, and within sight of Mount Zion* This
* See, for example, Isaiah x., 32.

The Valley of Deceit. 97
being the case, it could not well have been more than five or
six miles from Gibeah ; David, therefore, could reach it with
ease before the commencement of the Sabbath, and, once
there, he would be quite secure, as " no one could travel
thither after him on the Sabbath, neither could any one who
might be at Nob when he came go to Gibeah (on that clay),
to give intelligence of his arrival."* The place was inhab
ited by a colony 'of priests numbering more than fourscore,
at the head of whom was Ahimelech the high-priest, the son
of Ahitub. When David presented himself at the Taberna
cle, having first left his companions in some place of retreat,!
the prelate was astonished that he, the king's son-in-law, and
a distinguished warrior, should be traveling unattended, and
he said to him, "Why art thou alone, and no man with thee ?"
In reply, David told a cunning falsehood, representing that
Saul had sent him on a secret mission, and begged to be fur
nished with such provisions as might be at hand. The priest,
ignorant, to all appearance, of the new feud between Saul
and David, and seeing no improbability in the story which
was told him, made answer that he had nothing but the
shew-bread which had that day been removed to make way
for a new supply, and which it was lawful for the priests
alone to eat. Nevertheless, in a case of extremity like that
of David, he declared his readiness to give him that, pro
vided that he and his men had not been defiled. Having
been satisfied on that point, he gave David the hallowed
bread, and then, in response to another request, he put into
his hand Goliath's sword. . This act of Ahimelech, in giving
the sacred bread to David, has been referred to with com-
* Kitto's " Daily Bible Illustrations," vol. iii., p. 281.
t It has been supposed by some, that the reference made by David to
his attendants was a falsehood as great as that which he told about the
object of his journey ; but the words of the Lord Jesus, when he alludes
to this incident, relieve .him from that accusation.
5

98 David, King of Israel.
mendation by the Lord Jesus* and was used by him as a
vindication of his working miracles on the Sabbath. His
allusion to the whole circumstances implies that, where two
obligations come apparently into collision, the lower must
give place to the higher, and that there is nothing in the
sight of God more sacred than the saving of life, or the
helping of suffering humanity, or the salvation of a soul.
But his words, while sustaining the action of the high-
priest, do not in the least degree extenuate the sin of Da
vid. Some indeed, like Delaney, do not hesitate to vindicate
him even for the deception which he practiced here; but
David himself, at a later period, deeply bewailed his false
hood, and, even at the time at which he told it, a circum
stance occurred which made his heart beat loud with the
upbraidings of conscience, and darkened his soul with the
forebodings of disaster. For in the Tabernacle with him,
detained from traveling by the recurrence of the Sabbath,
was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief shepherd of King Saul ;
and David had a too sure presentiment that the monarch-
would by him be speedily informed of the whole affair, and
would take ruthless revenge on all concerned. But there
was another there whom David had forgotten, else he had
never told the lie which wrought such havoc in the holy set
tlement. God was there ! Had the hunted fugitive but
realized that, it would have kept him from deceit, and the
face of the Edomite would not have troubled him. He who
feareth God needs be afraid of no one else, but when one is
committing iniquity he starts at his own shadow. "The
thief doth fear each bush an officer." At another time Da
vid would have met Doeg unabashed, but now his heart mis
gives him at his presence, and he wishes to escape his ob
servation. * Matthew xii., 3 ; Mark ii., 25 ; Luke vi., 3, 4.

The Valley of Deceit. 99
" Thus oft it haps that when within
They shrink at sense of secret sin,
A feather daunts the brave ;
A fool's wild speech confounds the wise,
And proudest princes veil their eyes
Before their meanest slave."*
David remained at Nob no longer than was absolutely
necessary, and on the morning of the first day of the week
he took the path down through the valley, afterward called
by the name of Jehoshaphat, past the Jebusite stronghold
of Zion, and away most probably through the very battle-field
where he had slain Goliath, on to the city of Gath, where he
wished to put himself under the protection of Achish, who
was at that time the head of the Philistian confederacy.
This was a strange, an almost insane, procedure on the
part of David ; yet, if we will but remember that at this
juncture he had lost his faith in the protection of Jehovah,
we shall easily see how he came to act as he did. The oth
er tribes by whom the Israelites were surrounded were at
peace with Saul, hence none of them would have been likely
to risk a quarrel with him by taking David under their pro
tection. But the Philistines were the traditional enemies of
fhe Jews ; hence, if he could ingratiate himself with them,
he might find a secure retreat at the court of their lead
er. This idea, promising at first view, seems to have been
adopted by David without due reflection on the conse
quences which might follow from his acting upon it, or on
the conditions on which alone it was possible for him to re
ceive assistance from the enemies of his nation. Had he
considered for a moment, he might have seen that, even if
the Philistines should receive him hospitably, his very ac
ceptance of their kindness would seriously compromise him
* Scott's " Marmion."

ioo David, King of Israel.
in after-years. Besides, he might have known that he could
expect the Philistines to defend 'him, only on the under
standing that he should make common cause with them,
and take up arms against his own countrymen.
Hence, even as a policy, this flight to Gath was a blun
der, and David was only saved from its dangers and entan
glements by the opposition to him of the lords of the Philis
tines, whose national instinct told them that he could not but
be their constant enemy. They had heard of his populari
ty among his own people, after the slaying of their gigantic
chieftain ; they had been informed of Saul's jealousy of him ;
they knew, too, in some way or other, that he had been al
ready designated as Saul's successor, and therefore they re
garded him with undisguised hostility, and loudly expressed
their dissatisfaction with Achish for permitting him to re
main in their land. These feelings were very probably in
tensified when they saw the sword of Goliath in David's
hand, and very soon the indications which met him on ev
ery hand, that he was most unwelcome, filled his heart with
dismay. His great object then became to get away in safe
ty. He feared that they might forcibly detain him, and con
sign him to imprisonment in some one of their fortresses.
Indeed, from the heading of the 56th Psalm, as well as frorrt
the words of Achish in the narrative, it would seem that they
did apprehend him ; so he had recourse to a questiona
ble expedient to make himself appear contemptible, and al
together unworthy ofthe consideration of his enemies. He
feigned madness, going about scribbling on the doors ofthe
gate, and letting his spittle fall upon his beard ; and so well
did he counterfeit, that Achish held him up to the scorn of
his courtiers, who were all at length glad to be rid of his
presence. Thus was David taught that " it is an evil thing
and a bitter to forsake the Lord of Hosts." He had lost
his faith in Jehovah, and put his confidence in Achish, and

The Valley of Deceit. ioi
nothing more salutary could have happened to him than
such a reception as that which was given to him at Gath.
When a youth is going on a wrong course, the best thing
that can befall him is failure and disgrace, and the worst
thing that can come to him is what the world calls success.
If he succeed, the probability is that he will go farther astray
than ever ; but if he fail, there is hope that he will return to
the right path, and seek alliance with Jehovah. This last
was the case with David in the instance before us, if at least
we may judge of the effect which his experience produced
upon him, from the songs which he wrote with special refer
ence to the incidents at which we have been looking. The
titles ofthe 34th and 56th Psalms connect these odes -with
David's residence in Gath; and though there are few ac
knowledgments of sin in them, yet they indicate that, as the
result and outcome of his trials, he was led to look away
from all earthly helpers to the Lord alone. "This poor
man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of
all his troubles." Perhaps, too, there may be an implied
condemnation of- the course which he had been pursuing,
and a virtual resolution to abstain from it in the future, when
he says, "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many
clays, that he may see good ? Keep thy tongue from evil,
and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do
good ; seek peace, and pursue it." And it is scarcely possible
to doubt that, from his own penitence for the sins of which
he had just been guilty, and his own experience of God's fa
vor when he returned to him, he was led to sing, " The Lord
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart ; and saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of
the righteous : but the Lord delive^eth him out of them all."
How interesting, too, it is to picture him to ourselves as, jour
neying from Gath, and, taking the way that led to the cave in
which he was to find for a time a home, he sings, " Thou tell-

102 David, King of Israel.
est my wanderings : put thou my tears into thy bottle : are
they not in thy book ? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine
enemies turn back : this I know ; for God is for me. In God
will I praise his word : in the Lord will I praise his word.
In God have I put my trust : I will not be afraid what man
can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God : I will
render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death : wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that
I may walk before God in the light of the living ?" Said I
not truly that David's repulse from Gath was the best thing
that could have happened him ? It sent him back into the
arms of God, and in these notes of trust there is again the
spirit of him who laid Goliath low.
Leaving Achish, David went back to his native land, and
found an asylum in the cave of Adullam. This is now gen
erally identified with a cave in the side of a deep ravine,
some five or six miles south-west of Bethlehem, and called
the Wady Khureitun. Dr. Thomson, in "The Land and the
Book,"* speaks thus of it: " Leaving our horses in the charge
of wild Arabs, and, taking one for a guide, we started for the
cave, having a fearful gorge below, gigantic cliffs above, and
the path winding along a shelf of rock narrow enough to
make the nervous among us shudder. At length, from a
great rock hanging on the edge of this shelf, we sprang, by
a long leap, into a low window which opened into the per
pendicular face of the cliff. We were then within the hold
of David, and creeping, half doubled, through a narrow crev
ice for a few rods, we stood beneath the dark vault of the
first chamber of this mysterious and oppressive cavern. Our
whole collection of lights did little more than make the dark
ness visible. After groping about as long as w.e had time to
spare, we returned to the light of day, fully convinced that
* English Edition, pp. 606, 607.

The Valley of Deceit. 103
with David and his lion-hearted followers inside, all the
strength of Israel under Saul could not have forced an en
trance — would not even have attempted it." If this, then,
were the cave, it is quite probable that, from its proximity to
Bethlehem, David was already familiar with it. But be that
as it may, in this or in some other similar cavern, he took
up his abode, establishing himself in a kind of independent
chieftainship, and, while religiously refraining from all at
tacks on Saul, ready to defend himself from every assault.
Nor was he left alone. His brethren and kinsmen joined
his standard, and others, to the number of about four hun
dred, became his followers. They were a motley multitude,
each individual having his own special reason for the course
he took. Some came because their circumstances were so
bad, that any change, even though it were into a cave, was
an improvement ; others came because they were so deeply
drowned in debt that they could escape slavery only by be
coming military adventurers ; while others were impelled to
join the company because they were imbittered either by
their own personal sorrows, or by oppression at the hands of
Saul. But all alike were attracted to David because he was
a brave, dashing leader, destined, in the end, to be king over
Israel. But there were two who came to the cave very specially
on David's account. The first was Gad, the seer, of whom
now, for the first time, mention is made in the sacred narra
tive. Perhaps he had made David's acquaintance during
his recent sojourn at Naioth, in the school of the prophets ;
and now, prompted by his own generous heart, or mayhap
obedient to the suggestion ofthe venerable Samuel, he came,
in the time of the young hero's necessity, to cheer and coun
sel him during his outlawry.
The other was Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, the high-
priest, who came from Nob, telling of a terrible tragedy which

104 David, King of Israel.
Saul had enacted there, and claiming the protection of the
son of Jesse.
The story which he told, supplemented by such details as
the record itself furnishes, was briefly this : Hearing of Da
vid's escape to Gath, and of his re -appearance in Judah,
Saul made complaint of the lukewarmness of his servants in
carrying out his commands against his rival, and affirmed
that they were all in league with Jonathan in the interests
of David. Upon this, Doeg the Edomite came forward and
told how, on a certain Sabbath when he was at Nob, Ahim-
elechj the high-priest, had given David food, and had pre
sented him with Goliath's sword. He also alleged that he
had, by means of the Urim and Thummim, " inquired of the
Lord" for him. Of this last there is no record in the nar
rative, and it was probably added with malignant intent by
Doeg, for consultation of the sacred oracle was reserved for
great occasions, and was generally regarded as the exclusive
privilege ofthe head ofthe nation. Hence " the inquiring of
the Lord " for David would be construed by Saul, especially
in the temper in which he then was, as a transference of his
allegiance by the high-priest from Saul to David. The mo
ment the king heard of it, therefore, he sent for the priests,
and asked if the assertion of Doeg was correct. Ahimelech
replied in a strain of astonishment, like one who knew noth
ing of the deceit which had been practiced upon him, and
indignantly denied that he-had consulted the oracle for
David. What he had clone he had done as a mere act of
humanity, and under the impression that he was assisting
one who was traveling with haste, on the urgent business
of the king himself. But his defense was made in vain, for
Saul gave instant orders that the whole colony ofthe priests
at Nob should be put to- death. No Israelite, however,
would execute a command which doomed the anointed of
the Lord to destruction, and so to Doeg, the foreigner who

The Valley of Deceit. 105
had played the mean part of informer, the horrible com
mission was given. It was a work all too well suited to his
disposition, and he executed it with such sanguinary ferocity
that only one out of the whole number escaped. This was
Abiathar, who managed also to carry with him the ephod,
with the Urim and Thummim, with which he came to David
in the cave. When David heard the tale of blood which
he had to tell, he was filled with the deepest sorrow, and
cried out, in the bitterness of his remorse, " I knew it that
day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would sure
ly tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the per
sons of thy father's house. Abide thou with me ; fear not :
for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life : but with me
thou shalt be in safeguard." Thus was Saul filling up the
cup of his iniquities ; thus, too, unconsciously on .the part of
all concerned, God was fulfilling that terrible doom which he
pronounced in the ear ofthe young Samuel, when first he
was called to the prophetic office, and which declared that
all the house of Eli should be cut off.
The cave of Adullam, though a place of perfect security,
was yet very far from being an abode of comfort ; and though
David could not but be cheered by the presence and fellow
ship of his parents with him there, yet he loved them too well
to think of allowing them, in their old age, to share his perils
and privations. Hence, with beautiful and delicate consid
eration for their comfort and security, he sought from the
King of Moab an asylum for them with him, until his own ca
lamities were overpast. In making this selection for them,
he was probably influenced by his remembrance of the fact
that Naomi and her family had found in that land a place of
sojourn, and that Ruth, his ancestress, around whose name
such tender associations clustered, was herself a Moabitess.
But whatever his motives were in the choice of the place to
which he sent them, we can not but admire his filial thought-
5*

106 David, King of Israel.
fulness and devotion ; and we rejoice to see that, under the
shield of the warrior, there still beat the loving heart of a
son. Here, however, we must break off the interesting story, and
pause a little to gather up the lessons which we may learn
from this, the first chapter in David's life that is darkened by
the shadow of his own evil-doing.
Behold, then, in the first place, how far one will go on in
sin who has lost his faith in God. This, as it seems to me, is
the root from which all the iniquity which we have been
to-night describing sprung. Even when David was with Jon
athan, immediately after his return from Naioth, he had said,
"There is but a step between me and death;" and after
parting with his friend, he appears to have given up all hope
of ever sitting upon the throne of Israel, and to have acted
as if he regarded it as impossible even for God to fulfill to-
him all that he had promised. His unbelief made him reck
less ; and having lost his hold on God, his feet slipped, and
he fell into grievous sin. Both in the Tabernacle at Nob,
and in the city of Gath, at the court of Achish, he was in this
desponding and sinful spirit ; and this accounts for the, de
ceit, both in words and conduct, of which he was guilty.
There is nothing will keep a man from sin more surely than
confidence in God ; but despair is the most dangerous condi
tion into which one can fall. While faith and hope last, there
will be energy, and watchfulness, and purity; but with de
spair come recklessness and folly. We are saved by hope ;
but when we despair of God's help, we run into extremes of
wickedness. When a merchant is in difficulties, there is no
great danger so long as he believes that he can retrieve him
self, and hopes that he will come out all right. But when he
falls into despair, he becomes regardless alike of God or mau,
and runs headlong into practices of which in other circumstan
ces he would never have thought, thereby destroying alike his

The Valley of Deceit. 107
character and future. But it is quite similar in spiritual mat
ters. When a man falls into despair, he is ready for any sin,
and runs blindly and rashly forward upon destruction. Hence,
if we would abide in holiness, we must continue in faith. So
long as Peter looked to Jesus and trusted in him, he could
walk on the waters in safety ; but when he turned his eyes
from the Master's face, and let them rest upon the waves be
neath him, he began to despair, and despair made him sink.
We can walk anywhere in safety, at the command of Christ,
so long as we have confidence in him ; but when we lose our
faith, we lose our security. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved," is true not only of the punishment
which our sins have merited, but also, and with equal, if not
indeed with greater emphasis, of the dangers by which through
life we are beset. The greatest sin you can commit against
God is to despair of his grace ; but it is also the greatest sin
you can commit against yourself, for it carries in it the germ
of manifold iniquity. If, therefore, you would keep yourself
unspotted from the world, be careful to preserve your faith in
the promises, the power, and the salvation of the Lord Jesus.
Behold, in the second place, in this history, how impossible
it is to arrest the consequences of our evil actions. David
lied to Ahimelech, probably thinking not only to secure his
own safety thereby, but also to keep the priest from being
involved with him in the displeasure of Saul. But mark what
ensued. Eighty-five priests, together with ajl the inhabitants
of Nob, "both men and women, children and sucklings,"
were put to death for this sin of which he, and not they, had
been guilty. I have no doubt that when David heard of all
this, he would willingly have given all that he had, ay, even
his hopes of one day sitting on the throne of Israel, if he
could have recalled the evil which he had spoken, and un
done its dismal consequences. But it was impossible. The
lie had gone forth from him ; and having done so, it was no

108 David, King of Israel.
longer under his control, but would go on producing its dia
bolical frui'ts. And so it is yet. We can not arrest the con
sequences of the evil which we do. Whether we will or not,
it will continue to work on. We may, indeed, repent of our
sin ; we may even, through the grace of God for Christ's
sake, have the assurance that we are forgiven for it ; but the
sin itself will go on working its deadly results. You may as
soon think of staying an avalanche midway in its descent
from the Alpine ridge, and so saving the village in the val
ley from destruction, or of stopping the bullet midway in its
flight, from the musket to the heart of him who will be de
stroyed by it, as think of arresting the consequences of the
evil which you once have done. A man, let us suppose, has
written an infidel book, or a book whose sole design was
to destroy the purity and corrupt the modesty of youth. In
course of time, however, he becomes himself a convert to the
Christian faith, and has the assurance that all his sins, the
writing of the book among the rest, are forgiven. But he
cail not recall the past. He can not take back that book.
It has circulated, it may be, by thousands. Its poison has
gone into many hearts. It has made many skeptics, who
are living and propagating its abominable errors. Or it has
tainted many souls, who are doing their very utmost to carry
out its principles, and destroy the sanctity of our home life,
and the solemnity of the marriage-vow. Yet its author can
not put a stop to all this. The thing has gone from him,
and is now no more under his control. Or, again, one gath
ers around him a knot of companions who are largely mould
ed by his influence. He teaches them intemperance. He
introduces them into haunts of sensuality and impurity. He
shakes their faith in the Word of God, and leads them on to
glory in their shame. But after a while he is taken, in God's
providence, to some other city, where Jesus lays hold of him
by his grace, and brings him to his feet. He is converted,

The Valley of Deceit. 109
he is forgiven, he is himself renewed and sanctified ; but
he can not undo the mischief of his former evil influence.
That is working still ! ay, and it will continue to work through
one and another, long after his body is beneath the sod, and
his soul is with his Saviour. Ah ! what a thought have we
here ! and how earnest it ought to make the unconverted to
give themselves to Christ at once, lest, by their continuance
in their present course, they should be storing up for them
selves sorrows in the days that are to come. The calf that
Jeroboam set up gave an idolatrous cast to all the after-his
tory of Israel, and wrought the nation's undoing at the last;
and could he, perchance, have foreseen the misery of the
captives long years after, when,' in consequence of his sin,
they were led away to privation and exile, we may well be
lieve that he would sooner have suffered martyrdom himself
than have caused such distress to others. Those who heard
the lectures of the greatest living English historian, during
his recent visit to these shores, will not soon forget how sol
emnly he said, " that often, in the providence of God, the full
consequences of an evil course fall not upon the head of him
who was guilty of it, but on those who in after-days are his
representatives," and added, amidst a stillness which showed
how fully his audience understood his reference, " If Sir John
Hawkins, in the day when he went negro-hunting on the
coast of Africa, could have foreseen Gettysburg, he would
sooner that his ship and all on board had gone to the bot
tom, than that he should have done any thing to produce
such a terrible result." But this holds spiritually as well.
The one sin of a Christian, in a moment of unbelief and
temptation, may be the *uin of many souls. And when it is
once committed, its consequences can not be arrested. In
view of this awful consideration, and reflecting on the issues
that may already have come from some action of our own,
or that may hang on some individual transgression in the

no David, King of Israel.
future, which of us is not constrained to offer these petitions :
" Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my
salvation." " Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my foot
steps slip not."
Finally, behold in David's tender provision for his parents
an example of the care which we ought to have for father
and mother. There are few things more delightful than to see
a son or a daughter lovingly supporting an aged parent ; and,
on the other hand, there is nothing more worthy of our scorn
and reprobation than the conduct of those who leave* their
parents to the cold charity of an unfeeling world. " He that
provideth not for his own, and especially for those of his own
house, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
If you have a father or mother in circumstances that require
your assistance, count it a high honor and glorious privilege
to render it. Never think that they are a burden, or allow
yourself to grudge what you are doing for them. Consider
how much you have owed in earlier days to them, and do not
be ashamed of them. They may not be quite so polished in
their manners as those are among whom now you move;
they may not be so correct in their speech as those are with
whom you are meeting every clay; but if you are a son
worthy of the name, you will give them the post of honor
when they come to your home, and you will count it the hap
piest thing in your lot that you are able to lighten for them
the load of years. It is a poor, paltry, pityful puppyism
that is ashamed of a parent — a feeling unworthy of a man,
not to say of a Christian. *
Nor is it only in the matter of support that we should
show our regard to our parents. We should reverence them
when we are beside them, and when we go to a distance from
them we should be regular and full in our correspondence
with them, letting them know all about us, and making them
feel that we appreciate their interest in us. Is there a son

The Valley of Deceit. hi
here, to-night, who has allowed many months to roll past
without sending a single line to his father or his mother, to
tell how he fares ? Let the blush of shame suffuse his face
as he thinks of his thoughtlessness. You may not have
much occasion to remember your home. In the bustle of
the workshop, or ofthe store, or of the counting-room, many
things force themselves upon your attention, and you do not
miss your home. But your mother, having no such multi
plicity of things to divert her mind, is thinking upon you all
the day long ; and as the postman goes his round each morn
ing, she looks out expecting a note from you. But, alas !
each day she turns away disappointed, saying, with a heavy
heart, " Can he have forgotten his mother ?" Don't let this
occur again. Go at once and send her a cheery, hearty let
ter, if possible with a check or a post-office order in it, as a
tangible evidence of your affection. Her loneliness will be
irradiated by the sunshine of your kindness ; her heart will
be warmed by the assurance of your continued love ; and
your own soul will be benefited by the doing of a filial deed.
" Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be
long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

VII.
SONGS IN THE NIGHT.
i Samuel xxii., 5 — xxiii., 1-28.
DURING the days of his outlawry at the hands of Saul,
David was specially guarded and guided by Jehovah.
Indeed, in so far as the direction of his movements was con
cerned, he enjoyed at this time very peculiar privileges. As
we have already seen, Gad the seer was among his adher
ents ; and when Abiathar, the high -priest, joined his stand
ard, he brought with him the Urim and Thummim, those
mystic treasures of the ephod which were the means by
which the answers of the sacred oracle were given. David
had thus two distinct channels of direct communication with
Jehovah ; and whenever the mind of God was made known
to him, either through the one or the other, he set himself to
obey it. Sometimes, indeed, as we shall see with regret, he
allowed himself to be carried away by his own evil inclina
tions, but these were exceptions to the general tenor of his
life — like the backward eddies of the Niagara whirlpool in a
river whose course, as a whole, is still toward the sea — for his
habit was to follow where Jehovah led.
It is to be noted here as an interesting fact, that in the
hold of Adullam and in the wilderness of Judah, we have,
side by side, representatives of the oracular and the pro
phetical methods ofthe communication ofthe will of God to
men ; and that, in the life of David, as a whole, we have the
era of the transition from the one to the other. Up till this
time the priest had been the most important personage in
the nation, and the only recognized channel through which

Songs in the Night. 113
God indicated his will to the people. True, there had been
great outstanding prophets, like Moses and Samuel; but the
former was an exception to all rules as being the leader of
the Exodus ; and the latter, from his training under Eli, was
as much a priest as he was a prophet. True, again, in the
time of the Judges there was Deborah, the prophetess ; but
she was raised up, in connection with a particular crisis in
the history of her people. The general system, however,
was, that when the head of the nation, whether judge or
king, wished, at any special emergency, to ask counsel of
the Lord, the inquiry was made through the priest, and the
answer was given by the Urim and Thummim. But now
the prophet, as a standing official personage, comes into
prominence, and the mind of God begins to be made known
through his human individuality, and not through any such
visible media as those which were connected with the priest
ly breastplate.
In the hold and in the wilderness, David received divine
directions through both channels, but gradually, even in his
life, the breastplate oracle disappears or falls into desuetude ;
and from the reign of Solomon downward we have no men
tion made of its employment in the Jewish annals. In the
same gradual manner the prophet waxes into pre-eminence,
Gad and Nathan preparing the way for Elijah and Elisha,
and these, in their turn, giving place to Isaiah and Jeremiah,
who were succeeded, in the days of the exile, by Ezekiel and
Daniel ; and in the era of the Restoration by Haggai, Zecha
riah, and Malachi.
Now, if we think out this subject a little more fully, we
shall see that in the life of David a distinct forward step was
taken in the education of the people of God, from the first
rudiments of external symbolism, on toward that system of
spiritual simplicity under which we now live in the Gospel
dispensation. In that course of education, the Urim and

114 David, King of Israel.
Thummim were themselves an advance on what had gone
before. It is not easy, indeed, to say definitely what the
Urim and Thummim were. The words denote " Light and
Perfection," and they were the names given to some things
connected with the dress of the Jewish high-priest. Over
the white tunic which he wore when he came nigh to the
shekinah, he had the blue robe of the ephod ; then, over
that he wore the ephod itself, made of white twined linen, in
wrought with blue, and purple, and scarlet, and gold ; then,
over the ephod he placed the breastplate, on which were
twelve precious stones, corresponding to the tribes of Israel;
then, in the breastplate, apparently as something different
from it, were put the Urim and Thummim. But what these
were — whether other precious stones, or, as some sup
pose, symbolic figures of truth and righteousness, like those
which were worn by the Egyptian judges — We are nowhere
informed. Still, whatever they were, through them, in some
visible manner, God gave his answer to the head of the na
tion, when he was specially applied to in any time of per
plexity. In almost all the recorded cases- of the use ofthe
Urim and Thummim, the questions which were put were
military or strategical ; one question only was answered at
a time, and the response, in every instance, was very brief,
amounting frequently to little more than "Yes" or "No."
There was in all this, of course, much of the visible and
material. Yet there was in it, also, a distinct advance, in so -
far as the demand for faith was concerned, over that which
was made by the pillar and the cloud in the Arabian desert.
These latter symbols were always before the eyes of all the
people. While following them, therefore, they were walking
not so much by faith as by sight ; but when these were with
drawn, and the glory of the shekinah hid from view, the
media of communication were concealed beneath the high-
priest's breastplate, and there was more occasion for faith.

Songs in the Night. 115
This call for faith was increased when the Urim and Thum
mim ceased, and the prophets came speaking in God's
name, giving gradually fewer and fewer specific directions
as to particular matters, and more and more proclaiming
great spiritual principles. And now there is, more than
ever, a demand for faith, when, under the New Testament
economy, the way into the holiest is made manifest to every
believer, and the answers to the soul's inquiries are given
not by any objective oracle, but by the Christian's study of
God's Word, as that is interpreted by the providences that
are without him, and the Spirit of God that is dwelling with
in him. Hence, when we read the history of David's sojourn
in the cave, or of his wanderings in the wilderness, and see
the priest Abiathar on his right hand, and the prophet Gad
on his left, we feel that we are standing on one of the great
landing-places of that stairway of education, up which God
led his people from the childhood of walking by sight, to the
glorious liberty, and graceful movement, of that spiritual man
hood which walks continually by faith.
These considerations, interesting as they are in a mere
historical point of view, are valuable also as tending to keep
us from regretting that now we have no such oracle as
that which, as we shall see to-night, David consulted again
and again with signal advantage to himself. Some may
think that it would have been better had the Urim and
Thummim held their place till now ! And, I suppose, we can
all look back on critical times in our history, when we would
have given all we had in the world for some such infallible
indication of God's will as to otir duty, as that which David
received. But we had the throne of grace to go to in prayer ;
and as we gathered what God's mind was, from the consid
eration of his Word, the leadings of his Spirit, and the indi
cations of his providence, we were guided as truly as David
was : and, now that we have passed the crisis, and can look

116 David, King of Israel.
at it from the other side, we feel that we were benefited by
the experience, and that we are to-day stronger in all the el
ements of Christian manhood, than we should have been if,<
without any mental or spiritual activity of our own, God had
told us, in so many words, what we were to do. When Jesus
said to his followers, " It is expedient for you that I go away,"
he meant that they would become in every respect nobler
men, if they went forward believing in the unseen Christ
whose Spirit was in their hearts, than they would have been
if he had remained beside them saying to each one, " Do this."
In the one case they would have been merely his servants,
doing his commands in so many individual directions. In
the other case he would be, if I may so say, repeating or in
carnating himself anew in every one of them; and they
would become, each one in his own measure, another repre
sentative of Christ, working as he would have wrought, speak
ing as he would have spoken, and acting as he would have
acted. Now similarly here, we have lost the external Urim
and Thummim ; but we have in its stead the internal and
indwelling Holy Ghost, by whose agency within us, supple
mented and interpreted by God's Word, and providence with
out us, our prayers are answered as really as David's were
by the mystic oracle.
I have dwelt thus long on this subject, both because of its
connection with the history that is before us, and because of
its importance from its bearing on the gradual preparation
which, all through the Jewish history, God was making for
the introduction of the Gospel of Christ— but I hasten now
to the incidents recorded in the chapter of David's life to
which we have this evening come.
When he was in the hold of Adullam, as we learn from
the fifth verse of the twenty-second chapter, David was rec
ommended by Gad to betake himself to the territory of Ju
dah, and he went immediately to the forest of Hareth ; but

Songs in the Night. 117
as every trace of this forest has disappeared, we have now no
means of identifying its locality. More interesting to us by
far than any mere question of topography, however, is the fact
that in connection with his wanderings at this time David
composed that exquisitely beautiful Psalm, which has been a
song to the people of God in the house of their pilgrimage
ever since, and which is numbered as the 63d in the sacred
Psalter. Read it in the light of the circumstances out of
which it sprung, and you will see in it new loveliness, and
feel a new power coming from it. Mark the intense longing
for a closer fellowship with God with which it begins : " O
God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : my soul thirst-
eth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is ; to see thy power and thy glory, so
as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." Behold how even
in his desolation — perhaps just because of his desolation —
he feels the value of spiritual blessings, and praises God for
them : " Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my
lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live : I
will lift up my hands in thy name." Then, in the sleepless
ness of the night, as the wind sighs through the forest trees,
and the dreariness of his position is apt to sink him into de
spondency, observe the antidote which he employs to coun
teract those influences : "My soul shall be satisfied as with
marrow and fatness ; and my mouth shall praise thee with
joyful lips : when I remember thee upon my bed, and medi
tate on thee in the nightwatcheS." And in the final strain,
see how, reasoning from the past, already rich to him, young
though he still was, in memories of deliverance, he looks for
ward with confidence to the future, when he should be set
free from all his enemies, and, as the king upon the throne,
should rejoice in God, " Because thou hast been my help,
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My
soul followeth hard after thee : thy right hand upholdeth

118 David, King of Israel.
me. But those that seek my soul to destroy it, shall go into
the lower parts ofthe earth. They shall fall by the sword;
they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice
in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but
the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped." Hap
py they, who in their trials find such consolations as David
then experienced; for, even in the midst of their troubles, they
are more to be envied than the men of the world when their
"corn and their wine do most abound."
While the outlawed leader and his band were at Hareth,
some messengers came to tell that the Philistines had re
sumed their marauding practices at Keilah, where they were
carrying away the grain, night after, night, from the threshing-
floors. This gives us a glimpse into the state of the coun
try at the time, and shows us also the nature of the position
which David and his men occupied in the estimation of their
fellow-countrymen. The Philistines, as we have repeatedly
seen, were by no means subdued by the Israelites. They
were still able . to harass and annoy them ; and watching
their opportunity, they came down in the harvest-time upon
the threshing-floors, killing the sentinels, and carrying off
the spoil. Now that the people applied to David in such an
emergency was a token of their confidence in him. It has
been affirmed by many, indeed, that he was at this time a free
booter, living by his sword, and helping himself without scru
ple to the property of his neighbors ; that, in fact, hexwas a
Jewish Robin Hood, or an Israelitish Rob Roy ; and that, as
Wordsworth sings'concerning the Scottish Macgregor,
" The good old rule
Sufficed him ; the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."
But there is no evidence in support of this, so far, at least,
as his position at this time in Judah is concerned. Rather,

Songs in the Night. 119.
the fact that, in a crisis like that which came upon the men
of Keilah, information of their calamity was at once conveyed
to him, seems to indicate that he was recognized as a kind
of protector ofthe people, against the enemies by whom they
were so frequently invaded. It is probable, therefore, that he
made it a great part of his business, at this time, to defend the
lives and property of his fellow-countrymen from the assaults
of those unscrupulous robbers, who, like the modern Bedou
in, had no regard either for the rights or the existence of oth
ers. For' this service he naturally expected, and cheerfully
received, a recompense from those to whom it was rendered.
This recompense came, generally, in the shape of supplies for
himself and his men ; but the acceptance of such bounty, so
rendered, was a very different thing from compelling them to
give him a certain tribute, or black-mail, on condition that
he should not steal from them himself, and that he should
restore what others pilfered.
The view which I have given of David's position at this
time is strengthened by the circumstances, which are nar
rated in connection with Nabal, and which will be consid
ered more fully hereafter. I may only at present quote,
in corroboration of my theory, the words of Nabal's servants
to Abigail, when describing David and his men. They say,
" The men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt ;
neither missed we any thing as long as we were conversant
with them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall
unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with
them keeping the sheep."
Now, if this be a correct account of the matter, we can
easily understand why David was told of the outrage which
had been committed upon Keilah, and why the impulse of
his heart was to go at once to their assistance. But he
would not move without consulting the oracle, both because
he wished to be himself quite certain that he was taking the

120 David, King of Israel.
path of duty, and because he was desirous of securing the
confidence of his men. The reply of the Urim and Thum
mim was favorable to his undertaking the expedition, but
still the hearts of his followers failed, for they said, " Behold,
we be afraid here in Judah : how much more then if we come
to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines." Judah here
means the mountain district of that tribal territory, since
Keilah was a city in the plain. The confidence of David's
men was in the hills, but he himself looked higher, even to
Him " who made the heavens and the earth." So, to re-as
sure them, he inquired again at the oracle, and having re
ceived the same answer, only with added emphasis in regard
to success, he went down to save the city, and recover the
property of its inhabitants.
The expedition was crowned with decisive success, and,
relying; on the gratitude of those whom he had served, he
went with his men into the city. It was a fortified place
with walls and gates, and when Saul heard that he had
taken up his abode in it, he immediately conceived the plan
of laying siege to it, and catching David in it as in a trap.
He said, " God hath delivered him into mine hand " (so pi
ously sometimes can people speak, even when they are plot
ting blackest crimes), "for he is shut in, by entering into a
town that hath gates and bars." But not thus was David to
be destroyed ; for by some means he had received informa
tion as to Saul's intentions, and he had recourse at once to
the oracle on the breastplate of Abiathar. He put two
questions, from the answers to which he learned that Saul
would besiege the city, and that the men of Keilah would
deliver him up into the hands of his persecutor. Therefore,
leaving Keilah, he and his company went forth " whitherso
ever they could go." One is disposed to be very bitter and
indignant at the ingratitude of those whom David had so sig
nally befriended ; yet we must not forget that Saul was still

Songs in the Night. 121
the king, that he had many resources at his command, and
that, with the massacre of Nob before their minds, the peo
ple of Keilah had nothing but destruction to expect, if they
showed any kindness whatever to the son of Jesse. Even
with all these risks, however, a chivalrous and grateful people
would have suffered any thing rather than give their de
liverer up. But the men of Keilah were neither chivalrous
nor grateful. They regarded their own interests as supreme.
Like many in our own day, they might profess to aim after
the greatest happiness of the greatest number, but when you
came to analyze their views, you would find that with them,
to use the words of Joseph Hume, "the greatest number was
number one !" It was not for their advantage to serve Da
vid, and they did not serve him ; and I am free to say, that
all my observation and experience convince me that a large
proportion of the present generation would have clone as
they were willing to do. Of course that does not excuse
them, but it should make us cautious as to what we say in
their condemnation, lest, haply, we may some day be judged
out of our own mouths. Gratitude, chivalry, enthusiasm
for the cause of the wronged — what are these words in the
mouths of many to - day but words ? they sound well, and
they are very fine so long as they cost nothing : but let ad
herence to them put property or life in' peril, and too many
would cling to the property and the life, and let the others
go. Ye who - condemn the inhabitants of Keilah because
they were willing to betray David, how long would you show
gratitude at the risk of the loss of all things ? It was a dis
grace to them that they would not stand by him who had
delivered them ; but is it any thing less to us, when we allow
our worldly interests to blind us to the obligations under
which we lie to those who befriended us in our time of need ?
Is it any thing less to us when, for the sake of fashion, or
fortune, or fame, we turn our backs upon the Christ, who
6

122 David, King of Israel.
has borne the agony of Gethsemane and Calvary on our be^
half? Idolatry of self is as hideous now as it was in David's
time. Let those who are guilty of it, therefore, look here,
and, in the pitiful poltroonery of the men of Keilah, they will
see how mean and contemptible they look.
But the ingratitude of men only threw David back upon
the faithfulness of God. It is generally supposed that the
31st Psalm was composed by him, in connection with the
events which we have just rehearsed, and, though there is
nothing in the title of that ode to give certainty to such an
opinion, yet the. internal evidence in the song itself is very
strong in its behalf. Thus, when you remember that Keilah
was a walled city, and that Saul's purpose was to shut him up
in it, you may see a reference to these things in the follow
ing words: "Thou hast known my soul in adversities; and
hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy : thou hast
set my feet in a large room." So, again, without any strain
ing of the meaning, there may be an allusion to Keilah in
this verse, " Blessed be the Lord : for he hath showed me his
marvelous kindness in a strong city." Now, if on these and
similar grounds, we connect this Psalm with the events of
the narrative before us, there is much in it to reveal David's
spiritual exercise at this time. With what absolute trust he
puts himself into Jehovah's hands, saying, " Into thine hand
I commit my spirit : thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God
of truth;" and again, "I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said,
Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand." How
earnestly he pleads for deliverance, pouring out his soul in
sorrowful rehearsal of all his troubles ! And then, in the last
section ofthe Psalm, added, if we may indulge the conjecture,
after his escape, how joyfully he praises God for his good
ness and chicles himself for his despondency ! " For I said
in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes : neverthe
less thou heardest the voice of my supplication when I cried

Songs in the Night. 123
unto thee. O love the Lord, all ye his saints : for the Lord
preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud
doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your
heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." Trial thus is rich in
results, not alone to him who bears it, but to others who
come after him. He leaves words of cheer behind him,
which, falling on the ears of others, sustain and soothe them
in like circumstances. The stream that followed the Israel
ites in their wanderings through the wilderness, had its
source in the smitten rock ; and if you trace up every rich
experimental psalm which has refreshed God's people in
their weary heritage, to its. source, you will find it in some
trial-smitten heart. David was sent on through the valley
of sorrow, in advance of others, that he might furnish those
who followed with songs in their night of trouble ; and if it
is ever permitted to the spirits of the blessed in Heaven
to know what is going on here below, then, when David from
his celestial seat heard the Redeemer on the cross relieve
his agony and dismiss his soul from its fleshly tabernacle, in
the words of this Keilah Psalm, "Into thine hands I com
mit my spirit," he would feel that it was worth undergoing
all the miseries of his persecution ten thousand times over,
to have been thus instrumental, even in the smallest degree,
in sustaining the heart of Jesus in that climax of his anguish.
But we must hasten forward. When Saul learned that
David had gone from Keilah, he forbore to begin the siege,
and David betook himself to the wilderness, daily pursued by
Saul, and at length finding a refuge for the time in the neigh
borhood of Ziph. This was a town in the highland district of
Judah. In the book of Joshua it is named between Carmel
and Juttah, and from the narrative before us we learn that
there was in its neighborhood a wood and a wilderness. The
wood has vanished, but the wilderness remains, and the name
Zif is found, to this day, belonging to a rounded hill of about

i24 David, King of Israel.
one hundred feet high, which is situated about three miles
south of Hebron. About half a mile to the east of this hill
are some ruins, which Dr. Robinson pronounced to be those
of Ziph, but it is more probable that the hill itself was the
site of the city.
In the adjoining wood David had a, covert from observa
tion, so that he eluded the vigilance of Saul. But what the
enmity of Saul could not do, the love of Jonathan accom
plished, for by some means he got to know where David was,
and in this wood, sweet because stolen, and memorable be
cause the last that was ever held between the two friends on
earth, a most affecting interview was held. As we read these
words: "Jonathan strengthened David's hands in God, and
he said unto him, Fear not : for the hand of Saul my father
shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I
shall be next unto thee," our hearts thrill with admiration of
the son of Saul. What magnanimity ! what piety ! what af
fection ! what humility ! have we in these words ; and who is
not disposed to say, amidst the trials and sufferings of earth,
Oh for such a friend ! Yet there is a better friend even than
he ; and if we will but make a covenant with Jesus, he will
strengthen our hand in God, and be to us a richer comforter
than Jonathan was to David.
But while Saul's son was proving his steadfastness to Da
vid, the men of Ziph were plotting his destruction. They
sent and told Saul of his hiding-place, and he, in a strain of
grossest adulation, thanked them for their information, and
asked them to give him particular directions as to his move
ments, that he might come and take him. Very soon they
found out, and told Saul that he was in the wilderness of
Maon— a name which, almost unchanged, is given now to a
conical hill about seven miles south of Hebron, so that proba
bly that is the very place here called the Hill of Maon. When
Saul heard this, he followed David, and, from the description

Songs in the Night. 125
given, we gather that the position of things was something
like the following : David was on one side of the hill ; Saul
and his men were on the other ; but, with the view of making
sure of his adversaries' destruction, Saul caused his army to
surround the entire base of the mountain, and determined to
remain there until, by sheer necessity, David would be com
pelled to surrender himself into his hands.
But David had a protector of whom Saul took no thought,
and to him he made appeal, for, as we learn from its title, it
was while he was thus surrounded by Saul's forces that he
wrote and sang the 54th Psalm. I can not refrain from quot
ing it entire. " Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me
by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God ; give ear to the
words of my mouth. For strangers are risen up against
me, and oppressors seek after my soul : they have not set
God before them. Behold, God is mine helper : the Lord is
with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto
mine enemies : cut them off in thy truth. I will freely sacri
fice unto thee : I will praise thy name, O Lord ; for it is good.
For he hath delivered me out of all trouble : and mine eye
hath seen his desire upon mine enemies." That is the prayer ;
now read the history, and you have the answer to it : "But
there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and
come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore
Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against
the Philistines : therefore they called that place Sela-ham-
mahlekoth" — the Rock of Divisions, as it is given in the
margin, or, as some prefer to render it, the Rock of Escape.
Thus as, at a later date, Rabshakeh was drawn off from his
attack on Hezekiah by hearing a rumor of an assault on his
own land, and the prayer of the good Jewish king for deliv
erance was answered ; so here, David was set free, because
Saul and his men were needed elsewhere, to repel an invasion
of the Philistines. Many would call this a mere coincidence ;

126 David, King of Israel.
but the unprejudiced reader can not fail to see in it an an
swer to David's supplication, and it was doubtless in the spir
it of heartfelt gratitude to God that he called the mountain
by this significant name.
Now, in reviewing the history over which we have come,
we have clearly brought before us the good man's resort
in perplexity. Even the most careless must be struck with
the frequent recurrence in this chapter of the phrase, " Da
vid inquired of the Lord ;" and although we have now no
Urim and Thummim, yet we have the Throne of Grace, to
which we can ever repair, with the assured confidence that
God will hear our cry, and send us an answer which shall
meet our need.
Many objections, indeed, have been brought, in these days,
against the possibility of God's answering prayer except by
miracle ; and learned treatises have been written on both
sides of this important question. To me, however, it- seems
as if there were no room for much argument upon the sub
ject, for if a man does not believe that there is a personal
God, standing in the relation of a father to his people on the
earth, there is no use to reason with him about prayer. You
have to begin with him farther back, and convince him first
ofthe folly of his atheism. If, again, a man does really and
truly believe that God is, and is the father of his people, you
will not need to argue with him, for as the son goes to his fa
ther, he will repair to God, and expect that God's fatherhood
is a reality, and not a mere name. He will say, and no phi
losophy in the world will prevent him, if God is my father,
then, since my earthly father hears my cry and gives me an
answer, much more will my heavenly. ' The whole debate
about prayer, therefore, is but a skirmish on one of the far
outposts ofthe field whereon the war between belief and un-.
belief is waging. The real question is about God's existence
and fatherhood. Until men can say, believingly, " Our Fa-

Songs in the Night. 127
ther," they will never pray ; when they can say that sincere
ly, they. will pray in spite of all scientific difficulties.
But it is well occasionally to remind scientific objectors
of one of the first principles of their own inductive philoso
phy. After Newton had elaborated one of his theories, a
friend discovered something that seemed to be inconsistent
with it, and was almost afraid to mention it to him ; but
when the philosopher heard it, he only said, " It may be so.
We must see whether what you say is a fact. There is no
arguing against a fact." Now here is a prayer offered by
David, and an answer given in the turning of Saul's force
into another direction, and there was no miracle, but you say
that was three thousand years ago ; we want something that
has occurred among ourselves. Be it so. Then take these
two instances — the most recent that have come within my
own information. Being in Springfield, Massachusetts, ten
clays ago, I saw a letter written from a Western city to a con
vict in the State-prison of Massachusetts, by one who had
been himself for some time an inmate of that jail. The per
son to whom he wrote had committed burglary, but was hope
fully converted in the prison, and had tried to benefit some
of his fellow-prisoners. His correspondent had been im
pressed with his words, and was wishing, after his release, to
live another life. With this object he went West, but found
it hard to get on. His money was gone ; there seemed to
him only two alternatives — either starvation, or crime ; but
— and here I must tell the story in his own words, rude
though they may seem to ears polite : " I thought of what
you once said about a fellow's calling on the Lord when he
was in hard luck, and I thought I would try it once, any
how ; but when I tried it, I got stuck on the start, and all I
could get off was, ' Lord, give a poor fellow a chance to square
it for three months, for Christ's sake. Amen;' and I kept
a-thinking of it over and over as I went along. About an

128 David, King of Israel.
hour after that I was in Fourth Street ; and this is what hap
pened : As I was walking along I heard a big noise, and
saw a horse running away with a carriage, with two children
in it. I grabbed up a piece of box-cover from the sidewalk,
and ran in the middle of the street, and, when the horse
came up, I smashed him over the head as hard as I could
drive. The board split to pieces, and the horse checked up
a little, and I grabbed the reins, and pulled his head down
until he stopped." He then tells how the gentleman to
whom the children belonged rewarded him very handsomely,
and, after hearing his story, befriended him, and 'helped him
into a respectable situation where he could earn an honest
living ; so that he is now not only a good citizen, but an
humble Christian.*
From Springfield I went on to Boston, and there a well-
known member of the American Board showed me the auto
biography' of the Japanese youth Joseph, who has been in
this country for some years, and was lately the secretary of
Mr. Tenako, the member of the Japanese Embassy who was
especially charged with the subject of education. In his own
country, Joseph's father was secretary to one of the native
princes, and he himself was an officer of two swords, and had
a good education, being acquainted with two or three lan
guages. A friend lent him an American Common School
Geography in the Chinese language and a Chinese Bible, and
these two books opened up a new world to him. He described
what he felt on reading the first verse of Genesis, which un
folded to him an entirely new view of things, and then he went
on to tell how the desire to know Western civilization and
Christianity took possession of his soul. His first prayer

* Since the above was written, the whole letter here referred to has
been printed in the Illustrated Christian Weekly newspaper for one' of the
weeks in August, 1873.

Songs in the Night. 129
was, " O God, if thou have eyes, look for me. O God, if thou
have ears, hear me. I want to know Bible. I want to be
civilized with Bible." He left his home, and went to Haka-
dadi, with the view of getting somehow to America, to learn
this knowledge. He went thence to China, and in the
port to which he went, he was led by God's providence to
a ship which was bound for Boston, and which was owned
by a good man whose heart was interested in the cause of
Christ. That 'gentleman, on the arrival of his ship, hearing
the captain's account of Joseph, was interested in him; and
his wife undertook to have him educated at her own expense.
He went first to Andover, and then to Amherst ; became a
member of the Christian Church, and an excellent scholar;
and when the Japanese Embassy, came to this country, he
who, like Joseph, had been sent on before them, was prepared
to be their interpreter; and who shall say what he is yet
destined to do for his benighted nation ?* Thus, winding
round the roots of that great revolution in Japan which has
so astonished and gladdened the hearts of us all, we find the
prayers of this earnest youth who was thirsting for the knowl
edge of God. I might say much on many subjects which
this little history suggests, but I bring it up now as a fact,
indicating how really, and without a miracle, through God's
ordinary providence, prayer is answered. Truly, "more
things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."
Let no man, therefore, ridicule and reason you out of prayer.
Here is the charter : " If any of you lack wisdom, let him
ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering : for lie that wavereth is like a wave of the
sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man
* This youth, now the Rev. Joseph Nee Sima, is about to sail as a mis
sionary to his native land, under the direction ofthe American Board.
6*

130 David, King of Israel.
think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord !" " Ask,
and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you."
But we have, in this chapter of David's history, also a
beautiful illustration of the fruitfulness of trial when it is
rightly borne. It prunes the vine of the spiritual life, so
that the clusters that grow on it attain to larger develop
ment. This is true of all the graces. But to-night I wish
especially to show you how David's times of trial were em
phatically and peculiarly times of song. We have found
in the narrative over which we have come, covering only a
short space of his life, the origin of no fewer than three of
his Psalms. That which is most valuable in the writings of
any poet is the fruit of some troublous discipline. It is
questionable if the world would have ever seen "Paradise
Lost," but for the blindness of its author ; and it is at least
•certain, that one of its most touching passages could not
have been written but for that terrible privation. Luther's
version of the 46th Psalm, which one has called " The Mar
seillaise of the Reformation," was born out of. the stormy
life of the great Reformer ; and Archbishop Trench, writing
ofthe Thirty Years' War in Germany, has said: "There is
one fact most noteworthy, as a sign of the temper in which
this great tribulation was met by those who had to drink
of its cup of pain deeper, perhaps, than any other, that very
many ofthe most glorious compositions in the hymn-book
of Protestant Germany date from the period of the Thirty
Years' War ; and, most noticeable of all, these contributions
are rich, not so much, as one might have expected, in threnes
and lamentations, Misereres and cries De Profundis, as in Te
Deums and Magnificats, hymns of high hope and holy joy.*
* " Thirty Years' War in Germany," by Archbishop Trench, quoted
in Saunders's "Evenings with the Sacred Poets," pp. 140, 141.

Songs in the Night. 131
Who knows not, also, that Paul Gerhardt's hymn, " Give to
the winds thy fears," was the cry of his soul in an hour
of greatest extremity ; or that the ode of Cowper, begin
ning, " God moves in a mysterious way," was the last sane
utterance of his mind, as the cloud which darkened his
reason was settling over his spirit ? " The dear cross," said
Rist, " has pressed many songs out of me." A friend, speak
ing to Mr. Whittier about a well-known hymn, and express
ing to him his appreciation of it as beyond all his other po
ems, received this answer from the poet : " I do not wonder
at your preference ; that hymn was born out of the utter
most anguish of my heart."* Thus the Church has been
enriched, and the souls of all its members refreshed, by
the recorded experiences of those who have clung to God
through trial. Thus, too, we are taught to hold fast by Him
who supported these sweet singers of the sanctuary, and set

* The poem here referred to is that on page 450 of the first volume
of his collected works. Some of its verses have been inserted as a
hymn in " The Sabbath Hymn-book." We quote these four stanzas :
" I ask not now for gold to gild,
With mocking shine, a weary frame ;
The yearning of the mind is stilled —
I ask not now for fame.
" But, bowed in lowliness of mind,
I make my humble wishes known :
I only ask a will resigned,
O Father ! to thine own.
" In vain I task my aching brain ;
In vain the sage's thought I scan ;
I only feel how weak and vain,
How poor and blind is man !
"And now my spirit sighs for home,
And longs for light whereby to see,
And like a weary child would come,
O Father, unto thee !"

132 David, King of Israel.
them forth before us, that they might be our helpers. Nay,
more: thus are we reminded that the very clasping of Jeho
vah's hand by the weary and the wayworn believer is itself,
in the estimation of God, a holy hymn, a song rising up to
him out of the night, and making a deeper impression in
his heart, because of the silence and the darkness out of
which it emerges. The poetry is not in the verbal expres
sion of the song so much .as in the experience it sings ; and
if sometimes there is a powerful prayer in the falling of a
tear, be sure there is as often a sacred song in the light that
flashes from the grateful eye, or the smile that radiates the
happy countenance of him who is looking unto Jesus. Let
us bear trials as David did, trusting in the Lord. Let us go
through the world, clinging to Jesus in all our varying expe
riences ; and though we may not be able to write psalms,
our lives shall be each a book of hymns, rising gradually up
to that new "song of pure content, aye sung before the
sapphire throne with saintly shout and solemn jubilee,"
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and
blessing."

VIII.
CA VE SONGS.
i Samuel xxiv. ; xxvi.
AFTER their escape from Saul in the wilderness of Maon,
David and his men betook themselves to " the strong
holds of En-gedi." This place, now identified with "Ain-
Jidy," was situated on the western shore of the Dead Sea,
about midway between its northern and southern extremities.
The name literally signifies " the fountain of the goat," and
doubtless had its origin in the fact that the neighborhood
abounded in goats, attracted by the verdure which here lines
the banks of a stream that issues from the limestone rock
about four hundred feet above the level" ofthe lake, at a tem
perature of 8i°, and "rushes down the steep descent, fretted
by many a rugged crag, and raining its spray over verdant
borders of acacia, mimosa, and lotus."* The cliffs in the neigh
borhood are full of natural caverns, in one or more of which
the company of David found a lurking-place. These caves,
says Dr. Thomson,f "are dark as midnight, and the keenest
eye can not see five paces inward ; but one who has been
long within, and is looking outward toward the entrance, can -
observe with perfect distinctness all that takes place in that
direction." We can thus easily imagine the gloomy interior. Along
the sides of the cavern, enjoying themselves in one or other
ofthe many ways which soldiers have of amusing themselves,
* Smith's " Dictionary," sub voce.
t " The Land and the Book," p. 603, English edition.

134 David, King of Israel.
the motley multitude of David's men are scattered; while far
away in the innermost recesses of the cave, David is to be
found alone, or with Gad and Abiathar as his companions,
soothing his heart with the strains of his harp, and accom
panying the music with the words ofthe i42d Psalm, which
was first sung either here or in Adullam. Let us read it, and
see how, as in the pictures of Rembrandt, the very darkness
gives to it a character that is all its own. " I cried unto the
Lord with my voice ; with my voice unto the Lord did I make
my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him ; I
showed before him my trouble. When my spirit was over
whelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way
wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I
looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man
that would know me : refuge failed me ; no man cared for my
soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord : I said, Thou art my refuge
and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my
cry; for I am brought very low: deliver, me from my perse
cutors ; for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of
prison, that I may praise thy name : the righteous shall com
pass me about ; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me."
There is in all this much of that " rapid stroke as of alter
nate wings," that " heaving and sinking as of the troubled
heart," which Ewald* has so aptly described as the essence of
the parallelism of Hebrew poetry ; while in the-closing strophe
the faith which underlies the whole prayer comes forth, like a
daisy emerging from the grass, and opening its petals to the
morning sun. The night had made it bend its head, and
covered it with dew-drops ; and now, as it lifts itself up to
greet the dawn, the tears of the darkness have become the
diamonds that encircle its crimson-pointed coronet.
To the same chapter of David's life belongs the 57th

* Quoted by Stanley, "Jewish Church," vol. ii., 148.

Cave Songs. 135
Psalm, which we shall also read. " Be merciful unto me,
0 God, be merciful unto me : for my soul trusteth in thee :
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until
these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high ;
unto, God that performeth all things for me. He shall send
from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that
would swallow me up. God shall send forth his mercy and
his truth. My soul is among lions : and I lie even among
them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth
are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be
thou exalted, O God, above the heavens ; let thy glory be
above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps ;
my soul is bowed down : they have digged a pit before me,
into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. My
heart is fixed, O God ; my heart is fixed : I will sing and give
praise. Awake up, my glory ; awake, psaltery and harp : I
myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among
the people : I will sing unto thee among the nations. For
thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the
clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens : let thy
glory be above all the earth."
When the hawk is in the air, the young bird seeks the shel
ter of the mother's outspread wings. When danger is impend
ing, the child clings to the hand of his father. So, when re
proach and persecution come upon David, he takes refuge in
his God. How simple is his trust as here expressed ! How
entire his absorption of his own welfare in God's glory ! and
then, rising out of this self-abnegation, how lofty the strain of
praise with which he concludes ! The lark, whose nest is on
the ground, rises, singing, as he soars, to the greatest heaven
ly height, until all but unseen he rains a shower of melody
upon the listening earth. So, up from this" lowest depth of
suffering and distress, David rises to his loftiest ecstasy of
praise, shaming the cold-heartedness of many in these clays

136 David, King of Israel.
on whose lips " hosannas languish," and in whose hearts de
votion all but dies. Nor for himself alone was David led
through such experiences. God had set him forth, that in
him, a needy and forlorn one in the very extremest degree,
he might show his loving-kindness, " for a pattern to them
which should hereafter believe on him." Accordingly, these
(Cave Psalms have awakened responsive echoes in the hearts
of multitudes in every age. When those of whom the world
was not worthy " wandered in deserts and in mountains, and
in dens and caves of the earth," no words could so bear up
the burden of their hearts to God as those which I have just
read. They were chanted, it may be, by Paul and Silas in
the prison of Philippi, and by the early Christians in the Ro
man catacombs. They were sung, in their own rugged yet
expressive version, by the Scottish Covenanters, on the bleak
hill-side, or in the wild moor-land, or in the dark and.lonely
cave. When Sir Patrick Hume lay hid in the family sepul
chral vault, or in the hole dug for him by his own daughter
beneath his house, he tells us that when he had no light, he
beguiled the hours by repeating to himself Buchanan's ver
sion of the Psalms, which in former days of prosperity he had
committed to memory; and Christian sufferers everywhere,
in times of revolution or danger, when fleeing before their
enemies, have turned instinctively to these odes, and to oth
ers- of similar character in the sacred Psalter. " There is not
a day," says Edwards, in his " Personal Narrative of the In
dian Mutiny,"* "in which we do not find something in the
Psalms that appears written specially for our unhappy
circumstances, to meet the wants and feelings of the day."
Thus, as face answereth to face in a glass, so doth the heart
of believer to believer in religious experience ; and these
cave Psalms which David has left, are but like speaking-tubes

: " Jewish Church," quoted by Stanley, vol. ii., pp. 145, 165.

Cave Songs. 137
in the chamber of affliction, through which we, as well as oth
ers, may send up our cry to him who is our Helper.
When Saul had returned from his campaign against the
Philistines, and was informed that David had gone to En
gedi, he immediately set out with three thousand men, deter
mined to effect his destruction. But, so far from accomplish
ing his purpose, he was in a singular way put entirely into
David's power. Seeking relief from the midday heat, and
desiring to refresh himself with slumber, he went, all unwit
tingly, into the very cavern in which David and his men
were concealed. Going from the light and looking inward,
it was impossible that he should see them, but accustomed as
they had become to the darkness, and looking, as they were
from the back part ofthe cave out toward the dim light at its
mouth, they could see him perfectly. David's companions
regarded it as a special opportunity of ridding themselves
of their adversary, and sought to persuade their leader to kill
him. " Behold," said they, " the day of which the Lord said
unto thee : Behold I will deliver thine enemy into thine
hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto
thee." But David could not bring himself so to regard it.
There was still to him a " divinity hedging " the king, as
the anointed of the Lord, and he would not suffer himself
to violate the sanctity of Saul's person. His attitude was
entirely defensive, and to slay Saul in cold blood, however
much there might have been in Oriental usages to sanction
it, would have been in his view not merely murder but sac
rilege. No doubt it might be said that God had rejected
Saul, and had caused David to be anointed in his room ;
but that had not given to David the right to deal summari
ly with Saul : it had only indicated that when, in the course
of providence, Saul should be removed, David would be set
upon his throne. For this, therefore, David would wait.
He would not take providence into his own hands. He

138 David, King of Israel.
would bide God's time, and it should not be said of him
that he had come into the kingdom by the assassination of
his predecessor. So he stood firm against the entreaties of
his men, and would not slay the king. He contented him
self with cutting off a portion of Saul's robe, a thing which in
the circumstances he could easily do without disturbing his
repose. But even this caused him some misgivings of heart,
the rather, as perhaps, after he had done it, his men, embold
ened by his example, might have felt themselves at liberty to
go farther, and lay hands on the king himself. If any such
disposition was manifested by them, it was immediately re
pressed by their leader, and so, altogether unconscious of
the danger to which he had been exposed, Saul slept on, un
til, thoroughly refreshed, he rose and passed out of the cave
to join his troops. He was followed by David, with the skirt
of his robe in his -hand, who cried after him, " My lord, the
king !" and bowed before him with his face to the earth.
It was a bold thing to do ; and one hardly knows which to
admire the more, the magnanimity that spared Saul in the
cave, or the valor that braved him and his troops outside of
it. But often the bolder course is the wiser, and the cour
age of a man in placing himself in the very midst of his en
emies, so surprises them that they never think of doing him
harm. Thus it seems to have been in the present instance ;
for, as David stands before Saul, and proceeds to plead his
cause with him, no one of the royal troops interferes, and the
king himself is deeply moved — but it is with sorrow rather
than revenge. And it was no marvel that such an effect
was produced upon him, for seldom has a more tender, ear
nest, manly, and candid appeal been made by one man to
another, than that which David here addressed to Saul. He
complained that the king had listened to unscrupulous men,
who had laid to his charge things which his soul abhorred.
He denied that he had ever in any way sought the king's

Cave Songs. 139
hurt, and as a proof he pointed to the skirt which he held in
his hand, and which he had taken from the royal robe, when
he might just as easily have cut off his head. Then, rising
into solemn expostulation, he placed the issue between them
on its real merits, by appealing to Jehovah, saying, " The
Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me
of thee : but mine hand shall not be upon thee." He affirm
ed that he was altogether unworthy even of Saul's enmity,
and that the king might find something more dignified to
do, than to come out after such an insignificant person as he
was. Then, coming round again to their common responsi
bility to God, he concluded by placing his cause implicitly in
the hands ofthe Lord. As he finished, Saul burst into tears,
and cried, " Is this thy voice, my son David ? Thou art
more righteous than I : for thou hast rewarded me good,
whereas I have rewarded thee evil. And thou hast showed
this day how that thou hast dealt well with me : forasmuch
as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou
killedst me not. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him
go well away ? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that
thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know
well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of
Israel shall be established in thine hand. Swear now there
fore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my
seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out
of my father's house." This oath David willingly took, and
Saul, drawing off his men with him, went home. Yet David,
reluctant to trust himself to the keeping of one so mercurial
and spasmodic as he knew Saul to be, would not forsake
his stronghold, but returned into the cave.
And it was well that- he did so, for Saul did not long con
tinue in this gracious mood ; and a very short while after,
we have a scene between him and David not unlike that
which we have just witnessed. It is described in the twen-

140 David, King of Israel.
ty-sixth chapter of i Samuel ; but it may be convenient to
take it now, leaving the intervening narrative to be consid
ered afterward.
In the course of his wanderings David came once again
to Hachilah, in the neighborhood of Ziph ; and the inhab
itants of that city, disappointed, perhaps, at the failure of their
former attempt, sent again to Saul to tell him where he was.
The result was that Saul came forth with his troops, expect
ing to take him, as he doubtless would have done on the first
occasion, if he had not been called away to attack the Philis
tines. But, wiser from his former experience, David, this time,
did not go to the hill, but abode in the wilderness, keeping
ever a vigilant eye upon the movements of his adversary.
At length, one night, accompanied by his nephew, Abishai,
David went into the very midst of Saul's encampment while
he and his troops were asleep. Abishai counseled "that Saul
should be slain, and offered to do the treacherous deed him
self; but David, true to his reverence for the Lord's anoint
ed, arid earnest in his desire not to stain his hands with the
blood of his father-in-law, would not consent. He was. con
tent to leave the whole controversy between himself and
Saul to God, and he would not rashly precipitate its settle
ment by any crime of his own. "As the Lord liveth," said
he, " the Lord shall smite him ; or his day shall come to die ;
or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord for
bid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's
anointed." So he restrained Abishai ; and counseling him
to take only the spear which marked the pillow of the chief,
and the cruse of water that was by his side, they stole away
from the camp, and returned to their own stronghold. In
the morning, David -climbed to the ledge of the cliff which
overhung the cave in which his men were concealed, and
overlooked the valley in which Saul was encamped, and
shouting to Abner, the captain of the king's host, he banter-

Cave Songs. 141
ed him on the careful watch which he had kept over his
master, showing at the same time the spear and the pitcher,
as proof that he had himself been at the very side of Saul.
When the king heard his voice he was moved as deeply as
he had been at En-gedi, and said, " I have sinned : return, my
son David ; for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul
was precious in thine eyes this day : behold, I have played
the fool, and have erred exceedingly."
David's response was a renewal of his appeal to God ;
and Saul parts from him with a benediction : " Blessed be
thou, my son David : thou shalt both do great things, and
also shalt still prevail." Truly, " When a man's, way please
the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with
him." We hear a great deal of David's malignity and re
vengeful spirit, and I can not, in the light of the New Testa
ment, defend all that he did or said ; yet we must not fail to
note how here he acted from the noblest magnanimity, and
how, long before the words of Paul were written, he verified
the truth which they express : " Dearly beloved, avenge not
yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath : for it is writ
ten, Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord. There
fore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him
drink : for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on
his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with
good." So far as we know, this was the last meeting be
tween Saul and David ; and it is pleasing to think that after
all that had occurred, Saul's latest utterance to him was one
of benediction ; at once a vindication of David's conduct in
the past, and a forecast of his glory in the future. Verily,
the Psalmist was speaking from his own experience when he
said, " Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him ;
and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon
day." But before we pass away from Saul's persecution of

142 David, King of Israel.
David, an interesting inquiry presents itself, which may be
answered by the help of one of the Psalms. How came it,
one is tempted to ask, that Saul was thus at one time so
friendly to David, and at another filled with such bitter en
mity against him ? Much of this was owing, doubtless, to
the impulsive, wayward, and capricious disposition which, as
we have seen, grew upon him after his rejection by Samuel.
But this will not explain it all. An impulse will go on in
a man until it exhausts itself; but it will then leave him, at
least, indifferent, and something else will be required to ac
count for the rapid reversal of his feelings, when we see him
change in a short time from grateful appreciation to fierce
antagonism. Where, then, shall we find that something in
the case of Saul ? The answer seems to me to be furnished
by the inscription to the 7th Psalm, which, from its similarity
to David's utterances to Saul on the occasions which have
been to-night before us, has been by most expositors con
nected with these events. It is entitled " Shiggaion of Da
vid, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of
Cush the Benjamite." That is " a dithyrambic ode of David
concerning the words of Cush." Now if we adopt the con
jecture that Cush was one of Saul's confidential adherents,
and that he had set himself deliberately and malignantly to
poison his master's mind in reference to David, by inventing
all manner of false assertions, and indulging in every variety
of significant innuendoes concerning him, we have an expla
nation at once, of many statements in the narrative, of the
vacillations in the disposition of Saul, and of the character of
the Psalm to which the title belongs. Thus, at En-gedi, David-
said to Saul, in apparent allusion to some private slanderers,
" Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David
seeketh thy hurt ?"* And again, at Hachilah, he exclaims,
* 1 Sam. xxiv., 9.

Cave Songs. 143
" If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept
an offering : but if they be the children of men, cursed be they
before the Lord ; for they have driven me out this clay from
abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve oth
er gods."* So also in one of the two Psalms which I have
already brought before you as undeniably belonging to this
chapter of his history, the poet, in describing his persecutors,
says, " I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the
sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their
tongue a sharp sword. "f All this points to the fact that
there was at the court of Saul some one whose constant de
sign it was to paint David in the blackest colors, and who
for this end did not hesitate to invent the falsest calumnies
against him. When the king was alone, away from the in
fluence of this black-hearted sycophant, David's noble and
frank ingenuousness produced its appropriate impression on
his heart ; but when David disappeared, and this Cush re
sumed his insinuating supremacy, then Saul's heart was again
estranged, and he vowed vengeance on the son of Je'sse. Of
course, if Saul had not been weak, this effect would not have
been produced upon him ; but, in the circumstances, we can
see how the larger measure of the guilt belonged to Cush,
and can understand why, while David spared the king, his
heart was full of abhorrence of the part which was played by
the false-hearted Benjamite. Now, with these considerations
in our minds, let us read the Psalm itself. " O Lord my
God, in thee do I put my trust : save me from all them that
persecute me, and deliver me : lest he tear my soul like a
lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. O
Lord my God, if I have done this ; if there be iniquity in my
hands ; if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace
with me (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is
* 1 Sam. xxvi., 19. t Psa. lvii., 4.

144 David, King of Israel.
mine enemy) — [a parenthetic allusion to his allowing Saul
to escape, even though he had him in his power] ; let the
enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread
down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honor in the dust.
Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of
the rage of mine enemies : and awake for me to the judg
ment that thou hast commanded. So shall the congregation
of the people compass thee about : for their sakes, therefore,
return thou on high. The Lord shall judge the people :
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and accord
ing to mine integrity that is in me. Oh let the wickedness
of the wicked come to an end ; but establish the just : for the
righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. My defense is
of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the
righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If
he turn not, he will whet his sword ; he hath bent his bow,
and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the in
struments of death ; he ordaineth his arrows against the
persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath
conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made
a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he
made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and
his violent dealing shall come clown upon his own pate.
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness : and
will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high."
The similarity of many of the expressions used in this ode
to those employed by David in his two appeals to Saul is
very great, and fully warrants the belief that the Psalm was
composed at the date of the occurrences which have been
now before us. In this view it is most interesting, as show
ing the habitual tendency of David's soul in trial to repair
to God. Andrew Fuller has somewhere said that " a man
has only as much religion as he can command in the time
of trouble ;" and by the bearing of David through these ca-

Cave Songs. 145
lamities we may see how genuine his devotion to Jehovah
was. Traveling once upon a railway car, I had among my fel
low-passengers a little laughing child, who romped about
and was at home with every body. Had any one come in
and looked at her while she was frolicking thus, he would
not have been able to tell to whom she belonged, she seem
ed to be so much the property of every one ; but ere long
the engine gave a loud, long shriek, as we went rattling into
a dark tunnel, and in a moment the child flew, like a bird,
to nestle herself in a lady's lap. I knew then who was her
mother ! So, in the clay of prosperity, the good man may go
hither and thither, to this side or to that, and there may not
be very much about him to tell whose he is ; but let him be
sent through some dark, damp tunnel of severe affliction, and
you will see at once to whom he belongs ; for then, David-
like, he commits his cause to God and bides the issue.
The Spirit of God has written the name of Jesus with in
visible ink on the believer's heart, but the fire of tribulation
brings out the characters before men's eyes. Still, remem
ber that trial does not make goodness; it only. reveals it.
We must have it before we can manifest it. Hence, if we
would prepare for such an ordeal as that through which
David passed, we must in our daily lives cultivate such fel
lowship with Jehovah, as that which the son of Jesse main
tained when he was following his father's sheep.
But going back over the narrative, let us, ere we close,
glean for ourselves a few practical lessons from it for our
daily guidance. And here an obvious application of the
principle on which David acted when Saul was in his power,
is that we should never seek success by unwarrantable means.
Though David was promised the kingdom, nay, just because
he had faith in Him who made the promise, he would not
make the body of Saul a step up to the throne. " He that
7 ~

146 David, King of Israel.
believeth will not make haste." Contrast this conduct of his
with that of Rebekah, when, thinking she could manage mat
ters better than God, she stirred up Jacob to seek the birth
right by deception, and you will see precisely what I mean
when I hold up the procedure of David for approbation and
imitation. Rebekah thought she was taking the shortest way
to get at that which God had promised, but in reality she sent
her son a long way round, entailed 'upon him much shame
and misery, and deprived herself of his presence and fellow
ship for all her after-life. David, in the view of his followers,
might have stepped to the throne of Israel at once by mur
dering Saul, but he knew better than take such a course as
that. The right way may seem the longer, but it is always
the safer ; and when you get to your destination, you have
the satisfaction of an approving conscience, and a favoring
God. Now this is a truth which young people, in these clays
particularly, would do well to remember. There is no tem
poral object of ambition, indeed, which God has promised to
bestow on any one now, as certainly as he covenanted to
give to David the throne of Israel. Yet every youth has
some kingdom before him which he desires to win ; and the
restless hurry of our age is such that he becomes infected
with the common madness, and is in haste to gain his end.
Now, in these circumstances, there are never wanting Abishais
who will come and show him a short road to the attainment
of his purpose ; but it will be over the commission of some
sin as real, though perhaps not quite so revolting, as would
have been the murder of Saul by David in the cave of En
gedi. "See," one says, "here is a glorious opportunity to
make your fortune in a clay. Never mind, though it does in
volve the ruin of a rival ; you don't owe him any considera
tion. He would have no regard for you, if your circumstances
were reversed ;" and so the temptation is to go and do as it
is suggested. Or, again, you may have, to use the world's

Cave Songs. 147
word, the chance to step into a long-coveted office at once,
provided only you will covenant to do some mean, ungener
ous, or dishonorable thing toward him who at the moment
holds it. He has no love for you indeed, and would not
hesitate to crush you if you were in his power; but what does
that matter ? If you yield to such a temptation, you are plant
ing a seed which in after-years will meet you in the shape of
manifold retributions, while at the same time you are taking
from success that which is ever its truest charm, namely, that
it has been honorably and deservedly won. My young friends,
will you accept this advice for your guidance through life ?
Never take a short road to any object when the gate into
that road is sin. How much purer would our political and
our commercial life become, if men would only consent to act
upon that principle ! Be not in such hot haste. Keep by
the highway of the great King ! That will lead you right,
though it may sometimes seem to lead you round. Beware
of turning to the one hand or to the other, to follow some in
viting footpath which seems to shorten the distance. Be sure
that will land you in some dismal swamp, wherein you will
flounder and struggle for a longer time than it would have
taken to go by the proper road, and, when you get to your
destination, you will be all over mud ! Let no vision of im
mediate success beguile you to do wrong. Do as God would
have you ; and leave it to him to bring you to the goal you
seek, in his own time. Make haste slowly, and rather resign
yourself to the loss of your kingdom, than go to it through
shame and sin.
Again : if the view which I have given as to the title of
the 7th Psalm, and its connection with the history which we
have been considering, be correct, it brings up before us the
whole subject of slander.
What a meanly cruel man this Cush must have been !
He did not come face to face with David, and allow him the

148 David, King of Israel.
opportunity either of making an explanation or of demand
ing an investigation ; but, like a cowardly assassin, he stab
bed him from behind, and whispered his falsehoods into
the ear of Saul, with every added embellishment of external
mannerism to give them effect. Now, have we nothing like
this, even in our own day and in our own circles ? Who
knows not among his acquaintances some scandal-monger
who is forever whispering away some one's reputation with
a " They say," or " I'm sure I hope it is not true ; but yet,
you know, the best of men are but men at the best, and it
does look very suspicious, to say the least of it ?" Give me
rather a hundred open, honorable enemies than one such
serpent- tongued and behind-back antagonist as that. Let
me see my accusers : let me be brought face to face with
any open, above-board statement, at any righteous tribunal ;
but let me not be set to fight with one who will not come
forth from his dark ambush, unless it be to aim another
blow when he can do so unseen. It may seem a small mat
ter to the slanderer himself; he may look upon it even as
a good joke; but it is a serious business with him whom
he assails, for the lie will pass round and round, gathering
as it goes, and may, perhaps, entail upon its victim the se
verest agony. "A whisper broke the air —
A soft, light tone, and low,
Yet barb'd with shame and woe :
Now might it perish only there,
Nor farther go !
Ah me ! a quick and eager ear
Caught up the little meaning sound !
Another voice has breathed it clear,
And so it wandered round
From ear to lip, from lip to ear,
Until it reached a gentle heart,
And that it broke !"

Cave Songs. 149
Think of that when the slanderous story rises to your lips,
and be silent !
But though, perhaps, the large part of the blame belonged
to Cush, we can not hold Saul guiltless. He ought to have
been above receiving private accusations against any man,
most of all against one who had done so much for the de
fense of his country as David had ; but, alas ! the wish was
father to the scandal here. Saul desired some ground on
which he might rid himself of David, and so he was ready
to believe any evil that might be laid to his charge. If the
king had not been willing to hear, Cush would have had no
opportunity to speak. In all slander, therefore, the hearer
is as bad as the speaker ; and if we were only to act as we
ought to do when a tale-bearer begins to speak, we should
instantly take measures either to silence him or to leave his
presence. It is a poor compliment one pays to us when he
begins to retail scandal in our ear, because it proves that he
believes us to be capable of enjoying it ; and certainly no
enjoyment could be more diabolical. Hence, if we were to
feel rightly in this regard, we would view it as the greatest
insult that could be offered to us, when one comes to us with
a whispered history that is intended to destroy our confi
dence in the absent. " Where no wood is, there the fire go
eth out;" so, where there is no listener, the scandal-monger's
"occupation's gone." But ere I quit this subject, let me di
rect a moment's attention to the bearing of David under this
affliction. He embraces the first opportunity of confronting
it, and then he makes his appeal to God, and waits his vindi
cation at the hands of Providence ; while, at the same time,
he gives expression to the conviction that, sooner or later,
the false accuser would be visited for his iniquity, and fall
into the pit which he had digged for another. As, in a later
history, when Paul was about to be made a victim by an un
principled governor, who sought only to make the most of

150 David, King of Israel.
his position -for his own aggrandizement, he appealed unto
Caesar, thereby removing himself to a higher tribunal in an
other land, so here, amidst the accusations that were heaped
upon him by Cush, David appealed to heaven, saying, vir
tually, " There is one that judgeth me, even God." Thus let
it be with us in times when we are assailed by slander. We
may not expect to get through the world without some of
it. Better men than any of us have had much of it to bear ;
and the better a man is, the greater is the danger of such as
saults ; for it is only the finest fruit that the birds will peck
at, or the wasps destroy ! Let us prepare for it, therefore ;
and when we are called to bear it, let us take it as David
took it ; nay, higher still, let us take it as it was taken by
David's Lord, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ;
when he suffered, he threatened not ; but committed himself
to him that judgeth righteously."
I add only one other thought : Observe, from the case of
Saul, that true repentance is a deeper thing than feeling, and
is distinguished by permanence as well as sincerity. Saul
says, "I have sinned ;" but we must not imagine, because he
uses these words, that he has truly repented of his transgres
sions. Indeed, if you are familiar with the Word of God,
you will at once recall a number of instances recorded in it,
in which this very expression was employed, but with a dif
ferent result in almost every case. Thus we hear Pharaoh
saying, when the plague of hail had desolated Egypt, " I have
sinned ;" but the end with him was the hardening of his
heart, and his utter destruction. When the lot discovered
Achan, and brought out to light the wedge of gold and the
Babylonish garment which he had hidden in his tent, he too
said, " I have sinned ;" but there was nothing in his heart of
that spontaneousness which is the essence of all true confes
sion. When Judas came with the pieces of silver, and cast
them at the feet of the Pharisees, he too said, " I have sin-

Cave Songs. 151
ned;" and very deep and bitter was his consciousness of
guilt ; but his feeling was remorse, and not repentance, and
so he rushed recklessly from the world, vainly seeking a place
where he might hide from God. When, after his great sin,
David was brought to himself by the expostulation of Na
than, he fell on his knees, and sobbed out the 51st Psalm,
part of which is as follows: "Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight ;" and in that jewel
of the parables, the story of the Prodigal Son, we hear the
starving youth, as he lies in his. swineherd's den, soliloquiz
ing thus: "I will arise and go to my father, and will say
unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before
thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." Now,
the mere repetition of these six different ways in which the
words " I have sinned " have been employed, will help us to
distinguish between genuine and spurious repentance. They
differ in the root out of which they spring. The spurious
springs from fear, or from a desire to escape punishment ;
the genuine springs from the contemplation of God — and
now of God more especially as he has revealed himself to us
in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Which, my hearer,
is yours? Have you ever yet said, "I have sinned?" and if
you have said it, why have you done so ? True repentance
is simultaneous with the reception of Christ, and is not to be
regarded as a preparation for coming to him. The question
has often been asked, indeed, whether faith or repentance
comes first, but in reality they may almost be regarded as
twp ways of describing the same thing. A mart truly be
lieves only when he repents ; he really repents only when
he believes. Faith is the hold which repentance has of
Christ ; repentance is the view which faith has of sin : Faith
is the soul's turning to Christ. But it can not turn to Christ
without at the same time also turning from sin, and that is
repentance. Faith is the looking eye resting upon Jesus ;

152 David, King of Israel.
Repentance is the tear that gathers and glistens in that eye,
as it sees the soul's own sins in the burden which the Re
deemer bore. Let us learn to say, "I have sinned" thus at
the foot of the cross, and no doubt about the genuineness of
our penitence need ever trouble us.

IX.
N A B A L .
i Samuel xxv.
IN the interval between the two meetings of David with
Saul, which we considered in our last discourse, the Land
of Israel sustained a sore bereavement in the death of the
venerable Samuel.
Brought up at the feet of Eli in the Tabernacle at Shiloh,
and called while yet a boy to the prophetical office, Samuel
had lived almost continuously in the service of the nation,
and had gathered to himself the affection and the confidence
of the whole community. Seeking not his own glory, but
devotedly attached to the people, and eagerly solicitous for
the honor of Jehovah, he had been both a civil benefactor
and a religious reformer. He rectified the abuses which
had sprung up under the wicked sanction of the sons of Eli,
and set himself to the administration of even-handed justice
among the tribes. He established the practice of holding
circuit courts, which has been so largely followed in modern
times ; and by the decisions which he gave, he redeemed
the seat of judgment from the contempt into which it had
fallen. He reorganized the Tabernacle services, and by the in
fluence at once of his teachings and his life, he lifted the
priestly office from the depth of infamy to which Hophni
and Phineas had sunk it, so that it was no longer true that
the most corrupt and degraded looked to it as the last ref
uge of their destitution, saying, " Put us into the priest's of
fice, that we may eat a piece of bread." He established the
7*

154 David, King of Israel.
schools of the prophets, at which young men were educated
for the higher service of the nation ; and by his attention to
the art of music, he prepared the way for those admirable
arrangements for "the service of song in the house ofthe
Lord," which, at a later day, made the name of David illus
trious. But perhaps the greatest benefit which he conferred
on his fellow-countrymen was in the influence which he ex
erted over them by his godly example. He lived the truth
which he taught, and drew to him increasingly, as the years
revolved, the affection of the people. Yea, though in the
pride of their heart they had desired a king to rule over
them, he had never lost their confidence, but was among
them to the last an uncrowned king, to whom, in all seasons
of perplexity, they instinctively turned for counsel and as
sistance. In his later days, indeed, he had retired, in a great
measure, into private life, and more especially after the form
al rejection of Saul and the anointing of David, he had sel
dom appeared in public. Still, his very presence among
them was a consolation and a defense, and, in the unsettled
state of national affairs, the pious-members of the communi
ty would feel new confidence when they thought of him.
But the time had come when he must die. Humanly
speaking, he could ill be spared from a land which was
blighted by the sway of a self-willed and unscrupulous mon
arch, and torn by the distraction of civil strife ; but the dis
cord of earth would make the peace of heaven only the more
welcome to him, while it intensified the grief of all good men
at his loss. To his own children, who walked not in his
way, his death would be, perhaps, the breaking of the last re
straint that held them from running headlong into uttermost
iniquity ; to the young men of the school of the prophets,
it would be the taking from them of their best and wisest
earthly friend ; and they would each cry out, like Elisha af
ter the ascending Elijah, " My father ! my father ! the chari-

Nabal. 155
ots of Israel and the horsemen thereof." To Saul it might
be a relief, as ridding him of one who, alone of all his sub
jects, feared not to tell him wholesome truth; but to David
it would be a sore distress, making him feel as if the one
earthly link that bound him to his future kingdom had some
how snapped asunder. He would recall the clay when the
prophet came to Bethlehem to anoint him, and go back in
thought to the happy- hours which he had spent with him
at Ramah ; and as he looked around him at the state of the
land, and- before him at the difficulties which were barring
his way to his predestined throne, we may well conceive him
sitting down and singing, out of the depths, the Psalm be
ginning, " Help, Lord ; for the godly man ceaseth ; for the
faithful fail from among the children of men."* Most ap
propriate, therefore, was it that all Israel should gather to
the good man's burial ; and among the crowd of mourners
that stood around the tomb at Ramah, we may be sure that
there was not one more deeply moved than David.
But his grief for the loss of Samuel, great as it was, could
not be allowed to interfere with the taking of those precau
tions which were needed to insure his own safety. Accord
ingly, that he might keep out of the way of Saul, he led his
men to the wilderness of Paran. This name was given to
the entire tract of country south of Judah, extending from
the Dead Sea to the peninsula of Sinai and the desert of
Egypt ; so that in its largest sense it included the deserts of
Kadesh and Sin. Nearly all the wanderings of the children
of Israel were in the great and terrible wilderness of Paran.
But in the present narrative it seems to be restricted to the
most northerly portion of this desert, lying to the west of the
lower part of the Dead Sea, where the waste changes gradu
ally into an uninhabited pasture-land, in which, at least in
* Psalm xii.

150 David, King of Israel.
spring and autumn, many herds might feed. In this neigh
borhood was the town of Maon, which was eight miles south-
by- east of Hebron ; and about one mile to the north of
Maon was the village of Carmel, to be carefully distinguish
ed from, the promontory and mountain of that name on tbe
shore of the Mediterranean.
In the former of these towns, but with possessions which
connected him also with the latter, there dwelt a wealthy
man, named, or, perhaps rather nicknamed, Nabal, or the
fool, who was distinguished by his niggardly disposition, self
ish character, and sottish habits. He might almost have
sat for the portrait which our Lord has drawn in the parable
of " the rich fool," only in his case the degrading vice of in
temperance was added to the grasping passion of avarice.
He was a descendant of the noble Caleb, but he had none
of Caleb's nature in him. He lived only to increase -his
goods and to pamper his appetite. Proud of his " three
thousand sheep " and his " one thousand goats," he fancied
that they' gave him a right to snub and despise those who
were less fortunate in the world. His wealth had not en
dowed him with common sense ; but, like many in our own
day, he imagined that, because he was in affluent circum
stances, he might with impunity indulge in rude, ill-manner
ed sneers at all who were around him. "What did he care
for the courtesies or the kindnesses of life ? Was not he
the great man of the place ? Could not he do just as he
pleased ? And as for what other people thought of him,
what did that matter to him ? Was not he independent of
them all ?" Thus, from the murmurs of those around him,
he took refuge in the self-complacent soliloquy : " Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years ; eat, drink, and be
merry." The race was not extinct in our Saviour's day. It
is not extinct in our own. Let no one suppose, therefore,
that when we come upon this Nabal,we are like the geolo-

Nabal. 157
gist when in the crust ofthe earth he lights upon some huge
old megalosaurus, and that we have here the petrified fossil
of a kind of animal which was common in the oolite period,
but has now entirely disappeared. Not at all ! You very
likely met him yesterday. You may meet him, perhaps, to
morrow. The man with heavy purse and light head, with
full pockets and empty cranium, is everywhere a Nabal ;
and if, haply, he combines with these the gluttony of the
gourmand or the thirst of the drunkard, he will only make
the identity more complete.
This purse-proud boor, had contrived (and here, again, the
resemblance to the modern specimen of the same species
often holds good) to marry a woman " of good understand
ing, and of a beautiful countenance." I know not how it
was brought about. We will be charitable, however, and
hope that it was, like other Eastern marriages, a matter of
parental arrangement, and that her lofty appreciation of his
wealth had nothing at all to do with it. If this were so, then
she at least was not so mercenary as some in our enlightened
age, who if they can only marry a carriage and pair, do not
seem to care whether or not they have a husband of mental
ability and moral worth fit to be the companion of their dai
ly lives.
At the time of David's sojourn in this district, Nabal held
his annual sheep-shearing. This was equivalent to the har
vest ofthe flock-masters, and was commonly finished with a
joyous feast which corresponded to the harvest-home. Gen
erally, therefore, it was a season of liberality and good-will.
It was the yearly stock-taking time, and if things had turn
ed out well, if the flocks had increased in number, and the
fleeces were up to the average standard of weight and value,
the heart of their owner was opened, and he was commonly
disposed to show more than usual kindness to all who were
in need. In the present instance, David knew that Nabal

158 David, King of Israel.
had peculiar reasons for being satisfied with the returns from
his shepherds, for during the sojourn of his troop in the lo
cality, he had constituted himself the guardian of Nabal's
property, and, on the testimony of the shepherds, had not
only not injured them himself, but had been a wall around
them by night and day, so that neither were they injured by
any one, nor had they missed any thing all the time that
they had been beside them.
Conscious, therefore, of the services which he and his fol
lowers had rendered this sheep-farmer, and expecting that in
the day of his gladness his heart would be opened to give a
substantial reward to his benefactors, David sent ten of his
young men to him with a kindly greeting, and a polite request
that he would give them some supplies. To their surprise,
however, they were met not only with a gruff refusal, but with
insulting sneers, which cast the blackest aspersions on the char
acter of their leader. "Who is David ?" quoth Nabal, "and
who is the son of Jesse ? there be many servants nowadays
that break away every man from his master. Shall I then
take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed
for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not
whence they be ?"
Stung to the quick by these aggravating words, the young
men went to David, and told him how they had been re
pulsed. Very likely their story lost nothing, in the telling.
Most probably, indeed, they would infuse something of their
own wounded pride into their account; but in any case,
when David heard what they said, he became fiercely indig
nant, and ordering four hundred of his men to arm them
selves and follow him, he went forth, vowing the deepest ven
geance, and determined not to leave a single survivor of all
those who belonged to the ungrateful cynic who had so in
sulted him.
But this was all wrong ; for though David had a clear

Nabal. 159
moral right to-be recompensed for the services which he had
rendered to Nabal, he had no legal title to the smallest por
tion of his property; far less had he any justification for seek
ing thus to destroy him and his household. We have not a
syllable to say in Nabal's vindication ; but neither can we
utter a word in defense of David for this revengeful purpose.
This was not like him who so reined in his spirit when Saul
was in his power. It was altogether unworthy of one who
had received so many signal tokens of kindness from the
Lord. Who was Nabal, that for his rudeness he should let
himself be so disturbed ? If the man was a fool, then as such
his words were beneath contempt, and it would have been
much more in harmony with the high-mindedness ofthe poet-
hero if he had taken no notice of his rudeness, and allowed
him to rail on. Hence his purpose to destroy Nabal's house
was as undignified as it was iniquitous. Human life is a
holy thing, and he who takes it away from pride, or passion,
or avarice, or lust, commits a foul outrage on the community,
and a grievous sin against the Lord. No matter what the
character of his victim may be, the man who takes the life of
another dishonors God and degrades the law ; and it bodes
ill for the commonwealth when deeds like these are allowed
to be done with impunity.
But by the prompt and prudent management of Abigail,
Nabal's wife, David was saved, in this instance, from carry
ing out his rash intention. It came about in this fashion :
One of the shepherds who knew how much they had all been
indebted to David and his men, and who feared the conse
quences of Nabal's rudeness, went at once to Abigail, and
stated the case to her. He did not take it upon him to ex
postulate with his master, " for he knew that he was such a
son of Belial that a man could not speak to him." But he
had confidence in the sagacity of his mistress, and he be
sought her to take measures immediately to ward off the evil

160 David, King of Israel.
which would be sure to come upon them all. His appeal
was not made in vain, for she made haste, and laded asses
with ample stores of provisions ; and, sending these on be
fore, she determined to go herself and make an ample expla
nation and apology to David.
She had not come a moment too soon, for, as she was de
scending into a covert of the hill on the one side, David and
his men were coming down on the other, " nursing their
wrath " the while. As soon as she saw them, she lighted
from her ass, and, falling at David's feet, in Oriental fash
ion, she made-suit to him in such a manner as to show a rare
amount of womanly tact and intellectual ability. Taking all
the blame upon herself, she referred to her husband " with that
union of playfulness and seriousness which, above all things,
turns away wrath."* "As his name is, so is he ; fool (Nabal)
is his name, and folly is with him." Then she proceeded,
on the supposition that her request had been already grant
ed, to congratulate David that the Lord had withholden him
from shedding blood, and she begged his acceptance, for his
young men, of the supplies which she had brought. Thereaf
ter, rising from present circumstances, she went on to refer to
the future in such a way as to show that she had implicit faith
in the prophecies that had gone before concerning David ;
and in a manner the most delicately adroit she concluded by
saying that, when God had given him the kingdom, it should
be no grief to him that he had shed blood causeless, or that
he had avenged himself. All this was most pertinently put ;
and when she spake of God's " making David a sure house ;"
of his soul as " bound in the bundle of life with the Lord
his God," and of his enemies as destined to be " slung out, as
out of the middle of a sling," we do not wonder that she gain
ed her object. She was a woman ; and though we give her

* Stanley's "Jewish Church," vol. ii., p. 79.

Nabal. 161
full-credit for sincerity in all that she said, we can not but ad
mire the dexterous female generalship with which she carried
her point in such a way as to leave David with the impression
that he was laid by her under a deep obligation. Neither
can we overlook the fact, so creditable to her piety, that by
the skillful allusion which she made to his revengeful pur
pose, she deeply touched the conscience of David, and turn
ed his gratitude to her into thanksgiving to God. Only a
woman could have managed such a negotiation as this so
smoothly and successfully; but only a God-fearing woman
would have managed it so as to bring David to a sense of the
sinfulness of the act which he had been about to commit.
Nabal, however, was not so much pleased with the result.
When Abigail went home, she found him so intoxicated that
she said nothing on the subject to him until the morning;
but then, when he heard her report, he was so enraged at the
loss of his property, or at the thought that his wife had done
what he had himself refused to do, that he went into a fit
of apoplexy — a disease to which his dissipated habits and the
debauch of the previous night had predisposed him, and,
after lingering for ten days, he died.
When David heard of his fate, he was anew impelled to
express his gratitude to God for having withheld him from
the murder which it had been in his heart to commit. This
was well ; but we are not sure that he was equally to be com
mended when, with the disposition to connect special calam
ity with special sin, for which the Jews, as a whole, were dis
tinguished, and against which the Saviour has warned us all,
he affected to see in the manner of Nabal's death a right
eous retribution for his treatment of himself, and a pleading
ofthe cause of his reproach. For that we do not vindicate
him, any more than we do for the means which he employed
to console Abigail for her husband's loss, when " he com
muned with her to take her to him to wife !" Already he

162 David, King of Israel.
was the husband of Michal, and though she had been taken
from him by her father Saul, and given to another, that was
no excuse for his marrying Abigail now, especially as even
before his encounter with Nabal he had taken Ahinoam of
Jezreel into a similar relationship. Probably he did this, as
Eastern chiefs do to this day, for the purpose of adding to
his importance in the estimation of the people ; but though
polygamy was rather regulated than forbidden by the law of
Moses, it is clearly contrary to the primal law of nature,
and in David's case, as in the cases of many others, it was
followed by disastrous consequences. We shall return to
this ¦ subject, ere we conclude ; meanwhile let us take out of
the history which we have to-night reviewed, one or two prac
tical thoughts which may be useful to us in the ordering of
our daily lives.
Let us note, then, first, the suggestive contrast which is here
presented in the deaths of Samuel and Nabal. On the one
hand, we have a good man, taken to his reward after a long
life spent in the service of his God, and a whole nation gath
ers to weep around his tomb. On the other, we have a sur
ly, selfish, sottish man called to his account, and no tear is
shed over his grave ; but instead, a feeling of relief is expe
rienced by all who were connected with him, for they are all
conscious that they will be the happier for his absence. In
the one case, the life on earth was but the prelude to a high
er, holier, and more useful existence in the heavenly world ;
in the other, the earthly character was but the germ out of
which would spring, in the state beyond, a deeper, darker,
and more repulsive wickedness even than that which he had
manifested here. I do not think that David wrote the 37th
Psalm at this particular date, since, from one expression
which it contains, he seems to have penned that ode in his
old age ; but, whensoever it was written, it is hard for me to
believe that he had not before hfs mind at the time the con-

Nabal. 163
trast between Nabal and Samuel which this history so vivid
ly presents. What could be more appropriate to Nabal than
these words : " I have seen the wicked in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed
away, and lo, he was not : yea, I sought him, but he could
not be found." And surely David thought of Samuel when
he wrote this verse : "Mark the perfect man, and behold the
upright : for the end of that man is peace."
Now, the practical question for us is, To which of these
two classes do we belong ? Alas ! there are many in these
days whose lives are inflicting a constant martyrdom on all
who have the misfortune to be nearly related to them, and
whose deaths, while full of sadness to themselves, would yet
be a blessing and a relief to their friends as ridding them of
a constant and fearful misery. "A living cross is heavier
than a dead one;" and there are few who have to carry a
weightier or sharper cross than the wives and families of
these Nabals, whose intemperance has brutified them into
harsh, unfeeling cruelty. How can you expect the woman
who has been beaten and abused by her drunkard husband
to feel otherwise than relieved, when death dissolves the
union which had brought her such abuse ? "I thought you
would have been glad when your husband came home," said
a little girl to a wife whose husband had just returned from
a twelve months' absence at sea ; " but instead of that, you
look so sad and anxious." 'Ah! she knew not what a stab
her words were giving to her heart, for her husband had re
turned only to fill her soul with deepest agony. Is there
one here to-night who is conscious that he is living such a
life as must make all around him miserable — -let him see
in Nabal how repulsive he looks, and let him turn from his
evil ways, and seek to minister to the happiness and holiness
of his home. Let him be no more a son of Belial, but indeed
a son of God, so that when he passes from the world he may

164 David, King of Israel.
leave behind him those who sincerely mourn his loss, and
may himself enter into the enjoyment of heaven's own bless
edness. What a blank is created when the good man dies ! Men
miss his kindly presence, his wise counsel, his loving words,
his liberal deeds, his holy example, and his earnest prayers.
It is long before they can become accustomed to his ab
sence ; and when some deep grief falls upon them, or some
great agony is to be passed through by them, they feel as if
they wished him back again to sustain them through the or
deal. But all of him does not depart. He leaves behind
him an influence, which, long after he has gone, is active and
operative for good.
" Do you see that strip of green yonder ?" said one to his
companion, as they stood together on a height, surveying
the landscape ; " I wonder what has caused it ?" " I know,"
was the answer ; " there was a brook there once, and its old
course is lined with a richer verdure than the surrounding
district." Just so, the place where a good man has lived
and died is greener from the influence he has exerted over
it ; and even after his name may have been forgotten by the
inhabitants, they may be found in some way moulded by his
character. Let it be our aim, brethren, so to walk with Jesus
in our. daily conduct, that we may have such a hallowed in
fluence on all with whom we come into contact. Let us be
earnest in the service of our generation by the will of God.
Let us rouse ourselves to zealous activity for the honor of
Christ and the benefit of our fellow-men. " It were infamy
to die and not be missed." It were foul dishonor to be
buried in a grave over which no one cares to shed a tear.
But if we would have the death of Samuel, we must live his
life ; and if we would live his life, we must bear continually
in mind the words which Jehovah spoke to Eli by the man
of God when Samuel was a child : " Them that honor ma

Nabal. 165
I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly es
teemed." .Note, in the second place, from this history, that little
things are more dangerous to the believer's life than great.
David could control himself when in the presence of Saul,
and again and again resisted the entreaties of his adherents
to put his adversary to death ; but when this churlish and
altogether contemptible Nabal speaks a few insulting words,
he is completely thrown off his guard, and gives way to the
most unhallowed anger and blood-thirsty revenge. And it
. is so with the people of God still. For great things a Chris
tian braces himself up prayerfully, and so he meets them
calmly and patiently ; but a little thing frets him, and pro
vokes him to testiness and rage, because he deems it too
trivial to go to God with, and seeks to encounter it only in
his own strength. How common is this experience among
us ! The loss of a large sum seriously affecting our comfort
will be borne with equanimity, for we are driven to meet that
upon our knees ; but if one should cheat us out of a paltry
amount, it will annoy us, and stir us up to envy and revenge,
and we will vent our spleen in all manner of attempts to
bear clown with the full force of law upon our adversary.
The death of a child will fill us with sadness, but will be
borne by us with believing resignation, because we see God's
providence in that ; but the accidental upsetting of a tea-
urn, or the thoughtless .stupidity of a servant, will produce in
us an explosion of temper sufficient to shake the whole es
tablishment to its foundation. Is not this too largely the
case with us all ? and when it is so, how often are we be
holden to the Abigail beside us for soothing us clown to
reason and propriety ? Surely we ought to be on our guard
against such irritability. And that we may be so efficiently,
let us see God's hand in all things ; let us turn to God in
every thing; and, far from despising small things, let us

1 66 David, King of Israel.
watch them the more closely the smaller they are, since
their very minuteness makes them only the more dangerous.
Above all, let us think how unlike this temper is to the
meekness of Him by whose name we have called ourselves !
Where is the image of Christ in such a disposition ? It is
only on the surface of the placid lake that you can see, un
broken, the mirrored likeness of the sun ; but let it be ruf
fled by the wind, and forthwith the full rounded image is
destroyed, and nowhere can you catch a glimpse of it com
plete. Not otherwise is it here. The likeness of Christ
can be seen only while the Christian preserves his equanim
ity. In the outburst of temper, the Christ-image is defaced,
and the wholesome influence of the character is neutralized.
Besides, how foolish it is to act under the influence of anr
ger! What a dreadful sin David would have committed
here, if he had not been providentially restrained ! It would
be well for us, therefore, to resolve never to act in any mat
ter while the heat of temper is upon us. That is a wise pre
cept which the Chinese have crystallized into a proverb,
" Do nothing in a passion ; why wouldst thou put to sea in
the violence of a storm ?" But that is a still wiser of Paul,
" Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the sun go down upon
your wrath."
Finally, it is impossible to read this chapter without hav
ing our minds directed to the whole question of marriage.
In the case of Nabal and Abigail we have an illustration of
the evils of ill-assorted wedlock ; while in the after-relationr
ship which she bore to David, taken in connection with the
manifold evils which we shall see resulted from his concu
binage, we have a forcible exemplification of the mischiefs
and miseries which are always and everywhere the conse
quences of polygamy. In the Divine intention at the first,
the wife was designed to be the helpmeet of the husband,
and this was the law, " Therefore shall a man leave his fa-

Nabal. 167
ther and his motherland shall cleave unto his wife : and they
shall be one flesh." Whenever and wherever this law has
been violated, discord and disaster, in greater or less meas
ure, has been the result. We need only look to the house
holds of Abraham, Jacob, Elkanah, and David to be con
vinced of this, for if, in the cases of such men, the evils of
which we have a record in this book were the consequences
of polygamy, where is the man who may hope to be exempt
ed from them, if he persists in following their example?
It is nothing that in the law of Moses this sin was sought
to be regulated rather than eradicated ; for, as the Lord him
self has said, Moses suffered this " for the hardness of the
hearts " of those over whom he was set ; and his laws — in
this respect, like those of Solon — were not absolutely the
best laws which could have been enacted, but they were the
best which the Israelites of his day would have accepted.,
Now, however, under the Gospel, the sanctity and inviolabili
ty of marriage have been re-enacted, and the Lord Jesus has
given to it a loftier holiness and a richer significance, by
using it as a symbolical illustration of his own relation to
" the Church which he hath purchased with his own blood."
Rightly viewed, therefore, the marriage of a man and wom
an is, next after their union to God himself, the most impor
tant connection which can be formed on earth, and should
not be entered into lightly and unadvisedly, but soberly, dis
creetly, and in the fear of the Lord. Too often, however,
the "whole subject is treated in common conversation with
the most profane levity, and every allusion which is made to
it is met with frivolity as if it were a good joke, instead of
being well-nigh the most sacred thing which can engage the
attention of the young. If it is not regarded as an affair of
convenience or of commerce, it is talked of frequently as a
matter of fashion ; and the making of a " good match," by
which is meant the securing of a fortune, or the entrance

1 68 David, King of Israel.
upon a high social position, is regarded as of far more im
portance than the selection of one who shall be a suitable
companion, or a daily helper in the Christian life. Even as
I speak, I am aware that many may resent my words, as if
they were going beyond the province within which multi
tudes would restrict the proprieties of the pulpit; but hav
ing regard to the loose notions which are coming in upon
us on this subject, and knowing well how closely it concerns
the purity of the Church and the welfare of the nation that
the truth concerning it should be preached, I dare not hold
my peace. The law of the New Testament is clear, and as
one has well said, " the man who wishes to belong to the
flock of Christ owns neither Moses nor yet the civil magis
trate for his master in this respect." The man and the wife
are united until God shall separate them by death. One
man to one wife. How important, therefore, that the choice
on either side shall be wisely made ! It is right to look for
mutual adaptation in station, in temper, in education, and in
ability. These have all their own importance, but there are
two principles which should never be lost sight of. First,
let no one enter into this relationship where there is no true
love for him or her with whom it is to be formed. That is
the law of nature. Second, let no one who is a Christian be
united to another who is not also one with Christ. That is
the law of grace. " Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers : for what fellowship hath righteousness with un
righteousness ? and what communion hath light with dark
ness ? And what concord hath Christ with Belial ? or what
part hath he that believeth with an infidel ?" In a union so
close and intimate, it can not but be that an assimilating ,
process will continually go on ; and if either party be godless
and given to debasing pursuits, then we may say to the other,
" Thou shalt lower to his level day by day,
What is fine within thee growing coarse to sympathize, with clay."

Nabal. 169
And who shall tell how many lives that might otherwise
have been beautiful, exalted, and benign, have been marred,
and blurred, and mutilated, and degraded, by an improper
marriage ! This union may be either the brightest blessing
or the darkest misery to those who enter into it. What need,
then, of care and prayer in the choice of a suitable compan
ion for one's earthly lot ! The old Roman punishment which
bound to a living man a festering and corrupting corpse, and
compelled him to carry it with him wherever he went, was
nothing to the self-inflicted misery of those who bind them
selves to husbands or to wives who are, like Nabal here,
surly, boorish, beastly, and degraded ! "Ah, me !" says the
venerable Tholuck, "if our youth would but more deeply
ponder what it is to choose a partner, to be of one spirit
and one flesh with them for the whole of their pilgrimage on
earth, their choice would not be made in the false glare of
the theatre or the ball-room. Till death divide you, would
ring perpetually in their souls. In the light of day they
•would choose, and by the light of God's Word they would
try their partner, seek the advice of Christian friends, and
not join hands until they were sure of the divine amen."*
God give you grace, my young friends, to ponder well these
weighty words !
* " Hours of Christian Devotion ; translated from the German of A.
Tholuck, D.D., by Robert Menzies, D.D.," p. 471.
8

X.
ZIKLAG, ENDOR, AND GILBOA.
i Samuel xxvii.-xxxi. ; 2 Samuel i.
AFTER his interview with Saul at Hachilah, David con
tinued for a time his wandering life in the wilderness
of Judah, with his band of followers, which had gradually in
creased to six hundred men. As originally composed, his
company consisted of " those who were in distress, and those
who were in debt, and those who were discontented." Yet
even among this motley troop, there were warriors of the
utmost bravery, who were destined afterward to be leaders
in his army. Such were those three who, on the memorable
occasion alluded to in chapter xi. of 1 Chronicles, verses 15-
19, while the Philistine garrison was. at Bethlehem, when Da
vid thirsted for a draught from the well at the gate of that
city, from which, in his happy shepherd days, he had often
drank, dashed through the host of the enemy, and drew wa
ter from the spring, and took it and brought it to their captain.
But he would not drink of it, after all ; for, with a spirit which
combined the purest piety and the loftiest chivalry, he pour
ed it out before the Lord, saying, " My God forbid it me,
that I should do this thing : shall I drink the blood of these
men, that have put their lives in jeopardy ? for with the jeop
ardy of their lives they brought it." We can not wonder
that men loved such a leader, nor is it strange that those
who did this daring deed were ever afterward referred to as
the three mightiest in his host.
While they were in the hold, others came to him from
among the children of Gad ; of whom eleven principal lead-

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 171
ers 'are named as " men of might, and men of war fit for
the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces
were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes
upon the mountains ;" and of whom, " one of the least was
over a hundred, and the greatest over a thousand."* This
does not imply that they joined David, followed each by a
troop varying in number from a hundred to a thousand
men, but rather that, after David had come into his king
dom, he promoted them to captaincies in his. army. Still,
that they came in some considerable force is indicated in the
statement, " They went over Jordan in the first month, when
it had overflown all his banks ; and they put to flight all
them of the valleys, both toward the east and toward the
west."t About the same time, also, and probably in the very in
terval between the episode with Saul at Hachilah and the
flight of David to Gath, there came to his standard some of
the children of Judah, and some who were connected with
Saul's own tribe of Benjamin. When David saw them, he
was afraid of treachery, and went forth to meet them, saying,
" If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart
shall be knit unto you : but if ye be come to betray me to
mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the
God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it." To this
their captain, Amasai, made immediate response, " Thine are
we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse : peace, peace
be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers ; for thy God
helpeth thee."t And having received this assurance, he re
ceived them gladly, and gave them posts of honor in his lit
tle army.
But though thus encouraged with the accession of new ad
herents, David appears shortly after this to have given way
* 1 Chron. xii., 8, 14. f 1 Chron. xii., 15. 1 1 Chron. xii., 16-18.

172 David, King Of Israel.
to despondency, and almost to despair, for he said, " I shall
now perish one day by the hand of Saul ; there is nothing
better for me than that I should speedily escape into the
land ofthe Philistines ; and Saul shall despair of me to seek
me any more in the coast of Israel, so shall I escape out of
his hand." It is difficult to account for this transition in him
from confidence to fear. Something of it might be due to
those alternations of emotion which seem to be incidental to
our human constitution. We have ebbings and Sowings
within us like those of the tides ; and just as in nature the
lowest ebb is after the highest spring tide, so you frequently
see, even in the best of men, after some lofty experience of
spiritual elevation and noble self-command, an ebbing down
to the lowest depth of fear and flight. It was after his hap
py sojourn in the school of the prophets at Ramah that Da
vid went, on the former occasion, to the land of the Philis
tines ; and now it was after he had risen above the cowardly
suggestion of his followers to murder Saul in cold blood, and
had indeed changed the curse of Saul's enmity into a bene
diction, that he sinks again into despair.
Something of this change, too, might be owing to the re
ports brought to him by his recent recruits of the persistent
efforts made to poison the mind of Saul against him by the
glanderer Cush, to whom we have already referred, But,
however it may be accounted for, this despair of David's was
deeply dishonoring to God, and full of danger to himself. It
was dishonoring to God; for had he not then, just as really as
he ever had, those promises which had so steadily sustained
him in former emergencies, and which had been so signally
fulfilled by former deliverances ? Had he forgotten the anoint
ing which he received from the hands of Samuel ? Was his
victory over the giant now entirely ignored by him ? Surely
he was the very last man who ought to have allowed himself
to despair of the love and faithfulness of Jehovah ! Yet here

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 173
he is in the blankest darkness, brooding over his difficulties,
and seeking help from the heathen, as if there were no God
to call upon, no kingdom to win, no right to be adhered to,
and no wrong to be avoided. Still, let us not be too severe
on him, lest we thereby condemn ourselves ; for, bad as de
spair was in David, with all his experiences of the goodness
of God, it is still worse in us, who have seen the marvelous
manifestations of his mercy in the cross of Jesus Christ. If
in our times of despondency we can not take hold of this
thought, " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him
up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things?" it ill becomes us to indulge in wholesale denun
ciation of David here. He that is without sin among us, in
this respect, let him cast the first stone at him. For my
part, I have been myself so often in the same condemnation,
that I am disposed to place myself in the pillory by his side !
But this despair was also dangerous to himself; for, arising
as it did from his forgetfulness of God, it kept him from con
sulting God about his plans.. On other important occasions,
especially since Abiathar had joined his band, he was careful
to inquire at the mystic Urim and Thummim for direction.
But here we have no mention made ofthe sacred oracle, and
no record of a single prayer. Hence no good could be ex
pected from an enterprise which was thus inaugurated. That
which is begun in prayerlessness must end in misery and hu
miliation. Nor was this all. His despair, making him reckless,
blinded him to the dangers which he would incur by going
to the land of the Philistines. Had he not been panic-strick
en, he would surely have remembered his former experiences
at the court of Achish, and would have reasoned that if, when
he was alone, he was in such peril, he would be much more
likely to be seriously endangered when he was accompanied
by six hundred men, with their wives and children. But the

174 David, King of Israel.
truth was, there was only one all-absorbing feeling in his soul
at this time, namely, the fear of Saul, and he took what seem
ed to him the readiest way to relieve himself of that danger,
without staying fof a moment to consider all that his pro
cedure might involve. " He that believeth shall not make
haste :" but fear is always in a hurry. Running in wild panic
from a dog, one may find himself in the more serious danger
of being overturned and trampled upon by the prancing horse
as he holds on his course along the street. So he who has
lost his confidence in God, and is filled with fear of some ca
lamity, rushes blindly forward seeking present relief, only to
fall into a more appalling danger than that from which he
flees. Thus it was with David here. As he had calculated,
he rid himself of Saul, for we read that he sought no more
for David ; but by the false step of going over to the Philis
tines he involved himself in a long course of cruelty and de
ceit, out of which he came with a tarnished reputation, and a
heart grown but too familiar with the crooked policy of expe
diency and sin.
Achish received him kindly; but while we give him cred
it for his hospitality, we can not look upon it as altogether
disinterested. He knew that David was at enmity with Saul,
and seeing so many men accompanying him, he calculated
on receiving substantial assistance from him in any military
service in which he might engage. Hence, when David re
quested that he might have a place in some town in the
country, that he might dwell there, he gave him Ziklag, a
town which had been allotted to the tribe of Judah in the
days of Joshua, and which was probably at this time unin
habited, because it had been taken by the Philistines, and its
population dispersed.
Here David and his men, with their wives and children,
lived for sixteen months, and hither came to him (as we
learn from i Chronicles xii., 1-7) some of those who were

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 175
reputed as his mighty men, helpers in the war. "They were
armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the
left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow;"
and they were " of Saul's brethren of Benjamin." From Zik
lag as a centre, David made incursions on the Geshurites,
and. the Gezrites, and the Amalekites, living upon the spoils
which he took from them, and putting every man, woman,
and child among them to death, that no one might remain to
tell where he had been ; for ever as he returned, he made
Achish believe that he had been out against those who were
the enemies of the Philistines, and who were either his own
countrymen or their friendly allies. Hence Achish made
sure of him as a reliable supporter, and calculated that be
cause he had made his own people to abhor him, he would
become valuable in his service. Now, there is no possibility
of vindicating David for all this. We can not even offer a
plausible excuse for him. It is easy to say that, in the cir
cumstances in which he was placed, some allowance must be
made for him. But who put him into these circumstances ?
He was not in Ziklag on God's service. He had not been
sent thither by any prophetical command from God. He
went of his own accord, and it will not do to make his cir
cumstances when he was there an extenuation of his wicked
ness. His going thither was in itself a wrong thing ; and
one sin can never palliate another.
Then as to the falsehood of his life during these months,
we must unequivocally and emphatically condemn it. He
was seeking all through his own interest, not God's glory.
Nay, he was even blind in seeking that, for he might have
been sure that, sooner or later, a day of reckoning would
come. Mark the prolific progeny that sprang from the. one
parent sin of unbelief in this dark chapter of David's life.
Prayerlessness; desertion of the sphere of duty ; theft; mur
der; falsehood. All these have germinated from the one

176 David, King of Israel.
innocent-looking little seed, loss of confidence in God ! Is
this thy voice, O David, speaking so falsely in the ear of
Achish ? Is this the man according to God's own heart ?
Alas ! it is even so. But he is not acting now as God ap
proves. He has forsaken God, and God, for the time being,
has left him to himself, to let him see how far without his
grace he would run into iniquity, and to let us learn from his
example what an evil thing and a bitter it is to forsake the
Lord our God.
Very soon a critical time came to David. The Philistines
were preparing for that assault on Israel which culminated
at Gilboa, and Achish, to show his confidence in David, in
timated that he wished him to go with him as his aid-de-camp
to battle. Sorely must David have winced under this com
mand ; but disguising his dismay, under an evasive answer
to this effect, " Thou shalt' know what thy servant can do,"
he made ready his band, and went to Aphek, a place near
the plain of Esdraelon, where the Philistines were encamped.
But the lords of the Philistines would have none of his
presence, and insisted that he and his followers should be
sent back to Ziklag. Achish was greatly distressed at this,
and made an apology for their rudeness and apparent dis
trust, to David, who retraced his steps, secretly glad, we may
be sure, that he had been so thoroughly delivered from an
embarrassing and equivocal position.
As he was leaving Aphek, however, there came to him, as
we. read again, in the first book of Chronicles (xii., 19-22),
from the tribe of Manasseh a goodly number of adherents, of
whom no fewer than seven were afterward ranked as cap
tains of thousands in the army of Israel. And indeed it very
soon appeared that he had need of all the help which he
could obtain. For when they were nearing Ziklag, instead
of seeing a happy village, whose streets were full of boys
and girls playing in youthful frolic, and whose homes were

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 177
full of glee, they beheld only a heap of smoking ruins. In
the absence of its defenders, the Amalekites had smitten the
town and set it on fire, and though they spared the lives
of the women and children, they carried them all away cap
tive, in the hope of ransom. Such was the sorrow among
David's company, when they looked upon the desolation
which the Amalekites had made, that they lifted up their
voices and wept ; but by-and-by their sadness gave place to
anger, as they upbraided their leader for taking them to the
Philistine army, and leaving their home unprotected. They
even spake of stoning him. This greatly distressed him ;
but it brought him to his knees and to his faith again. As
sometimes the partially intoxicated man will be sobered in
a moment by the occurrence of some terrible calamity, so
David, who had been living all these months under the nar
cotic influence of sin, was, by the violence ofthe Amalekites,
and the threatened mutiny of his own men, roused to his no
bler self, and "he encouraged himself in the Lord his God."
With returning faith came the recognition of the necessity
for Jehovah's guidance, and he said to Abiathar, " Bring hith
er the ephod." From the answer which he received he was
encouraged to set out in pursuit of the spoilers, with the as
surance that he should without fail recover all. Very sug
gestive is this contrast. " David said, I shall one day perish
by the hand of Saul ; there is nothing better for me than
that I should speedily escape to the land ofthe Philistines."
"David encouraged himself in the Lord his God, and said
unto Abiathar, Bring hither the ephod." On the one hand,
despair, leading to prayerlessness and self-will ; on the other,
faith, leading to prayer and eager willinghood to submit to
the guidance of Jehovah. Be it ours to shun the former,
and to cultivate the latter.
After a hot pursuit, during which two hundred of his men
were obliged to halt and fall out of the ranks, worn out
8*

178 David, King of Israel.
by their long and rapid march, David, directed by a poor
Egyptian slave, came up with the Amalekites, and falling
upon them when they were feasting and making merry, he
so thoroughly destroyed them, that only four hundred young
men who rode upon camels escaped out of his hand. Best
of all, he recovered all the women and children who had
been taken captive, and returned with such loads of spoil
that, after satisfying the claims of all his soldiers, he sent
presents of it to many of the cities of Judah.
But while he was thus engaged the battle had been raging
fiercely between the Philistines and Saul on Mount Gilboa ;
and though the full consideration of that conflict and its is
sues belongs rather to the history of Saul than to the life of
David, we must ask your indulgence while we seek to set it
somewhat vividly before you. .
The vale of Esdraelon, whereon so many decisive battles
in the world's history have been fought, stretches eastward
across central Palestine. It is of a triangular shape, having
its apex westward in a narrow pass, through which the riv
er Kishon runs into the Mediterranean Sea. Its northern
side is formed by the hills of Galilee ; its southern by the
hills of Samaria ; and from its base on the east, three branch
plains, separated from each other by mountain ridges, run
still farther eastward on to the Jordan. The northern branch
lies between Mount Tabor and Little Hermon ; the central
branch has Little Hermon on the north and Gilboa on the
south ; and the southern branch is between Mount Gilboa
and Jenim. Now the Philistines, on the present occasion,
were in the central one of these three branch plains, and
were encamped at the base of Little Hermon, here called
Moreh, hard by the well of Harod. Their position was ad
mirably chosen, since, with a gentle slope behind them, they
had in front a level place of some two or three miles broad,
well fitted for those military chariots on which they so much
relied for success.

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 179
Saul and his army were on the ridge of Mount Gilboa,
clinging to the hills with that instinctive confidence in their
strength which the inhabitants of all mountainous districts
feel. From his elevated post of observation he could see the
^whole host of the Philistines ; and the sight made him afraid,
so that his heart trembled greatly. But to whom could
he turn for succor ? Samuel was dead ; Abiathar and the
ephod were with David ; and ever, as he thought of God, it
was with the feeling that Jehovah had abandoned him. Had
there been but one indication of sincere repentance given
by him ; had he humbled himself in confession of sin before
the Lord, or thrown himself on his covenant -keeping faith
fulness, there might, even yet, have been deliverance. But
though he was profoundly conscious that all his calamities
were caused by the fact that he had turned against the Lord,
he went and did that which could only widen the distance
that was already between them. Instead of calling upon
God in penitence and prayer, he sought after forbidden su
perstitions, and tried to obtain by the help of magic — or per
chance even, in his view, of Satan — that assistance which only
God could give. Here is the great difference between Saul
in his sins, and David in his backslidings. From each of his
falls you hear David coming sobbing out a sorrowful confes
sion and appeal like that in the 51st Psalm ; in each of Saul's
wickednesses you see him assuming the attitude of sterner
defiance toward the Almighty ; or if there be any sorrow in
his heart at all, it is for the loss he has himself sustained, or
the suffering he has himself endured, and not for the dishon
or which he has done to God. Never, however, has he gone
so far as now, when, as Dean Stanley says, " Having swerved
from the moral principle which alone could guide it, his re
ligious zeal was turned into a wild and desperate supersti
tion."* Having forsaken God, he betook himself to neero-
* "Jewish Church," ii., 28.

180 David, King of Israel.
mancy. So he said to his servants, " Seek me a woman that
hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of
her ;" and they replied, " Behold, there is a woman that hath
a familiar spirit at Endor." On receiving this information,
he disguised himself, and took his way across the valley past
the carefully guarded host of the Philistines, and up over the
ridge behind them, until on the other side of that hill he came
to the fountain of Dor, in one of the caverns, by the side of
which dwelt the woman of whom he was in search. It was
a perilous journey, though undertaken under the cover of
night ; and nothing could have induced Saul to make it, but
the agony of the feeling that his last opportunity had come,
and that his all was hanging on the venture of the morrow.
When he came to the woman, she was reluctant to have any
thing to do with him, fearing lest he was laying a trap for her
destruction ; but on receiving assurances to the contrary, she
asked whom she should bring up to him. He replied, "Bring
me up Samuel ;" and scarcely had his words been uttered,
when the apparition of the prophet so startled her that she
cried with a- loud voice ; and, coming to the conviction that
it was Saul himself who was beside her, she said, "Why
hast thou deceived me ? for thou art Saul." Thereafter he
bade her fear nothing, and asked what precisely she had
seen, for as yet it would appear that nothing had been visi
ble to him. She told him that she saw "gods," or great ones
after the manner of gods, ascending out ofthe earth; and in
response to another question, she informed him that Samuel
had assumed the appearance of an old man covered with a
mantle. As he looked steadfastly at the place indicated by
the woman, the apparition shaped itself to his eye ; and see
ing it was Samuel indeed, he bowed himself to the ground.
" Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up ?" said the
mysterious visitant. " I am sore distressed," was the answer ;
"for the Philistines make war against me, ar.d God is depart-

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 181
ed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets
nor by dreams : therefore I have called thee, that thou may
est make known unto me what I shall do." Oh, the wild wail
of this dark misery ! There is a deep pathos and a weird
awesomeness in this despairing cry ; but there is no confes
sion of sin, no beseeching for mercy ; nothing but the great,
overmastering ambition to preserve himself. The prophet an
swered him as one who was cognizant of all this : " Wherefore
then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee,
and is become thine enemy ? And the Lord hath done to
him, as he spake by me : for the Lord hath rent the kingdom
out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to Da
vid : because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor
executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the
Lord done this thing unto thee this da)'. Moreover, the
Lord will also deliver- Israel with thee into the hand of the
Philistines : and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with
me : the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the
hand of the Philistines." When he heard this dreadful fore
cast of coming calamity, Saul lost that stern self-possession
which he had preserved till then, and fell trembling on the
ground ; but with many entreaties, his servants and the wom
an prevailed upon him to arise and partake of a meal which
had been hastily extemporized for his necessity, and at length,
somewhat refreshed in body, but crushed in spirit, he hasten
ed back to his camp, which he reached before the morning
broke. Concerning this singular chapter in sacred story, two ques
tions have been raised : these, namely — Was there a real ap
pearance of Samuel here ? and what precisely was the agen
cy ofthe woman in the matter? Some have supposed that
the whole scene, including the solemn words put into the
mouth of Samuel, was the effect of secret management by the
woman, aided, perhaps, by ventriloquism, and by one or more

182 David, King of Israel.
confederates. Others, again, have traced the whole thing to
the agency of Satan. But to both of these views there are,
in my opinion, insuperable objections. There is the fair and
obvious purport of the narrative itself, which gives no hint
of any unreality in the case. There is, also, the full and
particular prediction of the events of the coming day, which
we can not conceive that the woman could have given, and
which we dare not trace to the agency of Satan. Then, be
sides these considerations, we must take the weight due to
the fact that in the original there is no word corresponding
to the English "when" (in verse 12 of chapter xxviii.); and
again, that in verse 14, in the clause, "And Saul perceived
that it was Samuel," the Hebrew reads, "And Saul perceived
that it was Samuel himself." Now this, being an assertion
of the narrator, seems to me to settle the matter, and to de
termine that Samuel was actually there. But if this were so,
what had the woman to do with bringing him up ? To this
I answer : Literally nothing. Observe, as soon as Saul said,
"Bring me up Samuel," she saw him, and was dreadfully
alarmed by the spectacle. But why should she have been
thus terrified, if the whole thing had been only of her own
upraising? The truth is, that before she had begun her en
chantments, Samuel appeared and startled her out of her
cool and cunning self-possession. How, then, do we ac
count for his appearance ? I reply, without any hesitation,
that he was brought thither by the miraculous agency of
God himself. But to this it may be objected that it seems
strange that Jehovah should refuse to answer Saul through
the recognized channels, and then take this peculiar manner
of responding to his appeal. And there is some force in
such a statement; but it is to be observed that Saul asked
for direction as to what he should do, and that Samuel gives
no reply to that entreaty, but only utters words of condem
nation. For the rest, the appearance of Samuel, as the re-

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 183
suit of God's own agency, is a fulfillment, or rather, as one
ought, perhaps, to say, an anticipation, of those words spoken
long afterward by the prophet Ezekiel (xiv., 7). " For every
one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth
in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up
his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his
iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet" (that is,
of course, a false prophet) "to inquire of him concerning
me ; I the Lord will answer him by myself." Just as when
Ahaziah sent a messenger to inquire at Baal-zebub, the god
of Ekron, Jehovah commissioned his own Elijah to intercept
the messenger, and give his own response ; so when Saul
went to Endor, God anticipated the pretended necromancy
of the witch, and sent the real Samuel to pronounce words
of doom over the disobedient monarch. Hence the connec
tion of the woman with this vision was merely accidental.
She was in no sense its procuring cause. The whole thing
is to be traced to God. Even as on the wall ofthe banquet-
ing-hall wherein Belshazzar was defying Jehovah, by his sac
rilegious use ofthe vessels ofthe sanctuary, the hand of des
tiny came forth to write his sentence in mystic characters,
which only Daniel could interpret, so now at the cave, to
which Saul had come, to deal with a familiar spirit, thereby
committing, as Trench has said, "the nearest approach to
the sin against the Holy Ghost which was possible for one
under the old covenant,"* Jehovah confronted him, and,
through the mouth of the upraised Samuel, set before him
his terrible guilt and its fearful result. Alas for Saul ! how
changed is he now from that day when Samuel communed
with him concerning the kingdom, or when, in the first noble
assertion of his royal right, he delivered the men of Jabesh-
gilead from their threatened destruction ! Did ever promise
of so fair a life ripen into such bitter fruit ?
* " Shipwrecks of Faith," by Archbishop Trench, p. 45.

1 84 David, King of Israel.
With the returning day, the battle opened between Israel
and the Philistines. Saul was but ill fitted, by the fatigue
and excitement of the night, for the fierce affray, and his
troops were sorely worsted by their enemies. Their posi
tion was badly chosen for the purposes of retreat ; and as
they ascended the slopes of Gilboa they became conspicu
ous marks for the dexterous archers among their pursuers.
Hence a vast multitude were slain, and among these were
the three eldest sons of Saul. The king himself, as the day
advanced, was sorely, probably mortally, wounded ; and fear
ing lest, in his weak condition, he should be abused and tor
tured by the Philistines, he besought his armor-bearer to dis
patch him at once. But with natural affection for his mas
ter, he refused to obey such a command, and Saul fell upon
his own sword ; whereupon his servant followed his example,
and committed suicide. A wandering Amalekite, who had
perhaps been seeking spoil on the battle-field, found the dead
body of the monarch, and taking from it the crown and the
bracelet by which it was distinguished, hastened with them
to Ziklag, and gave them to David. He alleged, besides,
that he had himself slain Saul, thinking thereby to win the
favor of David for doing him such a service. But he little
knew with whom he had to do ; for David's reverence for the
Lord's anointed could not brook the thought that he should
be slain by a wicked Amalekite ; so, holding him guilty on
his own showing, he put him to death.
Then, as the news of the fate of Saul, and especially of
Jonathan, filled his heart, he called his men around him, and,
taking his harp, he sang that noble elegy, which, known to
his own countrymen as the " Song of the Bow," has been ex
tracted from the book of Jasher by the sacred historian, and
embalmed for us in the annals of the chosen people. It is
introduced by these words : "Also he bade them teach the
children of Judah the use of the bow ; behold it is written in

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 185
the book of Jasher." The words " the use of" are in italics,
as not in the original. So we may read, "He bade them
teach the children of Judah the bow ;" that is, the song call
ed " The Bow." Now the appropriateness of this title to
the song will appear when you mark how prominently the
bow is mentioned in one of its strains, and remember that it
was specially designed as a memorial of Jonathan, who was
famous for his excellence in the use of that weapon. Not
only did he belong to the tribe of Benjamin, whose sons
were noted archers, but it was with his bow and sling that
he won his first victory at Michmash ; with his bow he sent
the arrows by the stone Ezel, when David parted from him
after their mutual covenant ; and among the most cherished
possessions of the son of Jesse was that bow which, after
the slaughter of Goliath, Jonathan had given to him as a
token of affection. Hence, from its reference to Jonathan,
as well, perhaps, as from the fact that it was designed to be
sung by the men of Judah when they were practicing the
bow, this lament was called by that name.
The book of Jasher seems to have been a collection of
ancient Jewish songs, or ballads, corresponding, in some de
gree, to the minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the only other
quotation from it in Scripture being the poetical commemo
ration ofthe victory of Joshua in the Valley of Ajalon.
It is not needful, surely, that I should enter into a minute
analysis of this beautiful ode. It can scarcely be called ei
ther a psalm or a hymn. We can hardly even regard it as a
specimen of religious poetry. It is rather what Dean Stan
ley has called " an example of pure poetic inspiration," and
as poetry its language is to be interpreted ; that is to say,
something of poetic license and exaggeration has to be dis
counted from it when we translate it into prose. It was a
testimony of David's life-long attachment to Jonathan, while
at the same time his references to Saul indicate that, in the

186 David, King of Israel.
holy presence of death, David had learned to forget and for
give the wrongs which he had received, and desired to dwell
only on the good and great qualities of his former antago
nist. All after-generations have recognized the lyric grand
eur "of this noble poem. Over the grave of the Cid, near
Burgos, in Spain,* its last stanza is engraved, as the most
fitting memento of a mighty man ; and to this day, when a
great man is carried to his sepulchre, the most appropriate
music for the occasion is found in that exquisite composition
which seeks to express in sound this threnody of David, and
which is known among us as " The Dead March in Saul."
" The wild-roe of Israel, slain upon thy high places :
How are the mighty fallen !
Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon ;
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
Ye mountains of Gilboa, nor dew, nor rain be upon you,
Nor fields of offerings :
For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away,
The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,
The bow of Jonathan turned not back,
And the sword of Saul returned not empty.
Saul and Jonathan ! lovely and pleasant !
¦ In their lives and in their death they were undivided :
Than eagles they were swifter ! thanlions they were stronger !
Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights ;
Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle !
O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan :
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me :
Thy love to me was wonderful, passing that of women.
How are the mighty fallen, and perished the weapons of war !"
* Stanley's "Jewish Church," ii., 37.

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 187
The Philistines, however, had nothing of the generous
magnanimity of David ; for when they found the bodies of
Saul and his sons, they cut off the head of the king, and
stripped off his armor, sending the former to the temple of
Dagon, and the latter to the house of Astaroth. Then they
fixed the headless trunk, along with the bodies of his sons,
to the wall of Bethshan, a town at the head of the Valley of
Jezreel, looking down into the Valley of the Jordan. And
now we have the record of a deed of gratitude which con
nects the closing act of this sad tragedy with the first brill
iant deed of Saul as king in Israel ; for the men of Jabesh-
gilead, remembering how much they had owed, in their peril,
to his promptitude and prowess, arose, and went at night,
and took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of
Bethshan, and burned them there, and took their bones and
buried them under a tree in Jabesh, where they remained,
until many years afterward, when David, then an old man,
took them, and buried them in the country of Benjamin, in
Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish, his father.
So ends the history of Saul. But we may not pass from
it without staying for a moment to point the lesson which it
so impressively teaches. It may be given in the words of
David himself, at a later date, to Solomon, his son : " Serve
God with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind : for the
Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imagi
nations of the thoughts : if thou seek him, he will be found of
thee : but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."
Some may think, indeed, that, in the record of David's histo
ry over which we have passed to-night, we have come upon
blacker spots than any which we have found in the biogra
phy of Saul. And no doubt, as Archbishop Trench has
said, " He was clear of offenses which make some pages of
David's history nothing better than one huge blot."* But then
* " Shipwrecks of Faith," p. 48.

1 88 David, King of Israel.
David knew that he had sinned, and turned from his iniquity
in penitent confession unto God. Now we look in vain for
any thing like this in Saul. If on any occasion he seems to
use the words of regret, they are merely superficial, and come
not from the depths of his soul. He cared more for being
honored before the people, than for being accepted by the
Lord ; and even in this last climax of his misery, his con
cern is not that God may forgive him, but merely that he
may vanquish his enemies in battle. In view of all this, we
are almost tempted to exclaim, with the eminent prelate from
whom I have already quoted, " How much better it would
have been to have sinned like David, if only he had repented
like David ; if a temper resembling at all the temper which
dictated the 51st Psalm had found place in him. But all
this was far from him. Darkness is closing round him ; an
guish has taken hold of him ; but the broken and the con
trite heart, there is no remotest sign of this ; no reaching out
after the blood of sprinkling. We listen, but no voice is
heard like his who exclaimed, ' Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ;'
but dark, defiant, and unbelieving, he who had inspired such
high hopes goes forward to meet his doom."* Surely, from
such a history as that we may well rise with the prayer upon
our lips : " Oh for the broken and the contrite heart, which
God will not despise." David's sins sent him weeping to
the mercy-seat. Saul's sins sent him defiant and unbending
to the cave of Endor : there is the root of the difference be
tween the two.
Again : in the history of Saul we see how, with such a
disposition, a man's character will go on deteriorating, until
there is little or no good left in it. There was much of no
bleness about him when we met him first ; but now, alas ! as
* " Shipwrecks of Faith," pp. 48, 49.

Ziklag, Endor, and Gilboa. 189
we see him at Endor, he is the moral wreck of his former self.
The enamel of his conscience having once been broken, that
noble faculty crumbled gradually away, until at length he com
mitted a. sin at thought of which at first he would have -shud
dered, and which at one time he punished in others with jeal
ous severity. You can see a contrary process to all this in such
a man as Jacob, who, though repulsive to every reader in his
early history, grows upon us latterly, until we come to rank him
among Faith's noblest worthies. Now how shall we explain
the difference between the two ? We explain it by the dif
ference in the relation of each to God. The one gave back
to God all that he had received from him, and, as the result,
got it back again himself, exalted and ennobled by the con
secration ; but the other carried every thing away from God,
and endeavored to assert his independence of the Almighty.
" They that wait upon the Lord renew their youth ;" but they
that depart from him become "weary in the greatness of
their way," and lose all the elements of noblest manhood.
Young men, if you would conserve your purity, your intellect
ual vigor, and your moral excellence, consecrate them all to
God, and keep them all for him. Thus shall you escape the
deterioration which else must overtake you, and your path
shall be like that ofthe just, which "shineth more and more,
unto the perfect day."
Finally : let us learn from the history of Saul that this life
is a probation. God put this man into a kingdom, with
splendid opportunities and ample resources ; but he did not
rise to his responsibility, and these were taken from him.
But have we received nothing from the hand of God ? To
whom do we owe our lives, our Gospel privileges, and our
means of serving our generation ? Have we improved these ?
Are we improving them ? If not, then let us learn the lesson
of this sad life, lest at length the Lord should say over us, as
he did over Jerusalem : " If thou hadst known, even thou, at

190 David, King of Israel.
least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace !
but now they are hid from thine eyes ;" " behold now thine
house is left unto thee desolate." Again and again the tide
of opportunity may rise, and one may float upon it almost
into safety, even as Saul was repeatedly found " among the
prophets ;" but if such times of visitation are continually
slighted by us, we may not count upon their recurrence, for
there shall come a day when they shall end forever. Listen,
I beseech you, to this word of warning, which comes to us
from the mountains of Gilboa, " He that being often reproved
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be cut off, and that with
out remedy."

XI.
HEBRON AND JERUSALEM.
2 Samuel ii.-v., 10 ; i Chronicles xi.-xii.
THE defeat of the Israelites on Mount Gilboa utterly
disconcerted them, and left the Philistines masters of
the situation, so that neither the representatives of the house
of Saul, nor David and his band, could do very much for the
furtherance of the ends which they severally had in view.
What they could do, however, they did promptly. Abner,
Saul's cousin, and the captain of his host, fleeing from the
field of battle, took with him Ishbosheth, Saul's fourth son,
and, crossing the Jordan, settled for the time at Mahanaim,
where he proclaimed Ishbosheth king. David, having asked
counsel of the Lord, went, by direction of the oracle, to He
bron, where the men of his own tribe rallied to his standard,
and anointed him king over themselves. Here we are told
that he reigned seven years and six months ; but as in the
verse immediately following that which gives us this infor
mation it is stated that Ishbosheth reigned over Israel two
years, there is an appearance of discrepancy between the two
declarations ; since, if Ishbosheth was anointed at Mahana
im at the time when David set up his court at Hebron, their
reigns would be of equal duration. The best solution ofthe
difficulty which I have seen is that given by Mr. Wright,*
who says, " Immediately after Saul's death, Abner, we sup
pose, made Ishbosheth king at Mahanaim over Gilead, that
is, over those Israelites east of the Jordan who had not sub-
* " David, King of Israel," by Josiah Wright, M.A., pp. 247, 248.

192 . David, King of Israel.
mitted to the Philistines. But it was Abner's aim to drive
the invaders utterly out of the land, and to build up again
from its ruins the kingdom of Saul. This, however, could
not be done at once. The Philistines could only gradually
be dislodged, and the enumeration of districts which we have
in the ninth verse (2 Sam. ii.) seems to tally with the natu
ral order of the conquests by which Abner's aim was accom
plished. First, he drove the Philistines out ofthe coasts of
Asshur ; secondly, out of the Valley of Jezreel ; then from
the mountains of Ephraim ; lastly, from the hill fortresses of
Benjamin. And having now touched the frontiers of Judah,
he caused Ishbosheth to be proclaimed anew over the whole
of recovered Israel ;, for so early do we find all that was not
Judah distinguished by this name." Allowing, then, five and
a half years for Afruier's reconquest of the land, we have two
years left for the.' long war between the house of Saul and
the house of David, which ended in the dominion of the
latter. The city in which, by divine direction, David established
himself, was not only one of the most ancient in existence,
but also one which was encircled with associations which to
an Israelite must have been peculiarly sacred. There Abra
ham, the father of the faithful, sojourned for a considerable
portion of his life in Canaan ; in the immediate neighbor
hood was the oak of Mamre, beneath which the patriarch
had so often offered sacrifice to Jehovah ; and hard by was
the cave of Machpelah, in which he buried the remains of
Sarah, and in which his own ashes, and those of Isaac and
Jacob, were afterward deposited. Hence, of all the cities of
Palestine at that date, it must have had the richest attrac
tions to the chosen people ; and even' yet, in its modern
name, El-Khulil — the Friend — we can see a reference to him
who was styled, by way of eminence, the Friend of God. In
the clays of Joshua the surrounding territory was given to

Hebron and Jerusalem. 193
Caleb, and it was made a city of refuge, and a city of the
Levites. It was, besides, one of the places to which David
sent a portion of the spoils which he had taken from the
Amalekites. Hence, both from ¦ its holy associations, its
central situation, and the probable favor of its inhabitants
toward him, it was a most appropriate place for David's
capital. Here over the little kingdom of Judah he served, so to say,
an apprenticeship to monarchy ; and from this, in due sea
son, he graduated with honor, as one fitted and entitled to
sit upon the throne of Israel in Jerusalem.
It was most probably in connection with his anointing at
Hebron that David composed what I may call the Inaugu
ration Psalm, known among us as the 101st. " It is,"* says
Dean Stanley, " full of a stern exclusiveness, of a noble in
tolerance ; but not against theological error, not against un-
courtly manners, not against political insubordination, but
against the proud heart, the high look, the secret slanderer,
the deceitful worker, the teller of lies. These are the out
laws from King David's court; these alone are the rebels
and heretics that he would not suffer to dwell in his house or
tarry in his sight."
The great national celebration which has just been held at
Washington! gives this Psalm a peculiar present interest for
us ; while, alas ! the disclosures ofthe past months make man
ifest that the resolutions which it expresses are as much re
quired to-day in the case ofthe chief magistrate of this great
republic, as they were in the times at which they were first
formed by David. Let us read it with our own legislators,
governors, and president in mind ; and let us, while we read
it, lift up our hearts in prayer for them, that they may all be
disposed and strengthened to act according to its principles.
* "Jewish Church," vol. ii., p. 89.
t The inauguration of General Grant to his second term of office, 1873.
Q

194 David, King of Israel.
"I will sing of mercy and judgment : unto thee, 0 Lord, will
I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O
when wilt thou come unto me ? I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine
eyes : I hate the work of them that turn aside ; it shall not
cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me : I will
not know a wicked person. Whoso privily slandereth his
neighbor, him will I cut off : him that hath a high look and
a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon
the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me : he
that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that
worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house : he that tell-
eth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all
the wicked of the land ; that I may cut off all wicked doers
from the city of the Lord."
David's first public act after his anointing was one in ,
which we see both chivalry and policy united. He sent a
message of thanks to the men of Jabesh-gilead for their no
ble conduct in rescuing the bodies of Saul and his sons from
dishonor ; and while invoking the blessing of God upon
them, he delicately intimated to them that his brethren of
Judah had made him their king. No doubt his regard for
the memory of Jonathan had something to do with the send
ing of this message ; yet I suppose that this noble motive
was slightly alloyed by the anticipation that those who re
ceived it would be forward to tender to him their allegiance.
But if that hope entered at all into his calculations, it was
doomed to disappointment, for the men of Jabesh made no
response. Perhaps they remembered to David's disadvan
tage his recent sojourn among the Philistines, and were sus
picious of one who had, in their view, so compromised him
self with their enemies ; or perhaps the influence of Ishbo
sheth and Abner, who were in their immediate neighbor
hood, added to their own feeling of attachment to the house

Hebron and Jerusalem. 195
of Saul for what he had clone for them, kept them from giv
ing any heed to the overtures of David ; in any case, noth
ing came out of this politic "bid" of David's for their support.
So, for at least five and a half years, if we have been right
in our interpretation of the tenth and eleventh verses of the
second chapter of 2 Samuel, David lived in the city of He
bron in peace. During this period, thinking probably, like
other Eastern chiefs, that his greatness as a ruler would be
estimated by the number of his wives, he added four to those
whom he had already wedded. Among these was Maachah,
the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, one of the tribes
on whom he had inflicted such cruelty while he sojourned
at Ziklag. This alliance, besides being a case of polygamy,
which is always prolific in unhappiness, was a flagrant vio
lation of the divine command, which forbade the Israelites
to intermarry with the people of the land ; and let it be no
ted here, that from this concubinage came Absalom, whose
after - history so wrung the heart of David, and made him
feel " how sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a
thankless child." God's law, whether physical or spiritual,
whether positive or moral, can not be contravened with im
punity. A man's sin will, sooner or later, find him out ; and
he may rest assured that, in some way or other, God will
bring it to his remembrance.
But David's peace at Hebron was not to remain unbroken ;
for, after conquering those whom we have already named,
Abners in whose hands Ishbosheth seems to have been little
else than a weak tool, advanced to attack David. The rival
armies confronted each other at Gibeon. They attempted to
settle their differences, at first, by a kind of duel between two
companies of twelve men ; but when these had slain each
other, a fierce battle ensued, in which Abner and his host
were defeated and put to flight. The army of David was
commanded by his nephew Joab, who here for the first time

196 David, King of Israel.
appears in the history, and who was supported by his broth
ers Abishai and Asahel. The last-mentioned of these war
like brothers was distinguished by his fleetness of foot, and
in the pursuit ofthe retreating enemy he pressed sore upon
Abner, evidently bent on securing his destruction. But con
scious of his own strength, and perhaps also knowing some
thing of the implacable disposition of Joab, Abner desired to
spare his pursuer, and urged him to return. When, however,
this advice was disregarded, he put Asahel to death ; and
the sight of his body, as he lay covered with blood, robbed
victory of its glory in the eyes of David's soldiers, and filled
the heart of Joab with a terrible purpose of revenge, which
he carried out in the most deceitful manner at a later clay.
The war thus begun between the house of David and the
house of Saul lasted a long time ; but when it was seen that
the former was continually gaining the advantage, the people
of the land, weary of the strife, and longing for the blessings
of peace, began to incline to the side of the stronger, and
spoke of putting David on the throne. Seeing this, Abner,
with the instinct of a cunning, selfish, and unprincipled man,
prepared to save himself by going over to the ranks of Da
vid, and taking the kingdom of Ishbosheth with. him. A
pretext was soon found for carrying out his design ; for when
Ishbosheth faulted him for claiming one of his father's con
cubines, which in Eastern etiquette was the next thing to
claiming the throne itself, he became indignant, and swore
this angry oath : " So do God to Abner, and more also, ex
cept, as the Lord hath sworn to David, even so I do to him ;
to translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to
set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from
Dan even to Beersheba." What a depth of wickedness does
this reveal ! He knew all the while that he was fighting not
against David only, but against God. Why, then, did he
fight against him so long ? Because he judged it best for his

Hebron and Jerusalem. 197
own interests so to do. And why does he propose to join
David now ? Because his pride has been wounded, and he
thinks he can make good terms with David for his future
eminence. Thus he had no regard to God all through. He
thought only for himself, and his introduction of Jehovah's
name into his asseveration is the most sickening profanity.
When he opened up negotiations with David for the trans
fer of the kingdom, the son of Jesse did not^Show himself
overeager to respond. He, too, had his dignity to consult,
and he declared that he could not enter into a league with
him until he had sent unto him Michal, the daughter of Saul,
whom he had first wedded. A man who had already six
wives had no great need for a seventh, and we do not sup
pose that there was much affection for Michal remaining in
David's heart. Still, she had been wrongfully taken from
him, and the giving of her to another was a grievous and de
liberate insult offered to him by Saul, for which it was natu
ral that he should now desire some sort of apology. More
over, the making of such a request to Abner would be an ad
mirable test of his sincerity ; and so, when it was at once
complied with, he declared his readiness to enter into nego
tiations with him. Thereupon, after communicating with the
elders of Israel and with his kinsmen ofthe tribe of Benja
min, Abner went to Hebron, accompanied by twenty men ;
and in the absence of Joab and Abishai, he was hospitably
entertained by David, and dismissed with many tokens of
good-will. When Joab returned, and discovered how Abner had been
treated, he became furious ; and after bitterly inveighing
against the simplicity of David for allowing himself to be
duped by so cunning a diplomatist as Abner, he sent after
him, decoyed him back by a false message, and deceitfully
slew him, under the pretense of desiring to have a private
conference with him.

198 David, King of Israel.
This cold-blooded deed must be branded with the deep
est condemnation ; Joab violated what was equivalent to a
flag of truce ; and though some may remind us of the old
law of blood-revenge, and affirm that, under the Mosaic in
stitute, Joab, as the next of kin to Asahel, had a perfect right
to do as he did, there are two things which go to bar this
plea ; for Asahel was slain in battle, and Hebron was a city
of refuge, in which Abner's life ought to have been respected,
until at least he had been tried by the elders. Hence this
act of Joab was not only cruelly treacherous, but also a fla
grant violation of the law of God. David was greatly af
flicted by it, and took every means, short of putting Joab to
death, to show that he had no hand whatever in its insti
gation. He proclaimed a public mourning for Abner, and
went himself to the funeral, making lamentation over him
with a song, which has been here preserved, and mourning
yet more deeply for what he calls his own helplessness, for
thus he speaks : " I am this day weak, though anointed king;
and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me : the
Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wicked
ness." But David was weak, not so much because Joab was strong,
as because he himself shrank from doing what he knew to be
right in the case. Had he put Joab to death, public opinion
would have sustained him in the execution of justice; and
even if it had not, he would have had the inward witness
that he was doing his duty to the state. For a magistrate
to be weak, is to be wicked. He is. set to administer and
execute the law without fear or favor ; and whensoever he
swerves from justice from either cause, he is a traitor at once
to God and to the commonwealth. " Weak !" this is not to
speak like a man, not to say a king. Oh, what suffering —
may I not even say what sin ? — David might have saved him
self from, if he had only thus early rid himself of the tyran-

Hebron and Jerusalem. 199
nic and overbearing presence of Joab! I wonder if in after-
days, when his soul was vexed and chafed by the conduct
of his unscrupulous nephew, David ever thought of his sinful
weakness in this moment of emergency. He spared the ser
pent, only to be himself stung by it at last.
Abner's death took away the solitary pillar on which the
kingdom of Ishbosheth rested; and two of his servants,
thinking thereby to serve themselves, slew him, and took the
news to David, who did with them as before he had done
with the Amalekite who professed to have slain Saul. And
now, every obstacle to his full royalty having been removed,
he was waited upon by the elders of Israel, who requested
him to become their king.
The circumstances connected with his coronation are too
remarkable to be passed lightly by. ' The assembly was
not one of the elders of Israel alone, though they appear to
have been the spokesmen on the occasion, but it was virtu
ally an aggregate gathering of the nation. The particular
numbers present from each tribe are given in the book of
Chronicles (1 Chron. xii., 23-40), from which we learn that
Judah, Simeon, Levi, Benjamin, and in, fact all the tribes,
were present in force, with the single exception of Issachar,
which sent only two hundred men ; but they made up in in
fluence for their smallness in number; for they are described
as "men that had understanding of the times, to know what
Israel ought to do." The entire number present was two
hundred and eighty thousand ; and it is most important that
we should observe the ground on which they rest their choice
of David, the ceremony that was observed in connection with
his coronation, and the rejoicings that were made over it.
" Behold," they say, " we are thy bone and thy flesh." He
was no alien who had come across some narrow ocean chan
nel, or some lofty mountain chain, to conquer them for him
self; "Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou

200 David, King of Israel.
wast. he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel." They
had not forgotten the day when he overthrew the giant in
the Valley of Elah ; nor had they lost sight of the fact that
the only really brilliant portion of Saul's reign was that in
which David was by his side. They added, " and the Lord
said to thee, ' thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt
be captain over Israel.' " But why should they thus refer to
God's choice of David ? I answer, for two reasons. First :
because, although they had known all along that David had
been fore-appointed to the throne, they had yet been strug
gling against that arrangement; and so, it was fitting now
that they should express their repentance, and declare their
readiness to receive him in God's name, and as from God's
hand. Second : because they wished to remind him and them
selves that the real' king of their nation was Jehovah, and
that he and they alike were under allegiance to him. This
reference to the will of the Lord, too, will enable us to un
derstand what is meant when it is said that " King David
made a league with them in Hebron, before the Lord." He
pledged himself, both to the people and to God, to rule in
accordance with the principles which had already been laid
down by Jehovah for the administration ofthe national affairs.
It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that the Jewish mon
archy was an absolute and unconstitutional one. On the
contrary, there were in it the highest securities — on the one
hand, for the liberties ofthe people ; and on the other, for the
prerogative of the king. They chose him, it is true, but they
also pledged themselves to obey him so long as he ruled in
accordance with the divine law. He was their ruler, but his
authority was recognized only in so far as it was confirmed
and regulated by the divine statute-book. Thus both he and
they recognized God as the real sovereign ofthe nation ; and
so long, at least, as David sat on the throne, the theocracy
was a reality, and not a mere name. In this, indeed, as we

Hebron and Jerusalem. 201
have more than once observed, we have one great funda
mental difference between the administration of Saul and
that of David. Saul accepted the monarchy, designing to
make it as absolute and autocratic as that of other kings ;
but David counted himself only an under-shepherd, and de
sired to regulate his conduct as a ruler by the commands "of
God. The perception of this feature in his character gave
the people great confidence in him, and formed, we may be
sure, one reason for their joy on this memorable occasion ;
for, as soon as the anointing was over, they began a feast
which lasted for three clays, and which is thus described by
the sacred historian : " There they were with David three
days, eating and drinking : for their brethren had prepared
for them. Moreover, they that were nigh them, even unto
Issachar and Zebulon and Naphtali, brought bread on asses,
and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal,
cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and
oxen, and sheep abundantly : for there was joy in Israel."*
Nor are we to suppose that this joy was only a social
thing. It had a religious element in it also ; and it was
probably on this occasion, when Levites and priests, together
with the princes of the tribes, and the men of war from every
quarter were assembled once more under one ruler in whom
they all had confidence, that the Psalmist composed and
sang that song of degrees which is so familiar to us all: "Be
hold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity ! It is like the precious ointment upon the
head, that ran clown upon the beard, even Aaron's beard :
that went down to the skirts of his garments ; as the dew of
Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion : for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even
life for evermore."t
* I Chron. xii., 39, 40. t Psa. cxxxiii.

202 David, King of Israel.
Thus, in the thirty-eighth year of his age, while he was yet
in the prime and vigor of his manhood, and with all the ex
perience which the trials of his early years had given him,
David was seated upon the throne of the united kingdom of
Israel, amidst the rejoicings of the people, and with every
token of the favor of his God.
His first care as a monarch was to obtain a suitable capi
tal ; and whether he was directed by the special guidance
of the Holy Spirit, or whether he was left solely to his own
judgment regarding it, we can not but admire the wisdom of
the arrangement which he made, especially when we contrast
it with the short-sighted policy of Saul in reference to the same
matter. The son of Kish set up his court in his native town
of Gibeah, a place of no intrinsic importance, and bearing re
proach among the people as having been the scene of one of
the foulest outrages ever committed in the land. Moreover,
it was within the territory of his own tribe of Benjamin, and
his. preference for it was apt to provoke the jealousy ofthe
others. David, however, proceeded upon other and more
statesman-like principles. He would not continue in He
bron. No doubt that city was equally sacred to all the peo
ple, from its connection with their common father Abraham,
but it had been recognized as the special capital of Judah;
and if David had remained in it, some overzealous parti
san of Judah might have said that the other tribes had been
merely annexed to or absorbed in the little kingdom which
for seven years and a half had its seat of government there.
Hence, just as in our own times, Victor Emanuel, when he
was called to the throne of a united Italy, removed his capi
tal first from Turin to Florence, and afterward from Florence
to Rome, feeling that it was due to the other portions of his
people that he should be no longer a mere Sardinian or Tus
can prince, so David wisely considered that a regard to the
feelings of the other tribes demanded that some other city
than Hebron should be chosen as the metropolis.

Hebron and Jerusalem. 203
But in determining what place should be selected, many
difficulties would present themselves. Bethlehem, though
dearer to him than all other cities, could not be thought of;
and if he had gone into the territory of any other tribe than
his own, he might have been liable to the imputation of par
tiality, and might have provoked jealousy throughout eleven-
twelfths of his dominions. In these circumstances, the easi
est solution of the difficulty would be to get hold of some
place of requisite strength and importance not presently
identified with any of the tribes, and in the acquirement of
which all of them might have a share. Such a place was the
fortress of Zion, held by the tribe ofthe Jebusites, whom, up to
this time, no army had been able to dislodge. Visible as it
was from the heights of his native Bethlehem, it must have
been perfectly familiar to him, and perhaps the conquest
of it had been one of the fondest aspirations of his youth.
It was situated at the extreme verge of the territory of Ju
dah, where it abutted on that of Benjamin, and belonged,
properly speaking, to neither. As we learn from incidental
notices in the books of Joshua and Judges, both of these
tribes had attempted its conquest without success. The
men of Judah, baffled in their effort, had retired to Hebron ;
and the men of Benjamin, with all their prowess, were able
to take only the lower city, and, leaving the Jebusites undis
turbed in their fortress, were compelled to settle down side
by side with a people whom they had only partially over
come. Here, therefore, was a place eligible in every respect to
be his capital ; so, taking advantage of the enthusiasm which
his coronation had evoked, David led his army to Jerusa
lem. But the Jebusites, strong in the confidence which they
felt in the natural impregnability of their position, laughed
him to scorn, saying to him, " Except thou take away the
blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither." Dif-

204 David, King of Israel.
ferent explanations have been given of these words. Kitto
and some others understand "the blind and the lame" to
mean idols of brass which the Jebusites brought forth and
put upon the walls, and explain the taking away of the blind
and lame, hated of David's soul, as the destruction of these
idols. This, however, seems to me to be a cumbrous and
improbable interpretation, and I much prefer that which is
given by Keil, who translates the words thus: "Thou wilt
not come in, but the blind and the lame will drive thee
away." The Jebusites so thoroughly relied on the strength
of their citadel, surrounded as it was on three sides by deep
ravines, that they mockingly said the blind .and the lame
would be a sufficient garrison to repel David's assaults.
But, roused by their scorn, he gave forth his order in
words which, though susceptible of different translations,
may be rendered thus : " Every one who smites the Jebu
sites, let him hurl over the precipice both the lame and the
blind, who are hateful to David's soul;" that is to say, let
there be no quarter. Furthermore, in order to stimulate his
men to the uttermost, he offered the post of commander-in-
chief to the captain who should first lead his troops into the
citadel. The prize was won by Joab, somewhat, we may sup
pose, to David's mortification ; for it is not unlikely that he
had hoped, by the means which he had taken, to promote
some less unscrupulous man to that honorable position, with
out seeming to insult his nephew.
Out of this siege there arose this proverb, " The blind and
the lame shall not come into, the house." This expression
is generally taken to mean that these classes were excluded
from the Temple, but for that assertion we have no proof,
and it is hard to see what this proverb could have to do
with the Temple, which was not at that time in existence.
The true explanation seems to be, " The blind and the lame
are there — let him enter the place if he can :" a proverb

Hebron and Jerusalem. 205
which came to be current in regard to any fortress that was
reputed to be impregnable.
Thus David took the stronghold of Zion, and began forth
with to lay the foundations of that city, whose history ever
since, so thrilling in its incidents, and so checkered in its vi
cissitudes, is full of deepest interest to every thoughtful and
intelligent soul. Beautiful for situation, it was to become
the joy of the whole land as the site of the Temple which
"Jehovah had chosen to place his name there." Surround
ed by bulwarks, crowned with towers, it might have seemed
secure from all attack ; yet Babylonians, Asmoneans, Ro
mans, Saracens, Crusaders, Turks, all have in turn besieged
it. Still, these dreadful sieges give it not its chief renown.
As we pronounce its name, we almost forget all other things
connected with it, while we remember that He walked its
streets who came to earth for us men and for our salvation ;
that in the immediate neighborhood of its walls he endured
the terrible agony of Gethsemane ; and that within sight of its
gates he poured out his soul unto death, when he made his
soul an offering for sin. To this city the heart of the Jew
in every land yet fondly turns : and its name, recalling to
the Christian the memory of his Lord, is at the same time
associated with his hope of heaven — that grand mother-city
of the children of God — the New Jerusalem.
But I must not dwell on such alluring themes. Only as
we stand here and see how first the fortress of Zion was
taken by the prowess of David's troops, we may have some
idea of the statesmanship of the man who out of all other
sites chose this, so formidable in its strength, so stately in
its situation, arid so beautiful in its surroundings, for the cap
ital of his realm. The instinct of the warrior, the sagacity
of the ruler, and the genius of the poet, are all apparent in
his selection of this compact yet strong and queenly site for
the metropolis of the land.

206 David, King of Israel.
And now, gathering up the lessons of this evening's lecture,
let us note how, when God has some great work for a man
to do, he prepares him for it, by the discipline of his provi
dence. Not all at once did David pass from the shepherd
life of Bethlehem to the throne of Jerusalem. There was a
long, and weary, and trying road to be traversed by him af
ter his anointing by Samuel, before he reached the lofty ele
vation for which he was designated and consecrated by the
prophet's oil. He was not cradled in luxury, nor dandled
in affluence, but his character was hardened by trial, and his
judgment was matured by frequently recurring emergency.
From the very first, indeed, he was "prudent in matters,"
but such a history as his could not but stimulate and sharp
en his natural abilities. His military genius, which was des
tined yet to show itself on many a glorious field as he ex
tended his dominion " from sea to sea, and from the river to
the ends of the land," had been quickened and developed by
his experiences in the long war with the house of Saul ; and
his knowledge of human nature, an acquirement so needful
for one who was to be a ruler of men, had been increased by
his dealing with his followers in the hold, and with his ene
mies in diplomacy ; while, best of all, his confidence in God
had been strengthened by his manifold trials, in and through
which he had been sustained by the divine grace, and out of
which he had been delivered by the divine hand.
All these things, though perhaps he knew not of it at the
time, were disciplining him for the work which he was after
ward to accomplish, while his lesser reign at Hebron gave
him an opportunity for forming within him those lofty pur
poses which he sought in later days to carry out. His early
difficulties stimulated his inventiveness and strengthened
his resolutions. And his after-reign was only the more glo
rious because of the hardness which, in his younger days, he
had to endure.

Hebron and Jerusalem. 207
But it is not different yet. Success is not usually a sud
den thing, or, if it be so, it is not a wholesome thing. Gen
erally speaking, it is a matter of time, and trial, and dili
gence, and study. The heat of the conservatory, which
brings the flower rapidly to maturity, does also nurse it into
weakness, so that its beauty is only short-lived; but the
plant that grows in the open air is strengthened while it
grows, and is able to withstand even the biting winter's cold.
Resistance is necessary to the development of power ; and
the greatest misfortune that can befall a youth is to have no
difficulties whatever with which to contend. It is by over
mastering obstacles that a man's character is mainly made.
Hence, let no one be discouraged who is called in early life
to struggle with adversity. He is thereby only making him
self for his future life-work. I am confident that there is no
one here who has arrived at middle age, who does not now
recognize that, though he knew not of it at the time, he was,
under Providence, preparing himself by his early wrestlings
with difficulty, and, most of all, when the difficulty was the
greatest, for the particular position which he is now occupy
ing. Not in a day, nor in a year, nor in many years, do we
reach the throne of our individual power, the sphere of our
personal and peculiar labor. We graduate up to it through
trial, and each new difficulty surmounted is not only a new
step in the ladder upward, but also a new qualification for
the work that is before us. Courage, then, my young broth
er ; though every thing may seem to be against you, hold
on ; for if you be only sure that God is for you (and he will
be for you if you will be for him), you will at length attain to
the throne for which he has designed you, and the crown for
which he has anointed you. His plan of your life will not
fail, and when you see it all you will recognize its wisdom.
Nor does this principle hold merely of the early part of
our earthly life as related to the later. It will be illustrated

208 David, King of Israel.
also in our earthly life as connected with a heavenly. If we
be Christ's, it is no doubt true that he is preparing a place
for each of us ; but it is just as true that, through the disci
pline of our daily difficulties, he is preparing each of us for
his own particular place, and the characters which we are
forming here will find their appropriate employment and de
velopment in the work which in heaven will be assigned to
us. This at once explains our frequent trials, and gives us
strength to undergo them ; and just as through his wander
ings and warfares, his Adullam experiences and his Hebron
monarchy, David was fitted for his Jerusalem reign; so, by our
cares and losses, our disappointments and our sorrows, our
hopes deferred and our labors abundant, we shall each be
fitted for his own peculiar post in the New Jerusalem above.
Thus, by the leverage of this principle we lift our earthly
lives up to the very level of heaven itself; and every expe
rience through which we are passing now, becomes a prep
aration for our eternal royalty at Christ's right hand.
But let us note, finally, the similarity, and yet the dissim
ilarity, of the kingdom of David to that of Christ. It was in
connection with David's position that the Messiah was first
spoken of in prophecy as a king. David's power, small in
its beginnings, waxed greater and greater, until it became
supreme, and united all the tribes under its benignant pro
tection. So it has been with that of Christ. The outlaw in
the cave of Adullam was not so contemptible in the eyes
of his fellow-countryman as He was who was " despised and
rejected of men ;" and the followers of David, consisting as
they did of those who were in debt, and those who were dis
contented, and those who were in distress, were not so un
likely to overcome their enemies, and lead their master to
his throne, as the fishermen of Galilee were to gain the
world's ear, and advance the cause of their ascended Lord.
Yet, as the house of David waxed stronger and stronger,

Hebron and Jerusalem. 209
while the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker, so the
kingdom of Christ has still gone on advancing, in the face
of every resistance, while that of Satan has continually re
ceded before it. We may not think so as we compare the
condition of both from day to day. Yet if we will but widen
our investigation, and compare century with century, we shall
see all along these nineteen cycles a clear and steady prog
ress, indicating final triumph.
In one thing, however, the parallel fails. David's advance
was made with the sword, that of the kingdom of Christ is
made with the power of love and truth. He is the Prince
of Peace, and his victories are gained over the errors, the
prejudices, the selfishness, and the sins of men. Bloodless
in their character, they are beneficent in their results ; and
as he advances to his final conquest, his course will be mark
ed with blessings, and his progress will be attended with re
joicing. Not yet, indeed, do we behold the nations of the
world united in the acknowledgment of his allegiance, and
ready for his coronation. But the day is coming when he
shall reign in every heart, and over every land — a day that
shall bring greater joy to the world than Hebron saw when,
the miseries of intestine war having been removed, David
was anointed over Israel. " Thy kingdom come," O Christ !
" Come forth out of thy royal chamber, thou prince of all the
kings of the earth." Draw the hearts of men everywhere to
thyself by the attraction of thy love. Come, and bring with
thee the Sabbath of the world. Come, and let thy corona
tion-day be ushered in with the song of myriad voices — ¦
"Bring forth the royal diadem
And crown him Lord of all."

XII.
THE BRINGING UP OF THE ARK.
2 Samuel v., n-vi., 23 ; 1 Chronicles xiii., i-xvi., 23.
AFTER David had established himself in Jerusalem, two
things were needed to make it the capital of the na
tion. These were, that it should possess a palace for him
self; and that it should be the abode of the ark of the cove
nant, over which hovered continually the visible symbol of
Jehovah's presence. As I have repeatedly remarked, the
distinguishing peculiarity of David as a king was that he rec
ognized in the most loyal manner the higher royalty of God,
and regarded himself as a mere human vice-regent. Had
he been content to build only an official residence for him
self, Jerusalem would have been no more than the city of
David; but in a theocracy it was necessary also that the
metropolis should be the city of God ; and so, in that spirit
of patriotic piety for which he was so remarkable. David set
himself at once as earnestly to prepare a place for the re
ception of the ark, as to erect a habitation for himself. En
tering into a league with Hiram, king of Tyre, he caused to
be built for himself a splendid cedar palace, with the ques
tionable addition of a harem. Yet amidst all this magnifi
cence he did not forget to acknowledge the goodness of Him
from whom all his greatness came, for it was most probably
in connection with his taking possession of his palace that
he wrote and sang the 30th Psalm, which bears the follow
ing title: "A Psalm and Song at the dedication ofthe house
of David." If in minor things a man's true self comes most
clearly out, then in this domestic ode we may see something

The Bringing up of the Ark. 211
of what David was -at home, and may learn how in every thing)
he acknowledged God. After having gone over his new
abode, accompanied, as we may suppose, by all the members
of his household, he gathered them together in some conven
ient chamber, or in the open court round which his palace
was built, and sang with them this Psalm, in which we know
not whether to admire more the pathetic allusions to the
sufferings of the past, or the holy resolutions in regard to
the conduct of the future : " I will extol thee, O Lord ; for
thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice
over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast
healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the
grave : thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down
to the pit. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give
thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger
endureth but a moment ; in his favor is life : weeping may
endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And in
my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy
favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong : thou
didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. I cried to thee, O
Lord ; and unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit
is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit ? Shall the
dust praise thee ? shall it declare thy truth ? Hear, O Lord,
and have mercy upon me : Lord, be thou my helper. Thou
hast turned for me my mourning into dancing : thou hast put
off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness ; to the end
that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O
Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever."
If we contrast the spirit which breathes through these
lines with that which animated Nebuchadnezzar, when he
said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the
house of the kingdom, by the might of my power and for the
honor of my majesty ?" we shall see more clearly into the
piety of David's heart, while at the same time we may all

212 David, King of Israel.
learn how our joy and prosperity may be consecrated and
turned into a means of honoring Jehovah. Elegant man
sions, costly furniture, art treasures, and extensive posses
sions will do no harm to those who, as they survey them all,
can turn to God, and say, " Thou hast girded us with glad
ness, to the end that our glory may sing praise to thee and
not be silent. O Lord our God, we will give thanks unto
thee forever." But if these earthly glories turn our heads,
and puff us up with stupid self-conceit, or lead us to boast of
ourselves and to despise others, then we have built our house
upon the edge of a volcano, whose first eruption may send us
to a degradation deeper than that of him who wandered forth
among the oxen, and ate the grass of the fields.
Before David could turn his attention to the removal of
the ark, however, he had to encounter and overcome the
Philistines. That warlike people could not regard his es
tablishment on the throne of Israel and his occupation of
Jerusalem with indifference. So long as he held his court
at Hebron, he was too insignificant to be attacked by them ;
but now that he had humiliated the Jebusites, and settled
himself in their reputedly impregnable fortress, they felt it
needful, for the maintenance of their national supremacy, to
take the field against him, with all the forces at their com
mand. Their chosen battle-field on this occasion was the
Valley of Rephaim, or "the giants," a broad and fertile plain
about a mile in length, which was the southern entrance into
Jerusalem, and which extended northward, terminating in a
narrow ridge of rocks, which breaks abruptly into the ravine
of Hinnom. After inquiring at the sacred oracle what he
should do, David led his troops into " the hold ;" that is, ei
ther into the region of his sojourning during his war with
Saul, or into some other place of great natural strength, from
which he could repel the invaders. Here he had a signal
victory over the enemy, whom he drove before him as with

The Bringing up of the Ark. 213
the irresistible might of an overflowing flood. But he took
no credit to himself for his success, for, in a spirit of grati
tude and humility, he commemorated the victory by calling
the name of the place Baal-perazim ; saying also, " God hath
broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the break
ing forth of waters." In this engagement, probably with
the view of stimulating the courage and inspiring the confi
dence of their troops, the Philistine leaders had brought their
idols into the field ; but David, having taken them with the
other booty, caused them to be burned — a proof, on the one
hand, of his pious deter-mination to acknowledge Jehovah
alone as divine, and a manifestation, on the other, of the
helplessness of the heathen divinities, who could not deliver
themselves, much less those who trusted in them, from the
conqueror's hands.
In spite, however, of this defeat, both of their gods and of
themselves, the Philistines, some months afterward, renewed
the contest. Again they encamped in Rephaim ; again Da
vid inquired ofthe Lord, and was directed to take such meas
ures as resulted in their complete disorganization. He was
commanded to come upon them from the rear by making a
circuitous march, and was cautioned to take his stand at a
certain spot until, by " the sound of going in the tops of
the mulberry-trees," the signal should be given to advance.
All this being carefully observed by him, his sudden appear
ance created such a panic in the Philistian host that they
arose and fled, and were smitten by their pursuers all the
way from Seba until the entrance into their own city of
Gaza. We can not but be struck, in this narrative, with the hum
ble piety of David in asking guidance from the Lord, and
with his willingness implicitly to obey the commands which
he received. Nor can we fail to observe the clear and ex
plicit nature of the answers which he received from the Urim

214 David, King of Israel.
and Thummim. The ancient heathens had their oracles in
connection with the temples in which they worshiped their
divinities ; but the responses given at these places to those
who consulted them were generally expressed so ambiguous
ly that no great guidance was given by them, and they could
not be falsified by any event. Thus it is on record that
when Crcesus inquired of Apollo what would be the result of
his attacking the Persians, the answer was that, by doing so,
" he should overthrow a great army " — a reply which would
have been appropriate either to the destruction of the Per
sian army, or, as in the event it happened to be, to that of his
own. When again Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, asked what
was to be the issue of his war with the Romans, the response
was given in words which might mean either, " I say that
thou, the son of Eacus, art able to conquer the Romans," or
" I say that the Romans are able to conquer thee, the son of
Eacus." But here, in the replies given by the sacred breast
plate, there is no obscurity. Every thing is definite and clear,
and David could have no hesitation as to his duty in each
case. Of course, there is not now any such means of obtain
ing the unerring guidance of God as David then enjoyed, in
so far as the contingencies of our daily lives are concerned ;
but still, in answer to prayer, God will lead us in the right
way, provided only we unfeignedly commit ourselves to him,
and willingly accept his direction step by step. Here is the
warrant on which every one of us is entitled to proceed : "If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."
Let us, therefore, use the Bible and the throne of grace as
David employed the Urim and Thummim, and we may de
pend upon it that, even as " the sound of a going in the tops
of the mulberry-trees " indicated to him when he was to ad
vance, there will be something, either within- ourselves, or in
the arrangement of God's providence external to us, which

The Bringing up of the Ark. 215
shall point out to us what course we are to follow, and when
we are to enter upon it.
And now, having overcome his enemies for the time, David
had leisure to devote to the bringing up ofthe ark ofthe cov
enant. That, as every one knows, was the sacred chest, over
shadowed by the golden cherubim, which usually stood in the
Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, and which contained in it
a copy of the law of Moses ; the golden pot of manna, which
was preserved as a memorial of the wilderness ; and the rod
of Aaron, which blossomed, and which was kept as a proof
of the divine appointment of Aaron and his sons to the
priestly office. The lid of this chest was the mercy-seat, and
was year by year sprinkled with the blood of atonement,
when on the great Day of Atonement the high-priest went
in before the Lord. Its proper place was in the innermost
chamber of the Tabernacle ; but at this period of the histo
ry of Israel, religious matters were in the greatest confusion,
arising out ofthe folly of which, many years before, the elders
of the people had been guilty,* when they carried the ark
with them to the field of battle. They trusted in the sym
bol, rather than in Jehovah, whose the symbol was, and as a
consequence they were defeated, and the ark was taken by
the Philistines, who put it into the Temple of Dagon; thence,
however, owing to the fall of the image of their idol before it,
they had it speedily removed; but wherever they took it, trou
bles and diseases broke out, which they traced to its presence,
and so they sent it back to Israel in a singular manner, of
which a full account is given in the sixth chapter of 1 Samuel.
It was ultimately received by the men of Kirjath -jearim, a
city on the boundary line between the territories of Judah
and Benjamin ; and Eleazar, the son of Abinadab, was set
apart for the purpose of attending to it there. In that city,
* 1 Sam. iv., 3.

216 David, King of Israel.
therefore, all these years during the ministry of Samuel, and
the reigns of Saul and Ishbosheth, the ark had remained ;
while the Tabernacle continued at Shiloh, or perhaps, for a
portion of the time, at Nob. But this was not all ; for while
the Tabernacle was in one city, and the ark in another, there
were also two high-priests — Zadok at Shiloh, who was of the
elder line ofthe sons of Aaron, which had hitherto adhered to
the house of Saul; and Abiathar, the sole survivor ofthe Nob
massacre, who had fled to David with the Urim and Thum
mim when he was in the cave. Now, in seeking to bring or
der out of all this confusion, David, acting perhaps under the
divine direction, left the Tabernacle untouched, but wished to
bring the ark to Jerusalem, where he had prepared a tem
porary tent (probably after the pattern of the original one),
in which it might remain until the cherished purpose of his
heart should be accomplished, and a permanent temple erect
ed for its abode. Furthermore, he retained the two high-
priests as of co-ordinate dignity, thereby binding both of
them to himself without exciting the jealousy of either.
When he had determined to bring up the ark, he gathered
together thirty thousand chosen men, and went in state to
the ancient city in which it had so long been kept ; but a
sad and awful occurrence struck terror into all their hearts,
and led to the postponement of the formal entrance of the
sacred symbol into Jerusalem. Ignoring the command that
the sacred chest should be borne only on the shoulders of
the priests, the two sons of Abinadab put it on a new cart,
and when they came to a place which was known as the
threshing-floor of Nachon, as the cart shook violently, Uzzah,
one of the sons of Abinadab, put forth his hand upon the
ark to steady it, and was at once struck dead. Whether this
was caused by the immediate outflashing of the divine pow
er, or, as some believe, by a bolt of lightning in the midst of
a thunder-storm which they suppose was raging at the time,

The Bringing up of the Ark. 217
the event was by them all connected with 'the touching of
the ark by Uzzah, and they were filled with dismay. Harps,
cornets, cymbals, psalteries, and timbrels were silenced, and
David, in sore distress at what had taken place, caused them
to carry the sacred thing into the house of Obed-edom the
Gittite, which happened to be at hand ; while, in memory of
the stroke with which they had been visited, he named the
place Perez-uzzah, "the Breach of Uzzah."
Leaving for the present out of view the purpose that was
to be subserved by this judgment, we may note the different
degrees of punishment by which in different cases the profa
nation of the ark was visited. The Philistines, whose sin
was ignorance, were smitten only with disease ; the men of
Beth-shemesh who looked into the ark, Levites though they
were, were smitten with death, because they ought to have
known the law of God upon the matter; and now again
Uzzah is stricken down, because ignorance, where knowledge
ought to have been possessed, is no extenuation of guilt.
But though thus sadly interrupted in the carrying out of
his purpose, David would not give it up ; for learning, three
months afterward, that God had greatly blessed, in some vis
ible manner, the household of Obed-edom, in whose dwelling
the ark was placed, he set out again to bring it to Jerusalem.
But this time, the book of the law having doubtless been
most carefully searched for directions, every thing was done
decently and in order. It was a great and memorable day
in Israel ; and as David had composed many special odes
for the occasion, we may perhaps give you the most vivid
idea of the whole proceedings, by making our narrative lit
tle more than a statement of the particular order in which
we suppose that these hymns were sung.
Let it be premised, however, that on this day, as on all the
high festival occasions afterward, both in the Tabernacle and
the Temple, the service of song was conducted solely by the

218 David, King of Israel.
Levites. They were the holy tribe ; and just as the high-
priest offered in the room of the people the sacrifices of
burnt-offering and atonement, so the Levites offered in the
stead of the tribes the sacrifice of praise. We do not, in
deed, hear any thing of music as a portion of the worship of
Jehovah until the times of David ; but " it is not improba
ble that the Levites all along had practiced music, and that
some musical service was part ofthe worship of the Taberna
cle ; for, unless this supposition be made, it is inconceivable
that a body of trained singers and musicians should be found
ready for an occasion like that on which they made their first
appearance."* No doubt, at the school of the prophets at
Ramah, music formed part of the regular exercises of the
students ; and David's own skill and taste in this exquisite
art must have enabled him to make perfect arrangements
for this great festival, even as they enabled him afterward to
make permanent regulations for the conduct of " the service
of song in the house of the Lord."
From the narrative in the fifteenth chapter of the First
Book of Chronicles, we learn that, in addition to the elders
of Israel (each of whom, as on the day of the coronation,
would be accompanied by a delegation from his tribe), and
the captains over thousands, there were present nine hun
dred and sixty -two priests and Levites. From these last
would be taken a sufficient number to relieve each other in
carrying, by turns, the ark ofthe covenant, and then the rest
would be told off for the musical service. The singing was
accompanied by the sound of instruments, the performers
on which were placed under the direction of skilled leaders.
Thus Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were appointed to conduct
the cymbals of brass ; Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemira-
moth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and
* Smith's " Dictionary," article Music.

The Bringing up of the Ark. 219
Benaiah were set over those who played on psalteries on
Alamoth, that is, on the higher notes ; Mattithiah, and Eliph-
eleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah
were put over those who sounded the harps on the Shemi-
nith, that is, on the eighth, which, I suppose, may mean the
lower octave ; while others were to blow with the trumpets
before the ark. It was thus a great processional oratorio,
the route being somewhat less than nine miles in length, for
that was the distance between Kirjath-jearim and Jerusa
lem. When the company had been marshaled, and were
starting from Jerusalem, I conjecture that, with the judgment
that fell on Uzzah still in the minds of all, the Levites broke
forth, in solemn tones, with the beautiful 15th Psalm: "Lord,
who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy
holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh right
eousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that
backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neigh
bor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. In
whose eyes a vile person is contemned : but he honoreth
them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt,
and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to
usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that do
eth these things shall never be moved." When they came
to the house of Obed-edom, and while arrangements were
being made for the removal from it of the ark, they sang the
opening verses ofthe i32d Psalm, as if to deprecate a repe
tition of the calamity which had formerly saddened all their
hearts : " Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions : how
he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of
Jacob ; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my
house, nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine
eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for
the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo,
we heard of it at Ephratah ; we found it in the fields of the

220 David, King of Israel.
wood," i. e., at Kirjath-jearim. Then, as the priests appoint
ed for the purpose went into the house for the ark, they sang
by themselves these words: "We will go into his taberna
cles : we will worship at his footstool." As they emerged,
bearing the sacred burden on their shoulders, and while they
took the first six paces in their march, their brethren resumed
the strain, and sang, "Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou,
and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with
righteousness ; and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy
servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine anoint
ed. The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David ; he will not
turn from it ; of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy
throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my tes
timony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit
upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen
Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest
forever : here will I dwell ; for I have desired it. I will
abundantly bless her provision : I will satisfy her poor with
bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and
her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the
horn of David to bud : I have ordained a lamp for mine
anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame : but upon
himself shall his crown flourish." At this point the proces
sion halted, while a double sacrifice was offered unto the
Lord ; and such was the elation of feeling among them all,
that the king, clothed for the time in a linen ephod like the
priests, is said to have danced before the Lord.
But now again the march is renewed. At the sound of
the trumpet they that bare the ark advanced, and the sing
ers, accompanied by the instruments of music, raised the old
wilderness watch-word, " Let God arise, let his enemies be
scattered," and continued at intervals to sing appropriate
strophes of that grand processional hymn, the 68th Psalm.
It is too long to be quoted entire ; but if you will carefully

The Bringing up of the Ark. 221
study it for yourselves, you will easily be able to divide it
into its separate portions, and will discover how appropriate
it was to the occasion which called it forth. What could be
finer than the following strain, which we give in the spirited
metrical version of an intimate friend and brother in the
ministry ?
" O God, when thou didst march of old before thy people's face,
And led their way, by cloud and flame, through the great wilderness,
Earth shook ; the heavens before thee dropped, on Sinai tremors fell,
Before the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
Lord, thou thy weary heritage didst cheer with plenteous rain :
Thy congregation dwelt therein ; their poor thou didst sustain.
God gave the word : anon the land rings with the joyful sound ;
Great was the host of herald tongues that published it around.
Kings fled, with all their bannered state, they bore themselves afar,
And she that dwelt at home did share the trophies of the war :
Now may ye rise and clothe yourselves in splendor manifold,
Like doves whose wings are silver-bright, whose plumes are burnished
gold.
The land, when God had crushed the kings, with scattered bones was
white ;
It glistened like the crown of snow on Salmon's crested height :
God's hill is high as Bashan's hill ; why leap ye, hills of pride ?
This Zion is the hill where God forever will abide.
God's cherub chariots, myriad-fold ; come flaming from afar ;
And, as on Sinai, God is there, as in a victor's car.
Thou hast ascended, armed with gifts, and captor captive led,
And thou with men, rebellious men, dost deign thy tent to spread.
Bless'd be the Lord, salvation's Lord, who lifts our load. of woe ;
Whose daily bounties, rich and free, in volumed fullness flow ;
For God, he is salvation's God, and each successive breath
We owe to him whose hand doth cast the die of life and death.
Praise God, ye kingdoms of the earth, high be his name extolled,
Who rides upon the heaven of heavens, whose splendors were of old.
Forth comes his voice, a mighty voice ; -what strength his frown en
shrouds !
His majesty o'er Israel shines, his strength is in the clouds.
O God ! from out thy holy place, how dread thy terrors gleam,
Where thou art in thy glory throned, between the cherubim.

222 David, King of Israel.
Thou to thy people givest strength, and mak'st them safely dwell ;
Then be thy name forever bless'd, thou God of Israel.*
When they drew near to Jerusalem they sung the 24th
Psalm, which is, perhaps, the most artistic in its structure of
all those to which we have referred. It is antiphonal in its
nature, and was evidently designed to be sung by chorus
answering to chorus. Perhaps no more striking idea ofthe
method of its execution on this occasion can be given than
that which is presented in the following description, by Dr.
Kitto : " The chief musician, who seems to have been the
king himself, appears to have begun the sacred lay with a
solemn and sonorous recital of these sentences, ' The earth
is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they
that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas,
and established it upon the floods.' The chorus of vocal
music appears then to have taken up the song, and sung the
same words in a more tuneful and elaborate manner ; and the
instruments fell in with them, raising the mighty declaration
to heaven. We may presume that the chorus then divided,
each singing in their turns, and both joining at the close,
' For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it
upon the floods.' This part of the music may be supposed
to have lasted until the procession reached the foot of Zion,
or came in sight of it, which, from the nature ofthe inclosed
site, can not be till one comes quite near to it. Then the
king must be supposed to have stepped forth and begun
again, in a solemn and earnest tone, 'Who shall ascend into
the hill ofthe Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?'
to which the first chorus responds, '. He that hath clean
hands, and a pure heart ; who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.' And then the second
* " Sacred Lyrics," by John Guthrie, M.A., Glasgow, p. 170.

.The Bringing up of the Ark. 223
chorus gives its reply, ' He shall receive the blessing from
the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.'
This part of the song may, in like manner, be supposed to
have lasted till they reached the gate of the city, when the
king began again in this grand and exalted strain, ' Lift up
your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors ; and the King of glory shall come in ;' which would
be repeated then, in the same way as before, by the general
chorus. The persons having charge of the gates ask, ' Who
is this King of glory?' to which the first chorus answers, 'It
is Jehovah, strong and mighty : Jehovah, mighty in battle ;'
which the second chorus then repeats in like manner as be
fore, closing with the grand refrain, 'He is the King of glory :
He is the King of glory.' We must now suppose the instru
ments to take up the same notes, and continue sounding
them to the entrance ofthe Tabernacle (or tent) which Da
vid had prepared. There the king again begins : ' Lift up
your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in.' This is follow
ed and answered as before — all closing by the instruments
sounding, and the people shouting, ' He is the King of glory.' "*
One can not call up thus before the eye of his imagination
such a scene as this, without having his heart stirred to its
very depths ; and we do not wonder that the effects produced
upon the actual spectators were of the most thrilling char
acter ; nor are we surprised that the greatest poets in our
own language, such as Milton and Young, have appropriated
these very' words, as the most sublime they could find, to de
scribe the procession of the heavenly hosts ; the one, in his
delineation of the Son returning from the work of creation ;
the other, in an attempt to describe the glories of the Re
deemer's ascension from Mount Olivet, f
* Kitto's " Daily Bible Illustrations," vol. iii., pp. 385, 386.
t Milton's " Paradise Lost," Book vii. ; Young's " Night Thoughts,"
Night iv.

224 David, King of Israel.
But amidst all these applications of the words of David,
we must not forget another, and perhaps the most important
of all. The ark symbolized Christ in his peace-giving pres
ence, and the Tabernacle is an emblem of the human heart,
in which he desires to dwell. Even now he may be stand
ing and knocking at the door of some heart here. He who
is the King of glory, and mighty in battle, is asking an en
trance, where he well might force his way. But he conde
scends to plead for admission. Oh, let him not plead in vain !
Open unto him, that you may know what that blessed prom
ise means : "If any man hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
At the close ofthe singing ofthe 24th Psalm, the curtains
of the tent were folded back, and, amidst the reverent silence
of the assembled thousands, the ark was put in its appointed
place. Thereafter, as the joyful conclusion of the glad and
sacred services, David gave to Asaph and his brethren, that
they might sing it with every proper accompaniment, that
song which we have preserved in the sixteenth chapter of
the First Book of Chronicles, and which seems to be a com
bination of portions taken from the 105th, 96th, and 106th
Psalms, p^hen he offered more burnt-offerings and peace-
offerings before the Lord ; and having concluded the cere
mony by blessing the people in the name of the Lord, he
most generously distributed refreshments among them all.
So ended this auspicious day. "All the people departed,,
every one to his own home ; and David returned to bless
his house." Only one thing occurred to mar his happiness.
After he entered his palace, Michal, the daughter of Saul,
who had never much sympathy with the devotional side of
David's nature, taunted him with scorn for his dancing be
fore the ark, and sneered at him as if he had been one of
the vain fellows that were altogether regardless of propriety.
But Jhe only result was to widen the breach which already

The Bringing up of the Ark. 225
existed between them, and to consign her to the perpetual
isolation of widowhood, while she was still in name a wife.
Two practical lessons are all that space will now permit
me to enforce.
Observe, then, in the first place, as here illustrated, the
majesty of the divine holiness. When Uzzah touched the
ark, he was smitten with death. Many have wondered at
the apparent severity ofthe punishment; but when you ex
amine into the matter minutely, you will see that the divine
procedure here harmonizes with the general principle of
God's operations as observed in similar instances. The law
commanded that the ark should be carried on the shoulders
of the priests, and Uzzah and all the people ought to have
known that. Hence this judgment — for judgment it un
doubtedly was — was a mark of God's displeasure for irrev
erence, and was designed to put them all on their guard.
The whole Tabernacle service appears to have been ar
ranged with the view of intensifying the idea of God's holi
ness in the minds of the people, and leading them up to the
truth that they could, as sinners, approach him only through
sacrifice. To keep these two things constantly before the
people, they were not allowed to come near the sacred place
where the symbol of Jehovah's presence dwelt ; and those
whose business took them into the sanctuary had to be spe
cially set apart for the purpose ; while the high-priest was
permitted to go into the Holy of Holies only once a year, and
then only when he carried with him the blood of sacrifice.
Hence, any interference with the arrangements which con
verged toward the teachings of these important truths was
solemnly guarded against; and at the outset of every new
period of the history of Israel, some warning was given to
keep them from -irreverence : Nadab and Abihu perished in
the wilderness ; Uzzah here was struck down at the inaugura
tion of a new era in the Jewish worship ; and Ananias and
10*

226 David, King of Israel.
Sapphira were punished in the same way in the early infan
cy of the Christian Church.
Now the connection of this latter case with that of Uzzah
here will show you how we in these days can be guilty of
Uzzah's sin. The Corinthians were guilty of it when, forget
ting the sacred character of the Lord's Supper, they became
intoxicated at the table of the Lord ; and we shall be guilty
of it if, with hearts estranged from God, and lives which are
inconsistent with his Word, we presume to connect ourselves
with his Church, and take part in the management of its af
fairs. David, therefore, rightly read the meaning ofthe breach
of Uzzah when, in addition to rectifying his error by putting
the ark on the shoulders ofthe priests, he sang these words:
"Who shall ascend into the hill ofthe Lord? or who shall
stand in his holy place ? He that hath clean hands and a
pure heart ;" and unless we who are members of the Church
have this character, we shall be guilty of Uzzah's sin. But
how shall we get such a character ? Only by living union
to the Lord Jesus Christ, who offered himself in sacrifice to
God for us. In and through him we may approach God with
acceptance, and, sprinkled with his blood, we may have no
fear of any catastrophe. Beautiful here, in connection with
the majesty of God's holiness, and the necessity of atone
ment, if sinners would safely approach him, is the lesson of
the cherubim in the Word of God. We first meet these
symbols (for whether we see them in the form of living
creatures, or in that of artificial figures, they are still sym
bols), guarding the tree of life, and keeping back our sinful
parents from approaching it; we next meet them over the
mercy-seat, where they are looking down with satisfaction
on the blood of the victim ; we behold them next in Isaiah's
vision, " Crying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts ;" and
we observe one of them taking a live coal from the altar —
mark the altar, which tells of sacrifice — and purifying there-

The Bringing up of the Ark. 227
with the prophet's life ; we come upon them next in the
vision of Ezekiel, where they are the guardians of the mys
tic wheels, which indicate, in the minds of many, the provi
dence of God among the nations ; and we behold them for
the last time in the Apocalypse of John, where they call
again, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ;" but where
there is a throne, with a lamb upon it, as if it had been
slain; and beside the throne four -and -twenty seats, occu
pied by elders, representing the tribes of the redeemed.
Now observe how the Apocalypse, with its paradise regain
ed, stands in contrast to Genesis, with its paradise lost. In
Genesis, the cherubim, guarding God's holiness, are warding
men away ; in the Apocalypse, the cherubim — still, as before,
zealous for the divine holiness, for they make that the bur
den of their song — are complacent on-lookers, while the eld
ers are seated on either side of the throne. Why is this ?
because on the throne itself there is the Lamb of God who
was slain from the foundation of the world, and who in the
days of his flesh bore the sins of men. Here is explain
ed the mystery of the mercy-seat, over which, with its drops
of blood annually renewed, the cherubim stood with folded
wings, and on which they looked with such satisfied gaze.
"Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only, but for the sins ofthe whole world." If, therefore, we
would approach Jehovah acceptably, if we would not provoke
his judgments upon us, if we would secure our peace with
him, we must sprinkle ourselves with this blood of atone
ment; that is, we must believingly appropriate to ourselves
the benefits and blessings which Christ has secured for us by
his sacrificial death. While, again, if we would be fitted for
the service of the Lord, we must, Isaiah-like, have our lips
purged by sacrificial fire. We have nothing to fear from God
if we approach him in the right way ; we have every thing to
fear from him if we approach him in the wrong way. Let

228 David, King of Israel.
us, therefore, come "by that new and living way which Jesus
hath consecrated for us, that is to say, his flesh ; and having
a high-priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a
true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprin
kled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water."
Finally : let us learn from the conduct of David in retiring
to bless his house, that public religious services should not be
allowed by us to interfere with the discharge of the duties of
family religion. After such a day as that which we have at
tempted to describe, David might have imagined that he had
a good excuse for omitting all domestic worship ; but it rather
seemed that the devotions ofthe day gave him new zest for the
exercises ofthe family altar. And this is what always ought
to be. It is to be feared, however, that many among us con
tent themselves with a mere go-to-meeting piety, and seem
to believe that religion consists in a round of public religious
services. They attend all manner of holy convocations.
You see them at every important devotional meeting you
take part in. But they rarely enter the closet; they never
bless their houses ; and their lives are just as selfish and
unspiritual as are those of multitudes who make no profes
sion of attachment to Jesus whatever. I do not make light
of the ordinances of God's worship ; on the contrary, I be
lieve them to be most serviceable in feeding the fire of piety
within the heart. But what I mean to say is, that piety does
not consist in attending on these means of grace, and that
our engagement in public services must never be made an
excuse by us for the neglect of household duties. "Why did
you not come to church last night," said one working-man to
another, on a Monday morning ; " our minister was preach
ing a third sermon on the duty of family religion ; why did
you not come ?" " Because," was the reply, " I was at home
doing it." I would like to see not less earnestness in at-

The Bringing up of the Ark. 229
tendance upon the regular ordinances of the sanctuary, but
more of this "at home doing it." Have you family worship
in your dwelling ? Oh, if you have not, you know not what a
privilege you are depriving yourself of ! It is a great means
of promoting family peace and domestic prosperity. Try it,
and you will find that God will deal well with you through
it, as of old he dealt with Obed-edom when the ark was in
his house. Try it at once. Begin to-night. Never mind,
though you may falter in your first utterances. There is
much power in broken prayers. Go, therefore, from this
house of privilege to the family altar, and lay thereon a grate
ful offering. It will bind the members of your household to
gether by a cord of spiritual and indissoluble union. It will
elevate your home-life into a miniature of that of heaven.
It will give you a foretaste of the blessedness of those who
form the family above.

XIII.
NATHAN'S MESSAGE.
2 Samuel vii. ; ix.
WITH great pomp and gladness, the ark of the cove
nant had been brought to Jerusalem, but David was
not yet satisfied ; for it had been placed in a mere tempora
ry tent, and his great desire was to erect a splendid temple
for its permanent abode. Hence, before he was well es
tablished in his own cedar palace, he sent for Nathan the
prophet, who now for the first time appears in the narra
tive, and intimated to him his purpose in these words : " See
now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth
within curtains." The sentiment underlying these words
was in the highest degree honorable to David. They indi
cate that he felt it to be a moral anomaly, if not a species
of dishonesty, that he should look so well after his own per
sonal comfort and regal dignity, while yet the house of God
was but a tent. It were well, in these days, that we all
shared these convictions, for we are too apt to lavish our
wealth exclusively upon our own enjoyment and indulgence,
forgetful of the higher claims which God and his cause have
upon us. I say not, indeed, that it is wrong for a man to
take such a position in society as his riches warrant him to
assume, or that there is sin jn spending money on our resi
dences, or in surrounding ourselves with the treasures of hu
man wisdom in books, or the triumphs of human art in pic
tures or statuary ; but I do say that our gifts to the cause
of God ought to be at least abreast of our expenditure for
these other things ; and that if we so cripple ourselves by

Nathan's Message. 231
our extravagance on house, or dress, or luxuries, as to render
it impossible for us to do any thing for the promotion of the
Gospel abroad, or for the instruction of the ignorant at home,
we are " verily guilty concerning our brethren," and before
our God. The principle here acknowledged by David is a
thoroughly sound one, and though he was discouraged from
applying it in the particular way on which he had set his
heart, we must not suppose that his feelings, as expressed to
Nathan, were wrong. On the contrary, the spiritual instinct
in him was true, and God declared that "it was well that it
was in his heart." Now what was this principle ? It was
this, that in proportion as we increase our expenditure upon
ourselves for the comforts and the elegancies of life, we
ought to increase our offerings to God for the carrying
on of works of faith and labors of love among our fellow-
men. If we can afford to enter a larger dwelling, we ought
to make ourselves afford to add proportionately to our con
tributions for all good objects. If we allow ourselves to
gratify our taste in the purchase of a new picture or a new
book, we should feel impelled to do just so much more for
the gratification of the impulse of Christian benevolence.
The value of this principle, when rightly understood, and
conscientiously carried out, will be very great. It will act
in two ways. On the one hand, it will keep us from ham
pering ourselves in our benevolence by personal extrava
gance, and so be a check on that tendency to luxury which
is manifested even in many Christian households. On the
other hand, it will impel us to add to our gifts to the Lord
Jesus Christ ; since every time we do any thing for ourselves
there will be a new call made upon us to do more for him.
The world's maxim is, " Be just before you are generous ;"
and, indeed, it would be well if the world's own votaries al
ways acted thereon, for it is very easy to be benevolent with
other people's money. But the Christian's maxim ought to

232 David, King of Israel.
be, " Make your generosity a matter of justice." Be just to
God, as good stewards of his manifold bounties ; and when
ever you increase your doings for yourselves, be sure that
you proportionately increase your doings for him. There is
no harm in your cedar palace, provided only the erection of
that stimulate you to do more than ever for Christ. I am
the more particular to put the matter thus, because, from a
mistaken zeal for the Lord, many have taken up a position
regarding it which is flagrantly unjust. They do not hesi
tate to blame Christian men for dwelling in fine houses, and
surrounding themselves with beautiful objects, while so many
poor people are starving for want of food, and so many igno
rant ones are perishing for lack of knowledge, and this alto
gether irrespective of the fact that some who do live in ce
dar houses are among the most benevolent in the land. But
where is this to end ? Are we all to go back to the cheer
less, carpetless, comfortless houses of hundreds of years ago ?
or are we to be content with the blanket and the wigwam
of the Indian, and give all else to benevolence ? Nay. The
Lord does not blame David here for building his cedar
palace. On the contrary, I believe he was as glad to see
David in it, as a modern father is to visit his son in the com
fortable home which his industry and integrity have secured
for him. God does not want us to go in threadbare attire,
and live in cold and ugly apartments. He loves to see his
stewards comfortable. But while he rejoices in our comfort,
he desires that we should share it with others. If I were to
go to a wealthy man's house, and, after surveying his paint
ings and his plate, his carriage and his horses, and all the
other accessories of refinement around him, I should say,
" To what purpose is this waste ? Ought not all these things
to be sold and given to the poor ?" I should feel as if some
how the meanness of Judas had got into my heart, and I
should not hope to do him any good ; but if, conceding to

Nathan's Message. 233
him that God delights in his comfort and rejoices in his hap
piness, I should unfold to him this principle, that the enjoy
ment of so many good things carries with it the obligation to
do just so much the more for Christ, I should expect to make
some impression upon him. There may be those here to
night who have done much more for themselves than others
could honestly attempt. Let me ask them to consider that
their larger measure of enjoyment involves in it the duty of
doing just so much the more, for the furtherance of the Gos
pel and the welfare of their fellow-men. Let me beg them
to press this question to their consciences : "Am I doing as
much more than others for Christ as I am doing for myself?"
And if they can not conscientiously say " Yes," then let me
beseech them to do less for themselves, that they may do
more for him.
When Nathan heard David's proposal, which would be, of
course, much more fully explained to him than it is in the sim
ple summary of the conversation given in the history, he an
swered, "Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with
thee." This, however, was only his own individual opinion,
in which he gave expression, as a good man would naturally
do, to the feelings of gratification with which he had heard
of the royal intention. But during the subsequent night,
God gave him a special message to the king, which, while
preventing him from undertaking the building of the Tem
ple, yet contained in it predictions of greatest interest, not
only to himself, but to all nations. I need not go over it
in detail. Let it suffice that I indicate what I regard to be
its meaning, premising that for the view which I present I
am indebted to the suggestive comments of Keil upon the
passage. The first part of the announcement virtually amounts to
this : "Thou shalt not build an house for me, but I, who se
lected thee when thou wast following the sheep, will build

2,34 David, King of Israel.
thee an house, and then thy son shall rear an house for my
name." Nor is this a mere play upon words, as at first sight
it might appear to be. It refers to the fact that, up to this
time, David's kingdom was not thoroughly established, and
draws from that the inference that God's ark was not yet to
exchange the Tabernacle, which was the symbol of unsettled
abode, for the Temple, which was the emblem of permanent
residence. "As long as the quiet and full possession of the
land of Canaan was disputed by their enemies round about,
even the dwelling-place of their God could not assume any
other form than that of a wanderer's tent. The kingdom
of God in Israel first acquired its rest and consolidation
through the efforts of David, when God had made all his
foes subject to him, and had established his throne firmly,
that is, had assured to his descendants the possession ofthe
kingdom for all future time. And it was this which ushered
in the time for the building of a stationary house as a dwell
ing for the name of the Lord. The conquest of the citadel
of Zion, and the elevation of that fortress into the palace
of the king, was the commencement of the establishment of
the kingdom,"* but only the commencement, for many foes
had yet to be encountered and overcome. Till they were
subdued, then, the Temple should not be built ; for the tent,
or symbol of pilgrimage, would not be laid aside by God for
his ark until it had been first made clearly evident that the
people among whom that ark was to reside were themselves
permanently established in the land which had been given
them. This permanent establishment David, aided by Je
hovah, was to make good, and then his son would rear the
Temple, in token of the perpetuity of the kingdom and dy
nasty which he was to found. In the version given in the
* Keil and Delitzsch, "Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel,"
P-344-

Nathan's Message. 235
book of Samuel, no personal reason is assigned why David
was not to build the Temple, but, from his own words on his
death-bed, we learn that he was forbidden to do what was
in his heart, "because he was a man of war and had shed
blood." Perhaps this was founded on the sacredness of
blood as a symbol, of which so much is made under the
old covenant ; but possibly Keil may be right when he sees,
even in these words, a confirmation of the interpretation
which I have just given, and takes them to indicate that, so
long as wars were necessary or inevitable for David, they
were practical proofs that his kingdom and government
were not yet established. Besides, the Temple, as a symbol
of God's kingdom, was to shadow forth its peace as well as
its permanence, and for that reason not David the warrior,
but Solomon the peaceful, was its appropriate builder.
The second portion of Nathan's message, extending from
the twelfth to the sixteenth verse, gives a more precise ac
count ofthe manner in which God would build his servant's
house, and has a clear reference to Solomon and his de
scendants. In this aspect of the prophecy, it was fulfilled
when God kept the kingdom for Solomon in spite of the
plots of his brother Adonijah, when Solomon built the Tem
ple, and also, alas ! when Solomon sinned by idolatry, and
entailed upon Rehoboam the loss of the ten tribes. Thus
God " chastened him with the rod of men, and with the
stripes ofthe children of men ;" but inasmuch as he and his
descendants were continued on the throne of Judah, these
other words were verified : " My mercy shall not depart
away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away be
fore thee."
But while the primary reference of this prediction to Sol
omon and his immediate descendants is unmistakable, it
must be evident even to the least thoughtful reader, that " a
greater than Solomon is here." Thrice it is alleged that

236 David, King of Israel.
the throne of David's kingdom should be established forev
er ; and we may not seek to reduce these words to the pop
ular notion of a long, indefinite period. We must take them
in an absolute sense, as they are understood in the 89th
Psalm, where there is a clear reference to this prophecy, and
where the expression is thus paraphrased. " His seed also
will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of
heaven." Now, as Keil remarks, "The posterity of David
could only last forever by running out in a person who lives
forever, that is, by culminating in the Messiah, who lives for
ever, and of whose kingdom there is no end."*
Thus we reach a new landmark in the development of
Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. The promised
deliverer is spoken of first as "the seed ofthe woman;" then
as the seed of Abraham ; then as the child of Isaac ; then
as the son of Jacob ; and then as the Shiloh of the tribe of
Judah. Now, out of that tribe the family of David is desig
nated as that in which he was to appear; while with this
description of his lineage there is conjoined the information
that he was to found a kingdom which would be universal in
its extent, and eternal in its duration. Thus, in the course
of the ages, that first Edenic prediction, so nebulous and in
distinct, acquired definiteness and precision, until aflength,
when the fullness of the time was come, there converged to
ward Jesus of Nazareth so many lines of prophetic proof,
that he could be at once identified as the promised Re
deemer. But the connection of a prediction of the Messiah with a
message to David, regarding the building of the Temple, il
lustrates another peculiarity by which many Old Testament
prophecies are distinguished. While some of these ancient
* Keil and Delitzsch, " Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel,"
P- 347-

Nathan's Message. 237
oracles stand out clearly from the circumstances and the
times in which they were given, and refer simply and alone
to Christ, there are others which, while pointing ultimately to
him, yet do so through and in connection with the position
and history of those to whom they were originally addressed.
Now of this latter class the prediction on which I have been
remarking is an example. David was himself, in his offi
cial position and dignity as king, a prophecy of the Messiah.
Hence predictions which had a primary reference to him
as a king, and to his house as a dynasty, had through him
an allusion to the Messiah, and were thoroughly fulfilled
only in Christ. When, however, we interpret all such ora
cles, both ofthe type and ofthe antetype, we are not putting
upon them a double sense. The truth rather is, that he to
whom they were first given sustained a double character, and
we find that the one meaning ofthe predictions holds true of
him in both characters. It is, therefore, utterly impossible to
exhaust the meaning of such a prophecy as this before us, or
such a Psalm as the second, without going through David to
David's son, who was also David's Lord. Indeed, from some
of David's own expressions here, and especially from some
of his words in the 2d, 89th, and noth Psalms, which all re
duplicate on this message of Nathan's, it would almost seem
that he himself had some idea of its ultimate reference.
Perhaps we may apply to him the words of Peter to the
prophets generally, and say, " that he searched what, or what
manner of time, the Spirit of Christ did signify when it testi
fied beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that
should follow." But, however that may be, and whether or
not he had in connection with this promise any prevision of
the Redeemer, we can not but feel that there are expressions
here which, true in a subsidiary sense of David, can only be
said to be fully verified in Jesus Christ.
But now, leaving the significance of the prophecy itself;

238 David, King of Israel.
we must attend to the manner in which it was received by
David. At the first, perhaps, there might be a pang of dis
appointment in his heart, when he was told so decisively
that he was not to be the builder of the Temple, for this had
been the one great desire of his soul ; and it is not easy
for one in a moment to reconcile himself to another arrange
ment of his life than that which he had planned for himself.
We think of the author who, having been kept by one inter
ruption after another from the great work to which he meant
to give his life, is at last fairly in sight of its being under
taken by him, and then, overtaken by weakness, is compelled
to leave it unattempted. We think of the statesman who
has fought his way through the jealousies, and envyings, and
depreciations of rivals into the front, and who seems just
about to lay his hand upon the helm of the commonwealth,
when God in his providence breaks him down with disease,
and bids him step aside that another may go before him.
We think of the President who had safely piloted his coun
try through the rapids of a terrible civil war, and was just
about to reconstruct on a broader and more stable founda
tion a reunited nation, when he was stricken down, and the
life that was shaping itself into a finished pillar became, to
human view, only a broken shaft. And as these and similar
disarrangements of earthly plans come up before us, bring
ing with them their appropriate feelings, we may be apt to
imagine that when David saw the hope of his life cut off
in a moment, he would be plunged into the deepest dejec
tion. But if, even for an instant, such an emotion existed
in his breast, it was speedily subdued, and he was not only
resigned to the determination of God, but also jubilant and
grateful for the divine goodness. Nor is it difficult to ac
count for this ; for he sought to build the Temple, not for
his own glory, but for that of Jehovah. In desiring to rear
a majestic house for God's dwelling-place and worship, he

Nathan's Message. 239
was actuated by no vulgar craving for fame, like that which
impelled Erostratus to set fire to the Ephesian Diana's fane ;
he wished to honor Jehovah ; and if God preferred that he
should be honored by him in another way, who was he that
he should question the wisdom of his choice ? Moreover,
he was assured that the Temple should be built, and that
was, in his estimation, a greater thing than that he should
build it. Furthermore, the Lord had been graciously pleased
to speak to him of the royal house which he was to found,
and of the kingdom rising out of his own which was to last
forever ; and in the contemplation of these wondrous things
he forgot his personal predilections, and was dumb with
amazement at the divine regard for him, taking refuge in
God's omniscience as a guarantee that his silence would not
be misunderstood. " What can David say more unto thee ?
for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant." Then, when he
could find speech again, he used it to magnify God's name,
and to turn the promises which he had just received into
prayers. "And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast
spoken concerning thy servant, establish it forever, and do
as thou hast said." "Let it please thee to bless the house
of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee : for
thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it : and with thy blessing let
the house of thy servant be blessed forever." Thus faith
ever produces humility, gratitude, and prayer — humility at the
thought that God has been so good to the believer ; gratitude
at the remembrance of the goodness promised ; and prayer
that the promise may be fulfilled. To some, indeed, it may
seem that the two former are more natural results of faith
than the latter, since, if the faith be strong, it might be ex
pected to leave God to himself, without making any request
to him on the subject. But they who think thus know little
of the workings of the filial heart. Your child does not re
frain from asking because you have made him a promise ;

240 David, King of Israel.
nay, rather, just because of your promise, he asks all the
more. And if it be thus with our faith in a human father,
we may not wonder that it is so also with our confidence in
the promises made to us by our Father who is in heaven.
When Mary of Nazareth was told that to her was reserved
the highest honor of womanhood, it was thus she made reply
to Gabriel : " Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto
me according to thy word," thereby uniting the sublimesf
faith and prayer in one. And we then only truly believe
God's promise when we take it and turn it into a petition.
Let us profit, then, from such examples ; and when we come
upon some gracious word, let us pause over it, and trans
mute it into supplication. Is it written " I, even I, am he
that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and
will not remember thy sins," let us while we read make this
response : " For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine in
iquity, for it is great." Is it written, " A new heart also will
I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you," let us
while we read make this request : " Create in me a clean
heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within me." Is it
written, " I will put my Spirit within you," let us while we
read raise this supplication : " Be it unto me according to thy
word." But why need I enlarge ? You can scarcely read a
page of the Scriptures without coming upon some exceeding
great and precious promise ; be it yours, therefore, to pause
over each, and let your faith in it blossom into a prayer for
it. This will be the true responsive reading of the sacred
Scriptures, wherein there shall be not merely the answering
of voice to voice among men, but the responding of your
heart to God. Happy they in whose souls there is thus a
continually recurring amen to the benedictions of the Lord !
In the chapter which follows God's message to David
through Nathan, and the account of David's reception of it,
we have a general summary of the wars of David, not pre-

Nathan's Message. 241
sented in the order in which they occurred, but gathered up
into one aggregate account; and at the close we have an
enumeration ofthe members of what in modern phrase would
be called his cabinet. Both of these, however, we shall
meanwhile omit, reserving them for our next discourse, which
shall be devoted to an account ofthe national administration
of David. And we conclude now with a brief reference to
his treatment of Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan.
Considering the devoted friendship between David and Jon
athan, and the solemn league into which they entered with
each other, we are apt to think that David was very tardy
in seeking to carry out the weighty obligations under which
he lay. And if he had been really aware that a son of Jona
than was in existence, we should have been disposed to blame
him very much for neglecting the child of his noble and dis
interested friend ; but, from what appears in the narrative here,
taken in connection with the incidents of Mephibosheth's
early life, we are led to conclude that he was ignorant of
his existence up till the time when he made the inquiry of
which an account is here given. Referring to the fourth
chapter of 2d Samuel, fourth verse, we learn that when Jona
than was slain Mephibosheth was only five years old. Now,
for six years before that date David had not been at the
court of Saul. Probably, therefore, he had never heard of
the birth of Jonathan's son, and the events which occurred
after the battle of Gilboa were of such a nature as to render
it all but impossible for him. to hear much concerning Me
phibosheth. He was living at Gibeah with his nurse when
news of the death of his father arrived. When she heard
what had happened, she hastened to take him to a place of
safety; but, in her trepidation, she either let him fall, or stum
bled and fell with him, and in consequence of the injuries
which he thus received he was a cripple for life. After his
escape from Gibeah he was taken to the other side of the

242 David, King of Israel.
Jordan, and brought up in the house of Machir, at Lo-debar,
in Gilead, where he was discovered by Ziba, a servant of the
house of Saul, whom David employed for the purpose of
bringing him to court. When Mephibosheth came to Jeru
salem, David caused him to be reinstated in the family in
heritance of Saul, and, committing its management to Ziba as
steward, with instructions to bring the returns at stated times
to his master, he retained Mephibosheth himself at Jerusa
lem, and reserved for him a place of honor at his own ta
ble. Not every king would thus have honored the heir of
the dynasty which he had dispossessed ; but David remem
bered Jonathan and believed God. The memory of his for
mer friend bound him to Mephibosheth ; and his belief in
the promise of God through Nathan kept him from all fear
of being dispossessed of his throne.
In bringing our review of this important portion of the sa
cred narrative to a close, I restrict myself to one particular
line of remark. We have seen that David was himself a
prophecy of Christ. It follows from that, therefore, that the
Temple which he so desired to build is a prophecy of the
Church. With all its grandeur under Solomon, that stately
building was, after all, only a type of that more glorious spir
itual fabric which is "built upon the foundation ofthe apos
tles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner
stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, grow-
eth into an holy temple in the Lord." Now, in the erection
of this living temple we may all take part. When by faith
in Jesus Christ we become united to him, and receive the
Holy Spirit into our hearts, we, as it were, build ourselves,
or, in another aspect of it, are built by God, as living stones
into that glorious edifice which Jehovah through the ages is
rearing for his own eternal abode. When, again, by our in
strumentality, either directly in the efforts which we put forth
at home, or indirectly through the labors of those whom we

Nathan's Message. 243
sustain abroad, we work for the conversion of others, we are
engaged as under-builders on the same spiritual edifice. Da
vid would have counted it the highest privilege of his life if
he had been permitted to build the Temple on Moriah ; and
even after the prohibition came by the mouth. of Nathan, it
was the joy of his latter years to collect materials wherewith
Solomon, his son, might raise a house worthy of Jehovah's
worship. Nay, more, in the days of Solomon himself, after
the gorgeous structure had been raised, every one who had
done any thing, however small, in the way of helping on its
erection, was invested with a peculiar honor in the eyes of
his fellow-countrymen. As the Psalm expresses it : "A man
was famous according as he had lifted axes upon the thick
trees." But a higher privilege, and a more lasting renown,
will be the portion of him who assists in the most humble
capacity in the uprearing of that Church which is to be " for
a habitation of God through the Spirit." " They that be wise
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that
turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
Shall this honor, my hearer, be. thine? What art thou doing
now for the building of the spiritual temple of the Lord of
Hosts ? Let me beseech thee to build for eternity, by build
ing here. Only beware how thou buildest, for " if any man
build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for
the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ;
arid the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."
Remember this also, that if we would build acceptably at this
temple, we must sacredly preserve our own holiness of heart
and purity of life. It is recorded of Sir Christopher Wren,
that, having heard that some of the workmen engaged in the
erection of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, had been guilty
of profane swearing, he caused it to be posted all round tbe
works that if any one should be heard taking the name of

244 David, King of Israel.
God in vain, he should be instantly dismissed ; because he
considered it an impious thing that any such practices should
be indulged in by those who were building a house of God.
But if so much care was taken by that great man, that those
who were working on a material structure should hallow
God's name on their lips, should not we who seek to build
up the Church of Christ itself endeavor always to honor God
in our hearts ? They who are engaged in church work, or
missionary effort, should be men of peace, of holiness, of love
themselves ; for if they are not distinguished by these char
acteristics, they will do more harm than good to others, and
they will draw down punishment upon themselves ; for "if any
man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." Here,
then, is the order of our exhortations : first build your own
selves into this temple by faith in Jesus Christ; thereafter
seek to build others into it also by your efforts, your contri
butions, and your prayers; and all the while that you are
working thus, see that ye keep yourselves unspotted from
the world, " for the temple of God is holy, which temple are
ye. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of
Christ? Shall ye, then, take the members of Christ and
make them instruments of uncleanness? God forbid! Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own ?
for ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

I

XIV.
DA VID'S ADMINISTRATION.
2 Samuel viii., 15.
N the minds of most readers of the Bible, the name of
David, king of Israel, is associated mainly with military
prowess, poetic genius, and personal piety ; and only on the
rarest occasions do we hear any reference made to his ad
ministrative ability. Yet in this last quality he was, at least,
as remarkable as in any one of the others which we have
named ; and great injustice is clone to him if we leave out
of view the eminent services which he rendered to his coun
try by the exercise of his governmental and organizing facul
ties. It has happened thus with the son of Jesse, as with
many others, that the showier and more dashing talents which
he possessed have eclipsed, or cast into the shade, his other
less ostentatious, but, in their own places, equally valuable
characteristics. It may help us, therefore, to a correct esti
mate of his public and official career, as well as prove in it
self a most interesting study, if we devote a short while to
an inquiry into the manner in which he arranged and admin
istered the affairs of the nation. In prosecuting our investi
gations, we shall avail ourselves of the details which are very
fully given in various portions of the books of Samuel, the
Kings, and the Chronicles, acknowledging our obligations
throughout to the labors of Dean Stanley, Dr. Blaikie, Dr.
Kitto, and others, in this department; and we shall fail to
produce in your minds the conviction at which we have our
selves arrived, if we do not lead you to conclude that more
than Charlemagne did for Europe, or Alfred for England,
David accomplished for the tribes of Israel.

246 David, King of Israel.
We shall commence our review by setting before you the
military organization of the country. This may be divided
into three branches : first, the regular standing army ; sec
ond, the king's own body-guard; and, third, the order of mil
itary knighthood, if so we may call it, which he established
at his court. As regards the regular army, we find that there
were in the land two hundred and eighty -eight thousand
rrien enrolled as soldiers. These unitedly composed what
was called the host. Now there were two evils to be guarded
against in reference to this large body of troops. On the
one hand, the maintenance of an army of such magnitude, if
it had been kept constantly under arms, would have serious
ly drained the resources of the country, both by the positive
expense which would have been incurred in supporting it,
and by the withdrawal of so many able-bodied men from
those agricultural pursuits, on the fruits of which the people
mainly depended. On the other hand, if all these soldiers
had been called out at one time, and brought to one central
place for drill, the outlying boundaries of the land would
have been left, for the mean while, undefended. But both
of these dangers were obviated by the plan which David
adopted, and of which a minute account is given in 1 Chron
icles xxvii., where we have a register of " the children of Is
rael after their number — to wit, the chief fathers and captains
of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served
the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and
went out month by month throughout all the months of the
year, of every course were twenty-and-four thousand." From
this account it appears that the army was divided into twelve
portions, each of which had its own month of service. Over
each of those divisions, as we may call them, there was one
general officer, under whom were captains of thousands,
whose bands, again, were subdivided into hundreds, each of
which was led by an officer, corresponding somewhat to the

David's Administration. 247
Roman centurion of after days. Over the host as command
er-in-chief was Joab, the son of Zeruiah.
In addition to this national army, there was the king's
body-guard, generally supposed to be identical with those
who in 2 Samuel viii., 18, are styled the Cherethites and the
Pelethites. Dean Stanley and others are of opinion that
those who composed this royal brigade (equivalent almost
to what, in Great Britain, are denominated the household
troops), were mostly foreigners ; and they remind us of the
analogous instances of the Swiss Guard, who stood so true
to Louis XVI. at the French Revolution, and the guard of
honor of the Pope at the present day. But there does not
appear to me to be sufficient reason for adopting such a
view, since the commander-in-chief of these troops was Be
naiah, the son of Jehoiada, of the family of the priests ; and
so far as we can discover from the record, David, at this time
at least, and up to the era of his great transgression, was se
cure in the affection and confidence of his subjects, and did
not need the adventitious and, to his people, almost insult
ing aid of strangers.
Besides these two kinds of forces, and as furnishing a re
ward of honor for those who had distinguished themselves
in any signal manner, David appears to have founded a mil
itary order analogous to that of knighthood in more recent
times. The members of this body are called " worthies," or
" mighty men," and a list of them, together with a rehearsal
of some of their most illustrious deeds, is given in 2 Samuel
xxiii., and 1 Chronicles xi. Stanley, following in this in
stance the German author Ewald, attributes the special form
which this order took, to the circumstances of David, when
he was in the cave of Adullam. He says that, as there were
six hundred men in the hold, that number was preserved as
the limit to which the order was restricted. It became sub
divided into three large bands of two hundred each, and thir-

248 David, King of Israel.
ty small bands of twenty each. The small bands were com
manded by thirty officers, one for each band, and these offi
cers formed the thirty worthies, or mighty men ; and the
three large bands were commanded by three officers, who
together formed the three ; while the whole were under one
chief, the captain of the mighty men. This reckoning, how
ever, gives only thirty-four as the total of the worthies, where
as in 2 Samuel xxiii. the aggregate number is thirty-seven.
Moreover, there seems to be a distinction in the same chap
ter between the first three and another three, who, while
very honorable, had not attained to the valor of the first;
and for this distinction the subdivision of Stanley fails to
find a place. Perhaps, therefore, assuming the basis of six
hundred to be correct, we may modify Ewald's arrangement
thus, so as to bring it into harmony with the number thirty-
seven. The six hundred, we may suppose, were divided into
six bands of one hundred, as well as into twenty of thirty
each. Over the senior portion of the band, amounting to
three companies of one hundred each, there were the first
three ; over the junior portion of the band, composed of oth
er three companies of one hundred each, were the second
three ; and then, over all, there was the captain ofthe might-
ies, who was Jashobeam, the Hachmonite. The captain of
each band formed one of the band, and must be reckoned
with it in making up the numbers.
The deeds of the worthies, specified in the chapters to
which I have been referring, are mostly such as in a rude
and barbarous age are rewarded by badges of distinction;
and those who sneer at the record of them here must bear
in mind that even in this boasted age, and in countries which
claim to be enlightened, the honors of knighthood and the
peerage are frequently bestowed upon no higher grounds.
Tme day has not yet fully arrived for the recognition of the
nobility of holiness and love. True, in these latter years we

David's Administration. 249
may have made some advancement toward it, but it is as yet
in Messiah's kingdom alone that distinction is conferred for
works of faith, and holiness, and love. This is the grand
foundation-difference between the typical kingdom of David
and that of Christ, which is its antetype ; and we must never
allow ourselves to lose sight of it while we are considering
either the one or the other. David's kingdom was founded
and maintained by military power, and it was fitting, therefore,
that its honors should be bestowed on martial heroes for
daring deeds upon the field of battle. Christ's kingdom is
founded on righteousness and love, and to those who cry to
him for honor he makes this reply, pointing to Gethsemane
and Calvary the while : "Are ye able to drink of the cup
that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with ?" But of this more anon.
We pass now to the civil administration of the son of
Jesse ; and here it will appear that he exerted himself most
earnestly to improve the courts of justice, the educational
institutions, the domestic comfort, and the commercial pros
perity of the country. He gave new vitality to the old tribal
arrangements ; for (as we learn from 1 Chronicles xxvii.),
he set thirteen princes over as many different districts.
What the judicial functions of these princes exactly were
does not appear, but probably they corresponded very near
ly to those of the lord lieutenants of counties in Great Brit
ain, with this difference, that they belonged, ex officio, to the
general council or senate of the nation, which was summon
ed on all occasions of emergency or importance. Thus,
when David formally handed over the crown to Solomon,
we read (1 Chronicles xxviii., 1) that he assembled all the
princes of Israel. Over and above these princes, he distrib
uted (1 Chronicles xxiii., 4) six thousand Levites over the
land as officers and judges. Of these nearly one-half were
settled among the tribes east ofthe Jordan, perhaps because,
n*

250 David, King of Israel.
from their distance from the seat of government, these tribes
were more in need of superintendence than the rest. They
were sent out, as we read, "for every matter pertaining to
God and the king ;" but it would be a mistake to suppose
that they had to do merely with judicial trials. The Le
vites generally were the health officers of the nation. They
would, therefore, look after all sanitary arrangements, and
take order that the minute injunctions of the Mosaic law in
this department were fully obeyed. They had to do, also,
with the healing art, and formed, in fact, a medical board
over the land ; while again, if we bear in mind that the peo
ple were by them to be made acquainted with the law of
their God, and that their sacred books were well-nigh the
only books at that time in existence among them, we may
not be far wrong in regarding these Levites, or a portion of
them, as set over the education of the community, and re
sponsible for the department of public instruction. In any
case, I think there is good warrant for the assertion of Dr.
Blaikie, when he says that "infinitely more was done for the
education and enlightenment of the people than was 'ever
attempted or dreamed of in any Eastern country. It is no
where said whether Samuel's schools received a special share
of attention ; but the deep interest David must have taken
in Samuel's plans, and his early acquaintance with their
blessed effects, leave little room to doubt that these institu
tions were carefully fostered, and owed to David a share of
that vitality which they continued to exhibit in the days of
Elijah and Elisha."* In addition to what this writer has ad
vanced, I would remark that the pre-eminence attained by
Solomon in all the branches of education is, to my mind, an
evidence of the advanced condition of the nation generally

* Blaikie's " David, King of Israel : the Divine Plan, and Lessons of
his Life," p. 201.

David's Administration. 251
in this department ; since, unless a good foundation of ele
mentary knowledge had been imparted to the youth of the
land as a whole, it is hardly possible to account for the ap
pearance of such a man as Solomon in that age. No doubt
he was endowed with preternatural wisdom. But this, as
is usual in the economy of Providence, would be ingrafted
upon a high degree of ordinary culture ; and the question
forces itself upon the historical student, Who were his tu
tors, and who taught them ? You do not find the loftiest
mountains rising isolatedly from the centre of some great
plain. The highest summits are never solitary peaks. They
belong usually to some great chain, and are merely the loft
iest elevations in a country, the general character of which
is mountainous ; and in the same way the greatest scholars
appear, not among an ignorant people, but among those who
have a high average of education, and in countries where a
good substratum of instruction is enjoyed even by the com
mon average of the community. The historian, Froude, has
put this thought admirably when he says, " No great general
ever arose out of a nation of cowards ; no great statesman
or philosopher out of a nation of fools ; no great artist out
of a nation of materialists ; no great dramatist, except when
the drama was the passion of the people. Greatness is nev
er more than the highest degree of an excellence which pre
vails widely round it, and forms the environment in which it
grows."* Now, if these views be correct, the rise of Solo
mon, who was so conspicuous for his intellectual culture and
scientific attainments, may be regarded as a proof that in the
reign of David, and more particularly, perhaps, in the zenith
of his administration, education was extensively diffused, and
earnestly fostered by him among the tribes.
But David did much, also, to promote the domestic com-
* " History of England," vol. i., p. 74.

252 David, King of Israel.
fort of the people. It was said of Augustus that he found
Rome brick, and that he left it marble ; and a similar testi
mony as to Paris was borne to the late Emperor of the
French, by all who knew that capital as it was before he so
transformed and beautified it. Something of the same kind
has to be said also of David. Up till his time, the inhabit
ants of Canaan dwelt in places which might perhaps be bet
ter called huts than houses. But when he took possession
of Jerusalem, he not only strengthened its fortifications, but
he also built the city of David, and, conspicuous therein, a
stately palace for himself; nay, he introduced from Tyre arti
ficers in wood, and brass, and stone, and so adorned his capi
tal that men could sing concerning it, " Beautiful for situa
tion, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides
of the north, the city of the great King." " Walk about Zion,
and go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark ye
well her bulwarks, consider her palaces ; that ye may tell it
to the generation following."
But besides the influence of all this on domestic architec
ture, not in Jerusalem alone, but over the whole country, the
prosecution of such labors tended largely to develop com
merce. The land over which he ruled was principally pas
toral and agricultural. It produced more food than the pop
ulation needed. But by the introduction of builders from
Tyre, and the importation of timber from Lebanon, there was
¦ furnished an outlet for their superfluous provisions, while the
general comfort of the people was advanced. This kind of
trade prepared the way for the farther development of com
merce under Solomon, whose ships went to India, and, as
there is reason to believe, also to China ; while it knit the
Hirams and their successors in close alliance to David and
his sons, and inaugurated an interchange of commercial com
modities between Jerusalem and Tyre, which we find in ex
istence even in the days of the Christian apostles.* Then
* See Acts xii., 20.

David's Administration. 253
again, on the principle of letting nothing be lost, David
seems to have put the waste lands under extensive culti
vation. He had, as we learn from 1 Chronicles xxvii., 25,
"storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages,
and in the castles ;" he had a regular staff of men who
did "the work of the field for the tillage of the ground."
He had superintendents over the vineyards and wine-
cellars, and over the olive and sycamore trees, together
with the oil which they produced. There were men over
the herds in Sharon and in the valleys of Shaphat, as well
as over the camels and asses. Thus, as Blaikie has re
marked, " Many a hill, under his able management, would
become encircled with vine - clad terraces, and many a
plain formerly abandoned to sterility would rejoice and
blossom as the rose. The king's example, too, spreading
to. smaller proprietors, now blessed with peace and freedom,
would effect a revolution in the agriculture of the land."*
Hence the military glory of David's life was not its highest
distinction, and we may warrantably enough regard him as
the inaugurator of an internal civil administration which,
for thoroughness and efficiency, surpassed every thing which
up to his day any country on the face of the earth, with the
single exception of Egypt, had enjoyed.
It is time, however, that we looked to the arrangements
which David made in ecclesiastical matters ; but before we
enumerate them, we must have a clear idea ofthe position in
which he stood. He was not merely the king. He was, at
the same time, a prophet as really as either Gad or Nathan ;
and as we saw, at the great festival of the bringing up of the
ark, he arrayed himself in the linen ephod of the priests, and
took part in the offering of sacrifice. Hence, while the ulti
mate reference ofthe 110th Psalm is undeniably to the Mes-

* Blaikie's " David, King of Israel : the Divine Plan, and Lessons of
his Life," p. 202.

254 David, King of Israel.
siah, its primary application may well enough have been to
David, who was in some sense a second Melchizedek — a
priest among kings, and a king among priests. It was, there
fore, by virtue of the union of these three offices in himself,
that he was entitled to take upon him the regulation of the
Tabernacle service, and the setting in order of those things
which in the days of Saul had been too generally neglected,
and allowed to fall into the greatest confusion. As we saw
before, the seat of the Tabernacle was at Nob, or perhaps (as
an incidental allusion in i Chronicles xvi., 39, would seem to
imply) at Gibeon ; but the ark, which was the glory of the
Tabernacle, was not there. That had been for a long time
at Kirjath-jearim ; but David brought it to Jerusalem, there
by making that city the ecclesiastical as well as judicial cen
tre of the land. He did not, however, suppress the services
at the Tabernacle, but left Zadok to superintend them, con
tinuing him as co-ordinate priest by the side of Abiathar,
and allowing the seat of the ancient Tabernacle to sink by
degrees into the obscurity which ultimately enveloped it.
While, however, he did not positively demolish the former
Tabernacle, he devoted special attention to the arrangement
of the services in the new sacred tent at Jerusalem. These,
of course, had to be performed by the priests and Levites.
The special functions of the former were to offer sacrifices,
to burn incense, and to change the shew-bread ; the peculiar
duties of the latter were to perform the lower office of attend
ing to the outward fabric, and, in general, to do all that was
required to make the public worship of God excellent in char
acter, decorous in arrangement, and reverent in spirit. But
the Levites had now so increased in numbers, and there were
so many belonging to the priestly family of Aaron, that it was
needful to make some orderly division of the work among
them. In seeking to meet this necessity, David adopted a plan

David's Administration. 255
similar to that which he had introduced into the army, and
arranged the priests into twenty-four courses, giving to each
its order by lot ; and we find that this arrangement contin
ued in the days of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.
"Each course served a week alternately, under a subordinate
prefect ; and in the time of Zacharias, at least, the duties of
each individual seem to have been determined by lot; but
all attended at the great festivals."* Of the Levites, who
numbered thirty-eight thousand men of thirty years old and
upward, six thousand were, as we have already seen, told off
as officers and judges, and allocated to different districts
over the land ; twenty-four thousand were appointed to set
forward the work of the Lord, and four thousand were por
ters ; while the remaining four thousand were appointed to
praise the Lord, with the accompaniment of instruments of
music. These, however, were not all ordinarily needed at
one and the same time, so he divided them also into courses,
of which we have a minute account in 1 Chronicles xxiii. ;
and there also we have the following most interesting record
of his motive in all this proceeding (verses 25-32): "For
David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his
people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever : and also
unto the Levites : they shall no more carry the tabernacle,
nor any vessels of it for the service thereof. For by the last
words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty
years old and above : because their office was to wait on the
sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in
the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all
holy things, and the work ofthe service ofthe house of God ;
both for the shew-bread, and for the fine flour for meat-of
fering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is
baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all
* Kitto's " Cyclopaedia," article Priest.

256 David, King of Israel.
manner of measure and size ; and to stand every morning.to
thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even ; and to
offer all burnt-sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in
the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according
to the order commanded unto them, continually before the
Lord : and that they should keep the charge of the taberna
cle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place,
and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the
service ofthe house ofthe Lord."
The arrangements for the musical part of the service
were particularly elaborate, and the twenty-fifth chapter of
1 Chronicles is devoted to their enumeration. The prime
leaders — the first three — were Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun;
and under these — each superintended by a son of one or oth
er of them, as the lot appointed — were twenty-four bands of
twelve each, who are described as " instructed in the songs
ofthe Lord, and cunning in them." Nay, more, there were,
besides these, three daughters of Heman, who, like their
brothers, were skilled in the psaltery, the cymbal, and the
harp. Under these twenty-four bands of twelve each, were
arranged twenty -four courses, taken by lot from the four
thousand. Thus, as a regular thing, only a twenty-fourth
part of these musicians would be about the Tabernacle serv
ice at one time ; but as they all came in alternate courses,
the efficiency of each course would be maintained ; so that on
great occasions — as, for example, at the annual national fes
tivals — when they were all engaged, the effect produced must
have been at once most artistic and overpowering.
Two things, however, have to be borne in mind about
these musical services. The first is that they were perform
ed in the open air. The court of the Tabernacle, as after
ward of the Temple, had no covering overhead. Hence the
high service of a Jewish festival-day would resemble nothing
so much as an oratorio in the open air, when the mingled

David's Administration. 257
harmony of human voices and instruments of music must
have filled the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and floated, in sub
dued and solemn tones, over the slopes of Olivet. The sec
ond thing about these services is, that only the Levites were
authorized to take part in them. Praise, as I have formerly
remarked, was regarded as a sacrifice to God, just as really
as the meat-offering and drink-offering, and only those who
belonged to the holy tribe of Levi were competent to offer
it. They presented it in the stead of the people, and as
their consecrated representatives. Now this vicarious char
acter of the Tabernacle praise is that which has been done
away in the Gospel Church ; for, through faith in Jesus
Christ, we are all priests and Levites, consecrated, by the
anointing of the Holy Ghost, for the offering of spiritual sac
rifices. Hence, says Peter, " Ye are a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the
praises of Him, who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light ;" and to the same effect the author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews has said, " By him, therefore, let us
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name." The little child may
join in the hymn now, as well as the trained singer, provided
only he have a loving and believing heart, and there is no
restriction of any part of worship in the Church of Christ to
any order or class of men in it. But if while praise was thus
vicarious, it was deemed of so much importance, and so much
attention was devoted to the attainment of excellence in it,
ought we to allow it to sink into a subordinate position, now
that it is the common privilege of all believers ? Why should
not all our Christian congregations become as skillful in the
rendering of " the songs of the Lord " as these four thou
sand Levites were ? Nay, may not every congregation be
instructed by the method of organization which David here
inaugurated ? What is to hinder us, for example, from di-

258 David, King of Israel.
viding ourselves as a church into twelve, or, say, twenty-four
musical courses, under appropriate leaders, each course in
rotation being responsible for the leading of psalmody for a
certain time, and all maintaining a constant aggregate week
ly practice, so that on the Lord's Day, as we gather together
here, we shall be just one well-trained and thoroughly organ
ized choir, raising such a chorus of jubilant praise as shall
be, in some degree, worthy of the priceless blessings for
which we give God thanks ? What is to hinder this ? again
I ask. We want, in the first place, some organizing David,
who shall consecrate himself to this work as thoroughly as
the King of Israel did of old. But we want even more than
that, the spirit of Levitical consecration in the heart of every
worshiper. Ah ! if we but remembered that, as Christians,
we are anointed by God's Spirit for his peculiar service, and
if we did only faintly realize that the praise of the sanctuary
was a portion of that service to which we have been thus set
apart, we should be more willing to give the time and atten
tion which are needful to qualify ourselves for it. We have
fallen into the grievous mistake of supposing that the music
of the sanctuary is for human ears, more than for the ear of
God ; and in seeking to please men by it, we have allowed
devotion almost to disappear from it. Nay, we have thereby
come even to displease men by it; for it is here, as in so
many other things, they who seek human appreciation and
applause as the main end invariably, in the long run, lose
that which they so desired ; while they, who think mainly
and especially of doing honor to God, do at the last receive
also the respect of men. When, in our praise, we can merge
all thought of self in the eager, earnest effort to please God';
when, feeling that we are singing to God, we try to give him
of our best ; then, also, the ears of men will be turned to
ward us, and the hymns of the service will, because they are
the sincere expression of our hearts, produce the most salu-

David's Administration. 259
tary impressions on those who hear them, and will be as
much a means of edification and conversion as the prayers
or the discourse. The life of the good man, who is thinking
only of serving God, has often been the means of converting
a soul ; and the song of a devout Christian, who has been
singing only to give expression to his own feelings, has not
unfrequently carried the truth to the soul of him who heard
it. When, therefore, we have such singing in our churches,
we shall hear people say, " I was converted by the singing
of such and such a hymn," just as often as we shall have
them saying, " I was awakened by such and such a sermon ;"
for, as the holy Herbert has said,
"A verse may find him who a sermon flies,
And turn delight into a sacrifice."
I have dwelt more largely on David's administration, mili
tary, civil, and ecclesiastical, than may appear to you to have
been either necessary or profitable ; but my apology must be,
that I wished in a single discourse to dispose of the whole
matter, so that we may not require to turn aside from other and
more important things to refer to it again. For the same
reason, let me in one sentence epitomize the victories of Da
vid as they are referred to in the eighth chapter of 2 Samuel.
They were over the Philistines, over the Moabites, over the
King of Zobah, in the direction ofthe river Euphrates, a cam
paign in which he encountered the Syrians, and took and
garrisoned Damascus. He likewise grappled with and over
came the Ammonites, because of a deliberate insult which
they offered to his ambassadors, whom he sent on a visit of
condolence to the king after the death of his father. He
also overcame the Amalekites, and took and garrisoned Edom.
To the war with the Ammonites we shall have occasion to
refer again, when we treat of the darkest spot in David's
history ; meanwhile let it be noted that the 60th Psalm

260 David, King of Israel.
was probably written during the war with Edom, when some
reverse had been sustained'; and perhaps we do not err if we
date the 20th Psalm at this warlike era of David's life. By
these victories he greatly extended the boundaries of the
land, while in Jerusalem he strengthened himself by gather
ing around him, as the members of his cabinet, the wisest and
most eminent men of the nation.
I close with two practical considerations suggested by this
whole subject.
Let us see here the intimate connection between religion,
and the intellectual enlightenment and social prosperity of a
nation. David was a man of God, eagerly anxious in all
things to know the Divine will and do it. He regarded his
position on the throne as a trust which had been given to him,
for the welfare of his people and for the glory of Jehovah ;
and the result of his conscientious endeavors to act up to
his responsibilities was that educational, social, and religious
regeneration which to-night we have been considering. But
this is no solitary instance. Similar results followed the re
ligious earnestness of Hezekiah and Josiah, in Old Testa
ment ages ; and in modern times, the nations which have
been blessed with Christian rulers have ever led the van in all
the nobler characteristics of civilization and prosperity. When
an African prince sent a courteous message to the Queen of
England, asking, " What is the secret of England's great
ness ?" she sent him. a copy ofthe sacred Scriptures, with the
reply, "This is the secret of England's greatness." And if
one should put a similar question in regard to this great re
public, he might be correctly answered in a similar manner ;
for the character of the Pilgrim Fathers, which was made by
their faith in the Bible, and their devotion to the Lord Jesus
Christ, has stamped itself indelibly on this Western land ; yea,
as it seems to me, in spite of certain recent occurrences, it is
to-day more conspicuous in the regulation of national affairs

David's Administration. 261
than ever. But much yet remains to be accomplished ; and
if we would have a prosperity worthy of the name, it must, as
in the case of Israel under David, be rooted in religion. It
may seem strange, indeed, that in a republic I should seek
to enforce this lesson from the character of a king in a mon
archy ; but when you regard it rightly, the practical point of
my remarks will only become the more sharp and incisive,
for here the sovereign,' is the people ; and so their charac
ter is even more intimately related to the country's prosperity
than is that of a king in a monarchy. They give the tone to
their representatives ; and as water can not rise above its
level, so the morality and patriotism of the members of our
Legislatures and Congress will not be above that of the peo
ple who elect them. If we wish to purge away all remaining
corruptions, and to take a place among the nations which
shall be at once pure and permanent, we must seek to bring
the sovereign people under the influence of the religion of
Jesus. This is the salt which will at once purify and pre
serve the State. Hence, while utterly repudiating all sympa
thy with what is called a national establishment of religion,
we ought as patriots, no less than as Christians, to seek to
have the people thoroughly Christianized. The Gospel is
the grand reformer. The home missionary on our frontier,
the city missionary in our streets and lanes, the humble
Christian worker in all departments of benevolent activity,
will do more, in the long run, to purify our legislatures than
any number of political agitators ; for while the latter are
seeking merely to destroy evils, the former are laboring to
form character, as that alone can be formed to holiness and
integrity, by trust in God and obedience to Jesus Christ. No
nation, monarchical or republican, has ever stood, unless it
has been founded on the moral excellence of the people.
The Roman republic became an easy prey to the ambitious
grasp of Qesar, when the virtues of its ancient worthies gave

262 David, King of Israel.
place to luxury, lasciviousness, and dishonesty ; and the re
peated failures of France in modern times to rise to the re
sponsibility of self-government have been due to the absence
among the people of those solid qualities which religion fos
ters, and the presence in the midst of them of every vilest sort
of abomination. Let us be instructed by such melancholy
instances, and improve the opportunity which God has given
us, by seeking to form the character of the people on the
basis of the Word of God. No law upon the statute-book,
no formal insertion ofthe name of Deity in the Constitution,
will make a nation Christian ; nothing can do that but the
Christianity of the people themselves ; and every man who is
laboring to make the masses Christian is in the highest and
the purest sense a patriot. Let each citizen-king be ani
mated with the public-spiritedness and deep religious fervor
which the Gospel produces ; and then " all nations shall call
us blessed, for we shall be a delightsome land."
Finally : let us take note of the principle on which the
honors of the kingdom of Christ are distributed, as distin
guished from that on which David proceeded, in the found
ing of his order of merit. The men whom he exalted were
warriors, who had done daring deeds upon the field of bat
tle. Of one it is told that "he slew eight hundred at one
time ;" of another it is said that " he smote the Philistines
until his hand was weary, and clave unto his sword ;" of an
other, that " he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and
slew them." Nor would I seek to disparage such deeds;
for when war becomes a necessity, as it sometimes does,
every man's heart glows with admiration of such dauntless
courage. But there is a nobler heroism even than that— the
heroism of love ; and this it is that Jesus evermore delights
to honor. To "drink of his cup," and to be "baptized with -his
baptism," is the road to this renown, and it is to be won, not
by destroying men's lives, but by saving them, if need be,

David's Administration. 263
even by the sacrifiae1 of our own. The field on which this
heroism is to be shown is that of daily life, and the insignia
of this knighthood — not withering and perishable like those
of earth, but enduring as immortality itself — may be gained
even by the lowliest follower of the Lamb. He who in his
own character shall approximate the nearest to the Lord,
he who, in his self-sacrificing devotion to the salvation of
men, shall come the closest to the death of Christ upon the
cross, shall be. the greatest; while the humble believer who
gives a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of a dis
ciple shall in no wise be forgotten. This is the law of the
kingdom, as sanctioned and illustrated by the example of
the King himself. " For He before whose sceptre
The nations rise or fall,
Who gives no least commandment
But come to pass it shall,
Said that he who would be greatest
Should be servant unto all.
" And in conflict with the evils
Which his bright creation mars,
Laid he not aside the sceptre
Which can reach to all the stars ?
Ofthe service which he rendered —
See on his hand the scars !"
Forth, then, my hearers, and seek this deathless honor.
You may find opportunities of winning it, at every corner of
the streets, in every home, in any place. Lift up the fallen ;
comfort the mourner ; relieve the destitute ; remember the
forgotten; nurse the sick; wipe the death-damp from the
brow of the sufferer in his last agony ; tell the ignorant of
Jesus, and sacrifice yourself, if need be, for the good of oth
ers. So shall you win a place in the peerage of the skies,
and obtain honorable mention among the worthies of the ce
lestial kingdom.

XV.
THE GREAT TRANSGRESSION.
2 Samuel xi., 27.
NOT without the deepest reluctance do I compel my
self to-night to make public allusion to the great blem
ish of David's career. Willingly would I have passed it over
in silence, or attempted, like Noah's sons, to go backward
and drop over it the mantle of concealment. But to have
done that would only have been to leave out of the Psalm
ist's history its most solemn lesson, while it would have ren
dered all but unintelligible to you the appalling calamities
that came upon him in his later days. Hence, I can see no
way of evading the consideration of this painful subject, and
my earnest prayer is that the God of purity may so guide
me that I shall speak only words of wisdom.
The details of the matter are so fully given in the narra
tive, that I need not enter upon them. I shall, therefore,
keeping our own spiritual profit in view, endeavor to set be
fore you the precursors of David's fall, the aggravations of
his sin, the penitence he manifested, the forgiveness he re
ceived, and the consequences which flowed from his iniquity.
Let us look, first, at the precursors of David's fall. You
never find in a man's history such a sin as this was, without
discovering that certain things have gone before which help
to explain its commission. You will generally discover that
a variety of circumstances combined to put him into a state
of heart which was, if I may so express it, just ready for re
ceiving and yielding to the temptation by which he was as
sailed. At another time the evil suggestion would have

The Great Transgression. 265
been at once repelled ; but then, in consequence of certain
foregoing things, he had so weakened himself, that he yield
ed almost without a struggle. This, at least, appears to have
been the case with David, and it may greatly help to stir us
up to watchfulness, if we can find out how such a man as he
undoubtedly was, came to fall so easy a prey to the great
Tempter. Now, in searching for an answer to this inquiry, let us note,
in the first place, that for a long course of years he had en
joyed, virtually, unbroken prosperity. Ever since he had
come to the throne of united Israel, things seem to have
gone well with him. He had hardly known what it was, as
a warrior, to suffer a defeat ; or, as a monarch, to endure un
popularity and the antagonism of his people. But all this
was highly dangerous to him ; for the influence of such an
experience, even on the best of men, is to weaken their spir
itual character, and make them more tolerant of evil both in
themselves and others. Like Moab, David during these
years had not been "emptied from vessel to vessel," and
so he had " settled upon his lees." " Because he had no
changes," his will became more feeble, his conscience weak
er, and his whole nature less sensitive to sin.
Again, let it be observed that this sad episode occurred
during a period of idleness. The army, with which he should
have been, was at Rabbah, seeking to consummate the de
struction of Ammon, which in a former campaign had been
begun ; " but David tarried still at Jerusalem." This was
hardly like the warrior-king. It seemed almost as if effemi
nacy was beginning in him, and he was preferring, for no
good reason which one can see, the luxury of the palace to
the hardship and peril ofthe camp. Besides this, in the ab
sence of his mighty men, he would be deprived of his usual
companions, and left very much to himself. Hence it is
natural to suppose that he was living, just then, an aimless,

266 David, King of Israel.
idle, and luxurious life, and was consequently peculiarly open
to the suggestions of the adversary. Satan tempts other
men ; but the idle man tempts Satan, and very soon the evil
one finds him something to do.
Once more let it be noted, that when at such a time Satan
comes to a man, he makes his appeal to that particular part
of his nature where passion is strongest and principle is
weakest. Now in David what that was might be very easily
discovered. From an early period of his career, he had been
especially susceptible in the very matter in which now he
fell. This is evident from his marriage of Abigail, and also
from the great latitude in which he allowed himself, after his
settlement in Jerusalem, in respect to his harem. Polyga
my, though not forbidden by the Mosaic law, was regulated
and discouraged ; but David proceeded as if it had been a
perfectly warrantable and legitimate thing, and this conduct
on his part undoubtedly tended to weaken his impression of
the sanctity of marriage. That sense of delicacy and chas
tity, which has such a purifying and preserving influence on
the life, could not flourish side by side with the polygamy in
which he permitted himself ; and so, though he thought not
of it at the time, his taking of many wives to himself pre
pared the way for the revolting iniquity which he committed.*
Here, then, in the moral weakness which constant prosper
ity had created, in the opportunity which idleness afforded
to temptation, and in the blunted sensibility which polygamy
had superinduced, we see how David was so easily overcome.
* It is a strong verification of this view of the case\ that, as indeed
Blaikie has remarked (" David, King of Israel : the Divine Plan, and
Lessons of his Life," p. 145), while, in the confession of the 51st Psalm,
" he specifies the sin of blood-guiltiness, and seems to have been over
whelmed with a sense of his meanness, injustice, and selfishness, there is
no special allusion to the sin of adultery, and no special indication of
that sin pressing heavy on his conscience."

The Great Transgression. 267
But let us turn now to look at the aggravations by which
this iniquity was accompanied. No one great sin ever stands
alone. Either other sins of less apparent enormity have led
up to it, or additional transgressions have been committed
for the purpose of concealing it from public view. This last
was true in the present instance ; for, after having unsuccess
fully attempted, in the meanest possible manner, to use Uri
ah himself for the purpose of hiding the consequences of
his iniquity, David wrote that diabolical letter to Joab, which,
though it was virtually Uriah's death-warrant, he asked the
victim to deliver with his own hand. Alas ! alas ! "how are
the mighty fallen !" Is this the man according to God's own
heart? The time was when, in tenderness of conscience, he
upbraided himself for cutting off the skirt of Saul's robe ;
but here he is compassing the destruction of one of the
bravest and most devoted of his own officers. One might
have thought that his very application to the cunning, treach
erous, and unscrupulous Joab might have roused the torpid
moral sense of David, for there was nothing in common be
tween them, at least so far as David's better nature was con
cerned ; but in the present instance, it was Joab's very wick
edness that commended him to the king as the most fitting
instrument for carrying out his infamous design. Nay, per
haps the fact that Joab was there may have suggested to
him this particular method of getting rid of the Hittite, for
"oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds
done ;" and so it may well have been that David is reaping
here the pestilential fruits of his sparing Joab, when justice
demanded his execution for the murder of Abner. In any
case, here is David, whom God had honored and blessed,
who had every thing that was necessary to comfort and hap
piness, and who had reached a time of life when he could no
longer plead either the inexperience or the passion of youth,
betrayed into all this terrible wickedness. The sin which

268 David, King of Israel.
was committed in the moment of passion prepares the way
for the premeditated villainy of murder ; for murder the
slaughter of Uriah was, just as really as if David himself
had stabbed him under the fifth rib. " Lord, what is man ?"
If this be true, who among us is safe if he should remit his
watchfulness for but a single hour ?
But it may be asked, How can you account for such enor
mous iniquity in such a man as we have seen that David
was ? To this I answer, that we may explain it by the ab
sence for the time being of that restraining influence which
his better nature was wont to exercise over his life. Passion
had dethroned conscience; and then, owing to the intensity
of his character, and the general greatness of the man, his
sins became as much blacker than those of others as his
good qualities were greater than theirs. In ever}' good man.
there are still two natures striving for the mastery. "The
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the
flesh." The new nature is generally in the ascendant, but
sometimes the old evil nature will re-assert its supremacy,
and the effect of this temporary revolution will be deter
mined by the temperament and characteristics of the indi
vidual. Now there are some men in whom every thing is
on a large scale. When their good nature is uppermost,
they overtop all others in holiness ; but if, unhappily, they
should be thrown off their guard, and the old man should
gain the mastery, some dreadful wickedness may be expect
ed. This is all the more likely to be the case if the quality
of intensity be added to their greatness ; for a man with
such a temperament is never any thing by half. But it was
just thus with David. He was a man of great intensity and
pre-eminent energy. He was in every respect above ordi
nary men ; and so when, for the time, the fleshly nature was
the stronger within him, the sins which he committed were
as much greater than those of common men, as in other cir-

The Great Transgression. 269
cumstances his excellencies were nobler than theirs. We
often make great mistakes in judging of the characters of
others, because we ignore all these considerations ; and
many well-conducted persons among us get great credit for
their good moral character, while the truth is that they are
blameless not so much because they have higher-toned prin
ciple than others, as because they have feeble, timid natures,
that are too cautious or too weak to let them go very far
either into holiness or into sin. But David was not one
of these. Every thing about him was intense ; and hence,
when he sinned, he did it in such a way as to make well-
nigh the most hardened shudder. In all this, observe, I am
not extenuating David's guilt. It is one thing to explain, it
is another thing to excuse. A man of David's nature ought
to be more peculiarly on his guard than other men. The
express train, dashing along at furious speed, will do more
mischief if it runs off the line than the slow-going horse-car
in our city streets. Every one understands that ; but every
one demands, in consequence, that the driver of the one
shall be proportionately more watchful than that of the oth
er. Now with such a nature as David had, and knew that
he had, he ought to have been supremely on his guard, while
again the privileges which he had received from God render
ed it both easy and practicable for him to be vigilant. To
sum up all, then, taking David's nature as it is here set be
fore us, I can perfectly well understand how, when he sin
ned, he sinned so terribly ; while having regard to his privi
leges and position, his sin appears to be utterly inexcusable.
Nothing can be said either in its vindication or extenuation.
From first to last, it illustrates the climax ofthe apostle ; and
as we trace its course we call it " earthly, sensual, devilish."
May the analysis of it at this time lead us to keep a good
outlook, so that we may not go down upon the rocks on
which he struck.

270 David, King of Israel.
But now let us look briefly at his penitence. This was a
long time in making its appearance. For at least a year, if
not more, David carried on his conscience, unconfessed and
unforgiven, the burden of these heinous iniquities. During
that time Uriah had been slain ; he had added Bath-sheba
to the number of his wives ; the child of guilt and shame
had been born ; and yet there was no token of sorrow or re
gret about the king ; nay, perhaps, during that time he had
even continued the formal observance of God's worship, both
in the sacred tent and in his household ; but there was no
acknowledgment of his transgression. It must not be sup
posed, however, that he was quite happy. On the contrary,
he must have been ill at ease, and there are not wanting in
dications that he was really miserable; for the campaign
against Rabbah, of which we have the record in the twelfth
chapter of 2 Samuel, must be held as having occurred before
Nathan's visit to him ; and in his conduct in connection with
that siege there are evidences that there was some irritating
thing within him which disturbed his usual magnanimity of
disposition. Thus, in ordinary circumstances, when he re
ceived the message of Joab, asking him to come and take
the city in person, the chivalrous spirit of the king would
have prompted him to say that he who had so efficiently
conducted the expedition thus far should not be robbed by
him of the honor of bringing it to a successful issue ; but as
it was, the enterprise promised him an opportunity for a time
of escaping from himself, and he probably went thither in
the maddest of all attempts, that, namely, of outrunning a
guilty conscience. Then, in his treatment of the fallen foe,
we trace the haughty and vindictive spirit of one who was
suffering from some hidden remorse. Nothing will make
the temper so sour, or the heart so cruel, as a conscience .ill
at ease ; hence, when we read that he put the people un
der saws and underharrows of iron, and made them to pass

The Great Transgression. 271
through the brick-kiln, we instinctively understand that the
inner gnawing of remorse had made him for the time dead
to the promptings of generosity, and disposed him to the
commission of the most capricious cruelty. But this condi
tion of heart was not to be perpetual. "The thing that Da
vid had done displeased the Lord;" and just because, in
spite of all he had done, he was one of the Lord's own, he
must be brought to a better mind. This was accomplished
by the visit of Nathan, and the bold, manly application which
he made to the king himself of the exquisite parable of the
ewe lamb. On that parable we dare hardly presume to offer
a remark. It is so finished in its beauty, so admirable in its
construction, so perfect in its adaptation to the end which
the divine messenger had in view, as to stand out incompa
rably the finest thing of its kind which the Old Testament
contains. We can picture to ourselves the interview. Na
than, passing through the palace of cedar, leaves warriors
and statesmen in the outer chamber, and, with a heart heavy
with the burden of the Lord, enters the royal closet. He
tells his touching story with simple pathos, his voice, may
hap, quivering with emotion, as he says, " It grew up togeth
er with him, and with his children ; it did eat of his own
meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and
was unto him as a daughter." Then, with an eye flashing
with, honest indignation, he speaks ofthe rich man's unfeel
ing covetousness and cruelty ; and ere he has well ceased,
the king, in the impatience of his anger, exclaims, "As the
Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die : and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did
this thing, and because he had no pity." Then, with the
faithful directness of a man of God, the prophet makes reply,
" Thou art the man." In a moment David sees all that he
had done ; and as one article after 'another of Nathan's sol
emn indictment falls upon his ear, he acknowledges the

272 David, King of Israel.
truth of each, until, humbled to the very dust, he cries, in se
verest agony, " I have sinned against the Lord."
It may seem to some, that a penitence thus suddenly pro
duced could be neither very deep nor very thorough. But
to those who think thus, three things must be said.
First : an impression may be produced in a moment which
will remain indelible. We have heard, for example, of one
who, as he was traveling in an Alpine region at midnight,
saw for an instant, by the brilliancy of a flash of lightning,
that he was in such a position that another step would have
been over a fearful precipice, and the effect upon him was
that he started back and waited for the morning dawn.
Now such a flash of lightning into the darkness of David's
soul, this " Thou art the man," of Nathan's, was to him. It
revealed to him, by its momentary brilliance, the full aggra
vation of his iniquity. He did not need or desire a second
sight of it. That was enough to stir him up to hatred of his
sin, and of himself.
But, second : we must, in connection with this narrative,
read the Psalms to which David's penitence gave birth, name
ly, the 51st and the 32d ; and if these are not the genuine
utterances of a passionate sincerity, where shall we find that
quality in any literature ? Admirably has Chandler said of
the 51st Psalm : " The heart appears in every line ; and the
bitter anguish of a wounded conscience discovers itself by
the most natural and convincing symbols. Let but the
Psalm be read without prejudice, and with a view only to col
lect the real sentiments expressed in it, and the disposition
of heart that appears throughout the whole of it, and no
man of candor, I am confident, will ever suspect that it was
the dictate of hypocrisy, or could be penned from any other
motive but a strong conviction of the heinousness of his of
fense, and the earnest desire of God's forgiveness, and being
restrained from the commission of the like transgressions for

The Great Transgression. 273
the future."* But lest the testimony of this author should
be accounted as partial, let me put before you another of a
different sort. Voltaire once attempted to burlesque this
Psalm, and what was the result ? While carefully perusing
it, that he might familiarize himself with the train of senti
ment which he designed to caricature, he became so op
pressed and overawed by its solemn devotional tone, that he
threw down the pen and fell back half senseless on his
couch, in an agony of remorse. This is told as an un
doubted fact by Dr. Leander Van Ess. Hence we can not
but admit the depth and fervor of the penitence out of which
such a prayer arose; and though the 32c! Psalm is more ju
bilant in its tone, as referring to forgiveness in actual posses
sion, the very gladness which it expresses is a witness to the
sadness for sin which had gone before.
Furthermore, as another evidence of the genuineness of
David's repentance, we point to the words of Nathan, " The
Lord also hath put away thy sin," and ask if the prophet, as
Jehovah's representative, would have said any thing like that,
if the penitence of David had been insincere." On the whole,
therefore, while we mourn over the grievous iniquity of which
David was guilty, let us be thankful that we have, along with
the record of his sin, the account of his repentance — a re
pentance, let us say, as much more intense than that of ordi
nary men as his sin was more heinous. There was no at
tempt at self-vindication ; there was no plea in palliation ;
there was nothing but the frank confession, " I acknowledge
my transgression ;" " I have sinned ;" "My sin is ever before
me." Nor was it the shame of his iniquity before men, or
the fear of the punishment which he had incurred, that dis
tressed him. His deepest anguish was that he had displeased
the Lord : "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and clone
* Chandler's " Life of David," p. 427.
T O*

274 David, King of Israel.
this evil in thy sight." This was the burden of his confes
sion, and the earnest longing of his soul was expressed in
these words : " Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation."
It were well that these considerations were more frequently
remembered. Many make a mock at David's sin, who say
nothing of his repentance. It is enough for them to read in
one place that he was the man according to God's own heart,
and in another that he committed these great sins, and forth
with they turn the battery of their scorn on the religion of
the Bible. But all such procedure is unreasonable. David
did not sin because he was the man according to God's own
heart, but in spiteof his being so ; while if he had not been
in the main a godly man he would have remained in his sin,
and would have taken no step of any sort to acknowledge
his guilt, or to raise himself from the degradation into which
he had fallen. What, really, is the distinction between the
people of God and the wicked on the earth ? Is it that the
one class commit no sins, while the other fall into iniquity ?
No ; the godly man does sin. No one will be more ready
to acknowledge that than himself. The difference, therefore,
is not there. It lies in this : that when the child of God falls
into sin, he rises out of it and leaves it, and cries to God for
pardon, purity, and help ; but when the ungodly man falls
into sin, he continues in it, and delights in it, as does the sow
in her wallowing in the mire. It is a poor, shallow philoso
phy, therefore, that sneers at such a history as this of David ;
nay, it is worse even than that : it is the very spirit of Sa
tan, rejoicing, as it does, in the iniquity of others. On this
point, however, I gladly avail myself of the language of a
living writer, not usually considered to have any very strong
bias in favor of the Scriptural views of men and things — I
mean Thomas Carlyle. "Faults!" says this author, in his
" Lecture on the Hero as Prophet ;" " the greatest of faults, I
should say, is to be conscious of none. Readers of the Bi-

The Great Transgression. 275
ble, above all, one would think, might know better. Who is
called there the man according to God's own heart ? David
the Hebrew king, had fallen into sins enough ; blackest
crimes ; there was no want of sins. And thereupon unbe
lievers sneer and ask, 'Is this your man according to God's
heart?' The sneer, I must say, seems to me but a shallow
one. What are faults ? what are the outward details of a
life, if the inner secret of it— the remorse, temptations, true,
often-baffled, never-ending struggle of it— be forgotten ? ' It
is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.' Of all acts,
is not, for a man, repentance the most divine? The deadli
est sin, I say, were that same supercilious consciousness of
no sin. That is death. The heart so conscious is divorced
from sincerity, humility, and fact— is dead. It is pure, as
dead, dry sand is pure. David's life and history, as written
for us in those Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest em
blem ever given of a man's moral progress and warfare here
below. All earnest souls will ever discern in it the faithful
struggle of an earnest human soul toward what is good and
best. Struggle often baffled sore, baffled down into entire
wreck, yet a struggle never ended; ever with tears, repent
ance, true, unconquerable purpose begun anew. Poor hu
man nature ! Is not a man's. walking in truth always that —
' a succession of falls ?' Man can do no other. In this wild
element of a life, he has to struggle upward : now fallen, now
abased ; and ever with tears, repentance, and bleeding heart,
he has to rise again, struggle again, still onward. That his
struggle be a faithful, unconquerable one, that is the question
of questions."
We have now to look, very briefly, at the consequences of
this trespass, as they developed themselves in David's after-
history and that of his family. One sin destroyeth much
good, and terrible evils sprung out of this iniquity. True,
David received forgiveness, but forgiveness does not arrest

276 David, King of Israel.
the consequences of the deeds which we have committed.
It does not prevent the operation of the natural law where
by sin works ever toward misery and retribution. It re
stricts the punishment of iniquity, in the case of the forgiven
one, to the present life ; but within that limit the conse
quences of sin, even to a child of God, as David was, are oft
en very dreadful. What a series of tragedies is comprised
in the history of David, from this point on till his death ! all
of them, too, more or less immediately connected with this
sin. First, there is the death of Bath-sheba's child; then
there comes back upon him, in an intenser form, his own
wickedness, as we see his guilt repeated in the sin of Am
non, and his murder by the hand of Absalom ; then there is
the rebellion of Absalom, which never could have gained
any headway in the land without the adherence to it of
Ahithophel; and he, as I shall hope to. show you afterward,
was the grandfather of Bath-sheba ; so that the very strength
of the revolt, which so nearly hurled David from his throne,
came as a direct result of the wickedness which to-night we
have been considering ; then there was the death of Absa
lom, inflicted by Joab, who, from this point on, becomes more
arrogant and overbearing than ever, because he is conscious
that, in the possession of the secret of the manner of Uriah's
.death, he has his sovereign thoroughly in his power ; then,
last of all, there came another revolt to disturb the peaceful-
ness of David's death-bed, and to give a sad significance to
his latest words, "Though my house be not so with God."
Most awfully were Nathan's words fulfilled : " Now, there
fore, the sword shall not depart from thine house." These
are the sheaves of that harvest of sorrow which David reap
ed from the field whereon he sowed "to the flesh." But
sadder even than these desolating things is the change
which, from this point, we observe in David himself. Hence
forth he is no longer the man he was. He goes about

The Great Transgression. 277
crushed in spirit, humiliated before his people, and degraded
even in his own estimation. The nobler features of his char
acter seem to have become- eclipsed ; and infirmities of tem
per, weakness of will, and even dimness of judgment, begin
to appear. The spring of his life seems to have gone. The
elasticity and bound of his character are seen no more. He
trusts, indeed, in God to the last, but it is not with the joyful
confidence of one who is rich in the consciousness of his fa
ther's complacency, but rather with the dull and heavy grasp
of one who knows that he has deeply wounded his father's
heart. "Alas ! for him," says Kitto, " the bird which once
rose to heights unattained before by mortal wing, filling the
air with its joyful songs, now lies, with maimed wing, upon
the ground, pouring forth its doleful cries to God."*
We can not read such a history as that which we have
been considering to-night, without remarking on the honesty
of the biographies which the Word of God contains. The
sacred writers draw no veil over the errors and imperfections
of those whom they describe. They tell of the falsehood of
Abraham ; the cunning selfishness of Jacob ; the petulant
hastiness of Moses ; the weakness of Aaron ; the vacillation
of Peter ; and the sharp contention between Paul and Bar
nabas, with the same unvarnished truthfulness as they de
scribe the excellences for which these great men were re
markable ; and the same historian who records that David
was called the "man according to God's own heart," relates
also this terrible story of wickedness; while, at the same time,
there is no attempt at extenuation or excuse. Have we not
in all this a corroboration of the inspiration of the sacred
penman ? And when, as in the instance of our Lord Jesus
Christ, they set before us a pure and perfect life, with as lit
tle attempt at elaboration, and as little effort at exaggeration
* "Daily Bible Illustrations," vol. iii., p. 431.

278 David, King of Israel.
as there is of apology in the case before us, may we not con
clude that in both they are painting simply and only from
reality? There was only one man who could be described
as "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners,"
and He was more than man. " Cease ye from man, whose
breath is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be accounted
of?" This is the exclamation which rises from our lips, as
we ponder over this biography. " The best of men are but
men at the best," and need equally with others to be wash
ed in the fountain which has been opened for sin and for
uncleanness. But we must not overlook the practical purpose which
the record of the sins of good men was designed to serve.
"Whatsoever was written aforetime was written for our
learning ;" and even the dullest scholar can be at no loss to
discover the moral of such a history as that of David's fall.
It bids us be continually on our guard, lest we enter into
temptation ; for if even a David fell so-fearfully, who among
us can be secure? Here was a man of pre-eminent ability,
of great piety, and of extensive usefulness, and yet he was
guilty of most revolting sin. Surely the practical inference
is, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall." No station in society, no eminence in the church, no
excellence in character, no mere inspiration of genius, can
keep a man from sin ; nay, not even the gift of divine inspi
ration can preserve its possessor from a fall. Nothing can
do that but the grace of God working in him through prayer,
and persevering watchfulness. I say persevering watchful
ness, for our vigilance must be continued so long as life on
earth shall last.
We often speak of youth as the most dangerous time of
life ; and indeed, when one has regard to the new nature
which begins to assert itself in the opening years of man
hood ; to the inexperience with which those who are at that

The Great Transgression. 279
stage of existence are characterized ; and to the self-suffi
ciency by which, for the most part, they are distinguished, it
would be difficult to exaggerate the dangers which, especially
in our great cities, beset the years of youth. But that is not
the only dangerous time. It might often seem as if we be
lieved that it was ; and for a hundred lectures addressed to
young men, there is hardly one delivered to those in middle
life, or who are verging toward the period of old age. Yet,
if we take the Word of God for our guide, it would almost
appear as if these latter stages of existence were more trying
and dangerous even than that of youth. This at least is
true, that the saddest moral catastrophes of which the Bible
tells occurred in the history of men who were no longer
young. Noah and Lot were far from youth when they fell
before the influence of strong drink ; and Demas was not by
any means a " novice " when he forsook Paul, " having loved
this present world." So David here was past the mid-time
of his days when he committed these great transgressions.
Moreover, against these instances we have those of Joseph,
of Moses, and of Daniel, who in the opening time of life stood
true to duty and to God. I say not these things, however, to
make young men less watchful, but to make men in middle
life, and all through life, continue vigilant. So long as we
are in the world, we are in an enemy's country ; and if we
are not particularly on our guard, we shall be sure to suffer.
The world is full of defilement ; and in passing through it we
must gather our garments tightly round us, if we would keep
ourselves unspotted from it. Even Paul could say that he
" kept his body under, bringing it into subjection, lest that by
any means, having preached to others, he should be a cast
away;" and if all this self-control and vigilance was necessa
ry for him, how much more for us ! Watch, therefore, lest ye
enter into temptation. Give no parley to the tempter. Make
a covenant with your eyes, that they will not look upon in-

280 David, King of Israel.
iquity, and realizing at all times the peril in which you stand,
clothe yourselves in the panoply of God. But watching alone
will not suffice. " Watch and pray," the Saviour said ; not
watch, and then pray ; not pray, and then watch ; but watch
and pray at once. While the eye is eagerly searching out the
danger, let the heart at the same time be sending up the
earnest supplication, " Hold thou up my goings in thy path,
that my footsteps slip not." Thus shall we be kept in safe
ty, until at length we enter into that land where our purity
and our reward shall be alike indestructible.
But while David's sin forbids any saint to presume on his
infallibility, his reception by God, when he returned to him
in penitence, equally forbids any backslider to despair. If
after such iniquity he was so graciously received, and had
from Nathan the assurance that " the Lord had put away his
sin," surely any one may return, and find forgiveness from
the Lord. Is there any one here to-night who is carrying on
his conscience the load of unforgiven sin ? He may be look
ing back to the time when, in his father's home, he bent his
knees in prayer to God ; or to the days when, in the Sunday-
school, he loved to labor among the children for Christ ; or
to the years wherein he used to enjoy sweet seasons of com
munion at the table of the Lord ; and as in thought he con
trasts these with the depths to which he has fallen, he may
be tempted to say, " There is no hope for me ; I have been
too ungrateful and abandoned to be forgiven." Let such an
one hear the voice that comes to-night from David's history,
saying to him, " Return !" " Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon." Let him ponder well
the 51st Psalm, pouring his own soul into its confessions and
petitions, and soon light will break in upon his soul, like the
sunbeam from behind a cloud, and he will be made to sing

The Great Transgression. 281
the joyful strain with which the 32CI Psalm opens. " Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not in
iquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Thus, though
the fall of David has undeniably caused many to blaspheme,
it may prove a warning to many, so that they shall stand up
right, and may save from the depths of utter despair those
who remember that, aggravated as his guilt was, he was re
ceived back into the favor of God when he cried to him in
penitential sincerity for forgiving mercy.
Finally : we can not but note " what an evil thing and a
bitter it is to forsake the Lord." Recall for a moment to
your recollection the consequences of David's sins. Behold
how, by reproducing themselves in darker and intenser forms,
these iniquities of his returned upon his head. He caused
the death of Uriah, and the sword departed not from his
house all his after-days ; he was guilty of impurity, and his
son Amnon bettered the example which his father set : he
committed murder ; Absalom committed fratricide : he rebel
led against the Lord; Absalom rebelled against himself; and
all this, though the sins themselves were forgiven. But if
this were the case with pardoned iniquities, what must it be
with those which are unforgiven ? If this were the retribu
tion of the present life, what must be that of the life that
is to come, to those who have felt no penitence, and asked
no mercy ? Oh, my friends, will you continue to live in such
a way as to draw down eternal misery upon your heads?
Do not, I beseech you, that abominable thing which God
hates. Come now, if you have never come before, and seek
for pardon and regeneration through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let the time past of your lives be sufficient " to have wrought
the will of the flesh." Begin now to live for God. " Be it
known unto you, men and brethren, that through Jesus Christ
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins ; but beware,

282 David, King of Israel.
lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets.:
' Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish ; for I work a
work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe,
though a man declare it unto you.' " " Knowing the terror
of the Lord," we would persuade you now to embrace the
salvation which he has provided. Why will ye rush upon
destruction, with this great deliverance in your offer?

XVI.
THE BEREA VEMENT.
2 Samuel xii., 15-23.
THE penal consequences of David's sin took the form
of family trials and national troubles, and were of such
a nature as to wring his heart with the severest anguish, not
only by their own bitterness, but also, and perhaps especial
ly, by the vividness with which they brought back upon his
conscience the remembrance of his own iniquity. To-night
we shall restrict ourselves to the first of his domestic sor
rows, and seek to draw from its consideration such lessons
as shall prove both wholesome and instructive.
After his pointed and impressive exhortation to the king,
and his parting words of tender consolation, conveying in
them the assurance of the Divine forgiveness, Nathan with
drew from the palace. He had performed a difficult and
delicate duty with signal wisdom ; he had succeeded in
arousing the conscience of David without forfeiting his
friendship ; he had been able, in a spirit of love to the mon
arch,' to preserve his fidelity to the monarch's God; and
now, with a heart heaving with an emotion that resembled
the after-swell which a storm always leaves behind, he re
tired, we may believe, to pray to his heavenly Master for the
poor spirit-stricken penitent whom he had left in such dis
tress. To the same God, we may be sure, David himself
repaired ; and perhaps it was just then, in the first access of
his deep self-abasement and shame, that he wrote that Psalm
which has come weeping down through the centuries, and
been in them all the liturgy of repenting sinners. Begin-

284 David, King of Israel.
ning with a cry for mercy, he makes the most unqualified
acknowledgment of his sin ; and realizing more than he
had ever done before the deep depravity of heart which his
transgression revealed, he makes this earnest request, " Cre
ate in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit
within me." He longs for a restoration ofthe joy of salva
tion, and at last, as if his prayer had been already answer
ed, he concludes with a strain of chastened joy, which seems
to me like the sunshine streaming through the departing
shower, and forming to the eye the many-colored bow of an
cient promise.
In this spirit, probably, David came forth from his closet
with deep humility indeed, yet with the fond anticipation of
coming brightness. But not long was he permitted to be at
rest. Nathan's last words to him had a forecast of evil, as
well as an assurance of pardon. Here they are: "The Lord
also hath put away thy sin ; thou shalt not die. Howbeit,
because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the
enemies ofthe Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born
unto thee shall surely die." Speedily was this prediction ful
filled. "The Lord struck the child." Not that there was any
miracle here ; but with startling suddenness some one of
those ailments to which little ones are so liable came upon
him, and he was very sick. Tender-hearted to a fault, and
dotingly fond at all times of his children, David was greatly
distressed by this event. The light which had begun to play
upon his countenance disappeared, and he was filled with the
deepest grief. Nor is it difficult to account for this. The
sufferings of an infant are always most saddening to witness.
The helpless look ofthe little patient; the pitiful wail; the
labored breathing; the constant restlessness; all combine
to make the spectacle of its anguish most affecting to any
beholder : how much more to those who call him their own ?
Nor is this all. In the case of little children, we are well-

The Bereavement.

285

nigh powerless to relieve them. They can not tell us how
they feel. We are largely in the dark as to the meaning of
the symptoms that appear ; and medical science, always a
matter of considerable uncertainty, is peculiarly experiment
al in infantile diseases. Hence the agony of a parent beside
a dying infant's cot. Each pleading look of the upturned
eye goes like a dart to the mother's heart, while the con
vulsive start or tremor sends a thrill of anguish through the
father's frame. But over and above these natural and or
dinary causes of sorrow for an infant's sufferings, there were
in David's case certain peculiar ingredients of bitterness.
Nathan had specially connected all the pangs of his child
with his own sin. It is a mystery that any infant, innocent
as it is of actual transgression, should suffer at all ; and some
times the dark shadow which that mystery projects may in
crease the sadness of the afflicted parent. But in David's
case, whatever mystery there might be about the question
why the child was made to suffer for his guilt, there was
none about the fact. Nathan had made that perfectly plain
to him. Hence every quiver of pain the infant gave would
be a new needle-point thrust into his own conscience, sting
ing him with sharpest remorse. For seven days this illness
lasted, and David betook himself to his old solace : he pray
ed to God ; yea, he " fasted, and went in, and lay all night
upon the earth." We like to read these words, for they tell
us that David, though an erring son of God, was yet a son.
A godless man would have been driven farther from Jehovah
by these troubles, and might have been led to make procla
mation of his utter atheism; but David went to God. The
more heavily he felt the rod, the nearer he crept to him who
used it. He fled from God to God. He hid himself from God
in God. This shows that his sin was out of the usual course
of his nature. It was like the deflection ofthe needle, due to
certain causes, which at the time he permitted to have influ-

286 David, King of Israel.
ence over him ; but, these causes removed, his old polarity
of soul returned, and in his time of trouble he called on Je
hovah. This was his habit. Repeatedly in his Psalms has
he employed language which clearly indicates that God was
regarded by him as a strong rock, whereunto, in time of trial,
he continually resorted. Thus we have him saying, on one
occasion, of his enemies : " For my love they are my adver
saries : but I give myself unto prayer ;" and again, " From
the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is
overwhelmed : lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
It does not seem that any one of his Psalms was com
posed on this occasion, yet there are in some of them strains
which might well enough have arisen from the recollection
of his experiences in connection with this infant's death.
Such, for example, are these : " O Lord, rebuke me not in thine
anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure! Have
mercy upon me, O Lord ; for I am weak. O Lord, heal
me ; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed :
but thou, O Lord, how long ? Return, O Lord, deliver my
soul : oh ! save me for thy mercies' sake."* But not for him
self alone did he thus make supplication. He besought God
for the child. Here is a great boldness of faith and of
request, which startles us almost by its importunity. Had
not Nathan said the child should surely die ? yet here David
pleads for his life, saying, " Who can tell whether God will be
gracious to me, that the child may live ?" Why is this ? Was
it because David did not believe Nathan's words ? No, but
because he had unbounded faith in the efficacy of prayer ;
and though in the present instance the specific object which
he asked was denied him, we must not suppose that it was so
because his prayer was displeasing to God; for just a simi
lar prayer offered by Hezekiah, after his death was solemnly
* Psa. vi., 1-4.

The Bereavement. 287
foretold by Isaiah, was the means of lengthening out his clays
by fifteen years. So, too, after Jonah's unqualified procla
mation of Nineveh's destruction, the inhabitants rose and be
took themselves to prayer, saying, just like David here, "Who
can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his
fierce anger, that we perish not ?" and their cry was heard.
Hence we dare not say that David was wrong in making this
request. And we can only marvel at the faith and child-like
regard for God which the making of it evinced. Modern
men of science make great difficulty about offering prayer,
the granting of which seems to go against the physical laws
of God's universe. But these ancient suppliants felt no such
difficulty. They were not afraid even to pray against the
coming of that .which God had affirmed would come. Not
even moral difficulties stood in their way. And they were
right, for there is always this "Who can tell ;" and there is,
besides, in God the fatherly heart to which no real son of his
can ever make appeal entirely in vain.
The child died, and the servants of the king, with a real
delicacy of heart, and with genuine consideration for his feel
ings, were afraid to tell him that all was over. But they
need not have been so timid ; for, though exceedingly honor
able to them, the fear, lest the knowledge ofthe child's death
should thoroughly unman the king, proceeded from ignorance
of his true character. He knew that in the case of an infant,
when death comes, the time for fasting and grieving is over,
and so he arose and washed, and anointed himself, and went
into the house of God and worshiped; "then he came to his
own house ; and when he required, they set bread before him,
and he did eat." Astonished at his behavior, his servants
asked for an explanation. He gave this noble answer, evi
dencing at once the strength of his character and the firm
ness of his faith in the future life : " While the child was yet
alive, I fasted and wept : for I said, Who can tell whether

288 David, King of Israel.
God will be gracious to me, that the child may live ? But
now he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? can I bring him
back again ? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to
me." Here was true resignation. Here was strong faith.
Here was a holy and a glorious hope — alike for the living
and the dead — and in the assurance of future and eternal
reunion before the throne he was comforted.
For when the royal mourner says, " I shall go to him,"
we must not so empty his words of all meaning as to sup
pose that he refers simply to the grave. What comfort was
there in the mere idea of having his body laid beside the
dust of his infant? That was not a "going to him" in any
sense that could give the least satisfaction to his afflicted
heart. Hence his language implies far more than that, and
intimates that he had a firm conviction of his child's con
tinued existence and present happiness ; while at the same
time he cherished for himself the hope of entering in due
season into the enjoyment of similar felicity. David's resig
nation, therefore, was not a mere stoical submission to the
inevitable, still less was it a stolid insensibility ; but it was
the result of his persuasion of the happiness of his depart
ed child, and of his humble hope of joining him therein.
Like Paul Gerhardt, the prince of German hymnologists, he
might have sung :
" Oh that I could but watch afar,
And hearken but a while
To that sweet song that hath no jar,
And see his heavenly smile,
As he doth praise the holy God
Who made him pure for that abode ;
In tears of joy full well I know
This burdened heart would overflow !
"And I should say, Stay there, my son,
My wild laments are o'er ;

The Bereavement. 289
Oh well for thee that thou hast won :
I call thee back no more !
But come, thou fiery chariot, come,
And bear me swiftly to that home
Where he with many a loved one dwells,
And evermore of gladness tells.
" Then be it as my Father wills,
I will not weep for thee :
Thou livest, joy thy spirit fills,
Pure sunshine thou dost see —
The sunshine of eternal rest :
Abide, my son, where thou art blest :
I with our friends will onward fare,
And, when God wills, shall find thee there."
I can not pass from this subject without endeavoring, while
our interest is still fresh in it, to embody its practical teach
ing in a few particulars. Notice, then, in the first place, that
the illness and death of little children may be intimately
connected with the conduct and spiritual history of the par
ents. No doubt they belong to a tainted race, and come
into the world with the sentence hanging over them, " Dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." But, over and
above the evidence which their death furnishes of their con
nection with Adam, we see from the case before us, that it
may also be in some way or other caused or connected with
the character of their immediate parents. Far be it from
me to say, that whenever infants die, there must have been
some foregoing iniquity in father or mother to cause it, like
as it was in the history before us. It is not for man to as
sume the prerogative of God, and positively assert in any
case what Nathan, as God's prophet, asserted here. But
still, God's providence is conducted on moral principles, and
the death of infants is one way in which he may either visit
parents with the penal consequences of their sin, or lead
them to thoughtfulness, and quicken their spiritual life. And
13

290 David, King of Israel.
when such events occur in our own family history, it becomes
us to look well into our own hearts and see if we can dis
cover what God's design in the dispensation is. It may be
that we have been allowing the things of this world to usurp
too large a portion of our attention, or to intrude into the sa
cred domain of the heart, where God alone should reign ; and
he takes this plan to arrest us, and compel us to face eter
nity, with its infinitely momentous things. Perhaps we may
have been permitting ourselves to become enslaved by some
degrading habit, flattering ourselves all the while that there
is no guilt in it, and that when we please we can break away
from it ; and he sends the death-angel for our little one, as
he sent Nathan to David, to stir our consciences into activ
ity, to show ourselves to us, to awaken us to penitence, and
to bring us back to the paths of purity and of liberty. Or,
yet again, we may be ourselves unconverted, and, as the
surest means of engaging our hearts to heavenly things, God
takes the little one who is the light of our eyes to heaven.
Very touchingly is this view presented in the life of Sandy
Robertson, by Dr. Guthrie, in " Lost and Found." This poor
boy, who had been reclaimed by means of the ragged school,
was lying dying, and 'was greatly concerned about his god
less mother. He often implored her to seek the kingdom
of heaven ; and one day telling Dr. Guthrie of a visit paid to
him by the Rev. James Robertson, of Newington, whose con
versation and prayers he much enjoyed, he said, '"Oh, how
nice he spoke to my mother ! On going away, he said to her,
' Now, before I go, I will tell you a story. There was a man
that had a flock of sheep, which he wished to remove from
one- field to another, and better pasture. There was one
sheep refused to go, and ran hither and thither. The man
did not stop to follow that sheep, to drive and force it through
the gate. No, but he took her lamb and laid it in his bosom,
and carried it in his arms, and the sheep followed her bleat-

The Bereavement. 291
ing lamb, and was soon safe and happy in the sweet, rich
pasture.' " So it has often been, and the words of the proph
et have had a new verification, "A little child shall lead
them." But why need I enlarge here ? As with afflictions
of other kinds, the death of infants may have a corrective, a
restorative, or a preventive power on the parents and other
members of the family to which they belong, and so their
sufferings have in them not a little of that vicarious element
which, in a unique and mysterious degree, distinguished the
sufferings and death of Christ. Hence, so far from saying,
when a little one is removed, "Oh, it is only a child," there
are elements about such a dispensation which ought to lead
us to look upon it as peculiarly solemn, carrying in it most
needful discipline and most salutary influence.
But, in the second place, we learn from this touching epi
sode in David's life, that the surest solace under the afflic
tion and death of infants is in God. David prayed, and
though the life of the child was not given to his tearful, en
treaties, it would be a mistake to suppose that his supplica
tion was unanswered. The reply came in the shape of that
strength which enabled him to become at once so calm, and
T3Tat faith which helped him to manifest such thorough res
ignation. It would neither have been good for David him
self, nor for the people over whom he ruled, if his prayer had
been literally granted. Hence, in that form in which he
presented his petition, it was refused ; but it was good for
'him to draw near to God for all that, and when we see him
going up with such composure to the. house of God, we learn
that he had not prayed in vain. His tears of weakness had
brought down God's strength. His earnest cry had received
an answer similar to that vouchsafed to the repeated prayer
of Paul : " My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is
made perfect in weakness." Oh, what should we do in times
of family distress, if we could not lay our case before the

292 David, King of Israel.
Lord ? Blessed solace of prayer ! the tumult of the spirit is
hushed by thy soothing influence ; and if we could be cast
where prayer is stifled, and supplication impossible, that
were to our miserable souls the very centre of hell. In all
trials, therefore, and especially in the dark hour of family be
reavement, let us repair to " the mercy-seat."
Finally, we may learn from David's words here, that we
may cherish the most unwavering assurance of the salvation
of those who die in infancy. Even in the comparative dark
ness of the Jewish dispensation, the Psalmist had the fullest
persuasion of the eternal welfare of his baby-boy ; and, un
der the Gospel economy, there are many things revealed
which tend to make the doctrine of infant salvation per
fectly indubitable. Not to refer to the fact that, as they
have committed no actual transgressions, little children do
not personally deserve condemnation, and may, therefore,
presumably be regarded as included in the provisions of
the covenant of grace, there are certain things which to my
mind place the doctrine to which I refer beyond all ques
tion. In the first place, there seems to me a moral impossibility
involved in the very thought of infants being consigned to
perdition. For what are the elements in the punishment of
the lost ? So far as we know, they are these two, memory
and conscience. But in an infant conscience is virtually
non-existent. Moral agency and responsibility have not yet
been developed, and so there can be no such thing to it as
remorse. Again : memory has nothing of guilt in an infant's life
to recall, and so it seems to me to be utterly impossible to
connect retribution of any sort in the other world with
those who have been taken from the present in the stage
of infancy.
But, in the second place, there are positive indications

The Bereavement. 293
that infants are included in the work of Christ. I grant at
once that there is no one passage which in so many words
makes the assertion that all who die in infancy are eternally
saved ; but then we may not wonder at the absence of such
a declaration, since it would have been liable to great abuse ;
and we do not need to regret that we have it not, because
there are many passages which very clearly imply it. Thus
Jesus said of infants, " Of such is the kingdom of heaven."
This does not mean only, as some would have us to believe,
that the kingdom of heaven consists of persons resembling
little children. The word translated " of such " has evident
ly a definite reference to children themselves, and has else
where been employed in that way by the Saviour himself.
Thus, when he says, " The hour cometh, and now is, when
the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and
in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him," he
clearly means, the Father seeketh these to worship him. I
might quote others to the like effect, but that will suffice to
show that the phrase " Of such is the kingdom of heaven,"
is equivalent to "Of these is the kingdom of heaven." This
view of the matter is confirmed by the fact that the Saviour
gives these words as a reason for his taking up little chil
dren into his arms ; for if the ground of his procedure were
simply that the adult subjects of the kingdom of heaven are
child-like, the same sort of reason might have led him to
take up lambs in his arms and to bless them ; inasmuch as
the adult members of his kingdom should resemble lambs
in some respects just as really as they should resemble chil
dren in others. Some, however, would interpret the words
on which I am now commenting by these others, uttered by
Jesus on another occasion : " Verily I say unto you, whoso
ever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he
shall not enter therein;" as if that expression implied "with
a child-like disposition ;" but that is not the construction of

294 David, King of Israel.
the words. Let the ellipsis be supplied, and then it will be
seen that even this expression bears out our view, for it
reads thus : " Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of
heaven as a little child receives it ;" and this confirms our
interpretation of the other passage. But some may allege
that the phrase " the kingdom of heaven " does not refer to
future glory, but to Christ's kingdom upon earth ; and to
these we reply : True, it does refer to Christ's kingdom upon
earth, but it does so only because that is a province of the
one great kingdom which, having Him as its head, stretches
into eternity. That it refers to the kingdom on earth, is our
warrant for receiving little children into the Church below ;
and that it refers to the kingdom in heaven — for the king
doms are but one — is the ground of our hope in the salva
tion of little children eternally.
Then, passing from the domain of argument, we may af
firm that the whole tone and spirit of the Gospel favors the
idea of infant salvation. The Saviour was peculiarly tender
to the little ones. It was foretold regarding him that he
should carry the lambs in his bosom ; and the infinite suffi
ciency of his grand atonement would seem to me shorn of
half of its glory, if it were not available for little children.
Let us, therefore, take to ourselves, without let or abate
ment of any sort, the rich consolation which this doctrine
affords. Let the bereaved parents among us dry our tears.
As the good Archbishop Leighton has it, " Our children have
but gone an hour or two sooner to bed, as children used
to do, and we are undressing to follow, and the more we
put off the love of this present world, and all things superflu
ous beforehand, we shall have the less to do when we lie
down." Let us consider to whom they have gone. They have
been taken to the arms of Jesus, and to the bright glory of
the heavenly state. Nothing now can mar their felicity, or

The Bereavement. 295
dim the lustre of their joy, or damp the ardor of their song ;
and could they speak to us from their abode of bliss, they
would say to us, " Weep not for us, but weep for yourselves,
that you are not here to share our happiness."
Let us consider from what they have been taken. They
have been removed from earth, with its pains and privations,
its sufferings and sorrows. Looking back upon our own
checkered histories, could we contemplate without a feeling
of grief the idea of our children passing through such trials
as those which have met us in the world ? Would we wish
that their hearts should be wrung as ours have been by the
harshness of an unfeeling world, or by the ingratitude of
those whom they had served. Nay, in view of the pang of
our bereavement, would we wish that a similar sorrow should
be theirs ? Yet does not their continuance in the world in
volve in it the endurance, of all these things ? and ought it
not, therefore, to be a matter of thankfulness that they have
reached heaven without having tasted the full bitterness of
this world's woes? Above all, can we contemplate the spir
itual dangers with which the world is environed, and not feel
grateful that our departed little ones are now eternally safe
from them ? Let us think of the temptations that have beset
us, and of the dreadful battles which we have had with them ;
and how near we were to being conquered by them, and then
let us say if in this view we can feel otherwise than glad that
they have gained the victory without the perils and hard
ships of the fight. Perhaps, had they been exposed to these
dangers, they would have fallen before them ; perhaps, had
they lived, they would have grown up only to fill our hearts
with sadness, and to bring our heads with sorrow to the
grave ; but all this is now impossible, for they are safe with
Jesus. It is hard to part with our children, but the death of
our little ones is not the heaviest calamity that could befall
us. A living cross is heavier than a dead one. And the

296 David, King of Israel.
sadness of David's soul over this little one was as nothing,
in comparison with the agony that rent his heart when Ab
salom chased him from his palace, and went down into a
hopeless tomb.
Let us consider, again, for what our little ones have been
taken. Perhaps we have been wandering away from Christ,
and he has taken this way to bring us back. Perhaps we
have never known him, and he has taken this way of intro
ducing himself to us, coming to us as he did to his followers
of old, over the very waves of our trouble, and saying to us,
" It is I, be not afraid." Perhaps some other member of
our family was to be led through this affliction to the Lord,
and thus one little one was taken from us for a season, that
both might abide with us forever in the heavenly land. And
if this should be so, can we, dare we repine ?
Let us consider, finally, how this bereavement over which
we mourn will appear to us when we come to die ourselves.
I have seen mothers and fathers not a few at that solemn
hour, but never one have I heard expressing anxiety for the
little children who had gone before them. The great con
cern, then, was for those they were leaving behind. The
Lord thus is afflicting us now, that our sorrow may be miti
gated at the last. Let us think of these things, and then the
bereavement of our little ones will seem to be, as it in reali
ty is, a token of love, and not of anger.
" Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The reaper came that day ;
'Twas an angel visited the green earth
And took the flowers away."
But the appropriation to ourselves of all these consolations
implies that we are ourselves journeying heavenward. Da
vid says, " I shall go to him !" Bereaved parents, are you
advancing toward heaven ? If you are not, then none of

The Bereavement. 297
these comforts are yours. Your little ones shall indeed be
saved, but you yourselves shall never be reunited to them.
A great gulf shall be eternally fixed between you and the
home which they have entered. Must this be so ? You re
member how you felt when you laid them in the tomb, and
how, for the time, you were stirred up to think of God and
Christ ; but these emotions are gone now, and you are worse
than ever, yea, living in folly and sin. Let the memory of
your departed little ones this night stir you into religious
earnestness. Years ago, when I was leaving my Liverpool home to ful
fill an engagement in the city of Glasgow, the last sight on
which my eye rested was that of my little daughter at the
window in her grandmother's arms. As the carriage drove
me away, she waved her hand in fond and laughing glee, and
many a time during my railway ride the pleasant vision came
up before my memory, and filled my heart with joy. I nev
er saw her again ! The next morning a telegram stunned
me with the tidings of her death; and now that earthly
glimpse of her has been idealized and glorified, and it seems
to me as if God had set her in the window of heaven to
beckon me upward to my eternal home. I would not give
that memory for all the gold of earth. I would not part
with the inspiration that it stirs within me for all that the
world could bestow. But, my bereaved friends, is it not
true of you also, that God has made heaven more attract
ive to you by reason of the presence of your little ones
in it? Will you not yield yourselves to the influence of
this celestial magnetism ? See how their angel hands are
beckoning you upward ; hark how the very song they used
to sing with infant voice comes floating down into your
ears: " Come to this happy land,
Come, come away !"
13*

298 David, King of Israel.
Oh, do not resist the appeal, but give yourselves henceforth
unreservedly to Jesus, and make this your prayer :
" Lord God the Spirit ! purify
My thoughts, bind fast my life to thee ;
So shall I meet my babes on high,
Though they may not return to me."*
* I can not forbear referring here to a work on this subject, which is
a perfect treasure-house of consolation to those who have suffered from
this domestic sorrow. It is out of sight the best book of the kind which
I have ever seen. The title is " Words of Comfort for Parents bereaved
of Little Children." Edited by William Logan : New York, Carter
Brothers.

XVII.
THE REVOLT OF ABSALOM.
2 Samuel xiii., 1-16; xiv.
WITH the birth of Bath-sheba's second son, a gleam of
gladness seems to have shone in upon David's house.
The prophet Nathan intimated that the child was an object
of God's peculiar affection, and in the names which the king
bestowed upon him we may see some indications of return
ing happiness, for he called him Solomon, the peaceful, and
Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord. But the dark cloud of
retribution still hovered over the palace, and ere long there
flashed from it such lightning bolts of judgment as humbled
the monarch in the dust, and tended to bring his gray hairs
with sorrow to the grave. The particulars are detailed with
painful minuteness in the chapters which now lie before us ;
but, without entering upon them all, it will be enough that we
indicate the more important of them, and draw from them
the lessons for the teaching of which the harrowing history
has been here preserved.
The physical beauty which distinguished the sons of Jesse
seems in David's family to have specially descended to his
children by Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the heathen
King of Geshur; for it is recorded of Absalom that " in all Is
rael there was none so much to be praised for his beauty;
from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there
was no blemish in him ;" and of his sister Tamar it is said
that she was fair to look upon. Unfortunately for her, this
personal attractiveness made her the object of an unholy
passion on the part of her half-brother Amnon, who, having

300 David, King of Israel.
accomplished his purpose, aided by the diabolical assistance
of an unprincipled man, who seems to have been permanent
ly connected with the court, turned her away dishonored from
his door. Just then, with ashes on her head, and her gar
ments rent, and crying bitterly, she was met by her brother
Absalom, who, discovering the reason of her sorrow, counsel
ed her to silence, and took her to his own home, where she
remained desolate. Of course a scandal of this sort was sure
to be talked about, and tidings of it came at length to Da
vid's ear. He was very wroth ; but that was not all. His
heart must have been deeply distressed by the knowledge of
his son's great wickedness, while yet the consciousness of his
own similar iniquity kept him from publicly punishing him
for his crime. The penalty of this transgression, according
to the Mosaic law, was death ; yet, if that were by him to be
insisted on in the case of his son, where would he be him
self? So, weak from the consciousness of his own trespass,
he was constrained to take no notice of this revolting crime,
though we may be sure that he must have keenly felt the an
guish of soul which every right-hearted parent experiences
in seeing the wrong-doing of his children.
The inaction of David, however, only stirred up Absalom
the more resolutely to seek revenge ; for, since her father
took no notice of such a deed, it devolved on him, as the full
brother of Tamar, to espouse her cause. Nor need we won
der that he should have been indignant at the treatment to
which she had been subjected. We should have thought less
of him if he had continued to be as friendly with Amnon as
before. But though Oriental custom may be pleaded in ex
tenuation of his after-conduct, to which we have a parallel
in that of Simeon and Levi, in circumstances very similar
to those before us, yet he had no right, under the Mosaic in
stitute, to take the law into his own hands, still less to exe
cute it in so cunning and revengeful a spirit as that which he

The Revolt of Absalom. 3oi
evinced. It seems that he had a sheep-farm at Baal-hazor,
and at the end of two years he invited all the king's sons to
the great festival of the sheep-shearing. He wished David
also to be present, but the monarch declined. And when he
desired that Amnon should be permitted to go, the king at
first demurred, fearing the consequences ; but at length, won
by the entreaties of his favorite son, and under the influence
of that fatal irresolution which marked his treatment of his
children in later years, he gave a reluctant consent. The re
sult might have been foreseen. Amidst the dissipation ofthe
feast, the servants of Absalom, instigated by their master,
slew Amnon, and the fratricide fled for refuge to the court of
his grandfather at Geshur, while messengers hurried to Je
rusalem with the tidings of his treacherous deed. "And it
came to pass that behold the king's sons came, and lifted up
their voice and wept : and the king also and all his servants
wept very sore." Yes :
Sorrow tracketh wrong,
As echo follows song.
On ! on ! on ! on !
"Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." And
in the ordering of his providence, not less than in the state
ments of his Word, we see that sin can not go unpunished.
Here is another sheaf of that bitter harvest of corruption
that David was made to reap from the field wherein he sow
ed to the flesh. His lovely and beloved daughter made
desolate ; his eldest son murdered a-midst the revelry of a
drunken banquet ; and Absalom, the pride of his palace and
the darling of his heart, the murderer, self-exiled from his
father's house and from his native land. How true it is that
" the way of transgressors is hard."
For three long years Absalom remained at Geshur. Dur
ing this interval David's grief for Amnon abated, but his

3°2 David, King of Israel.
heart went out in longing after Absalom. He did not recall
him to his court indeed, for that would have been equivalent
to saying that the deed of which he had been guilty was of a
trifling character ; but, as the after events indicate, he would
have been glad of any pretext which, without seeming to
outrage justice, would have enabled him to bring him back.
This state of feeling he could not hide from his intimate as
sociates, and Joab, seeking at once to serve David and Absa
lom, concocted a plan by which the latter was recalled. He
sent a wise woman from Tekoah in before the king, with a
feigned case of difficulty, which in some of its leading fea
tures bore a striking resemblance to his own position in re
gard to Absalom; and, in the course ofthe prosecution of her
suit, David's suspicions were so aroused that he said, " Is not
the hand of Joab with thee in all this ?" Her answer reveal
ed the whole scheme, and the issue was that Joab was sent
to Geshur to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem. Not yet,
however, was David fully reconciled to his son ; for when the
youth came to the holy city, David said, " Let him turn to his
own house, and let him not see my face."
This state of matters lasted for two years more, when, Ab
salom's patience being exhausted, he sent for Joab. The
captain of the host thought proper twice to disregard his
urgent entreaty ; and this proceeding so exasperated Absa
lom that he ordered his servants to set one of Joab's barley-
fields on fire. This act of destruction, as he had foreseen,
brought Joab forthwith ; and in reply to his indignant ques
tion, "Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?"
Absalom answered, " Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come
hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore
am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have
been there still : now, therefore, let me see the king's face ;
and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me."
It is difficult, at first sight, to account for the conduct of

The Revolt of Absalom. 303
Joab here ; for, after he had earnestly exerted himself to
procure Absalom's recall, it appears strange that he should
have been so indifferent to the position which the young
man was made by his father to occupy. But we find the
explanation in the fact that in this, as in all other things, the
crafty and unscrupulous warrior was seeking only to pro
mote his own interests. He had obtained a great ascend
ency over David by his complicity in the murder of Uriah,
and by making the monarch believe that he was indispensa
ble to him. Now he desired to gain a similar power over
Absalom. This, however, could only be done by laying him
under some great obligation. Hence he probably kept away
from the young man, with the view of getting him to come
humbly to him as a suppliant, asking the favor of his inter
cession with the king. But the burning of his field let him
see that Absalom was made of sterner stuff; and so, in or
der that he might not provoke his vengeance, he was led to
do for him, by a sort of compulsion, that which he had' in
tended to do only when he was urgently entreated for it as
for a great kindness. By his influence with David, he easily
effected a reconciliation between father and son ; but, on the
side of the son at least, it was but a hollow thing, after all ;
for, from the moment of his restoration to the royal favor,
on during the space of four years, Absalom was engaged in
making preparations for that revolt which at one time threat
ened to bring the reign of David to an ignominious end.
Civil war is always a terrible calamity; but when the
standard of rebellion is raised by a son against his father,
we have about the most painful form of strife of which this
earth can be the scene. It is sad to have an enemy of one
who has been formerly a friend ; but that he whom we have
fondled in our arms and nestled in our bosom, and whose
first lisping utterances have been in the attempt to call us
father, should live to be at deadly feud with us, and to at-

304 David, King of Israel.
tempt our destruction— this is misery indeed ; and in seek
ing to realize the anguish of David at this time, we think of
the saying which the great dramatist has put into the mouth
ofthe old British king: " How sharper than a serpent's tooth
it is to have a thankless child ;" or of those lines of another
poet, which he penned in quite another connection, but are
equally appropriate here :
" So the struck eagle stretch'd upon the plain,
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
View'd his own feather on the fatal dart,
And wing'd the shaft that quiver'd in his heart ;
Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel
He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel ;
While the same plumage that had warm'd his nest,
Drank the last life-drop of his bleeding breast."
In entering upon the particulars of this sad episode in
David's life, there are two questions which suggest them
selves to the thoughtful reader of the narrative, and as the
settlement of these will greatly help us to understand the
whole matter, we may very appropriately now consider them.
They are these — first : How came Absalom to think of re
belling against his father at all ? and, second : How came his
revolt to gather strength so rapidly as to cause David to
leave Jerusalem, and to prove so nearly successful ? In re
gard to the first of these questions, it is easy to see that there
was much in David's treatment of Absalom, looked at from
his son's point of view, to cause alienation and to provoke
antagonism. We are allowed in the narrative to see how
all along the king's heart had gone out after Absalom ; but
the youth himself knew nothing of that. He might have
heard that Joab had to resort to schemes of a roundabout
description in order to procure his recall, and he certainly
must have felt that there was no cordial reception given
him.

The Revolt of Absalom. 305
Now while, in one sense, this conduct on David's part was
a sort of homage to public justice, yet in another it was nei
ther right nor politic. It was not right; for, on the one hand,
if Absalom had committed a crime, he ought to have been
punished for it ; and on the other, if there was ground for his
recall from banishment, there was also ground for receiving
him at court. It was not politic ; for it could not but put
Absalom into a position of antagonism to his father, and the
fretting impatience of these two years was but the bitter bud
out of which at length ripened the rebellion of which we are
to speak.
Again, Absalom would regard himself as the rightful heir
to his father's throne. Amnon, the eldest son, to whom, in
conformity with all Eastern notions, it should have descend
ed, was dead. Chileab, the second, seems to have been dead
also ; at least, his name drops completely out of the history.
Absalom came next, and perhaps in ordinary circumstances
he might have been content to wait for his father's .death be
fore urging his claim ; but certain things at court would in
cite him to take immediate steps to further his own interests.
He saw that the influence of Bath-sheba was paramount.
He knew that Solomon was the favorite son ; and the decla
ration of Nathan that he, the peaceable, was to succeed his
father could not be unknown to him. Hence he would con
clude that, if he was ever to be king, it could only be by some
such sudden and immediate coup diktat as that which he act
ually attempted. Putting these things together, then, and
remembering, besides, that there was no spark of religious
principle in the breast of Absalom, we may have some un
derstanding of the feelings by which he was stirred, and the
motives by which he was actuated in raising the standard
of revolt against his father.
It is equally easy to account for the rapidity with which
the disaffection spread, and the strength which the rebellion

306 David, King of Israel.
gained. Absalom had great personal attractions. This may
seem a matter of small moment, but, in reality, it had an im
mense effect. Even such a one as Samuel was not proof
against the influence of a man's outward appearance, and we
need not marvel, therefore, that the common people of the
land should be specially drawn to one whose beauty was
proverbial. In modern times we know that the personal at
tractions of the Young Pretender, in 1745, drew perhaps as
many to his army as did the cause which he represented ;
and young and handsome as Absalom was, he was quite
likely to be, simply on that account, the idol of the army,
and the darling of the populace. Add to this, that he was
the only one of David's sons who, on the mother's side, was
of royal lineage ; and to a people who are so moved by con
siderations like these as the Orientals, this must have given
additional weight to his claims. Nor, on the other side,
must we forget that David was no longer the man he was,
when the people rallied with enthusiasm around him. Age
had begun to tell upon him ; and sadder far than that, from
the era of his great trespass, he had been broken-hearted
and melancholy. To his people generally he would appear
as a retired, moody old man. The spring of his life was
gone. He took little interest in public affairs, and, in par
ticular, he neglected that most important of all the duties of
an Eastern ruler, the sitting in the gate to hear those ap
peals which his subjects made to his personal decision.
It has been supposed, indeed, that during the four years
of Absalom's preparations David was suffering from disease
to such an extent that he was prevented from taking his
place as aforetime in the administration of justice; and cer
tainly there are some expressions in the 41st Psalm, belong
ing to this era of his life, which can be most naturally inter
preted on this hypothesis. But however we may account for
it, the fact is clear that David had largely disappeared from

The Revolt of Absalom. 307
the public eye, and that he had ceased, to a great extent, to
take interest in the duties of his office. Furthermore, the
people knew of his great trespass, and this brought even the
good features of his character into contempt. They saw
him devoting himself to retirement, and giving almost his
entire attention to religious duties, while, perhaps, they heard
occasionally of his great purpose of building a temple, and
of the efforts which he was making in the collection of ma
terials for it, and they ridiculed him as " an old hypocrite."
They did not know or believe in the sincerity of his repent
ance, and so they held him up to scorn. Had he been a
worthless rake, making no pretensions to religion, they would
not have objected to him ; or had he been a devout man,
with a blameless reputation, they would have been compelled
to respect him ; but, knowing his sin, and seeing his devo
tion, they simply despised him. That this is no exaggerated
description, seems clear from certain expressions in the 69th
Psalm, which is generally understood to belong to this pe
riod of David's life. There we find him writing, " When I
wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my re
proach. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became
a proverb to them. They that sit in the gate speak against
me ; and I was the song of the drunkards." Now, presuming
all this to be true, we can see how the people, and especially
those nearest the king in Jerusalem, were in a manner pre
pared for a change in the sovereignty of the nation. But
the bad points in David's character and administration were
yet further darkened by the contrast which was suggested by
the conduct of Absalom. Over against the seclusion of his
father, the people — and especially the West-End tradesmen,
if there were any such in those days — would set the state
of Absalom ; and as they saw him riding forth in his char
iot, with fifty men preceding him, they would say, " That is
something like a king ; but as for David, we might as well

308 David, King of Israel.
have no court, for any thing we see of him." Again, over
against David's neglect of the administration of justice, they
would put Absalom's assiduous attention to the matters
brought before him, and his affable, frank, and conciliatory
manner to all strangers; while his insidious ejaculation, "O
that I were made judge in the land, that every man which
hath any suit or cause might come to me and I would do
him justice," could not but produce the effects which it was
intended to accomplish. Hence we can understand how
Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. But it was
stealing for all that ; and though, in the hands of God, he
was the instrument through whom chastisement was inflicted
upon David, we shall yet see that a terrible retribution fell
upon himself.
The method which he took for inaugurating his revolt was
characterized by the cunning that seems to have been in
herent in his nature. He sent spies through all the tribes,
instructing them, at a given signal, to proclaim him king.
Then, feigning that he had a religious vow which took him
to Hebron, he ¦ went thither with two hundred men, and
set up his standard in the city of Abraham, where first his
father had received the crown of Judah. From Hebron he
sent to Giloh for Ahithophel, one of his father's counselors,
who seems to have known of the plot, and to have gone
from Jerusalem to his own city of Giloh, in order to be with
in Absalom's call. This man, though his name signifies
"the brother of foolishness," was in great repute for wisdom,
and men went to consult him almost as they went to the
oracle of God. By comparing 2 Samuel xi., 3, where it is
said that Bath-sheba was the daughter of Eliam, with 2 Sam
uel xxiii., 34, where it is recorded that Eliam was the son
of Ahithophel the Gilonite, and connecting these with the
fact that Uriah and Eliam were comrades, both belonging to
the order of the worthies, we get the interesting result that

The Revolt of Absalom. 309
Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bath-sheba. And from
this the inference seems inevitable, that his defection to
Absalom was caused by the displeasure which he felt at the
wrong done ten years before to the wife of Uriah.*
Thus the strength of Absalom's conspiracy is seen to be
a direct result of David's great transgression. Ahithophel's
name was in itself almost a guarantee of Absalom's suc
cess. And we may judge of the importance which was at
tached to him, not only from the prayer offered by David
when he heard of his treachery, and the commission which
he gave to Hushai to counteract his advice, but also from
the plaintive wail which he makes over him in the 41st
Psalm : " Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against
me." And again, more strikingly, in the 55th Psalm: "For
it was not an enemy that reproached me ; then I could have
borne it : neither was it he that hated me that did magnify
himself against me ; then I would have hid myself from
him : but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine
acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked
unto the house of God in company."
Evil tidings fly swiftly. So a messenger soon brought
news to David of Absalom's procedure, and the king at once
resolved to leave Jerusalem. This determination was prob
ably taken by him because there were not sufficient troops
to garrison the city, or because he had no confidence in the
inhabitants that they would be faithful to him ; and the sto
ry of his departure from his palace is here told with a beau
ty and a pathos which are perfectly unapproachable. He
left ten of his concubines behind to look after the house,
and went on, as it is said, to a place that is far off; or rath-
* See, on this point, Blunt's " Scriptural Coincidences," p. 136; also,
" Biblical Studies," by E. H. Plumtre, p. 97. {

310 David, King of Israel.
er, as it might be rendered, to "the house far off" — the last
house, probably, in the city. Here the sorrowful procession
was marshaled. His faithful body-guard went first ; then the
remnant of his band of six hundred ; then his servants.
Among those beside him he saw Ittai the Gittite ; and
struck, perhaps, with the fact that an alien should be faith
ful to him when his own son was false, he besought him to
return ; but the soldier nobly replied, in words which he as
nobly redeemed, " As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the
king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be,
whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be."
And so they went on — out down into the valley and across
the Kidron — while a loud, long wail ascended from the weep
ing multitude. At this point they were met by Zadok the
high-priest, and by the Levites who, coming from the sacred
tent, had brought with them the ark of the covenant of the
Lord, while Abiathar stood waiting till the people had gone
out of the city. But David's piety was not of that supersti
tious sort which clung to the ark as if it had been a talis
man. To him it was but the symbol of God's covenant love,
which was equally sure to him wherever he might be ; so he
said, in words which the most callous can not read without
emotion, " Carry back the ark of God into the city : if I shall
find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again,
and show me both it and his habitation : but if he thus say,
I have no delight in thee ; behold, here am I, let him do to
me as seemeth good unto him." But the faith of David was
equaled only by his prudence ; for he counseled the priests
to return to the city, and to send him tidings of what should
be decided by Absalom, by the hands of their sons, Jona
than and Ahimaaz. So, having dismissed them, they went
on up the Mount of Olives, the king with his feet bare, and
his head covered, weeping as he went, and the whole com
pany following his example.

The Revolt of Absalom. 311
Now for the first time, as it would seem, he was informed
of Ahithophel's falling away to Absalom ; and just as he had
breathed the prayer, " O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel
of Ahithophel into foolishness," Hushai, the Archite, made
his appearance, with his coat rent, and earth upon his head.
This man was also one of David's privy councilors, and his
coming at this particular juncture, immediately after the
monarch had heard of Ahithophel's treachery, seems to have
suggested to him that he was a fitting instrument for coun
teracting the influence of that astute man. Hence he said
to him, " If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a
burden unto me : but if thou return to the city, and say unto
Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king ; as I have Been thy
father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant :
then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the
priests ? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou
shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shall tell it to Zadok
and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them
their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abia-
thar's son ; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing
that ye can hear." In the midst of such piety and resigna
tion, it is strange to find David asking his friend thus to
act a dishonest part, and play the spy. We are not called
to vindicate his conduct. The Scriptures simply record it ;
and we must not suppose that every thing here is approved
which is not directly, and in so many words, condemned.
But we may say two things by way of debarring hasty judg
ment here.
First — and I am using now the words of Professor Plum-
tre : " Slowly in the character of any people ; more slowly
still in that of any Eastern people ; most slowly of all, per
haps, in that of Israel, have men risen to the excellence of
veracity. We must not think that the king's religion was a

312 David, King of Israel.
hypocrisy because it did not bear at once the fruit of the
spotless honor and unswerving truth which mark the highest
forms of Christian goodness. - The Christian Church herself
has to notice many like inconsistencies among her crowned
martyrs."* Second : let us not forget what those means are by which,
even in these modern days, with all our Christian loftiness of
character, we seek to countermine and check political rebell
ion. Some years ago, while I was a resident in Liverpool,
there was great talk of Fenianism. We heard of plots for
the taking of the ancient city of Chester, and the burning
of ships in our own docks. How did we hear of them ? By
spies, who feigned themselves Fenians for the time ! and the
man whose astuteness made these discoveries through means
of Hushai-like instruments was rewarded by being made a
companion of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath ! Ob
serve, I do not vindicate either David or these modern officers.
I simply state the facts, and beg to say, that if men, with the
New Testament in their hands, can do such things, we ought
to be tender in our treatment of David here. When they'
reached the top of the hill, and had commenced the descent
on the opposite side, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met
them, bringing supplies, and making, at the same time, a
false accusation of treason against his master. David, not
seeing the trap which had been so cunningly laid for him,
unsuspiciously fell into it, and gave to Ziba as a gift all
the land which he had been farming for Mephibosheth. We
may have more to say of this when Mephibosheth comes to
speak for himself. Meanwhile, let us move forward with
the sorrowful company.
The path was along a ridge which had a deep ravine be
neath it, and another ridge of a similar sort rising on the op-
* " Biblical Studies," p. 102.

The Revolt of Absalom. 313
posite side ; and as they went forward on their side, a wicked
man of the house of Saul made his appearance on the other,
and, keeping abreast of them the while, heaped curses, such as
only an Oriental can utter, on the head of David. He cried,
" Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of
Belial : the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of
the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned ; and the
Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom
thy son : and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because
thou art a bloody man." Nor was he content with utter
ing maledictions ; he cast stones at David and his servants
across the gorge, and made every manifestation of implaca
ble enmity and malignity. Abishai, the brother of Joab, was
greatly provoked by his procedure, and sought permission
to slay him ; but David, with an expression of querulousness
which shows how keenly he felt the ascendency which Joab
and his brother had obtained over him, said, " So let him
curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David.
Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so ?" Then,
in language which lets us see how bitterly he felt Absalom's
treason, and how all other troubles were swallowed up in that
one great sorrow, he added, " Behold, my son, which came
forth of my bowels, seeketh my life : how much more now
may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse;
for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will
look upon mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me
good for his cursing this day." So they set forward, and
came at length to the Valley of the Jordan, where they tar
ried to refresh themselves. In all probability it was morn
ing when they left the palace, and the shades of evening had
closed over them before they had safely settled their en
campment ; but through the darkness with which they were
enveloped the book of Psalms permits us to see, and from it
we learn somewhat of the monarch's feelings after that try-
14

314 David, King of Israel.
ing and fatiguing day ; for even the most rationalistic inter
preters connect with the events which we are reviewing those
calm and trustful hymns, the one for the evening and the
other for the morning, which stand fourth and third in the
Psalter. Let us, then, listen a while at the door of the royal
tent, that we may hear with what pious thoughts and earnest
prayers he shutteth in that doleful day : " Hear me when I
call, O God of my righteousness : thou hast enlarged me
when I was in distress ; have mercy upon me, and hear my
prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory
into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after
leasing ? But know that the Lord hath set apart him that
is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto
him. Stand in awe, and sin not : commune with your own
heart upon your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of
righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. There be
many that say, Who will show us any good ? Lord, lift thou
up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put
gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn
and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace,
and sleep : for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."
Then, as the light of the morning breaks, the harp is again
tuned, and heart and voice accompany it, as thus he sings :
" Lord, how are they increased that trouble me ! Many are
they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my
soul, There is no help for him in God. But thou, O Lord, art
a shield for me ; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out
of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept ; I awaked ; for
the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid often thousands
of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
Arise, O Lord ; save me, O my God : for thou hast smitten
all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone ; thou hast broken the
teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord :
thy blessing is upon thy people."

The Revolt of Absalom. 315
Richter, as quoted by Carlyle, has said, " The canary-bird
sings sweeter the longer it has been trained in a darkened
cage."* Oh, what rich melody comes from David's heart in
the day when God has darkened the cage for him ! It is in
times of trial that he comes most brightly out ; and at no
season are we more impressed with his piety, his genius, his
sincerity, than when we hear him solace his troubled soul
with song. The notes of the nightingale, whensoever heard,
must be ever sweet, but they are sweetest far when they come
trilling through the darkness; and for the same reason we
count these companion hymns as among the finest David
ever wrote. At this point we must for the present leave
him. Let us stay only to carry with us some valuable lessons.
In the first place, we may learn from this whole narrative
what ruinous consequences must ever flow from the ignor
ing or violation of God's laws for the household. Though
David regulated his public administration by the will of
God, yet, in his family matters, he seems to have disregarded
the plain indications of Jehovah's mind, contained even in
the books of Moses. For though polygamy was in certain
circumstances permitted, still the whole spirit of the pre
cepts of the Pentateuch was to discourage it, and to sustain
the primeval appointment that one man should be the hus
band of one wife ; and when David set that law at naught,
he could not look for any thing else than domestic discord.
The family of each wife became a separate party in the State,
and their homes became hot-beds of intrigue, faction, and all
manner of annoyance. But this was not the only point where
in David violated God's ordinance of the family. He was
shamefully indulgent to his children. It might be said of
him as of Eli, " That his sons made themselves vile, and he
restrained them not." Had he dealt rightly with Amnon,

* See the Essay on Burns, in Carlyle's miscellaneous writings.

316 David, King of Israel.
Absalom's fratricide, and all the evils which it drew in its
train might have been avoided. And even after the guilt of
his eldest born, if he had firmly adhered to his first refusal to
allow Amnon to go to the sheep-shearing at his brother's
farm, the evil might still have been eluded. But with that
fatal easiness of temper which, characterized his treatment of
his children, he yielded to Absalom's entreaties, and the re
sult was the tragedy which is here described. It may be
said, indeed, that his discipline of Absalom was firm ; but
this was hardly the case, for he never really brought matters
to a point even with him; and his recalling him from exile,
while yet he did not see him, though it may seem to have
been an indication of strength of principle, was in truth a
token of weakness. He feared to push things to an issue.
He had not the courage to deal with a judicial hand with
Absalom, and so, while his treatment of him did not sat
isfy the claims of justice, it only the more thoroughly al
ienated the son from the father.
The whole history is thus fraught with richest lessons to
'parents. It is a warning against over-indulgence,, and neg
lect of discipline. No doubt there are evils in the other ex
treme, and we must be cautious lest we provoke our " chil
dren to wrath " by over-sternness ; yet in the family there
must be government, and the parent who does not secure
the allegiance and obedience of his child, is as really vio
lating the fifth commandment as is the child who disobeys
and dishonors him. There is a happy rule of love, and a
willing subjection of respect, which it ought to be every par
ent's ambition to exercise and receive, and miserable is the
household from which these are absent ! In saying all this,
I do not in the least degree excuse David's children for their
conduct. On the contrary, it was godless and heartless in
the extremest degree. Let no son, therefore, shelter him
self under my words for dishonoring his father, or disobeying

The Revolt of Absalom. 317
his mother; since, no matter what a parent's faults may be,
a parent is a parent still, and ought to have a place in the
holy of holies in the heart of every child.
In the second place, we may learn from this whole sub
ject that, if parents would have thorough discipline in their
homes, they must be pure and holy themselves. David's
weakness in the matters which have been before us sprung
out of his wickedness. His conscience made him a coward.
He was afraid to bring the law into force against his chil
dren, lest its sword should descend also on his own head.
Alas ! in how many homes in these days is the disobedience
of the children due to the conscious sinfulness of the par
ents. How can a drunken and profane father, or an extrav
agant, proud, and worldly mother, hope to receive the re
spect of children ? or how can they enforce, in the case of
their families, laws which they are themselves continually
violating? Example is better than precept; and where
consciously a bad example is set, either the precept will not
be enforced, or its enforcement will provoke the child into
more bitter antagonism and rebellion.
In the third place, we may learn from this story to put
a right estimate on personal beauty. It does not indicate
spiritual loveliness, for Absalom was far from being as at
tractive in character as he was in appearance. It is a gift
from God, hence we are not to despise it. We may honor
it for his sake. If we have it not ourselves, we are not to
envy those who possess it ; while, if we do possess it, the
case of Tamar bids us be on our guard lest it should prove
either a temptation to others or a snare to ourselves. Alas !
how many have been brought by it, through their own folly,
into a deeper than Tamar's disgrace, because with them it
has been a voluntary thing.
Finally: we may contrast David's conduct toward Ab
salom here with that of God toward the sinner. The wise

318 David, King of Israel.
woman of Tekoah had referred to God in these beautiful
words : " For we must needs die, and are as water spilled
on the ground, which can not be gathered up again ; neither
doth God respect any person ; yet doth he devise means
that his banished be not expelled from him." But in the
case of God and the sinner there are several things present
which we look in vain for in that of David with Absalom.
First of all, in recalling the sinner, God has devised means
by which his law is fully satisfied for human guilt ; but David
had no proper satisfaction to the law for Absalom's guilt.
The means which God has employed for honoring his justice
while bringing back the banished sinner are well known to
you all. They are the mission, and work, and sacrifice bf
Jesus, who for the sinner has " magnified God's law, and
made it honorable." Hence, in connection with that atone
ment, God is seen to be a just God, and a Saviour; yea, he
declares his righteousness even in the very act of remitting
the believer's sin.
In the second place, while David refused to see the face
of the returned Absalom, God welcomes every penitent to
his heart, and accepts him as righteous in his sight for the
sake of Jesus, in whom he believes. What a welcome the
father gave, in the parable, to the returning prodigal ! but
that is nothing to the welcome given by God to the repent
ing sinner. Do not fear, then, oh sinner, to repair to him.
He will receive you for Christ's sake. He will retain you
in his favor, and he will never let you perish. Is it not writ
ten, " Him that cometh unto me I will in no Wise cast out ?"
In the third place, as the result of aU this on the part of
God, the sinner's nature is changed, so that instead of being,
as formerly, alienated in heart from God, he loves him, and
desires to please him. Absalom, as we saw, was fretted and
exasperated by his father's treatment of him ; and very prob
ably the rebellion which he attempted was plotted during

The Revolt of Absalom. 319
these two years when he was not permitted to look upon his
father's face. But the forgiven sinner's heart is melted by
God's love ; and through the grace of the Holy Spirit he is
changed from a rebel into a friend. Oh, the rich grace " of
highest God !" Sinner, behold here the way of life ! Ye
banished ones, return ; and God will give you welcome.
Come, with the prodigal's resolution and confession. Come
as you are. Come now. And your return will gladden ev
ery heart in heaven, and strike a thrill through every note in
the chorus of the skies ; while God himself, with benignant
love, shall say, " This, my son, was dead, and is alive again ;
he was lost, and is found."

XVIII.
ABSALOM'S DEFEAT AND DEATH.
2 Samuel xvi., 15 ; xix.
LEAVING David and his weary followers to rest them
selves in the Valley of the Jordan, let us return to Je
rusalem, and mark the progress of the rebellion there. On
the arrival of Absalom at the Holy City, whither he had come
from Hebron with .Ahithophel and the whole band of his
adherents, he was met by Hushai, who saluted him as king,
and offered him his allegiance. Evidently this was more
than Absalom had expected. The character ofthe Archite
stood so high for integrity and fidelity, that the rebel had not
dared to hope for his assistance ; so, scarcely knowing what
to make of his protestations and homage, he said to him,
partly in bantering welcome, and partly also in suspicion,
" Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? why wentest thou not
with thy friend ?" But if he had entertained any misgivings
upon the subject, the reply of.Hushai set them all at rest;
so he joyfully received him into the ranks of his followers,
and installed him among his privy councilors.
His first act in Jerusalem was to take public possession
of his father's harem. By this most abominable procedure
he not only unconsciously fulfilled the prediction of Nathan,*
but also committed himself, in the most offensive and insult
ing manner, to irreconcilable hostility against his father.
The offense was one which no monarch could forgive ; and
the readiness with which he committed it was, therefore, a
* 2 Samuel xii., 1 1.

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 321
proclamation of war to "the bitter end." It was like throw
ing away the scabbard after having drawn the sword, or like
burning the boats after having crossed the river. It effect
ually cut off all possibility of retreating from the course on
which he had entered, and showed that he was determined
to come to no terms with David. Nor can we fail to see the
motive by which Ahithophel was actuated in advising Absa
lom to commit this iniquity. For one thing, it would stimu
late all who flocked round the rebel standard to fiercer en
ergy in the effort to make their cause successful, inasmuch
as they would fight with the feeling that they had nothing to
hope for from their adversary but destruction. For another,
it was the course which was most likely to secure Ahitho
phel's own safety. Knowing well David's foolish fondness
for his children, he was thoroughly persuaded that, in the
event of the rebellion being crushed, he would be sure to
become reconciled to his son. In such a case, Ahithophel
also knew that he would be the victim on whose head the
royal vengeance would first and most especially fall. Hence
he took care to provide against such an issue, by setting Ab
salom on a course which, in all Eastern countries, makes rec
onciliation impossible.
Meanwhile the people of the city took note of all this,
and, seeing men of such acknowledged ability as Ahithophel
and Hushai among the principal supporters of Absalom,
they easily transferred their allegiance to the newly-recog
nized king, the rather, perhaps, that the flight of David had
seemed to them a virtual abdication of the throne, or, at all
events, an indication that he had no confidence in the loyal
ty of the inhabitants of his capital. In any case, they were
quite ready, if not eager, to welcome Absalom as their king.
The fickleness of popular favor has passed into a proverb ;
and the scenes which were witnessed in Great Britain at the
eras of the Commonwealth, the Restoration, and the Revo-
14*

322 David, King of Israel.
lution, may help us to understand what took place at Jerusa
lem in the case before us. Besides, as one has suggestively
asked, "Were not these Jews the ancestors of those who,
centuries later, cried, at one time, ' Hosanna !' and at anoth
er, ' Crucify him !' in reference to a nobler prince than the
son of Jesse ?"
Soon after coming to Jerusalem, Absalom seems to have
called together what we might term a council, to determine
the course which the campaign was to take. At this meet
ing, Ahithophel, as being by common consent the ablest man,
was first asked to declare his opinion. In reply, he offered
to set out in immediate pursuit of David with twelve thou
sand men, calculating that he would come upon the king and
his band, "weary and weak-handed;" and that, overawed by
superior numbers, his followers would take to flight, and leave
the aged monarch to his fate. This, he believed, would end the
war, since after the death of David, and finding they had noth
ing left to fight for, his adherents would return to Jerusalem,
and give in their allegiance to Absalom as his rightful heir.
This plan was worthy of Ahithophel's reputation. If it
had been energetically followed, it would have been com
pletely successful, and would, have changed the entire color
and complexion of Jewish history. But there was one at
that council-board whom- Absalom had not summoned, for
"God had appointed to defeat the wise counsel of Ahitho
phel ;" and therefore, though it was well received at first, it
was afterward rejected, yet so as to make manifest the unfet
tered moral freedom of all concerned. Absalom, wishing to
view the matter from every side, called on Hushai to give his
advice ; and such was the impression produced by him, that
his proposition was unanimously adopted. The Archite had
a difficult game to play; and we may well believe that, when
Ahithophel's scheme was propounded to him, his heart mis
gave him for his aged king. But he proved equal to the

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 323
occasion ; for, assuming the air and manner of a true friend
of Absalom, he so magnified the difficulties in the way of the
execution of his rival's proposal as to prepare the way for
the acceptance of that which he suggested, and which he de
scribed in a style so winning and rhetorical as completely to
captivate all his hearers. Reminding them of the prowess
of David and his worthies, and picturing to their imagina
tion the fierceness with which they would fight if they were
brought to bay in some rocky retreat, and the panic which
they might create in the ranks of Absalom by some sudden
sally, he advised that the prince should tarry at Jerusalem
until an army had been gathered from the whole country, and
that thereafter he should take the field against his father,
who would then become an easy prey, whether they met him
in the open country, or had to besiege him in a fortified town.
Every one can see that, in a strategic point of view, this
plan was infinitely inferior to Ahithophel's ; but the manner
in which it was expounded, and perhaps, also, the glory which
it promised to Absalom in placing him at the head of such
an army as Hushai had described, so charmed the prince
and the members of the assembly, that they at once decided
to follow it. This determination drove Ahithophel from the
council-chamber in moody indignation. But whither was he
now to go ? After what had occurred in the harem, David
would never consent to receive him again ; neither could he
now have pleasure in the service of Absalom. So, deeming
that life had nothing more of honor or enjoyment in store
for him, "he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home
to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and
hanged himself."
This is the'first recorded case of deliberate suicide. Saul,
already mortally wounded on the battle-field, fell upon his
sword, but this is the earliest instance in history of premed
itated self-murder; and the feelings which led to it, and

324 David, King of Israel.
which we can easily analyze, were very similar to those
which have impelled many in our own times to commit the
same awful iniquity. Chief among them was wounded pride.
He who had been so long to his fellow-men like the oracle
of God, could not survive the humiliation of having Hushai's
advice preferred to his own. Then, besides this, there was
the conviction that Absalom's cause was now hopelessly
ruined. He foresaw that the following of Hushai's counsel
would give David time to collect his forces, as indeed the
Archite meant it should. But he knew also that this was
all that David needed for the recovery of his throne ; and
as, in such an event, he would be the first victim of the mon
arch's indignation, he determined to deprive David of the
satisfaction of putting him to death by himself anticipating
his doom. Perhaps, also, there was a mingling of remorse
with those other emotions of pride. He had left a master
who loved and valued him, who, indeed, regarded him as his
equal and guide, and he had transferred his services to one
who, as he now discovered, had not the wisdom to appreciate
his worth, but preferred the gaudy glitter of empty rhetoric
to the substantial wisdom of unadorned speech. This con
trast, thus forced upon him, might awaken his conscience to
the value of the friendship which he had forfeited when he
turned against David, until at length remorse and shame so
overwhelmed him, that, like a deeper traitor, of whom he was
only the feeble prototype, he could not endure life, and hur
ried himself into eternity. It never occurred to him to ask,
" If I can not face David, how shall I look upon Jehovah ?
If I can not endure the accusations of conscience, how shall
I stand before the judgment-seat of God ?"
Just about the time that Ahithophel was leaving Jerusa
lem, with the dark resolve of self-destruction maturing in his
heart, a female servant was sent by Zadok and Abiathar to
the well of En-rogel, near which their two sons, Jonathan

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 325
and Ahimaaz, were concealed. Hushai had told the high-
priests the issue of the council, and they had commissioned
this young woman to convey his message to their sons, that
they might carry it to David. The fountain of En-rogel was
only a little way out of the city. Its name signifies the well
of treading, and indicates that it was frequented by those
who were engaged in the washing of clothes — a work which
then, as occasionally yet in the Highlands of Scotland, was
performed by treading with the feet rather than by rubbing
with the hands. It was also restricted to women. Hence,
as the presence of a female servant in that neighborhood
would excite no suspicion, we can understand how such a
messenger was sent on such an important commission.
Having received the message, the two young men set out
at once for the Valley of the Jordan ; but, in spite of all the
precautions which had been taken to insure secrecy, they
were seen by a lad, who, guessing their errand, went and
told Absalom. The rebel prince immediately sent his serv
ants in pursuit of them ; but discovering that they were
chased, the youths held forward fleetly as far as .Bahurim,
where they found a singular hiding-place in the court of a
house. Fixing themselves on the side of an open well, the
woman of the house put over its mouth a covering, on which
she spread ground corn, so that there was nothing to indi
cate their presence ; and when Absalom's servants came
asking after them, she turned away suspicion by an equivo
cal answer, which evinced the readiness of her wit no less
than the kindness of her heart : " They be gone over the
brook of water."
After escaping from this danger the couriers pushed on
until they came to David's encampment, where they deliver
ed their message. "Arise, and pass quickly over the water :
for thus hath Ahithophel counseled against you." It may
appear strange that no mention was made by these young

326 David, King of Israel.
men of Hushai's own counsel, and of the fact that it had
been preferred to that of Ahithophel. But we must bear in
mind that we have here only the merest outline of what was
actually said ; and even if no reference was made by the
messengers to the actual decision of the council, it is con
ceivable that this silence may have been suggested by Hu
shai himself, who may have been afraid that, even after all
that had occurred to the contrary, Ahithophel's counsel
might yet be followed. In any case, he seems to have wish
ed that David should at once make for a place of safety ; so,
on the night following his receipt of the message, the mon
arch and all his company passed over Jordan, and halted
not until they entered Mahanaim.
The town called by this name was built upon a spot hal
lowed by its connection with Jacob's history. There the
angels of God met the patriarch ; and perhaps, as the old
story rose to David's recollection, the strains of his own
Psalm would come to his lips to strengthen his faith and
revive his courage : " The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him and delivereth them." Ma
hanaim lay within the territory of Gad, and near the line by
which it was separated from that of Manasseh. It was a
city of considerable importance, for Ishbosheth had made it
his capital during his seven and a half years' reign over Is
rael. It was evidently a fortified place, and that, together
with the fact that it was a city of the Levites, who were al
ways faithful to him, may have induced David to make it
his fiead-quarters. But, whatever considerations may have
moved him to choose it, he had no reason to repent of his
selection, for he was soon surrounded by kind and generous
friends. In particular, three principal men in that region
are named as having brought to him and his men seasona
ble and abundant supplies. These were Shobi, the son of
Nahash, of Rabbah, of the children of Ammon ; Machir, the

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 327
son of Ammiel, of Lo-debar; and Barzillai, the Gileadite,
of Rogelim ; and we can not pass them without staying a
few moments to note some interesting particulars regarding
them. Shobi belonged to Rabbah, of the children of Am
mon : now, when we remember how, about ten years before,
David had taken that city, and subjected its defenders to
unwonted cruelties, we may be disposed to wonder that any
one from it should have been so ready to render assistance
to the fugitive king in the day of his calamity. But Nahash,
the father of Shobi, had been, apparently, a valued friend of
David's ; and though the insult which he had received from
Hanun had provoked him to make war upon the Ammon
ites, nothing is more likely than that, after the campaign was
over, he appointed Shobi as a kind of viceroy over Rabbah;
thus displacing Hanun, and binding Shobi to him by the
strongest ties of interest and gratitude. If this were so, we
have a thorough explanation of the fact that the richest sup
plies in David's extremity came from these Ammonites, with
whom, in former times, he had waged fiercest war.
Machir, the son of Ammiel, had been the host and guard
ian of Mephibosheth, and so could not but be attracted to
David for his kindness to the disabled son of Jonathan. Some
have supposed, indeed, that there was even a closer connec
tion between him and David. It happens that in 1 Samuel
xi., 3, Bath-sheba is styled the daughter of Eliam ; and in 1
Chronicles iii., 5, she is called the daughter of Ammiel. The
two names, Eliam and Ammiel, are identical in meaning, and
seem to be used interchangeably ; and from a comparison of
these two texts, some, among whom is Professor Plumtre,
draw the inference that Machir was the brother of Bath-sheba.
This, however, would necessitate the further inference that
Ammiel was the grandson of Ahithophel — a consideration
which has escaped the notice of the professor, and which,
in my judgment, renders it quite improbable that there was

328 David, King of Israel.
any relationship such as that which he has sought to estab
lish between Machir and Bath-sheba, since it is difficult to ex
plain how Ahithophel should be of Giloh, and his grandson
of Gilead. As for good old Barzillai, the heart is drawn out to
ward him with peculiar tenderness. He was a beautiful speci
men of a venerable chief, whose kindness of heart was equal
ed only by his contentedness of spirit ; and he stands out
before us with vivid, life-like distinctness, as one of the most
interesting characters in this thrilling history. He appears
only on another occasion ; yet we feel as if we knew him thor
oughly, and loved him clearly. His old age was beautiful ex
ceedingly, and it is delightful to see how at a time of life
when, usually, men take a closer grip of worldly things, and
become more selfish and illiberal, he was ready to give of
his best to David in the hour of his extremity.
We know not how long Absalom took to collect his forces,
but at the earliest moment after the muster he went forth
with them across the Jordan. He missed Joab, on whom,
perhaps, he had been counting, but who had preferred to fol
low his father. This, however, did not disconcert him, for he
found a suitable substitute for the crafty son of Zeruiah in
Amasa, the son of Abigail, whose fitness for the post is seen
in the fact that, after the restoration, David made him his
own captain instead of Joab. Absalom's forces were en
camped in the land of Gilead, and David, around whom, by
this time, a large army had collected, hastened to give him
battle. With the old martial fire stirring within him, he di
vided his troops into three divisions, under Joab, Abishai,
and Ittai, and declared his intention of leading them in per
son. This, however, his loving followers would not allow, for
on his life their cause depended, and they would not hear of
his running the risk ofthe battle-field. Reluctantly he yield
ed to their importunity, and, relieved of the responsibility
of leadership, his mind seems to have occupied itself with

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 329
Absalom, over whom he yearned with wounded but yet ten
der affection. When his troops left Mahanaim, he took his
station at the side of the gate ; and as rank after rank de
ployed before him, he gave, with quivering voice and tear
ful eye, his orders thus : " Deal gently, for my sake, with the
young man, even with Absalom."
The scene of the battle was in what is called, for what rea
son does not appear, " the wood of Ephraim," and victory
crowned the loyal army ofthe brave old-king. Better dis
ciplined and better led than the hastily mustered forces of
Absalom, the soldiers of David broke the ranks of their ene
mies, and sent them to seek for shelter in the forests which
are abundant on the eastern borders of Jordan. Here they
were so entangled that they were easily overcome. Nor did
Absalom escape ; for, as he rode through the thicket, his
head (not his hair, as is generally supposed) was caught in
the thick boughs of a tree ; and his mule running from be
neath him, he was left hanging "between the heaven and
the earth." In this position he was seen by a young man of
David's army, who told Joab of the circumstance ; and the
general, blaming the youth for not having slain him, hasten
ed forward with ten of his troopers, who surrounded the tree,
while with his own hand he pierced the heart of Absalom
with three darts. Then, deeming the campaign ended, he
blew the trumpet as the signal for recall ; and taking the
body of Absalom, he cast it into a pit, and raised over it a
heap of stones like to those which used to be formed over
the graves of grievous malefactors.
What a different tomb was this from that stately mauso
leum which, in his pride of heart, and with the desire of per
petuating his name, he had reared for himself in the king's
dale ! And as we stand to throw one stone upon his cairn,
we can not help exclaiming, How different his death had been
if his life had been but worthier ! Had he chosen the path

330 David, King of Israel.
of filial love and reverence, and sought to walk in morality
and devout submission to the will of God, he might have
blessed his own age, and left an example that might have
won the admiration and imitation of succeeding generations ;
but as it is, he is held up here to the execration of humanity
as the incarnation of filial ingratitude, and the impersonation
of revenge in its foulest and most unnatural shape. Combin
ing in his career the guilt of Reuben with the sin of Cain, he
added to it a parricidal treachery all his own ; and having
broken every law, both of the family and the State, he so put
himself beyond the pale of human mercy, that we can not fail
to see a fitness in the fate that overtook him. We undertake
not to justify Joab for his disregard of David's tender injunc
tion, yet none the less must we recognize the righteous retribu
tion of which, in this instance, he was the executioner. The
disobedient son, under the Mosaic law, was to be stoned to
death ; and in the heap that was added to the original cairn
by the successive generations of his countrymen as they
pronounced curses on his memory, we see a monumental
beacon that marks forever the dangerous reef whereon he
made shipwreck of his soul.
But how was the news to be broken to his father ? Ahi
maaz offered to be the bearer of the tidings. But Joab
would not intrust him with the commission, and preferred
to send one Cushi, most probably an Ethiopian servant, with
the message. This, however, did not satisfy the high-priest's
son ; so, extorting a permission from the captain of the host,
the fleet courier ran, and arrived first at the gate of Maha
naim, where a scene occurred which lets us see far into the
unfathomed depths of a true parent's heart. Fastened and
almost fascinated to the spot, the king is still in the same
place in which he had parted from his troops in the early
morning. All day long he has been waiting for intelligence ;
and as he has sat watching there, his throne, his crown, his

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 331
kingdom, all have been forgotten in his eager concern for
Absalom. He is not now the king, so much is he the father.
When the swift-footed Ahimaaz comes with tidings of vic
tory, they are all unheeded as the question rises, " Is the
young man Absalom safe ?" And when Cushi makes his
appearance, the inquiry still is, " Is the young man Absalom
safe ?" Then, as the full truth comes out, every thing else
is swallowed up in the torrent of that emotion which, sweep
ing gratitude, and submission, and even faith in God before
it for the time, bears him up to the chamber over the gate,
where he cries, with a great and exceeding bitter cry, " O my
son Absalom ! my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had
died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !" There are
griefs, as well as joys, with which a stranger may not inter
meddle ; let us shut the chamber door and withdraw, leav
ing the royal mourner a while in the sanctity of his sore sor
row, while we seek to glean from the narrative the solemn
lessons which it teaches.
From the issue of the council-meeting, we may see how,
in perfect harmony with the free agency of men, and even
through that free agency, God fulfills his purposes. Before
Absalom called his friends together, it was • appointed by
God to turn the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness ; and
that appointment was carried out, while yet no violence was
done to the will of any person, and no countenance given to
the fraud and hypocrisy of Hushai. Thus God maketh the
cunning and craft of men, as well as their wrath, to praise,
and the remainder thereof he restrains. How he accom
plishes this, we know not. We only see the two extremes :
the first, in his own appointment herein revealed ; the sec
ond, in the men's consciousness of perfect freedom to do as
they chose ; but the intermediate process, the manner in
which the Divine appointment accomplished its fulfillment
through moral agents, baffles us to comprehend. Still the

332 David, King of Israel.
mystery of the mode does not alter the certainty of the
fact that it is thus God carries on his moral government of
the world. We see numerous illustrations of it everywhere.
Even in the narrative over which we have now come it has
another exemplification in that, while Absalom was the in
strument in fulfilling Nathan's prophecies about his father,
he was yet, as a free agent, held responsible for the sin which
he committed in so doing, and was punished with righteous
retribution. So it is always. God is working now in the
affairs of individual men, just as really and truly as he was
working here in those of David. The only difference is,
that in this inspired history his hand is everywhere acknowl
edged, while we too frequently ignore his agency. Let us
seek to have a firmer faith in the doctrine of a particular
providence, and in the fact that all things are controlled and
overruled by God for the carrying forward of his great ap
pointments, while yet we recognize as fully our own liberty
and responsibility. "There are many devices in a man's
heart ; nevertheless the counsel ofthe Lord, that shall stand."
"The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught,
he maketh the devices of the people of none effect." " The
counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his
heart to all generations."
In the record of Ahithophel's suicide we see how foolish
even the wisest of men may be in spiritual matters. This
astute counselor, who was reputedly as the oracle of God,
has forethought enough to set his household in order before
he dies ; yet he has not sufficient prudence to forecast what
shall be after death, and arrange for that. Had he consid
ered " that undiscovered country from whose bourne no trav
eler returns," he had never been guilty of this great iniqui
ty ! Had he thought on how he was to meet his God, he
would not have rushed unsent for into the Eternal Presence,
red-handed with his own murder. We wonder at his infatu-

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 333
ation. We marvel at his inconsistency. Yet are there not
many among ourselves guilty of a like folly ? We may not
meditate suicide indeed — God forbid that we ever should;
but we have set our households in order ; we have arranged
our business and our property, so that if we were taken from
the earth those dependent on us would be spared all unnec
essary trouble and expense ; we have made our wills, and
done every thing that we think needful in that regard, and
we have clone well therein ; so well, that if any have not
made these arrangements, they ought to make them forth
with. Yet have we done no more ? What about our souls ?
We are about to enter upon the unseen ; we are soon to
stand " naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do ;" we have the awful eternity before us, with the
certainty that we must spend its cycles either in unmitigated
misery or in purest enjoyment ; and what provision have we
made for that ? Oh ! if, having arranged our temporal mat
ters, we leave uncared for the higher concerns of our spirits,
are we not guilty of the folly of Ahithophel here ? and may
it not be said to us at last, "This ought ye to have done, and
not to have left the other undone." Say not to me there is
time enough to arrange all that ; you know not what an hour
may bring forth. Make haste, therefore, and delay not to
commit your soul to him who alone is able to keep it " against
that day."
From the grief of David here, the parents among us may
see how needful it is that they should not, by the influence
either of their training or example, injure the character of
their children. Many things indeed entered into that bitter
cup which David was made to drink in the chamber over
Mahanaim's gate. There was the natural sorrow of a par
ent in the loss of a child whom he had once loved most
passionately, and whom he still yearned after, though he had
ceased to be worthy of his affection. There was also the

334 David, King of Israel.
hopelessness of this dreadful separation between him and
his boy. When the infant of Bath-sheba died, he could say,
" I shall go to him ;" but on this occasion there is no such
comforting assurance. Absalom's sun had gone down in
thickest darkness ; no one ray of hope remained to relieve
the gloom of his father's heart ; and none but those who
have been called to mourn in similar circumstances can
tell how bitter is a grief like that.
But worse than either of these ingredients in this cup of
anguish would be, as I think, the consciousness in David's
heart, that if he had himself been all he ought to have
been, his son might not thus have perished. Was there
no connection between his own great trespass and Absa
lom's iniquity ? If he had been less foolishly indulgent,
Absalom might never have rebelled. Nay, if he had been
wiser, even after Absalom's fratricidal guilt, probably he
had not stung him into revolt. Such thoughts and ques
tionings as these, would, I doubt not, intensify the sadness
of the Psalmist in this trying hour ; and it becomes every
parent among us to see that in his training of his children,
and in his life before them, there is nothing that may tend
to ruin them. David now professes, and I believe with
truth, to desire that he had died for Absalom ; but that was
a vain wish. He ought to have lived more for Absalom.
He ought, by his own character, to have taught him to love
holiness, or, at all events, he ought to have seen that there
was nothing in his own conduct to encourage his son in
wickedness or to provoke him to wrath ; and then, though
Absalom had made shipwreck, he might have had the con
solation that he had done his utmost to prevent such a ca
tastrophe. In this connection I can not help recalling an incident in
the life of James Stirling, well known as the first temperance
missionary in Scotland. James was a drunkard up to his

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 335
sixtieth year ; but then he was, through the abstinence move
ment, rescued from his danger, and "plucked as a brand out
of the burning !" Out of gratitude for his deliverance, he
gave himself for the next twenty years of his life to the ad
vocacy of the Temperance cause, traveling over the length
and breadth of Scotland, helping to save men from the curse
of strong drink. On one of these journeys, when he arrived
at Aberdeen, he met with one of his sons, who, taking after
his fatherjs early example, had become a drunkard, and was
at that time a soldier. The two had a long and interesting
talk in the evening, and old James thought the youth was
doing better ; but in the morning he was sent for in great
haste, and hurrying to the place, wondering much what the
message meant, he was shown — oh horror ! — the body of his
son, who had committed suicide during the night. Who
may describe the anguish of that father's heart as David's
wail was wrung out of him, while he appended this of his
own : Had I been a sober man all my life, this might never
have occurred.*
Parents, will you ponder the lesson which this incident
suggests ? Do not contribute to the ruin of your children
by any indiscretion, or inconsistency, or sin of yours. In a
report of the Liverpool Observatory I once read this state
ment, as a reason why ship-masters ought to have their chro
nometers daily compared with the true time, and their varia
tions rated : "The error of a second a day may in the course
of a voyage sink a ship." So it is here : the variation of our
•conduct from the sacred standard, if statedly persevered in
by us before our children, may not only be the means of our
own destruction, but may ruin them eternally. What a sol
emn thought is that ! God keep us from doing thus fatal in
jury to those whom we most dearly love !

* See "The Gloaming of Life," by Rev. Alex. Wallace, D.D., Glasgow.

336 David, King of Israel.
Finally : the fate of Absalom may be a warning to the
careless youth among us. Divine laws will not be ignored
with impunity. You may not thrust your hand into the
flames, and imagine that God will work a miracle to save it
from being burned ; you may not leap over a precipice, and
expect that God will so counteract the law of gravitation as
to preserve. you from falling. But just as preposterous is it
to expect that, if you live in daily contempt of God's moral
commands, you will escape his punishment. The retribution
may seem long in coming ; but it will come, and the delay
will only make it heavier when it falls. Be on your guard,
then, dear young friends, against this defiance of the Al
mighty, and seek your true safety in obeying God's precepts.
A great philosopher was in the habit of saying that " to com
mand Nature we must obey her ;" and every mechanic and
man of science knows that this is true. By obeying natural
laws, we may command the power of nature, which is only
the physical power of God, and use it in our service. We
yoke steam to our chariots by obeying God's laws in regard
to steam ; we send the lightning on our messages by obey
ing God's laws in reference to electricity. But this is true
also spiritually. We can only have God's blessing, and com
mand God's grace, by obeying his moral laws. If we dis
obey them, we sha.ll be destroyed ; if we obey them, he will
be our helper and our strength. Your great security, then,
is in obedience to God ; and this is his prime command, that
"you should believe on his Son whom he hath sent." Seek
your happiness in the service of the Lord, so that when par
ents, kinsmen, or friends may ask, " Is the young man safe ?"
the answer may be, " The eternal God is his refuge, and un
derneath are the everlasting arms."
Let me beseech you, by every consideration, to take this
wise and prudent course. For your own sakes, I would
urge you to listen to my entreating voice, that so you may

Absalom's Defeat and Death. 337
secure true success in life, peace at death, and happiness
throughout eternity. For your parents' sake, I implore you
to follow the course which I have now indicated ; for the
sake of the meek, loving mother, who nightly watched you
long ago, and who still prays for you in the far-away home ;
for your father's sake, that venerable man who, in your
boyhood's clays, so reverently took down the "big ha' Bi
ble," and read to you from its sacred page around the
evening altar ; yea, higher still, for your Saviour's sake, who
weeps over the sinful city wherein you dwell, as he wept
over doomed Jerusalem : by all that is dear and sacred ; by
all that is noble, and great, and glorious, and divine ; by the
measureless duration of eternity, and the transcendent hap
piness of yonder heaven, I beseech you to seek your safety
midst the battle of life in the protection of your Saviour.
And if these considerations have no weight with you, look
once more at that royal mourner pacing his room in agony ;
hear his deep groans; mark his heavy sobs, such as can
come only from the big, bursting heart of a weeping man ;
behold how, drop by drop, the tears course adown his cheeks,
and fall heavily upon the floor. Tell me : would you like
your father, your mother, your sister, your brother, to bewail
you thus ? Oh, if you would spare those near and dear to
you this terrible, this life-long sorrow ; if, in the transit of
your spirit to its own place, you would not hear borne upon
the breeze the echo of this hopeless cry, "Would God I had
died for thee !" then turn from this time forth to Jesus, and
give yourself to his holy keeping, through faith in him and
obedience to his laws. 15

XIX.
THE RESTORATION OF DAVID TO HIS
THRONE.
2 Samuel xix. ; xx.
THE passionate grief of David over Absalom changed
the glory of victory into gloom, and so affected his
troops as they returned to Mahanaim, that " they gat them
by stealth unto the city, as people being ashamed steal away
when they flee in battle." This was only natural, and what,
in the circumstances, might have been expected ; for while,
so far as Absalom was concerned, we can well account for
and sympathize with the bitterness of his father's sorrow,
yet looked at from the' army's point of view, it could not but
seem as if the monarch had failed to appreciate the magni
tude of the risk his soldiers had run, or to estimate the val
ue ofthe services which they had rendered. They had per
iled their lives in their devotion to his cause ; they had, by
their promptitude and prowess, ended the rebellion in the
very first battle ; and when they might have hoped to be met
with congratulations and loaded with honors, the king is in
visible, and nothing is heard from him but the echo of his
unceasing cry, " O my son Absalom ! O Absalom, my son,
my son !" We can not wonder, therefore, that they were
disappointed and dissatisfied, and that their feelings should
have found vent in the stinging reproach of Joab : " Thou
hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this
day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy
daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy con
cubines ; in that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy

The Restoration of David to his Throne.

339

friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regard-
est neither princes nor servants : for this day I perceive, that
if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it
had pleased thee well."
Something like this needed to be said ; but perhaps Joab
was not the best man to say it, and certainly he did not say
it in the most tender and considerate manner. He might
have shown a little more sympathy with the king in his hour
of trouble. He might have remembered that, though David
had recovered his kingdom, he had also lost a son, and that,
too, in circumstances of the most sorrowful character. He
might have made some allowance for the conflict of emo
tions which was going on within him ; and while stirring him
up to "go forth and show himself to the people," he might
also have said something to soothe and calm the agitation
of his spirit. But Joab could touch nothing with a velvet
hand. Rough, violent, and callous himself, he could not un
derstand' the sensitiveness of another; hence, while doing a
very proper thing, he did it in so harsh and dictatorial a
manner, that the king, even while yielding to his entreaty,
chafed more than ever under the yoke of Zeruiah's sons,
and registered a resolution to free himself from their dom
ination as soon as it might be practicable.
Some, indeed, may suppose that the sternness of Joab here
was assumed, in order the better to rouse David to the dan
ger which anew he was incurring ; and if any choose to adopt
that view, I have no objection to offer, save this, that, from my
reading of his character, it does not seem ever to have re
quired any effort on Joab's part to be hard and unfeeling ;
but whatever may be said about the way in which he gave
it, this must be plainly conceded, that his advice was not of
fered a moment too soon, for the troops were rapidly dis
banding, and by-and-by the confidence and affection of the
people would have been entirely alienated. When, however,

340 David, King of Israel.
they heard that the king was again sitting in the gate, they
speedily returned; and as they looked upon his pale, hag
gard, grief-worn countenance, their hearts, true to the deepest
instincts of our nature, would be drawn to him even more than
if he had met them with every token of unmingled gladness.
But though he had thus regained the attachment of his
troops, and quenched the fire of rebellion which at one time
looked so threatening, David still remained at Mahanaim,
and took no steps to return to Jerusalem. He had been
called to the throne at first by the choice of the people, as
well as by the designation of Jehovah, and he would not
move in the direction of resuming his regal dignity until, in
some form or other, the desire of the tribes had been indi
cated to him. Hence it was with satisfaction that he heard
how, almost everywhere throughout the land, the inhabitants
were saying one to another, " Why speak ye not a word of
bringing the king back ?"
But there was one unaccountable exception to this gener
al expression of returning allegiance. The people of Judah
were silent. Probably they felt that they had been more
deeply committed to the revolt of Absalom than others, inas
much as he had first unfurled his banner at Hebron ; per
haps, also, they were ashamed of the part which the inhabit
ants of Jerusalem had played in the rebellion, and possibly
they might be afraid that David might visit their perfidy with
.severe punishment. But, in any case, their silence was very
painful to the king ; and not willing that his own tribe, who
had first called him to the honor of royalty, should be back
ward now, he sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar, begging
them to say to the elders of Judah, " Why are ye the last to
bring the king back to his house ? seeing the speech of all
Israel is come to the king, even to his house. Ye are my
brethren. Ye are my bones and my flesh : wherefore then are
ye the last to bring back the king ?" And lest there should be

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 341
any fear of vengeance on his part, he signifies his intention
to elevate Amasa, who had been the captain of Absalom's
army, to the post. of commander-in-chief, instead of Joab.
This message had the desired effect : " It bowed the heart of
all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man;" so that
they not only invited the king back, but also came to Gilgal,
that they might meet him and bring him again to his palace.
In all this procedure, however, David was not actuated by
his usual sagacity ; and the result of his apparent preference
of Judah over the other tribes not only provoked another re
bellion after his return to Jerusalem, but also prepared the
way for the division of the kingdom, which took place in the
days of his grandson, Rehoboam. It was quite right in the
king to tarry at Mahanaim until he was asked to return in
state to Jerusalem ; it was natural, also, that when his own
tribe was backward, he should stimulate it to activity ; but
he ought to have sent a similar message to the elders of all
the tribes, acknowledging their forwardness to move in his
interests ; and when the men of Judah came to Gilgal, to
make a public "progress" with him from that city to Jerusa
lem, he should have insisted upon waiting until the other
tribes were represented, as they had been on the day when
first he assumed the throne over undivided Israel. As it
was, however, we can not but see how he wounded the self-
respect of the other tribes, by making it appear that the in
vitation of the men of Judah was of more consequence to
him than that of all the others put together ; and so he made
a wedge, -which, though it proved ineffectual in the hands of
Sheba, the son of Bichri, needed only the hammer-stroke of
the sterner and more subtle Jeroboam to divide Israel from
Judah in perpetual separation. But while we mark the lack
of forethought indicated by David here, we must not violate
the order of the narrative by introducing out of its place the
rebellion of Sheba.

342 David, King of Israel.
Along with the men of Judah, and accompanied by a thou
sand men of Benjamin, came Shimei of Bahurim, and Ziba,
the steward of Mephibosheth, to whom David had so hastily
transferred all his master's property. The latter was in great
state, surrounded by his fifteen sons, and attended by twenty
slaves. As soon as David landed from the ferry-boat which
bore him over the river, Shimei came near to make a hum
ble confession of his guilt in cursing the king, and to request
forgiveness. Abishai was again forward with his offer to put
the mean-spirited and unfeeling man to death. In the eye
of the brother of Joab, all this confession of iniquity, and ex
pression of zeal in being the first of "all the house of Joseph
to go down to meet the king," was but a piece of sickening
hypocrisy ; and perhaps he was right, for in general the men
who are loudest in curses are themselves cringing wretches,
who will swallow all their formerly professed principles, and
eat in all their strongest utterances, if only they may save
their lives and property. But the day of David's restoration
was not to be stained by any deed of blood, however right
eously it might have been shed. Amnesty was to be every
where proclaimed. So, with his usual querulous expression
of impatience at Abishai's interference, David said, "What
have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this
day be adversaries unto me ? Shall there any man be put
to death this day in Israel ? for do not I know that I am this
day king over Israel ?" So Shimei was reprieved ; and the
king sware that he, at least, would not put him to death — a
piece of weakness of which at a later day he saw reason to
repent. After he had safely passed the Jordan, the venerable Bar
zillai approached to bid him farewell. With touching ear
nestness, which shows how deeply he had been moved by his
great kindness, the king besought him to accompany him to
Jerusalem, and take his place as one whom he would delight

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 343
to honor at the royal table ; but the aged chief, who realized
that he had already one foot in the grave, and who was not
willing to barter the happiness of his homely life, and the
prospect of being buried in the sepulchre of his fathers, for
all the glitter of a court, even when such a one as David was
at- its head, delicately declined the invitation for himself;
yet, that he might not seem rudely to repel that which was
offered in real gratitude, he commended his son Chimham to
the favor of his sovereign ; and it is gratifying to know that
David was specially attentive to the old man's request ; for
not only did Chimham eat at the royal table, but he ob
tained a portion of David's patrimonial possession near to
Bethlehem. This, at least, is the most natural explanation
of the fact that in the days of Jeremiah we find mention
made of a locality near to Bethlehem which was even then
known as the habitation of Chimham.* Nor is this the only
reference to Barzillai in the later history of the nation ; for
at the return from the Babylonish captivity, it came out that
one of Barzillai's daughters married a Levite, whose descend
ants, some of whom were even then in the land, out of regard
to the faithful old chief, called themselves "The children of
Barzillai. "f
Less satisfactory in every point of view was David's treat
ment ofthe good Mephibosheth, who came to meet him with
every token of respect and affection. From the day of the
king's departure from his capital, the son of Jonathan had
neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed
his clothes ; and now, having doubtless heard of Ziba's per
fidy, he approached his father's friend, and his own benefac
tor, with mingled feelings of satisfaction and regret — satis
faction that David had returned to his throne in safety, re
gret that he had innocently fallen under the royal suspicion.
* Jeremiah xii., 17. t Nehemiah vii., 63.

344 David, King of Israel.
When David saw him, he asked, in an upbraiding tone,
" Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth ?" and
he answered, " 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.
And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king ;
but my lord the king is as an angel of God : do therefore,
what is good in thine eyes. For all of my father's house
were but dead men before my lord the king : yet didst thou
set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table.
What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the
king?" This is, indeed, a very different story from that which Ziba
told on the memorable day of David's flight, and some have
supposed that it was untrue, grounding their opinion on the
fact that David did not restore all his lands to Mephibo
sheth, but said, " Thou and Ziba divide the land." To main
tain this view, however, seems to me to be a vindication of
David at the expense of truth and justice, since the words of
Mephibosheth bear upon them the stamp of the most thor
ough ingenuousness ; and besides, it is not Mephibosheth,
but the sacred chronicler himself, who tells us of the honest
mourning of the poor cripple over his patron's calamity.
Ziba had tried to make it appear that Mephibosheth was ex
pecting to gain for himself the kingdom, in the confusion
caused by Absalom. But, as Mr. Groves has said : " When
the circumstances on both sides are weighed, there seems to
be no escape from the conclusion that Mephibosheth had
been faithful all through. Pie could have had nothing to
hope for from the revolution, for Absalom had made no such
vow to Jonathan as that into which David had entered ; so
from the success of Absalom, he could expect no benefit.
Neither could he, a poor, nervous, timid cripple, seriously en
tertain the idea that the people would prefer him as their

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 34S
ruler to Absalom, who was the handsomest, the readiest, and
the most popular man in the country. Moreover, his story
is consistent throughout. Decrepit as he was, he could not
but be dependent upon his servant ; and it is quite conceiv
able that Ziba, who had nothing to lose, but every thing to
gain, by his perfidy, should, when ordered to make ready the
ass for Mephibosheth, start away after David himself, and
leave his master in helplessness and misery behind. Be
sides, presuming that he had been thus outwitted, he had no
subsequent opportunity of going out to David."*
We have already seen how difficult it was, even for such
fleet couriers as Jonathan and Ahimaaz, to make their way
in safety to the king ; how hopeless, therefore, must it have
seemed to a lame man like Mephibosheth ! Thus, having
lost the first opportunity of joining David by the treachery
of Ziba, he had been compelled to remain in the city ; but
he did all that, in the circumstances, he could have clone.
He went into deep mourning for his patron ; and so soon as
it was safe for him to make his appearance, he came out to
meet the king — not, observe, making an humble confession
and earnest prayer for forgiveness, like the cringing Shimei,
but in the conscious integrity of one who felt that he had
been cruelly maligned. But, more than this, David himself
appears to have been convinced of his innocence, for he re
vokes half of the grant that he had made to Ziba ; and he
does it with such symptoms of impatience as betoken that
he was ill at ease in regard to the whole business, and did
not care to have any further reference made to it.
Every one knows that when he has been entrapped into
the doing of an ungenerous or unjust thing, there springs up
in him an irritation at himself, which is apt to betray itself
in hastiness of speech and manner quite similar to that man-

* Smith's " Dictionary," art. Mephibosheth.
15*

346 David, King of Israel.
ifested by David here when he says, "Why speakest thou
any more of thy matters ? I have said, Thou and Ziba di
vide the land." But both the temper and the decision were
unworthy of David. Why should he vent on Mephibosheth
the indignation which ought to have been directed against
Ziba for deceiving him, and against himself for falling so
easily into Ziba's snare? Moreover, why should he pro
nounce a judgment which on the very face of it was unjust ?
Some, indeed, in their zeal for David's reputation here,
will have it that he was simply restoring the original grant,
which they affirm was bestowed on the condition that Ziba
was to till the land, and give half the proceeds to Mephibo
sheth ; but this defense of the king is evidently untenable,
since, from the reply of Mephibosheth, it is clear that some
thing was taken by Ziba which he had not enjoyed before.
Why should the cripple have said, " Yea, let him take all,"
if something had not been taken from him which Ziba had
not hitherto possessed ? Hence, however reluctantly, we are
compelled to come to the conclusion that David here be
haved himself most unroyally, and gave a decision which
was a manifest compromise, and that, too, in a matter of jus
tice, where no such compromise ought to have been admissi
ble. If Mephibosheth spake the truth, the whole of his es
tate should have been restored ; if Ziba's statement had been
correct, no part of it should have been returned ; but as it
was, the king, in his weak desire to please all parties, did a
grievous injustice to one who was perhaps more sincerely at
tached to him than any inmate of his palace, and who ought
to have been specially beloved by him for his father's sake.
Oh, this trimming and time-serving, this desire of peace at
any price, this political expediency and wise diplomacy,
which seeks above and beyond all things to keep all sweet,
how much it has darkened the reputation even of good men,
and retarded the onward march of morality and religion !

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 347
Ziba was, it may be, a man of influence in the party that
yet called itself by the name of Saul ; so, though David was
probably inwardly convinced of his unprincipled character,
he thought that he could not afford to offend him ; or per
haps, from a weak desire that no one should be punished on
the joyful day of his restoration, he lets him go free, not
thinking that thereby he is deeply wounding the most sen
sitive heart of Mephibosheth in its holiest spot. True, in
deed, that noble spirit made this touching reply: "Yea, let
him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again
in peace unto his own house." But it is just a soul capable
of such noble self-denial that feels most keenly the sting of
any suspicion of its love or fidelity ; and as no further refer
ence is made to him in the sacred narrative, especially as
David gives no charge concerning him to Solomon at his
death, eight years later, it is not unlikely that he did not
long survive the grief and pain that Ziba's treachery had
caused him.
All this while David and the men of Judah seem to have
been on the way between Jordan and Gilgal; and when
they arrived at that city, an angry altercation rose between
the members of the royal tribe and those of the others who
happened to be present. The men of Israel, as those con
nected with the ten tribes begin already to be called, were
indignant at the proceedings of the men of Judah. They
alleged that their brethren had stolen away the king; and
their irritation was not allayed, but rather increased, by the
fact that the men of Judah assigned their near relationship
to David as their reason for the prominence which they had
assumed ; for they replied with vehemence, " We have ten
parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than
ye : why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not
be first had in bringing back our king?" The men of Ju
dah answered with yet greater warmth ; and in the midst

348 David, King of Israel.
of the controversy, a Benjamite, Sheba by name, blew once
more the trumpet of revolt, raising the shout, " To your
tents, O Israel." This act of his was the spark which, fall
ing on the already excited multitude, kindled them into re
bellion ; so the Israelites gathered around Sheba, while the
men of Judah, cleaving to the king, carried him in safety to
Jerusalem, where, having first marked his displeasure at the
guilt of his concubines with Absalom by consigning them to
a living widowhood, he immediately took steps for the crush
ing of the new insurrection. Passing over Joab, who had
hitherto been commander of the forces, he commissioned
Amasa to lead his troops against the enemy. But whether
that officer, so recently in rebellion against David, had not
yet gained the confidence of the king's forces, so that they
were slow in gathering round him, or whether he was secret
ly in sympathy with Sheba's revolt, and, really wishing it
success, put off time to give it strength, does not appear.
In any case, he tarried longer than the time appointed ; and
David, fearing that the rebellion might become even more
formidable than Absalom's, commissioned Abishai to head
his troops, and pursue Sheba before he could intrench him
self within a walled city.
It is observable that all through this affair there is a stud
ied slight of Joab ; yet that unscrupulous leader saw his
opportunity; for, taking rank under his brother, he went
out along with the king's body-guard and all the mighty
men ; and meeting Amasa at the great stone in Gibeon, he
slew him in the same cold-blooded and treacherous fashion
as he had formerly dispatched Abner. On that occasion,
however, he had the pretext of avenging the death of his
brother ; this time the deed was one of envy and jealousy.
He could not endure that any one should supersede him in
the post which he had so long filled, and, with the kiss of
pretended friendship on his lip, he smote his adversary with

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 349
such vehemence that the blood stained "his own girdle that
was upon his loins, and his shoes that were upon his feet."
This horrible murder brought the men of David's army to a
stand. Not until the body of Amasa was removed from
their path and covered with a cloth, would they consent to
move forward. Thereafter Joab assumed the command, and
followed Sheba to Abel of Beth-maachah, a town of some
importance in the north of Palestine, in the territory of the
tribe of Naphtali. Here he prevailed on a wise woman,
whose influence was great over the inhabitants, to procure
the death of Sheba ; and having received evidence that the
traitor had been executed, he blew the trumpet, recalling his
men, and returned to Jerusalem to tell David that the re
bellion was at an end. The news, we may be sure, was
more welcome than the messenger who carried it ; for thus
again, in spite of his determination to the contrary, he had
been laid under deep obligation to Joab,'whose ascendency
over him had so chafed his spirit during his entire reign.
There was nothing said by the king about the murder of
Amasa, but David's silence would be to Joab more express
ive even thai* speech ; and we know how keenly he felt his
nephew's cruelty by the allusions which he made to it on his
death-bed, and the commands which he gave to Solomon
concerning him.
But now, leaving this record of blood, let us turn and look
at the Psalms which have been generally regarded as be
longing to the era of Absalom's rebellion. Already we have
referred to the beautiful morning and evening hymns, so ex
pressive of calm confidence in God, which David composed,
as is commonly believed, in connection with his flight from
Jerusalem, and which are numbered 4th and 3d in our Psal
ter; but there are others which must in no wise be over
looked. Indeed, as we have before seen, a time of affliction
is ever, in David's case, a most prolific time in spiritual

350 David, King of Israel.
song. It is the stroke that brings sound from the lyre ; and
when the soul-harp is rightly strung, the touch of God's chas
tening hand will ever draw from it the sweetest music.
We are not surprised, therefore, to find that many Psalms
are traced to the circumstances and experiences of David
during his son's revolt ; and a brief allusion to them, while
yet the incidents of the narrative are fresh in our recollec
tion, may help us to understand their character better than
we have done before. The 5th Psalm, which is much akin
in tone and sentiment to that which precedes, may well
enough have been written on the same occasion ; and it is
interesting to note how, amidst the excitement of his flight,
and the plottings and counterplottings of the time, he pre
serves the calm composure of confidence in God. "But as
for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy
mercy : and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy tem
ple. Lead me,0 Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine
enemies; make thy way straight before my face;" and again:
" Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice : let them
ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them." "For
thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous ; with favor wilt thou
compass him as with a shield." To the same trying hour
belongs the 143d Psalm, which, read in the light of the his
tory, becomes full of touching beauty and devout pathos.
Remembering the connection between his sin and his ca
lamities, he begs God not to enter into judgment with him,
because in his sight no flesh living could be justified ; then,
plaintively describing the evil done to him by his enemies,
he falls back on the memory of former times, and encour
aged by the tokens of God's mercy which he had then re
ceived, he says, " I stretch forth my hands unto thee : my
soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land." Thereafter, in a
strain of earnest supplication, he calls for help, saying, "Hear
me speedily, O Lord ; my spirit faileth : hide not thy face

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 351
from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning; for
in thee do I trust : cause me to know the way wherein I
should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee."
After he had heard of Ahithophel's treachery, he wrote,
most probably, the 41st, and 55th, and 69th Psalms, which
agree in these three particulars, viz., in the mournful descrip
tion which he gives of his case, and the plaintive wail he ut
ters over the treachery of his former friend ; in the calm
trustfulness with which he leaves his cause with God ; and
in the prayers which he offers for the punishment and de
struction of his enemies. Indeed, this last particular has
given great perplexity to commentators, and "the cursing
Psalms," as they are scornfully called, are everywhere held
up as evidences of the revengeful spirit of David. But they'
who do so seriously mistake ; for, in the first place, that they
were not uttered in a spirit of revenge, is evident from the
disposition of David all through the history. How meekly
he bore Shimei's curses ; how magnanimously he refrained
from punishing in the day of his victory ! Indeed, if we have
had any fault to find with him at this time, it has been be
cause he shrank from the execution of what we should have
regarded as needful justice. Hence, having regard to the
mood of the monarch as indicated by the facts of the his
tory, we can not suppose that the Psalms then written were
dictated by a vindictive or personally revengeful spirit.
Again, we must remember that David was the anointed of
the Lord, and that rebellion against him was treason against
Jehovah. As I have often before said in these discourses, the
Lord was the true King of Israel, and David reigned by his
appointment. All, therefore, who rebelled against him were
guilty of treason against the Lord, and were not his personal
enemies, but the enemies of the Most High. Hence his
prayer for their punishment was a prayer that God would

352 David, King of Israel.
vindicate the honor of his moral government by showing his
justice in their chastisement. But Paul prayed after that
fashion, as well as David, and no one will accuse him of act
ing unworthily ofthe Gospel. Has he not written thus : "Al
exander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord re
ward him according to his works ?" and do we not find that
the sternest denunciations of judgment against God's ene
mies came from the lips of the meek and holy Jesus him
self? Hence we have no difficulty about these Psalms, more
than about any other passages of Scripture which declare
that God is set for the destruction of the wicked, and for the
maintenance of truth and righteousness ; for, as Dr. Alexan
der has said, "Whatever it is right for God to do in judg
ment may be properly enough asked from God in prayer by
his people, provided only they ask it from a regard to God's
honor and glory, and not out of personal resentment."*
Another feature of these Ahithophel Psalms must be spe
cially alluded to. They are all Messianic, and are quoted
or referred to by the writers of the New Testament as pre
dictions which had their complete fulfillment in the betrayal
and crucifixion of the Lord. Nor need we marvel at this :
for David was a typical person ; and in singing of his own
calamities, the Holy Ghost so guided his spirit that he em
ployed language which, though in a lower sense appropriate
to himself, does yet find its highest significance in Jesus.
Whensoever, therefore, we sing them now, we can not but
feel that a greater than David is here.
During his sojourn at Mahanaim, ere yet he had been in
vited back to Jerusalem, it is not unlikely that he composed
and sang the 42d and 43d Psalms, and perhaps also the 84th,
all of which refer to the privation which he experienced in
being cut off from God's sanctuary. We saw that when his
* Commentary on the Psalms, by J. A. Alexander, D.D.

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 353
infant was taken from him, he went first to the house of
God to worship ; and in the sad days which succeeded the
death of Absalom he must often have lamented that he was
unable to approach the place where God peculiarly dwelt,
and he might have said, "As the hart panteth after the
water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My
soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : when shall I
come and appear before God ?" If we are right in assign
ing this date to that beautiful ode, what new significance is
thereby given to the words, " Deep calleth unto deep at the
noise of thy water-spouts : all thy waves and thy billows are
gone over me." Could we have a better description than
that of the agony in the chamber over Mahanaim's gate ? or
could we have a finer calm after that stormful experience
than that presented by the very next words : "Yet the Lord
will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the
night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God
of my life?" while the recurring refrain comes with its sooth
ing cadence, and hushes the soul to peace: "Why art thou
cast down, O my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within
me ? hope thou in God : for I shall yet praise him, who is
the health of my countenance, and my God." The 84th is
similar ; and as the lack of a blessing makes us value it the
more, we can well understand how the good man sings, "A
day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather
be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in
the tents of wickedness." The 144th Psalm, also, is held by
many to belong to this era, and was most probably written
after the entire suppression of Absalom's rebellion, and ofthe
revolt of Sheba, which followed so close upon it. He makes
public thanksgiving to God for his deliverance ; and after
dwelling minutely on the various elements of national pros
perity, which he earnestly supplicates for his country, he
concludes in a fine spirit of patriotism, ripening into piety,

354 David, King of Israel.
" Happy is that people, that is in such a case : yea, happy is
that people, whose God is the Lord."'
Willingly would I have lingered longer over these sacred
lyrics, which acquire for us such new pathos when we
place them in the setting of the history out of which they
sprung, but I must forbear. Let me conclude, as usual, by
gleaning a few practical lessons from the incidents which
have this evening been before our attention.
Let us learn, in the first place, from Barzillai's answer to
the king, to test the allurements of the world by the ques
tion, " How long have I to live ?" The venerable chief felt
that the life of the court was not for one like him, who had
already one foot in the grave ; and with a combination of
wisdom and courtesy which is far from common, he deter
mined to remain in his old home, and, after a brief season,
to be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. Now, though
we may not have reached the age of fourscore years, there
is much in his question which can not fail to be suggestive
to every one of us. The longest life is but brief, after all.
Can we afford, then, to fritter away our hours in idleness,
or to waste them in riot and dissipation ? Even if we were
sure that we should live to be of the age of Methusaleh, it
would still be criminal in us to allow our time to pass unim
proved ; but how much more is this the case, when the utmost
limit of our days is fourscore years, and the average duration
of life much shorter ? Is it not true that, for any thing we
know, many among us may be to-night much nearer death
than was Barzillai when he spake thus pensively to David ?
and yet what are we doing with our days and nights ? What
have we to show for the years of the past ; and what prep
aration have we made for eternity ? If we were to be here
forever ; if we were not moral and accountable beings ; or
if the present state of existence were not given to us to set
tle our eternal destiny, we might have some excuse for de-

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 355
voting our entire energies to the making of mone}', or to the
indulgence of appetite, or to the eager chase after the bubble
reputation, which too often bursts in. the hand that grasps it.
But as it is, have we any word expressive enough to describe
the folly of the man who is shutting his eyes to the future
life, and is taking no means whatever to train his soul for
everlasting fellowship with God ? " Art is long, and life is
brief," was the motto of the old masters as they painted
those great works which have made their names illustrious.
They felt that their moments were too precious to be wasted
in trifling or in sin, and they gave themselves entirely to that
labor which has made their works the models and the in
spiration of artists in all succeeding ages. But what is the
work of the painter in comparison with that which God has
given each man to do, " the working out of his own salva
tion with fear and trembling ;" the reproducing, not in col
ors on canvas, but in living deeds of holiness and benevo
lence, of the likeness of Jesus Christ ; the chiseling out, not
in cold marble, but in warm and breathing manhood, of a
Christian character ? That is a work great enough for all
our energies, and needing the labor of every hour of every
day of our lives.
Shall we, then, abstract ourselves from this glorious life-
aim, and give ourselves to frivolity, dissipation, and iniquity ?
" How long have we to live," that we should squander thus not
merely the days that are passing over us, but the eternity
of holy happiness which God has offered us in Christ, and
which can only be secured by faithful obedience to him
here ? Let the time past of our lives suffice for all of us
"to have wrought the will of the Gentiles." From this night
let us begin anew. Let us, finding pardon through the Re
deemer's atonement, and regeneration by the power of the
Holy Ghost, go forward from this hour, to consecrate all our
powers, resources, and opportunities, and every hour of ev-

356 David, King of Israel.
ery day, to the grand ambition of "attaining the measure of
the stature of the perfect man in Christ Jesus." And when
any one seeks to tempt us from this holy quest, let us re
ply, "Life is too short for the work I have on hand. I
am doing a great work, and I can not come down. Why
should the work cease while I leave it and come down to
you?" But we may learn also, from the bearing of Mephibo
sheth, how to be meek under a false accusation. We have
the deepest sympathy for the son of Jonathan in the circum
stances in which here he was placed, and we can not help
feeling that David was not acting like his usual self when he
pronounced his hasty decision regarding him. He had forgot
ten at the moment all that he had owed to his early friend.
He had lost sight, for the time, of his loving covenant by the
stone Ezel, when the two heroes wept so long upon each oth
er's necks. Even if Mephibosheth had been guilty of all that
Ziba had laid to his charge, the memory of Jonathan might
have pleaded for forgiveness ; but when, as I think I have
satisfactorily shown, the crippled prince was really innocent,
David's treatment of him was in a marked degree ungener
ous. Yet how nobly Mephibosheth behaves ! He does not
care for his own interests. He seeks no revenge on Ziba.
It is enough for him that the king has come to his own
again. He is even content to be under suspicion, if but Da
vid may be prosperous. How beautiful is all this ! It re
minds us of his father's nobleness in giving up all claim to
the throne, and being willing to be David's subordinate ; and
in similar circumstances we may imitate his demeanor with
advantage. We need not expect to pass through the world without be
ing sometimes falsely accused, and wrongfully treated. He
who can not err has said to his followers, "Woe unto you
when all men speak well of you ;" and we have reason to

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 357
fear that there is something defective in us, or amiss with us,
if every body is on our side. Only let us see that, when we
are accused, we are accused falsely ; and that, when we do
suffer, we suffer wrongfully, for Christ's sake ; and then we
may take it not only patiently, but joyfully. It will be right
and proper for us, like Mephibosheth here, to give the true
version of affairs ; but if after that injustice should come
upon us, let us bear it meekly, remembering Him who " when
he was reviled, reviled not again, and who when he suffered,
threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth
righteously." He who is always standing on his own vindi
cation, and insisting on having himself put right, will do him
self and the cause more harm than good. Let him be still,
and God will vindicate him. If men will not take his word,
let him wait until God proves his truthfulness. The Chris
tian has always his court of appeal in heaven, and God will
vindicate him at length. Let him even consent to be de
frauded, therefore, rather than insist on what would be only
justice. God will take care of him ; " for curses, like chick
ens, go home to roost," and false accusations, like the boom
erang, go back to the hand by which, they have been flung.
From the Psalms which were written by David in this
crisis of his history, we may learn how precious a solace
communion with God is to the believer in the time of trial.
We have repeatedly seen how, in days of calamity and dark
ness, it was the habit of David's soul to fall back into the
arms of Jehovah. At other times he might forget the Lord,
but in his hours of trouble, he was driven for shelter beneath
the shadow of the almighty wings ; ay, even when, on an oc
casion like this, he could not but feel that his miseries were
the consequences of his own sins, he came, in humble peni
tence and confidence, to Jehovah, and was "in no wise cast
out." I do not know if there be, even in the Word of God itself,

358 David, King of Israel.
a more precious manifestation of the magnanimous mercy of
Jehovah to the penitent believer than that which is furnished
by his treatment of David at this time. Consider what this
man has done ; think that all the evils which he is now en
during are the results of his own aggravated transgression ;
yet behold how God soothes, sustains, and restores him ; so
that he can sing, " Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and
why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in God : for I
shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance,
and my God." Who dares to say after this that the Lord
is a hard master, or an austere one ? Or who needs despair,
after such an exhibition of his grace as this ? Is there a
backslider here to-night, who, in the thickening of calamities
around him, is made to remember his iniquities, and to groan
under the burden of his guilt, let him return unto the Lord
like David, and he will -be received as David was. It is as
true now as it was of old, that " he giveth songs in the night,"
and, amidst the manifold music of this harmonious universe,
there is none so sweet in the ear of Jehovah as the night
ingale song that comes trilling from a penitent heart in the
midnight of its tribulation. It is but natural for the prosper
ous soul to sing when, like the lark, it is soaring up to the
very gate of heaven ; but when the spirit is in darkness, and
finds peace in penitence and trust, the gush of music that
comes welling up from its depths is more than natural — it is
a triumph of grace ; and as such is ever sweeter in the ears
of God. "The broken spirit is to him a pleasing sacrifice."
Will no repentant one offer such a sacrifice to him to-night ?
And thou, tempest-tossed and distracted brother, whose trials
have well-nigh overwhelmed thee, though thou canst not
trace them to any particular cause, take heart from David's
experience. He who sustained the Psalmist will never fail
thee, nor forsake thee. The sure anchorage on which David
rode out even this terrific storm will hold thee safe. Cheer

The Restoration of David to his Throne. 359
thee, then, for God is with thee ; and when the gale is ended,
and life's voyage over, thou shalt be with him.
In the English Channel there is a beneficent light-house,
which for more than a century has braved the storms of win
ter. Many and many a time for days together, as the waves
broke completely over it, it has not been seen from the
shore, and men almost feared that it had been swept away ;
but when the storm was down, there it stood still, throwing
its light across the waters, because it is not only founded on,
but built into, the rock. Like that noble tower, my brother,
thou art built upon, and into, the Rock of Ages. Thou art
so one with him as to be a part of himself; and let the hur
ricane howl its loudest, and the waves dash with their fiercest
might, no real harm can come to thee. They must sweep
him away if they would ingulf thee ; and no storm of pas
sion, or persecution, or treachery, or antagonism of any kind
can shake his everlasting foundations.
Well might David sing when he was upheld by such a
God ; and if but we had faith in him, we too might bid defi
ance to the allied powers of earth and hell. "Lord, increase
our faith !" and then our power, our purity, and our peace
shall grow in like proportion. "Lord, increase our faith!"
and then, " Though troubles rise, and terrors frown,
And days of darkness fall,
Through thee, all dangers we'll defy,
And more than conquer all."

XX.
FAMINE AND PESTILENCE
2 Samuel xxii. ; xxiv.
AFTER David's restoration to the throne, Palestine was
desolated by a famine which lasted for three years.
From the peculiar character of our climate, we can scarcely
realize the magnitude of such a calamity, which was proba
bly caused by drought ; but the description given of a simi
lar visitation in the days of Elijah, as well as the accounts
which have been given within the last ten years, of the terri
ble sufferings which were endured from the same cause by
the inhabitants of Orissa and Rajpootana, may help us some
what to understand what an Eastern famine is. During these
weary years no rain had fallen to refresh the thirsty land ; no
fields had waved with rich luxuriance ; no barn-yards had
been filled with stores of grain. The shouting of the vint
age, the song of the reaper, and the mirth of harvest-home
had not been heard in the land, and want had stamped each
human countenance with its sharp, deep die. Many of the
inhabitants had perished, and everywhere were weeping wid
ows wringing their hands in despair, and orphaned children
mourning for parents whom they would see no more.
In the midst of this wide-spread desolation', the people
thought of God ; and David was only representing their deep
yearning of heart when he went to inquire of the Lord what
was the cause of the terrible calamity which had come upon
them. A proud philosophy, in these modern days, would
say that all this was the merest superstition ; inasmuch as
all such things as famine and pestilence make their appear-

Famine and Pestilence. 361
ance in accordance with natural laws, and have no connec
tion with the moral character of a community ; while prayer
for their removal, being a virtual request that God should in
terfere with the operation of these laws and work a miracle in
their suspension, must ever be in vain. But there are things
deeper and truer than any such philosophy, and among these
I place the spiritual instincts of the human heart. Why is it,
we are disposed to ask, that in almost all languages pestilence
has been called by a name which — like our own word plague,
which means a stroke — directly points to God's agency in
its appearance ? and whence comes it that, when a people are
enduring such a calamity, there is a general thought of God
among them, and their resolution becomes that of Jeremiah :
"Let us search, and try our ways, and turn again unto the
Lord?" Do not these things, and others like them, point to
the fact that, by the mystic intuitions of the soul, God is rec
ognized in all such visitations? and while we take into ac
count the laws of external nature, shall we refuse to pay re
gard to the nature that is within us ?' Besides, this assertion
of the supremacy of law, which is so characteristic of some
schools of philosophy, is, after all, a virtual atheism. For if
we admit that there is a personal God, and that he is in any
. real sense the moral governor of mankind, the conclusion is
irresistible, that he regulates the occurrences of the physical
universe with a view to the moral training of his human crea
tures. How he does so, while yet the order of the physical
universe is maintained, we can not explain ; that he does so,
must be admitted by us frankly, unless we make his provi
dence a nonentity, and his personal existence a delusion. As
Isaac Taylor has remarked, " This is, in fact, the great mira
cle of providence, that no miracles are needed to accomplish
its purposes." It is all very well to say that there can be no
true nexus between a moral evil and a physical calamity, and
I grant at once that there is. no such immediate sequence in
16

362 David, King of Israel.
such a case, as there is between a physical cause and a phys
ical effect ; but there is a very real connection for all that.
The disobedience of your child does not cause the infliction
of punishment on him by you in the same way that the fall
ing of a spark on gunpowder causes an explosion. But there
is a very intimate relationship between the two, notwithstand
ing ; and it is a relationship established by the moral char
acter of the parental government. Now, the connection be
tween men's disobedience and God's infliction of chastise
ment upon them through his physical laws is of a similar
sort. Nor let any one say that moral evil should be visited
only with a punishment that shall tell only on the moral part
of man's nature. We reach the moral through the physical.
The punishment, to tell upon the individual, must be inflict
ed where it will be most felt ; and just as the parent seeks to
benefit his child morally, by inflicting on him some physical
suffering, so God, in his government of the world, checks the
sins of men by sending upon communities the physical calam
ities of pestilence, famine, and the like. I do not deny, of
course, that these calamities come through the ordinary op
eration of law ; what I affirm is, that these laws have been so
adjusted by the Divine Governor of the world, that through
them, and without any miraculous interfe7'ence with them, he .
visits moral evil with physical chastisement ; and so it is not
. superstition, but rather the truest piety and the highest phi
losophy, which leads a people, under such a visitation as that
of famine, to turn to Jehovah, saying, " Show us wherefore
thou contendest with us."
These general principles will hold in any country and in
any age, but they had special force among the Jews, from the
fact that the sanctions of the covenant, in terms of which
they held the land of promise, were mainly temporal and
physical. The blessings promised as the reward of their
obedience were principally such as could be enjoyed on

Famine and Pestilence. 363
earth, and the penalties set forth as the consequences of
their disobedience were chiefly physical calamities. I would
be slow, indeed, to allege that, in the sanctions of the old
covenant, there was no allusion whatever to the future state ;
but, speaking generally, I would repeat that the promises
and threatenings of the Mosaic economy had special and
primary reference to earthly things. This is seen all through
the history of the Jewish nation ; but it comes out with pe
culiar prominence in the terms of the covenant itself, as
these are given in the twenty -seventh and twenty-eighth
chapters of the book of Deuteronomy, where, among many
similar promises, we find this, conditioned on the obedience
of the people. "The Lord shall make thee plenteous in
goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle,
and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open
unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto
thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine
hand." In like manner, among the threatenings denounced
against their unfaithfulness, these words occur : " Thy heav
en that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that
is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain
of thy land powder and dust : from heaven shall it come
down upon thee, until thou be destroyed." Now there is
nothing of miraculous intervention with nature's laws hinted
at in all this, for when these blessings and chastisements did
come, they came in the ordinary course of nature ; but with
such statements as these in the book of their law, it was not
only natural, but right, for David and the people to look for
a spiritual cause for all their sufferings, and to inquire why
such a prolonged famine had come upon them.
But while it is comparatively easy to vindicate David's
procedure in inquiring at the Lord from the sneers of a
proud and really atheistic philosophy, the reply which he

364 David, King of Israel.
received from the sacred oracle, and the action which he
took thereon, introduce new questions whose solution is at
tended with much greater difficulty. The Lord angered,
" It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew
the Gibeonites." The name of this people brings up the
old story of the deception which their fathers played on
Joshua and the tribes when they were taking possession of
the land of Canaan. Disguising themselves with old gar
ments and clouty shoes, and taking old sacks upon their
asses, and wine -bottles, old and rent and bound up, they
came to Joshua at Gilgal ; and making it appear that they
had traveled a long distance, they desired to form a league
with him. The unsuspicious leader fell into the trap which
they had laid for him ; and though the discovery of their
craftiness naturally provoked the people, the princes coun
seled that they should be faithful to their oath, saying, " WTe
have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel : now
therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them ;
we will even let them live, lest wrath be on us, because of
the oath which we sware unto them. And the princes said
unto them, Let them live ; but let them be hewers of wood
and drawers of water unto all the congregation." This
proposal was agreed to ; and thus it happened that, though
they belonged to the guilty race of the Amorites, these Gib
eonites lived for four hundred years among the tribes of Is
rael, in peaceful servitude and uncomplaining submission.
But Saul, for some reason or other, conceived an aversion to
them, and set himself to accomplish their extermination.
Perhaps in one of those spasmodic fits of religious enthu
siasm to which we saw he was so liable, he may have imag
ined that zeal for the honor of God required him to root out
the Gibeonites from the land, or more probably he desired
to get possession of their lands for himself and his favorites ;
but in any case, in dealing thus with the men of Gibeon, he

Famine and Pestilence. 365
distinctly violated — without any justifiable reason — the cov
enant made with them by Joshua. We have no mention, in
the history of Saul, of this raid made by him upon the Gib
eonites, and we hear of it now for the first time after he had
been dead and buried for thirty years. But let no one think
it strange that the penalty should come thus, in famine, upon
an entire nation, after a new generation had sprung up.
For a nation's history is a unit; and as there can be no
such thing as retribution of a nation in the future state, it
follows that if punishment for national sins is to be inflicted
at all, it must fall in the subsequent earthly history of the
nation that committed them. The generation which was
alive in France at the eras of the massacre of St. Bartholo
mew and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was a dif
ferent one from that which lived at the time of the first Rev
olution ; yet in the events of the latter, with its Reign of
Terror and rivers of blood, we have the undoubted conse
quences of the former. Many generations have come and
gone in Spain since the days of Philip and the great Arma
da, yet we can not doubt that the miserable condition of
that land for more than a century — a condition out of which
its inhabitants find it hard even now to emerge — was due to
the sins of those who knew not the day of their visitation,
and suppressed the Protestantism which, but for the Inqui
sition, would have arisen among them, and enabled them to
lead the van of European progress. The English occupants
of India in 1857 were not the same as those who, under
Clive, and Hastings, and others, so unrighteously obtained
possession of large portions of that empire; nay, they were
in many instances men of another order and a nobler na
ture ; yet upon these, ay, even upon the heads of sainted
missionaries who repudiated and condemned the cruelty and
craft of the first invaders, the terrible Nemesis of the mutiny
did fall. Hence there is nothing out of keeping with God's

366 David, King of Israel.
usual procedure, in the fact that forty years after a national
sin had been committed by Israel under Saul, the punish
ment came, and fell upon a generation different from that
which had been guilty of the wrong. Though the genera
tion was different, the nation was the same. God is indeed
"a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation."
It may be asked, however, why should such chastisement
come upon the tribes of Israel for Saul's massacre of the
Gibeonites, rather than for his murder ofthe priests of Nob ?
and perhaps a satisfactory answer may be found in the fol
lowing considerations : First, the people did not sympathize
with Saul in his attack upon the priests, but were so dread
fully shocked by his impiety that none save Doeg, the alien
Edomite, could be found to carry his murderous order on
that occasion into execution. In regard to the Gibeonites,
however, as Saul is here said to have slain them " in his zeal
to the children of Israel and Judah," it seems likely that the
people generally were on his side, and aiders and abettors
in his crime, if not, indeed, the first suggesters of it. Sec
ond, it is probable that even at the moment of the famine,
the people, or at least some portion of them, were actually
enjoying the fruits of the destruction of the Gibeonites.
This, at least, is the opinion of Dr. Kitto,* indorsed and
adopted by Dr. Blaikie ; and it is presumably correct. You
remember that when Saul saw David's party growing strong
in the land, he said to his courtiers, "Hear now, ye Benja
mites, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and
vineyards, and make you captains of hundreds and captains
of thousands?" Now this implies that he had made such
gifts to some, if not to all of them. But where did he get
these fields and vineyards ? They could not be part of his
* "Daily Bible Readings," vol. iii., p. 479.

Famine and Pestilence. 367
patrimonial possession, for that was too small to be parceled
out among his followers ; neither could they be allotments
of territory taken from the Philistines, or other enemies of
Israel, for his success against them was never so great as to
enable him to enrich any one with its spoils. But in the
eviction or destruction of the Gibeonites, now mentioned for
the first time, we may perhaps conjecture that Saul found
the means for making the gifts to which, in the words al
ready quoted, he so boastfully alludes. One of the towns
of the Gibeonites was in Judah, and three of them in Benja
min ; and out of these and the surrounding districts the son
of Kish might make provision for his favorites. The fact
that the Gibeonites were not an integral portion of the chos
en people, might furnish him with a pretext for attacking
them ; while the hope of gain would silence all the scruples
of his followers, and induce them to make common cause
with their king against their defenseless dependents. Now
if these conjectures be correct, they will explain not only
why punishment came upon the land for the slaughter of
the Gibeonites, and not for that of the priests, but also why,
in the expiation demanded by the Gibeonites, the victims
were chosen from the house of Saul.
But this selection of victims by the Gibeonites suggests
another of the singular difficulties of this narrative. Why
was the form of expiation for this sin of Saul's referred by
David to the Gibeonites, and not directly to God, who had
indicated the sin for which the famine was a visitation ? The
answer to this question must be sought in the old Eastern
custom of blood-revenge. When murder had been commit
ted, the nearest of kin to the murdered person was empower
ed to put the murderer to death wherever he might find him ;
and if the murderer himself was not killed by the nearest of
kin then living, the right descended to the next generation,
and the son of the one might kill the son of the other ; nay,

368 David, King of Israel.
the obligation held for many generations, and was never re
laxed until the offender himself, or, if he was dead, his rep
resentative, had paid the fatal ransom. By the Mosaic law
this custom was regulated, and some of its most objection
able features removed through the provision of the cities of
refuge ; but among the Gibeonites, who did not hold them
selves bound by Jewish law, the ancient practice appears to
have been maintained in all its original stringency. Hence,
knowing that no real removal of their grievance was possi
ble without appealing to them, David inquired what they de
manded as a satisfaction, and their answer, while indicating
that they were willing to restrict themselves within narrow
limits, also declared that within these limits they were per
fectly inexorable, and would accept of no pecuniary ransom.
They had a claim on the whole nation, but they would con
fine themselves to the family of Saul ; and so they replied,
" The man that consumed us, and that devised against us,
that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the
coasts of Israel, let seven men of his sons be delivered unto
us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of
Saul, whom the Lord did choose." With a sad heart we may
be sure David said, "I will give them." Then came the
painful work of selecting the victims. Of course Mephibo
sheth and his household were saved, for David remembered his
covenant with Jonathan ; but he took two of the sons of Riz
pah, that one of Saul's concubines concerning whom the dis
pute arose between Ishbosheth and Abner, and also five sons
of Merab, the eldest daughter of Saul, who had been wedded
to Adriel, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite, one whom
we must carefully distinguish from the venerable chief of
Rogelim, whose kindness David had so warmly appreciated.
Bitter must have been the anguish of the homes on which
this dire calamity alighted ; nor may we attempt to depict
the agony of the parents, as their loved ones were torn from

Famine and Pestilence. 369
their embrace and given up to death. Suffice it to say that
the Gibeonites put them to death, and hung their bodies on
gibbets on the hill of Gibeah, that place having been select
ed because it was the head-quarters of the house of Saul.
But not unattended were these seven dismal scaffolds ; for
day and night, through long weeks, a female form flitted to
and fro among them, lavishing special care upon the bodies
of the two sons of Saul ; and as we see the haggard Rizpah,
with her lean and bony hands, scaring away the ravens by
day and the wild beasts by night, our hearts are filled with
pity for her sonless desolation. What a deep fountain is a
mother's heart ! With a love stronger than death, she cared
for no privations ; she feared no dangers ; she heeded no
hardships, if only she might save the bodies of her sons from
desecration ! Such passionate devotion must have moved
every heart ; and when David heard of it, he took steps to
secure decent burial for the bodies of those whom the Gibe
onites had slain ; and while engaged in this office of kind
ness, he bethought himself of the bones of Saul and Jona
than, which he caused to be exhumed from their resting-
place at Jabesh, and to be interred in the family sepulchre
of Kish. Then, this atonement having been made, the rain
descended, in token that God was entreated for the land.
I have refrained from any remark on the character of this
whole transaction, because, from our ignorance of Eastern
customs generally, and especially of that rude form of jus
tice prevalent among the Orientals called blood-revenge, we
are, to a great extent, incapacitated from pronouncing judg
ment upon it. ¦ Evidently, however, the whole thing was re
garded by David, by the Gibeonites, and by the members of
Saul's family themselves, as a judicial affair. We read of no
vindictive violence on the part ofthe Gibeonites in the man
ner in which the victims were put to death ; we hear of no
resistance to their demands on the side ofthe family of Saul ;
16*

370 David, King of Israel.
and we see in David's demeanor all through a kind of con
straint, which indicates that he went through with it only
with the deepest reluctance, and under a sense of the strong
est obligation. Indeed, the entire negotiation bears a resem
blance to the extradition of criminals by one country to an
other, that they may be dealt with according to the laws of
the realm in which their crime was committed, the only dif
ference being that here the descendants of the criminals were
held to be their representatives, and dealt with as if they had
themselves committed the evil deed ; whereas in our mod
ern times, the criminal himself can alone be made amena
ble to the law. This difference, however, arises from the pe
culiar custom to which I have adverted, and the fact that, af
ter the execution of Saul's descendants, God was entreated
for the land, appears conclusive that their death was regard
ed by him as a public vindication of that justice which Saul
had outraged by his attack upon the Gibeonites.
After this sore famine, the land of Israel was again ex
posed to the evils of war. David's old enemies, the Philis
tines, took the field against him once more, having in their
ranks some men of gigantic stature and great strength, be
longing to the family of Goliath. One of these, by name
Ishbi-benob, pressed so sore against the king in a hand-to-
hand encounter, that, but for the interference of Abishai, Da
vid would have been slain. The old courage was in him
still, but the old strength was gone ; so his army besought
him not to run such risk again, and prevailed on him. riot to
take the field in person any more ; but they did not fight the
less bravely because their chief was not with them, for in one
or two decisive encounters the Philistines seem to have been
entirely subdued. Yet David's troubles did not end with
the defeat of his enemies, for a sore pestilence came upon
the land, which cut off seventy thousand of the inhabitants.
The account of this visitation, indeed, is not given until the

Famine and Pestilence. 371
twenty-fourth chapter of 2 Samuel, but it will be more con
venient to introduce it here, and I shall attempt in my sum
mary of the recorded facts to weave together the two narra
tives of Samuel and the Chronicles.
For some reason not given, but most probably because of
the pride of the people in their national greatness, God was
displeased with Israel, and the punishment came in connec
tion with the command of David to number Israel and Ju
dah. In the one account we are told that God moved Da
vid to give this command ; in the other, it is alleged that Sa
tan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number
the people. But the meaning is that God permitted Satan
thus to move David, in order that through his act an oppor
tunity might arise for the punishment of Israel's sin. The
command of David was not sinful in itself, but became so,
from the spirit of pride and vainglory out of which it origi
nated, and which was shared with him by the people over
whom he ruled. The law provided for the taking of a cen
sus of the population, but in connection with the enumera
tion, and probably to check the disposition to boasting which
it was likely to evoke, it enacted thus (Exod. xxx., 1 z) :
" When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after
their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for
his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them ; that
there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that
are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctua
ry : a half-shekel shall be the offering of the Lord." Now
we have no record of the making of this offering here, and
Josephus affirms that, in the neglect of this offering, we have
the occasion of the pestilence that followed — a suggestion
which may well enough be correct, especially when we re
flect that the omission of this acknowledgment of God may
be regarded as indicating the presence of that spirit of vain-

372 David, King of Israel.
glory which God designed to punish and repress. In this
matter Joab, strangely enough, seems to have been wiser than
David, for he not only protested against the taking of the
census, but, after he was commanded to carry it out, he un
dertook it with undisguised reluctance, and (as we learn from
i Chron. xxi., 6) left it unfinished, by declining to take the
numbers of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. Indeed, it is
affirmed that " the king's word was abominable unto him."
Nay, more, David himself appears to have shrunk from add
ing up the total, for it is recorded (i Chron. xxvii., 23) that
he did not take "the number of them from twenty years old
and under : because the Lord had said he would increase Is
rael like to the stars of the heavens." Thus this census was
never finished ; and it is solemnly said, " Neither was the
number put in the account of the Chronicles of king David."
First among the things that hindered it there came a deep
feeling of compunction into David's own heart. This was
followed by a frank acknowledgment of his guilt to God, and
an earnest appeal for mercy. Then the prophet Gad ap
peared, offering him, in God's name, a choice of three calam
ities — famine, pestilence, or war, and saying to him, "Advise
now, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me."
With devout wisdom and simple trust, David put himself and
his people into Jehovah's hand, using these memorable words,
" Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord ; for his mercies
are great : and let me not fall into the hand of man."
So the pestilence came — a plague, a black death, a chol
era, or other form of dreadful epidemic. In the midst of
its ravages David set out, as it would seem, to inquire of
the Lord at the old Tabernacle at Gibeon ;* but when he got
as far as the summit of Moriah, then occupied as a thresh
ing-floor by Araunah, or Oman, a chief among the Jebu-
* 1 Chron. xxi., 28-30.

Famine and Pestilence. 373
sites, he was met by a solemn vision. He beheld the an
gel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, having
a drawn sword in his hand, which was stretched over Jeru
salem. This at once arrested his progress, and he, and they
who were with him, fell upon their faces, while he cried out,
in lowly lamentation : " Is it not I that commanded the peo
ple to be numbered ? even I it is that have sinned and done
evil indeed ; but as for these sheep, what have they done ?
let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and
on my father's house ; but not on thy people, that they
should be plagued." In answer to this fervent appeal, Gad
was commissioned to say to David, " Go up, rear an altar
unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebu
site." In obedience to this injunction, the king went for
ward to negotiate with the Jebusite for the purchase of the
place; and though the generous chief offered to make it a
gift, together with oxen for the sacrifice, and his threshing
implements for the fire, David would not accept them, sa)'-
ing, " Nay ; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price : nei
ther will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God of
that which doth cost me nothing." So giving him, accord
ing to the one account, fifty shekels of silver, and according
to the other, six hundred shekels of gold, by weight, he of
fered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and the plague was
stayed, while the site was marked off as the spot whereon at
length Solomon his son was to erect that stately Temple, the
materials for the building of which he had been himself so
long collecting. Very interesting was this colloquy between
the two princes. " It was," as Stanley beautifully says, " the
meeting of two ages. Araunah, as he yields that spot, is the
last of the Canaanites, the last of that stern old race that we
discern in any individual form and character. David, as he
raises that altar, is the close harbinger of the reign of Solo
mon — the founder of a new institution which another was to

374 David, King of Israel.
complete ;"* and through all the ages of the world's history
the place itself was to be enshrined as the most sacred and
interesting spot on the surface of the earth. In' reviewing
the portion of history now before our notice, there are two
or three points of practical and present importance which
demand attention.
In the first place, here let us be on our guard against na
tional perfidy. Saul and his people attempted the destruc
tion or expatriation of the Gibeonites, a poor tribe, who were
willing to purchase a peaceful existence by the discharge of
the most menial duties ; and as the result, forty years after
the land was desolated by famine, and five of Saul's descend
ants were demanded for the vindication of public justice.
As I have been repeating this history, I doubt not that
your njinds have been engaged in drawing the parallel be
tween the relation of Saul to the Gibeonites and that of our
own nation to those two races whose condition and destiny
seem to be so bound up with our own. I enter not now
into any minute analysis of our dealings with the* African
race on the one hand, and the Indian on the other; neither
do I presume to say on which side the blame has to be laid ;
but I do affirm that this old record has — especially for us
now — a lesson of most solemn warning. Let us be careful
to maintain inviolate all treaty obligations. Let us deal with
these tribes in a spirit of honesty and kindness, not forbear
ing to punish acts of deliberate treachery, yet eagerly ab
staining from all wanton cruelty. Otherwise, we may be
sure that we shall entail upon ourselves most serious evils.
The God of the Gibeonites is the God of the Indians and
Africans as well. Ah, how many Rizpahs did the war con
sign to sonless sorrow, as they mourned over those who were
the victims of wrongs which they had no hand in commit-
* " Jewish Church," vol. ii., p. 135.

Famine and Pestilence. 375
ting ! And is there not now one widow in the land, mourn
ing over a husband who fell the victim of a treachery which
the cruelty of others had provoked ?* It is the old, old story,
and nothing can prevent its recurrence but the introduction
of the new principle of the Gospel of Christ, whose watch
words are love, and righteousness, and peace.
In the second place, let us be on our guard against na
tional pride. David's numbering of the people was but the
occasion of the pestilence which wrought such havoc in
the land. "An anterior sin, shared alike by king and peo
ple, was the primary cause of the plague. "t Now it is, as
we have said, most natural to suppose that this sin was
pride. As Nebuchadnezzar drew down upon himself a ter
rible punishment by cherishing the spirit which found utter
ance in these words : " Is not this great Babylon which I
have built by the might of my power and for the honor of
my majesty?" so the Israelites, as they looked upon their ex
tensive territory, and thought upon their enemies all thor
oughly subdued, gave way to vainglory, and forgot to give
God the praise. But is there nothing like this among our
selves? We talk of our national pre-eminence in wealth, in
liberty, and in extent of territory. We speak of our vessels
sailing over every ocean, and trafficking in every harbor ; and
while all this may be done in a spirit of humility and devout
gratitude to God, is there nothing like Nebuchadnezzar's
vainglory in the utterances upon this subject which come so
roundly from the lips of our popular orators, and which are
given forth by our daily and periodical press? In sober
truth, our greatness is but the measure of our responsibility,
and the perception of its magnitude ought only to impel us
the more earnestly to pray to God for grace to do the work
* These words were written only a few days after the murder of Gen
eral Canby by the Indians.
t Wright's " David," p. 348.

376 David, King of Israel.
which the very greatness of our privileges has laid upon us.
What have we that we have not received ? Who hath made
us to differ from others ? Instead, therefore, of sounding a
trumpet before us to proclaim our greatness, let us seek to
turn that greatness to account in the service of God, and the
promotion of the welfare of the human race. Let our
watchword be, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name give glory, for thy mercy and thy truth's sake ;"
and never let us forget the prophet's words, " The lofty looks
of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall
be bowed down ; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that
day." We have here, in the third place, an illustration of the ne
cessity of an expiation for sin. The plague was stayed in
connection with the offering of sacrifice ; and as we read the
record, we can not forget how the Son of David made him
self a sacrifice in the immediate neighborhood of this same
spot, in order that the plague of sin might be removed from
human hearts, and his believing people restored to the
health of holiness. The voice of the entire Old Testament
on this subject is, "Without shedding of blood there can be
no remission ;" and all its altars are but like so many finger
posts pointing down through the ages to Messiah, and hav
ing on them this inscription, " Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world !" It was not possible for
the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sin, but these
offerings foreshadowed a sacrifice of richer blood and no
bler name than themselves, and now in Christ we have the
reality which they prefigured. They were offered, year by
year, continually ; this needed to be offered only once : they
were animals inferior to man ; he was the eternal, only-be
gotten Son of God in human nature ; and so when he rose
from the tomb of Joseph, it was demonstrated to all that he
had finished transgression and made an end of sin. -Till he

Famine and Pestilence. 377
appeared, the avenging angel stood between earth and heav
en, having his sword stretched out over the human race ;
but when he died, that sword was sheathed forever in his
own breast. And as the lightning conductor saves the build
ing by satisfying the electric law, and drawing the heavenly
fire down upon itself, he saved sinners by attracting in upon
himself, and away from them, the penalty of their transgres
sions. Here, then, in Christ crucified is the sinner's hope.
" Look unto him and be saved ;" for he is able to save unto
the uttermost all that come unto God by him.
Let us learn, finally, that a sincere sacrifice is always one
that costs us something. David would not offer burnt-offer
ings of that which cost him nothing, and it would be well if
every professed follower of Jesus acted on the same princi
ple. Whatever we lay upon God's altar should cost us some
thing. Are we laboring in the ministry of the Gospel ? then
the offering which we make to God in the pulpit should be
purchased by study, and ought not to be the rash and hasty
utterance of unpremeditated speech. Are we teachers in
the Sunday-school? then the lesson which we give our
scholars should be given at the cost of prayerful prepara
tion, and ought not to be the empty talk of those who have
never looked at the subject until they have met their pupils
in the class. Are we asked to contribute to a good cause ?
then the gift which we put into the offering-box should be
something that has cost us some effort or self-denial to ob
tain, and not simply the overflow of a full cup which we can
give without feeling that we are giving at all. Are we asked
to labor in some enterprise of benevolence ? then we are not
to plead that we can not do so without breaking in upon our
ease and enjoyment, but we are to take a part of these and
use them in the service of the Lord. Yea, what need I more ?
Is not the Christian's whole life, in its loftiest view, a sacri
fice to Christ ? Let us see, then, that we make it a costly

378 David, King of Israel.
sacrifice. Let us grudge no labor ; let us spare no pains ;
let us spare no self-denial, if only we may keep ourselves un
spotted from the world, and make our lives a fitting acknowl
edgment of the obligation under which we lie to him " who
gave himself for us !" What purity, what love, what self-de
nial, what activity our lives would manifest, if, looking upon
them as sacrifices to God, we should apply to them the
words of David, " I will not offer burnt-offerings unto the
Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." There
will not be wanting those, indeed, to say, as we break our
precious vase, and pour our costly ointment on the Saviour's
head, " To what purpose is this waste ?" But only love can
fully interpret love ; and he who made his greatest sacrifice
for us will rightly understand and thoroughly appreciate our
offering. There is nothing wasted that is expended upon
him. Let us seek, therefore, to cultivate this grace of self-
sacrifice, not only that we may honor him, but that we our
selves may enter into the full meaning of the precious words,
" It is more blessed to give than to receive." " Every man,
according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give ; not
grudgingly, nor of necessity ; for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward u, that
ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to
every good work."
" Love still delights to bring her best,
And where love is, that offering evermore is blest."

XXI.
EVEN-SONG.
2 Samuel xxii.
THE harp of David was his constant companion. When
in his early days he followed the sheep upon the slopes
of Bethlehem, he beguiled the weary hours with the music of
its notes. At the court of Saul he charmed away the evil
spirit from that monarch's breast by its soothing strains ;
and in all the vicissitudes of his checkered life, his hand, re
sponsive to his heart, drew from his lyre appropriate music,
while his voice accompanied its sounds in words which,
even apart from the divine inspiration that pervaded them,
" the world will not willingly let die." In the cave of Adul
lam, in the wilderness of Judah, at the court of Achish, and
in the Valley of the Jordan, on that dismal day when he fled
from his capital, before the rebellious Absalom, we have seen
how he solaced himself with sacred song; and in the deeper
darkness in which he was enveloped by his own shameful sin,
he proved that the contrite heart, when swept by the fingers
of Jehovah's love, gives forth ever the most thrilling tones.
Nor was it only in times of trial that the Psalmist struck
his harp. His joys, as well as his sorrows, found utterance
in song ; and when he brought up the ark to Jerusalem, or
returned in triumph from some long campaign, he signalized
the occasion by a gladsome ode of thanksgiving and praise.
Hence we do not wonder that, when he had been delivered
from all his enemies, and was enjoying a season of repose in
the evening twilight of his life, he gave expression to his feel
ings in the words of this Psalm. His " May of life had fall-

380 David, King of Israel.
en now into the sere and yellow leaf." The snows of sev
enty winters had fallen on his head, but his heart was as
fresh, his imagination as brilliant, and his piety as fervent
as ever; so, as he looked back on the way by which the
Lord had led him, and recounted all the deliverances which
God had wrought for him, he took his harp once more, and
sang to its loved music this Psalm, which for faith, for fervor,
for sublimity, and for devout thankfulness, is second to none
of his productions.
We have not hitherto gone very minutely into any of his
Psalms, and have contented ourselves with indicating in a
general way the historical occasions on which some of them
were composed, and pointing out the new significance which
they acquire when read in the light of the circumstances out
of which they sprung ; but as the inspired chronicler has in
corporated this one in the narrative, and means us to regard
it as David's " even- song," chanted by him on the retrospect
of his life's changeful day, we may profitably spend a short
time in a survey of its contents.
With a considerable number of minor variations, the ode
before us is reproduced as the eighteenth in the book of
Psalms, and it has been said by some that the one is an in
correct copy of the other. But to me it rather seems that in
the book of Samuel we have it in the form in which at first
the monarch sung it in his closet, as a personal outburst of
gratitude to God ; while in the Psalter we have it revised
and adapted to public worship, for the general use of the
tribes, and so, appropriately addressed to the chief musician.
This view is rendered more probable by the fact that we
have other cases of a similar sort in the 'book of Psalms, as,
for example, the 14th, the 53d, and the closing strain of the
40th, which is nearly identical with the 70th. We believe,
therefore, that for reasons which have not been explained,
David prepared a twofold form of this magnificent produc-

EVEN-SONG. 381
tion ; and so, treating the two as separate and independent,
we content ourselves with noting the fact that there are vari
ations between them, without attempting either to point out,
or to account for, each particular discrepancy.
The mention of Saul in the title does not indicate that
the Psalm was composed in David's early life, but rather
that, even though thirty years had gone since his persecu
tion by the son of Kish, the deliverances which he then ex
perienced had not faded from his memory, but still stood
out before him as the greatest mercies which he had ever
received. We are prone to forget past favors. The bene
factors of our youth are not always remembered in our after-
years ; and in the crowd and conflict of events in our later
history, we have too often little thought to spare, and few
thanks to express, for our early mercies. We do not enough
consider that, in mounting the ladder of life, it is often more
difficult to set our foot on the first round than to take any
single step thereafter ; and, therefore, that those who aided
us in the beginning have given us by far the most effectual
assistance. But it was not so with David, for as he sits here
looking back on his career, his first conflicts seem still his
greatest ; and much as he blessed God for after-kindness,
he places high above, all the other favors which he had re
ceived his deliverance , out of the hand of Saul. Nor may
we neglect to note that in all this David is but the repre
sentative of the believer in Jesus ; for, no matter how many
or how great the mercies which he experiences, the first
grand " crowning mercy " of salvation from the guilt and pol
lution of iniquity ever comes uppermost; and to every song
of praise which he sings he adds some such doxology as that
of John : " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen."

382 David, King of Israel.
The Psalm may be divided into five distinct though une
qual parts. There is, first, an introduction extending to the
end of the fourth verse, and giving a general indication of
the character of the ode ; there is, second, a highly figura
tive and sublime description of the dangers in which he had
been involved, and the deliverance which God had wrought
for him : this comprises verses 5-20 ; there is, third, an ex
position of that principle of the divine administration in ac
cordance with which he had been delivered : this is contain
ed in verses 2 1-29 ; there is, fourth, a recapitulation in more
simple terms of God's doings on his behalf: this includes
verses 30-49 ; there is, finally, the closing stanza, in which
he gathers up the expression of his gratitude into one full
chorus of praise, and looks down the long vista of ages to
the far-off days of the Messiah.
In the introductory portion of the ode David sets forth
what God had been to him, and there are two things which
specially claim attention in his words. The first is the num
ber and variety of the terms which he employs to describe
the protection which God afforded him ; and the second is
the emphatic personal manner in which he speaks.
He seems to have a difficulty in finding any one word
which would adequately express all that Jehovah had been
to him, so he heaps one term upon another, calling him " a
rock, a fortress, a deliverer, a shield, a high tower, a horn, a
refuge, and a Saviour." This is no vain repetition, neither is
it a straining after effect, like that of the young orator who
piles epithet upon epithet, weakening only where he meant
to strengthen ; but it is an attempt to describe, from many
sides, that which he felt could not be fully shown from any
single stand-point. He means to say, that for every sort of
peril in which he had been placed, God had been a protection
appropriate thereto. As if he had said, " those whom God
intends to succor and defend are not only safe against one

EVEN-SONG. 383
kind of dangers, but are, as it were, surrounded by impreg
nable ramparts on all sides; so that, should a thousand
deaths be presented to their view, they ought not to be afraid
even at this formidable array." Nor is this many-sided de
scription of God's protection without its value to us ; for
though we may have proved his power to help us in one way,
we are apt to fall into despair when some new danger threat
ens us ; and therefore it is re-assuring to have David's testi
mony to the fact, that those whom God shields are incased
all round, and will have perfect protection in every emergen
cy. But numerous as are the figures under which God's help
is here brought before us, each of them is preceded by the
emphatic appropriating "my."* It is remarkable that when
the soul is either very deeply sunk in sorrow, or very high
ly elevated in joy, its language is thoroughly personal. All
vague generalities and commonplace phraseology are swept
away, and the heart speaks for itself. It will allow no stran
ger to intermeddle' either with its gladness or its grief; but
it becomes intensely personal, and deals only in the singular
number. The hymn of Hannah and the magnificat of Mary
are illustrations in point; and in the epistles of Paul, although
the apostle often uses the plural number in the course of his
argument, yet when he ascends to the higher region of expe
rience, he drops the we and the our, and it is then, " I thank
God, through Jesus Christ my Lord ; I live ; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me." Nowhere, however, does this personali-
* In my early boyhood, after having heard a sermon in which the
preacher dwelt much on " the appropriating act of faith," I asked my
father what he meant by that expression. He gave me the same reply
which had been given him by his mother to the same inquiry, when he
was a lad, viz., "Take your Bible, and underscore all the 'mys,' the
' mines,' and the ' mes ' you come upon, and you will soon discover what
appropriation is." It is the focusing of all that God is upon yourself, even
as the lens concentrates the sun's rays upon one bright, burning spot.

384 David, King of Israel.
ty of earnestness more frequently appear than in the Psalms
of David; and in the firm appropriation which he here makes
of God to himself we see how necessary to spiritual hap
piness it is that we should be able to call God our own. A
fortress is threatening and terrible to all who are outside of it;
but it is, just because of that, only the more safe to those who
are within it ; and only when we believingly appropriate God
as our own do we enter into the divine fortress and enjoy his
protection. So long as we are unreconciled to him, his glo
rious, attributes, his infinite resources, his boundless might
appear arrayed against us ; but when, through faith in Jesus
Christ, we enter into covenant with him, all these are on our
side, and we are enabled to sing, " Behold God is my salva
tion." Mark, is our salvation ; that is a higher thing than
to say God works out our salvation. He stands between us
and every evil ; and because we are Christ's, and Christ is
his, we can say with truth that all things, however frowning
they may look, are ours. My hearer, have you said unto the
Lord, thou art my God ? Is he thy salvation ? Remember
that he is not and can not be the salvation of any one until
the soul ofthe individual believingly appropriates him. Take
him thus to thy heart ; give him thus thy hand, and thou art
safe forever.
In the second portion of the Psalm, extending from the
fifth to the twentieth verse, the inspired poet describes his
perils and his deliverances, depicting "by the sublimest ex
pressions and loftiest terms the majesty of God, and the
awful manner in which he came to his assistance, saved him
from his enemies, and extricated him from all his difficulties,
namely, by arming, as it were, the elements of heaven against
them, and sending, a dreadful storm of thunder, lightning,
hail, rain, and tempestuous wind to discomfit and destroy
them. In this description there is every circumstance of
horror that can be mentioned; the sentiments and images

Even-song. 385
are grand beyond description, the words lofty and express
ive, and God is introduced in a manner worthy of his maj
esty, encompassed with all the powers of nature as his at
tendants, and as the instruments of his vengeance to execute
his purposes in the salvation of David and the destruction
of his enemies."* He speaks of his sufferings in this wise :
" The waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly
men made me afraid. The sorrows of Hades compassed me
about, the snares of death were laid for me in anticipation."
And when we remember his hair-breadth escape from the
javelin of Saul, and the many occasions in which he was im
periled by the machinations of his enemies, we may not say
that he exaggerates ; but through them all his solace was in
prayer. " In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried
unto my God : he heard my voice out of his temple, and my
cry came before him, even into his ears." The good man's
refuge is ever at the mercy-seat. Though every way seem
shut against him, the way to God is always open, and when
he can get near to Jehovah he is safe ; for then he links him
self to omnipotence, and God's faithfulness is pledged to give
him succor. Very deeply was this felt by David in all his ca
lamities, and he did not cry to God in vain ; for he sent him
deliverance in such signal ways that it was made perfectly
evident that his salvation was of the Lord. The delineation
of his deliverance here is in a strain of the most highly-
wrought imagery, borrowed from the description of Jehovah's
descent on Sinai ; and such is the inherent sublimity of his
words, that even the most meagre translations of them catch
somewhat of their grandeur. The old version of Sternhold
and Hopkins ceases to be doggerel, and becomes classic
here ; and as we read the lines,
 •_ 
* " A Critical History of the Life of David," by S. Chandler, D.D.,
p. 366. 17

386 David, King of Israel.
" On cherub and on cherubim
Full royally he rode,
And on the wings of mighty winds
Came flying all abroad,"
we have before us a conception the most sublime that ever
entered into human imagination* We must remember,
however, that all this is poetic, and not historic. David
does not mean to say that these portents actually accom
panied God's descent to his assistance. The simple truth
is, that no miracles were wrought on David's account, but
still his deliverance was as much God's doing as if he had
come down with all the glory of Sinai in his defense ; and
the discomfiture of his enemies was as complete as if Jeho
vah of hosts had marshaled the armies which marched forth
to meet them ; so that, as the result of all, he makes this
acknowledgment, " He brought me forth into a large place ;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me."
This last phrase, " He delighted in me," fitly introduces
the next division of the Psalm, which sets forth the harmo
ny of David's deliverance with the general principle of the
divine administration. There is a retributive element in
God's moral government. The Saviour himself has said,
" With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you
again ;" and David here asserts that God deals with men ac
cording to the principles on which men themselves act to
ward each other. To the merciful, God is merciful ; to the
upright, he is upright ; to the pure, he is pure ; and to the
froward, he is froward. This last term, indeed, must not be
held as denoting that God is ever in himself froward, but
that in his providential government of men, the individual
who is froward is met with the frowardness of another ; or
* See an interesting paper on this verse, and the imitations of it by
modern poets, in Henry Kirke White's " Remains," p. 294.

Even-song. 387
if this be not strong enough as an interpretation, we must
hold the words as equivalent to the declaration made else
where, that " he taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and
that he causes men to fall themselves into the pit which they
have digged for others." The general principle is this, that
God is on the side of right, and that if men conscientiously
adhere to that which they know to be their duty, he will, in
the long run, " bring forth their righteousness as the light,
and their judgment as the noonday." Now, in the main
David did this, so far, at least, as his public administration
and public enemies were concerned. I speak not now of
his character before God ; for so viewed, he was far from
perfect; but as he stood related to his subjects and his
enemies, he was distinguished by integrity and uprightness.
He was not dishonestly seeking his own ends. He was
only following God's leadings, and the men who were op
posed to him were his enemies, just because he was so con
spicuously the servant and the friend of God. The words
of Mr. Spurgeon here are well worthy of quotation : "Al
beit the dispensations of divine grace are to the fullest de
gree sovereign and irrespective of human merit, yet in the
dealings of Providence there is often discernible a rule of
justice by which the injured are avenged and the righteous
ultimately triumph. David's early troubles arose from the
wicked malice of envious Saul, who, no doubt, prosecuted
his persecutions under cover of charges brought against the
character of the man after God's own heart. These charges
David declares to have been utterly false, and asserts that
he possessed a grace-given righteousness which the Lord
had graciously rewarded in defiance of all his calumniators.
Before God, the man after God's own heart was a humble
sinner ; but before his slanderers he could, with unblushing
face, speak of the cleanness of his hands and the righteous
ness of his life. He knows little of the sanctifying power of

388 David, King of Israel.
divine grace who is not, at the bar of human equity, able to
plead innocence. There is no self-righteousness in an hon
est man knowing that he is honest, nor even in his believing
that God rewarded him in Providence because of his hones
ty, for such is often a most evident matter of fact. It is not
at all an opposition to the doctrine of salvation by grace, and
no sort of evidence of a Pharisaic spirit, when a gracious man,
having been slandered, stoutly maintains his own integrity
and vigorously defends his character. A godly man has a
clear conscience, and knows himself to be upright. Is he
to deny his own consciousness, and to despise the work of
the Holy Ghost by hypocritically making himself worse than
he is ? A godly man prizes his integrity very highly, or else
he could not be a godly man at all ; and is he to be called
proud because he will not readily lose the jewel of a reputa
ble character ? A godly man can see that in divine Provi
dence uprightness and truth are, in the long run, sure to
bring their own reward ; may he not, when he sees that re
ward bestowed in his own case, praise the Lord for it ? Yea,
rather, must he not show forth the faithfulness and goodness
of his God ? This cluster of expressions, therefore, must be
read as the song of a good conscience after having safely
outridden a storm of obloquy, persecution, and abuse ; and
then there will be no fear of our upbraiding the writer as one
who sets too high a price upon his own moral character."*
The principle underlying this section of the Psalm is the
same as that which has been expanded into the 37th and
73d odes in our Psalter, and must never be lost sight of by
any of us. It is " unto the upright " that " light ariseth into
darkness," and it is he whose heart is established, and who
shall not be afraid until he shall see his desire upon his
enemies. Or, more simply still, even in the present life
* Spurgeon's " Treasury of David," vol. i., pp. 272, 273.

Even-song. 389
there is a retributive element in God's moral government,
and men shall be done by as they do.
From the thirtieth verse on till the close of the forty-ninth
we have a virtual recapitulation, only in simpler phrase and
in more detail, of the deliverances which David had experi
enced ; and it is interesting to note all through this section
of the ode — indeed, I may say, throughout the entire Psalm
— the writer's recognition of God's hand in every thing.
There had been many human agents employed in working for
him, but here he makes mention of God alone. In the suc
ceeding chapter the historian gives us a list of David's thirty-
seven mighty men, and recounts some of their most valiant
deeds ; and, as the honors which their monarch conferred
upon them conclusively show, he was not ungrateful to them
for their fidelity, but his highest praise, and his devoutest
thanks went to the God who wrought in and through them
for his anointed's sake. Herein the Psalmist has left us an
example worthy of our imitation. We see the visible instru
ment, but we forget all too often the invisible Author of all
our mercies ; and in these days especially, when men make
so much of physical laws, we are apt to hide God behind the
operations which he is himself carrying on ; and while ad
miring the harmony and order of the universe, we have no
song of praise to Him who upholds it all. Let us be on our
guard against all this. It might perhaps be too much to say,
with Wordsworth, that one would "rather be a pagan, suckled
in a creed outworn," than one of those who believe that the
world is governed by laws without a lawgiver. But to me
there is no atheism more revolting than that of the man, be
he philosopher or not, who takes all his mercies as things of
course, ground out to him daily by the mill of ceaseless law,
and who has no song of gratitude to sing to Him " of whom,
and to whom, and through whom are all things."
But while in these verses we have this recognition of God

390 David, King of Israel.
in all things everywhere apparent, there are specially three
attributes of God himself which are prominently mentioned
in them. The first is his faithfulness, as set forth in the ex
pression, " The word of the Lord is tried." The term " tried "
denotes generally "put to the test ;" but here it has involved
in it the additional idea that the trial has been satisfactorily
passed. Before they are considered fit for actual service on
shipboard, anchors, chains, and cables are subjected to such
a strain as shall give those who employ them confidence to
use them in any emergency ; and when some great engineer
ing work is finished, a railway viaduct, for example, it is test
ed by some rigid trial before it is opened for public traffic.
Now, David's life had been, in some sense, such a trial of the
Word of God. By his struggles, his sorrows, his emergencies,
yea, even by his sins, he had been, as it were, put forth to
show how great a strain the promises of God could bear ;
and so at the close of his career he says : " The Word of the
Lord is tried. It has stood firm with me in all my conflicts
and calamities, and despite all my sins ; therefore let no one
despair. That which has been so solid beneath the weight
even of my sinful tread, will support any one who trustfully
ventures on it for himself." Thus interpreted, these words
of David are an exact parallel to the testimony of Paul, when
he says :* " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac
ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin
ners ; of whom I am chief" (or first). " Howbeit for this cause
I obtained mercy, that in me first " (that is, first not in the or
der of time, but first in the degree of guilt — a sinner of the
first rank — an Ai sinner) "Jesus Christ might show forth all
long-suffering, for a pattern to them, which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting." What an encouragement,
therefore, is there here to every one to rest in faith upon the
* i Timothy i., 15, 16.

Even-song. 391
promise of Jehovah ! No matter though we may have been
sinners of as deep a dye as Paul — murderers, blasphemers,
persecutors; no matter though we may have been back
sliders of as dark a character as David — adulterers, liars,
murderers, yet if even " from thence we seek the Lord, we
shall find him, if we seek him with all our hearts." He who
received them will not spurn us away from him. The prom
ise which upheld them will support us. The welcome which
was given to them will not be withheld from us, for is it not
written, " Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
out?" This Word has been tried and proved in different
ages of the Church, now by an Augustine, and now by a Lu
ther ; now by a Bunyan, and now by a Newton ; but never,
perhaps, was it put to so great a strain as when the male
factor on the cross cried at the very warning of the twelfth
hour to Jesus, " Lord, remember me when thou comest into
thy kingdom !" Let the answer which then came, " To-day
shalt thou be with me in paradise," encourage thee, oh sin
ner, to put it to the proof now for thyself, and thou shalt be
another trophy, of the Redeemer's power to save, another
witness bearer to the faithfulness of God in the keeping of
his gracious promise.
The second quality of the divine character to which spe
cial prominence is given in these verses is the gentleness of
God. It comes out in these words : " Thy gentleness hath
made me great." This expression is to me the gem of the
Psalm. I am never weary of recurring to it. As in looking
on a spacious landscape, every feature of which is beautiful,
the eye finds itself at length resting with supreme satisfac
tion on some one object of surpassing loveliness within it ;
or, as in listening to a piece of music, all of which is inspir
iting, the ear catches up some specially bewitching strain,
which we keep humming over to ourselves in all our inter
vals of labor ; so, after we have read this whole Psalm, we

392 David, King of Israel.
come back again and again to this delightful phrase. It
falls upon the ear as if with the soft breathings of an seolian
harp, and amidst the jewels which shine out of this Book of
Truth, there is not one that sparkles with a radiance so di
vine as this, " Thy gentleness hath made me great !" It is
indeed the very heart and centre of the cross of Christ. Da
vid felt that God's kindness to him, in his weakness, his way
wardness, his very wantonness of sin, had lifted him up to
the external greatness of his throne, and had built up in him
the internal greatness of his character.
But what did he know of this quality of Jehovah's heart,
compared with that of it which has been revealed to us in
the work of Christ, and in our calling into and training in
the Christian life ? While we lay helplessly condemned be
neath the sentence of his law, God came to us, not with
Sinai's terror, but with tender love. " He that might the
vantage best have took, found out the remedy." And while
his sternness might have driven us from him, or moved us
to strive against him, we have willingly yielded to the attrac
tion of his gentleness. Go read the record of the Saviour's
dealings with the woman at the well, with the woman that
was a sinner, with the self-satisfied Nicodemus, and with the
publican Zaccheus, and see how much his gentleness did in
making them truly great. Nay, look back on your own ex
perience, and bear witness to those around you, how his love
"drew you, and you followed on," willingly surrendering
yourselves to its divine attraction. Nor is this all. Even
when we have been suffering under his hand, or have been
wandering from his way, how much of gentleness has he man
ifested in our very chastisement He has " stayed his rough
wind, in the day of his east wind ;" and if, like the eagle with
her young, he has " stirred our nest " and pushed us out of
it, we have scarcely remembered the roughness of that disci
pline, when we have found ourselves upborne on the ample

Even-song. 393
wings of his grace, to loftier attainments in holiness than oth
erwise we could have reached. All along the pathways by
which he has led us, we have met manifestations of his gen
tleness : it has been the background of our very trials, and
as the mother soothes her broken-hearted and dispirited
child by the loving ministrations of her tender hand, until he
has forgotten his sorrow in. the sunshine of her affection,
so God has been with us, " gentle as a nurse cherishing her
children." He has borne with us as none other could have
done ; and by that " method of indirectness " which the moth
er knows so well how to practice with her wayward boy, he
has led us by a way which we knew not, and kept us attached
— not by any outward bond, but by the inner tie of endear
ing affection — to himself. I have 'heard one tell, with ring
ing laughter, how once in a storm at sea, when danger was
anticipated, a great overgrown man, not used to prayer, and
remembering only the hymn of his childhood, flung himself
upon his knees, and cried,
" Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child !"
But, after all, are we not all, even the oldest among us,
children still, and is not tbis still the most endearing epithet
of Jesus to every one of us — "gentle Jesus." I beseech you,
therefore, brethren, by the gentleness of Christ, that ye pre
sent yourselves now unto him, and so receive from him the
greatness of present holiness and future immortality. Every
day we live we are receiving new proofs of his tender love
to us ; but when we have passed through the veil, and stand
in heaven's own light, looking back upon all the ways in
which our God has dealt with us, we shall understand this
phrase more fully than we ever can on earth ; and as we
cast our crow.ns before the throne, our adoring homage to
him who sits thereon will find its appropriate expression
17*

394 David, King of Israel.
in these blessed words : " Thy gentleness hath made me
great !"
The third divine attribute to which prominence is here
given is the eternity of God. It comes out in these words :
" The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock ; and let the God
of my salvation be exalted." A certain sense of solitariness
grows upon a man as he becomes older. Those who were
venerable in his youthful days, and to whom he looked for
counsel, are one by one carried to the tomb. The compan
ions of his early manhood fall at his side. He comes at
length to a time when he does not care to make many new
friends ; and when he reaches the limit of three-score years
and ten, he begins to feel himself almost a stranger, even in
the place where he has spent his life. Perhaps a king, more
than most other men, will realize this experience. The poet
has spoken ofthe lonely glory of a throne." The monarch
has no equals, and, from the nature of the case, can have few
confidants and counselors, except such as are venerable for
age. But as his reign wears on, one after another of these
early friends are taken away ; and as each is removed, he is
apt to think that a part of himself has been withdrawn from
him. Thus loneliness steals over him, and he comes at length
to be, like Moses among the tribes, the solitary survivor of
a buried generation. Something like this, I doubt not, was
felt by David as he advanced into old age. Samuel was
gone ; Jonathan was no more ; Ahithophel had proved a
traitor ; Joab had become a thorn in his side ; but there was
One always true, and it was with no ordinary emotion, we
may be sure, that out of his earthly solitude he sang of his
fidelity and deathlessness : " The Lord liveth, and blessed
be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation." Let
the aged among us fall back on this assurance, and find
their solace in the companionship of the Most High. He
hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

Even-song. 395
The last strain of this remarkable Psalm gathers into one
inference of gratitude all the argument of the ode : " There
fore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord ;" and looking for
ward to the permanence of his song, and its acceptance by
the Gentiles as a portion of their daily psalmody, he adds,
" among the Gentiles." Then, calling to mind Nathan's
prediction of the eternity of his kingdom, he concludes with
these words : " He is the tower of salvation for his king :
and sheweth mercy unto his anointed, unto David and to
his seed for evermore." Thus, rising out of David's per
sonal history, this ode, like many others, ascends at length
to David's Lord, of whom, in the "perspective of proph
ecy," the singer caught a glimpse ere yet he laid aside his
harp. I have taken merely the most cursory glance at the struc
ture of this sublime poem. Let me commend it to your care
ful study in the retirement of the closet, and meanwhile let
me suggest two practical lessons from this whole subject.
Let us learn, then, to thank God for our mercies and de
liverances. When the crisis of some great agony is on us,
there are no words which leap so readily to our lips as these :
"God help me!" At such times we feel shut up to go to
God, and we engage our friends to pray to him on our
behalf. But when the danger is past and the suffering is
gone, how seldom we think of Him on whom, while they
lasted, we called so passionately for relief.' Of the ten
lepers whom Jesus cleansed, only one returned to give him
thanks. We despise the conduct of the French infidel who, while
the storm was threatening to submerge the vessel in which
he sailed, was on his knees in trembling prayer; but when
the gale was over, ridiculed his own fear as cowardice, and
laughed at his own prayer as superstition. But are we so
much better ourselves ? Where is our thanksgiving for God's

396 David, King of Israel.
free mercy, which, in answer to our prayers, he has so fre
quently shown us ? In the time of pestilence the churches
will be crowded with eager suppliants that the plague may be
removed ; but when the disease has gone, you will have only
the merest handful to hold a day of thanksgiving'. It is not
always thus, indeed ; and when true gratitude is manifested
it moves us intensely, even from its very rarity. One case
of this description, at the close of the cotton famine in Lan
cashire, England, stirred the whole British nation to its
depths. It was in the town of Staleybridge, which for many
months had been suffering the deepest distress. All those
weary weeks its factories had been silent, and its tall chim
neys smokeless ; and its operatives, all their savings gone,
were reduced to a want which they bore with the most heroic
endurance. At length the war was ended, and a consign
ment of cotton came to the town. Hastening to the railway
depot, the men unyoked the horses from the first wagon,
and drew it themselves into the court-yard of one of the fac
tories. Soon an immense crowd surrounded it, and the tears
filled the eyes of the multitude as they gazed upon it, for it
meant employment, and employment meant bread. Just
then, while all were deeply moved, one solitary voice began
to sing the grand old doxology, " Praise God, from whom all
blessings flow," and in a moment every one in the vast as
semblage joined in, while on the gaunt and famine-stricken
cheeks of faces upturned to IreaVen the big tears kept cours
ing down. Often has that simple strain been sung in most
inspiring circumstances, but never with more depth of feel
ing or more fervor of gratitude than on that occasion. But
why should our gratitude be confined to rare seasons ? The
true thanksgiving is thanksliving. The noblest doxology is
a holy life. Let us aim, my brethren, to translate into con
duct the words of this sublime Psalm ; let us make each his
own life a hymn of praise, according to the poet's advice :

Even-song. 397
" Be good, my child, and let who will be clever —
Do noble deeds, not dream them all day long ;
And so.make.life, death, and that vast forever
One grand deep song."*
Finally, let us learn from the experience of God's goodness
in the past, and trust to him for the present and the future.
" The Lord's aye to the fore," said a good Scotchwoman in
her day of trial ; and by this faith she was upheld. "The best
of all is, God is with us," said John Wesley, as he was dy
ing ; and by this trust he was supported as he passed within
the veil. David had many experiences of God's faithfulness,
and so he could go calmly forward, saying, "God lives, bless
ed be my rock ; and let the God of my salvation be exalted."
Let us follow his example, and "remember. the days of old."
The Lord is now just what he was when he delivered us in
the past. He loves us as tenderly as he did then. He is as
near us as he was then. And he will deliver us once more.
Oliver Heywood, one of the English Puritan ministers who
was ejected in 1662 by the odious Act of Uniformity, has
related a touching anecdote which may impress the lesson
on which I now insist more forcibly than any words of mine.
He tells of a mother who, when one child was taken from
her, calmly bowed to the trial, and said, " God lives, blessed
be my rock ; and let the God of my salvation be exalted."
Another child was removed by death, and still" she sang as
before, " God lives." But at length her beloved husband was
stricken down, and she seemed to sink into the very depths
of despair. As she sat wringing her hands in anguish, a lit
tle child, whom God had spared to her, came to her knee
and said, " Mother, is God dead ?" " God dead, my child !
What do you mean ?" " When brother and sister were taken
away, you said, ' God lives ;' but now that father is no more,
* Charles Kingsley.

398 David, King of Israel.
you sit and weep, and never say a word about God ; so I
thought he must be dead too." " No, my child, God is not
dead ; and he has sent you to rebuke the unbelief of my
heart. He liveth ; yes, he liveth ! and I will still cling to
him. ' Blessed be his name, and let the God of my salvation
be exalted.' " God liveth ! Let that be the sheet-anchor of
your heart, and it will hold you in the fiercest hurricane.

D

XXII.
THE CORONATION OF SOLOMON.
i Kings i. ; i Chronicles xxviii. ; xxix.
AVID was now a feeble old man. The silver cord
was beginning to be loosed, and the golden bowl was
breaking. The grasshopper had become a burden, and
desire had failed. The days had come when, in regard to
all mere earthly joys, he said, " I have no pleasure in them."
He was waiting patiently for his change, having his comfort
cared for and his wants supplied by a beautiful Shunammite
maiden, who had been carefully selected for the purpose.
Surely, now, the storms of his life are ended, and he will
have a smooth sea as he glides into the eternal haven. So
we might have reckoned ; but still the dark retribution of
his evil deed was following him ; and ere he fell asleep in
death, the words of Nathan, " The sword shall never depart
from thine house," were to have another fulfillment. Ado
nijah, his fourth son, whom he had pampered and petted by
the weakest indulgence, impatient for his father's death, and
eager to obtain his crown, entered into a well-concerted plan
to secure the object of his ambition. Let the parents before
me take note of this, and mark the folly of permitting their
children to go unrestrained into wickedness, or to obtain
without control every capricious desire. David "had never
displeased Adonijah at any time in saying, Why hast thou
done so?" And now behold the result/as the monarch's
old age is saddened by the revolt of another of his sons
against his authority. Indiscriminate indulgence of a son
will only issue in his open rebellion against his father. We

400 David, King of Israel.
may pamper our children into wrath, as well as provoke
them to it ; and he is no true lover either of himself or of
his son who does not seek to govern him by affectionate re
straint. There must be discipline in the home, else the is
sue will be sorrow. The rule must not be that of the des-
pot,.iiideed, else the end will also be disastrous ; but there
must be rule — only let the hand of firmness wear ever the
glove of love.
After the example of Absalom, Adonijah set up a great
establishment, and rode about in a chariot drawn by horses
magnificently caparisoned, and preceded by fifty heralds.
Among his adherents were Joab, the captain ofthe host, and
Abiathar the priest. We do not wonder at the defection of
the crafty son of Zeruiah, for David had made him feel in
many ways that he was weary of his arrogant and overbear
ing demeanor; and he knew that he had little or nothing to
hope for from Solomon if he should come to the throne.
But it is not so easy to account for Abiathar's desertion.
He had been with David in the cave of Adullam, had been
the companion of his vicissitudes for more than thirty years,
and had done noble service during Absalom's revolt; and it
is with the deepest sorrow that we see him now among those
who are taking advantage of the monarch's weakness to put
a creature of their own upon the throne. Mr. Blunt* sup
poses, and with some show of probability, that in the later
years of his reign David had in some way shown his prefer
ence for Zadok over Abiathar, and that in jealousy of his ri
val, whom David had favored, we have the key of his con
nection with Adonijah's rebellion. But whatever might be
his secret reason for his treasonable conduct, he would be at
no loss for pretexts by which to vindicate it both to himself
and others. He might allege that Adonijah was the eldest
* Blunt's " Scriptural Coincidences," pp. 153-157.

The Coronation of Solomon. 401
surviving son of David ; and that, as he was in the mid-time
of his days, and not, like Solomon, a mere youth, many dan
gers to the State might be escaped by seating him upon the
throne. But God had already indicated, in the most solemn
manner, that Solomon was to be his father's successor; and
any attempt to give the kingdom to another was not only
rebellion against David, but treason against Jehovah.
On this ground, therefore, as well as on that of personal
devotion to the aged king, the revolt of Adonijah was op
posed by Nathan, by Zadok, by Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada,
and by the great majority of the mighty men whom David
had honored for their valor in his service. Against such
weighty adversaries one would have supposed that Adoni
jah might have despaired of success ; but perhaps he im
agined that Joab and his army would prove more than a
match for any force that could be arrayed against him. In
any case, he acted with the greatest promptitude, and went
out with his followers to the well En-rogel, near to which
Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been concealed on the day of
the king's flight from Jerusalem. Here he made a great
feast, and was already rejoicing in the success which he im
agined he had achieved, when he found himself unexpect
edly checkmated and defeated ; for Nathan, having heard of
his doings, had gone immediately to Bath-sheba, and sent
her into the royal closet to inform the king of what was go
ing on. While she was yet speaking to him, Nathan him
self, according to previous agreement with her, came in and
confirmed her words ; whereupon, after assuring Bath-sheba
with an oath that the throne should be given to Solomon,
David gave such orders to Nathan, Zadok, and Jehoiada, as
showed that even in the smouldering ashes ofthe old man
something of the ancient fire still lived. He bade them set
Solomon upon the white mule of state, and lead him through
the city to Gihon, where Zadok should anoint him king in

40,2 David, King of Israel.
Jehovah's name. This done, he commanded that the trump
et should be blown before him, and the shout raised, "God
save King Solomon." Thereafter they were to bring him
back to the palace and seat him on the throne, that all might
know that he had appointed him to be ruler over Israel.
These injunctions were obeyed to the letter, and the re
sult was that the popular enthusiasm was evoked to the
utmost; for the people "piped with pipes, and rejoiced with
great joy, and the earth rent with the sound of them." The
echo of their shouting broke in upon the mirth of Adonijah's
feast at En-rogel, and provoked from Joab the question,
"Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?"
which Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, came just in time to
answer. He told all that we have recounted, adding, as a
new incident, that the servants of the king had gone to con
gratulate him upon Solomon's appointment, saying to him,
"God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and
make his throne greater than thy throne ;" and receiving for
answer, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath
given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even see
ing it." These tidings at once disconcerted the followers
of Adonijah, so that they fled every man to his home, while
the prince himself sought refuge in the Tabernacle, and
laying hold upon the horns of the altar, said, " Let King
Solomon swear unto me to-day that he will not slay his serv
ant with the sword." Wisely, however, Solomon declined
to fetter himself with any oath, but simply said, " If he will
show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him
fall to the earth : but if wickedness shall be found in him,
he shall die."
So ended this day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy ;
but, satisfactory as the conclusion was, so far as Solomon
was concerned, something more was needed before he could
be regarded unchallengeably as his father's successor. As

The Coronation of Solomon. 403
we have repeatedly seen, the constitution of the kingdom of
Israel required not only that the monarch should be desig
nated by Jehovah and anointed by the priest, but also that
he should be publicly recognized and accepted by the tribes,
or their properly authorized representatives. Thus, a consid
erable time after his anointing by Samuel, Saul was chosen
by the people ; and many years intervened between David's
designation at Bethlehem and his election to the throne, first
of Judah at Hebron, and afterward of the twelve tribes at
Jerusalem. Until, therefore, the assembly of the representa
tives of the people had ratified and, as it were, repeated the
deed of Zadok, Solomon was not, in all respects, the king.
Hence, some time after the event which we have just de
scribed, when David had gained so much strength that he
could undergo the fatigue of a long day in the open air,
he summoned " all the princes of Israel, the princes of the
tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to
the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and
captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the
substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with
the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the val
iant men, unto Jerusalem." It was a solemn occasion, like
to that on which Moses had taken farewell of the tribes
whom he had led through the wilderness, or that on which
Joshua had given his parting exhortation to the people whom
he had settled in Canaan ; or that on which Samuel had^for-
mally laid aside his functions and handed over the sover
eignty to Saul.
Deep must have been the feelings of David's heart as he
presided for the last time over the assembly of the people ;
and with mingled emotions they must have looked on the frag
ile form of him who had been so long identified with their
national history, and on the intelligent countenance of the
youth at his side, who was so soon to add new lustre to their

404 David, King of Israel.
renown. With tender affection, David addressed them as
his brethren and his people (i Chron. xxviii., 2), and unfold
ed to them the cherished purpose of his heart to build a
temple to Jehovah, together with the message which he had
received from Nathan in regard to it. . Then, turning to the
blushing youth beside him, he said, "And thou, Solomon my
son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a
perfect heart and with a willing mind : for the Lord search-
eth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the
thoughts : if thou seek him, he will be found of thee ; but if
thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Take heed
now ; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the
sanctuary : be strong, and do it."
After this he gave him the plans which he had already
prepared, by divine direction, of "the porch, and of the
houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the up
per chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and
of the place of the mercy-seat, and the pattern of all that he
had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and
of all the chambers round about," and a list of the things
which he had already consecrated for the purpose. Then
he brought forth the gold which he had accumulated for
the various articles which the Temple required ; and when
the spectators had recovered from the amazement which the
sight of such treasures must have produced, he renewed his
charge to his son, saying, " Be strong and of good courage,
and do it : fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even
my God, will be with thee ; he will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of
the house ofthe Lord." But Solomon was not the only par
ty concerned ; so, turning to the congregation, David com
mended his son to their confidence and care, detailing still
more of the preparations which he had made for the great
work which he wished to be performed, and beseeching them

The Coronation of Solomon. 405
to do their best, since "the palace was not for man, but for
God." Nay, as he was their God, as well as the God of their
king, it was meet that they also should be sharers with him
in the honor and the privilege of carrying forward this holy
undertaking; so he made an appeal to them in this heart-
searching question: "Who then is willing to consecrate his
service this day unto the Lord ?" The response was liberal
and enthusiastic ; for the people, catching the holy infection
of the royal self-sacrifice, laid upon the altar " of gold five
thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten
thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and
one hundred thousand talents of iron," while those who had
precious stones generously devoted them to the sacred en
terprise. It was a gladsome day ; a time of holy privilege
highly prized ; a season of precious opportunity thoroughly
improved ; an era of revived spiritual life, leading to unre
served consecration of soul and substance to the Lord. The
hearts alike of king and people were opened to receive God's
blessing, and in the receiving they gave out their own incense
of gratitude, even as the flower, when it unfolds its petals to
the morning sunbeam, does, by the very unfolding, give forth
its fragrance to the air around. But it is ever thus. He
who knows and feels that he is receiving is then and thereby
led to give out of his heart's gratitude to God ; and, looking
at once to the origin and the issue of this great national re
vival of religion, we regard it as the grandest scene in Da-
vid's whole career.
As sometimes the setting sun gilds the western sky, and
makes ofthe very clouds which had obscured the afternoon
a bank of burnished gold, giving thereby a glory to the heav
ens which in the absence of the clouds could never be pro
duced, so this last public appearance of the aged monarch
fringes with a golden border even the dark passages of his
life, and borrows, too, from them a frame-work of blackness

4o6- David, King of Israel.
which, by its very contrast, brings out more vividly the bright
ness of the departing luminary. The clouds had been very
dark, but the sun had been behind them all the while ; and
now, ere he goes down beneath the west, he has broken
through them and partially dispersed them, and men recog
nize once more his greatness. We see now the "one in
creasing purpose " which ran through all his life. We un
derstand now why he was so eager in amassing treasure, and
so active in adding spoil to spoil ; for as the student, on his
return from college, lays reverently in his mother's lap the
prizes which he has toiled night and day to win, so David
here places devoutly on Jehovah's altar all that he had gain
ed throughout his earthly career, saying, virtually, " For thee
I won them, and to thee I give them." Even as he laid
them there, indeed, they were wet with his penitential tears
over the great transgression of his life. Still he laid them
there ; and he who forgave the iniquity of his sin accepted
the gift he brought.
Such an assembly, crowned with such an offering to God,
could not separate without an act of special worship, and
who so fit to lead the devotions in speech as he who had led
them in the worship of liberal offerings ? So, taking his place
before the people, David blessed the Lord in language as af
fecting as it is sublime, as tender as it is true. I can not re
sist the impulse to repeat it here : " Blessed be thou, Lord
God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord,
is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victo
ry, and the majesty : for all that is in the heaven and in the
earth is thine ; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art
exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of
thee, and thou reignest over all ; and in thine hand is power
and might ; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to
give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank
thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what

The Coronation of Solomon. 407
is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly af
ter this sort ? for all things come of thee, and of thine own
have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee, and
sojourners, as were all our fathers : our days on the earth are
as a shadow, and there is none abiding. O Lord our God,
all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house
for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine
own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and
hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness
of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things : and
now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here,
to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac,
and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination
of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their
heart unto thee : and give unto Solomon my son a perfect
heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy
statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace,
for the which I have made provision." This prayer was fol
lowed by a sacrificial feast, after which Solomon was anoint
ed for the second time as the accepted monarch ofthe tribes
of Israel.
But this public service was probably not the only thing
connected with Solomon's anointing, for after the assembly
had dispersed, and the aged king had retired to his cham
ber, it is not unlikely that he took his harp once more, and
sang to its strains that wondrous Messiah-psalm which, ris
ing from the circumstances of his son, looks down through
all the ages to the final triumph of the Redeemer's kingdom.
I refer to the 72d Psalm ; and as we read it now, in the light
of the events which I have recounted, we can not but feel a
new interest in it, and derive new inspiration from it. I can
not go fully into its consideration, but must content myself
with giving the briefest summary of its substance. Begin
ning with the description of a king who, blessed with Jeho-

4°8 David, King of Israel.
vah's judgments, should "judge his people with righteousness
and his poor with judgment," he passes to the benignity of
his sway. " He shall come down like rain upon the mown
grass : as showers that water the earth." Then he asserts
the universality of his dominion : " His dominion shall be
from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the
earth ;" and the perpetuity of his reign : " His name shall
endure forever : his name shall be continued as long as" the
sun : and men shall be blessed in him : all nations shall call
him blessed." The conclusion is a grand outburst of praise,
which seems almost to anticipate the hallelujahs ofthe skies.
" Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only
doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name
forever : and let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen." Little wonder that as men read this glow
ing ode, they say, "A greater than Solomon is here." This
is emphatically the missionary Psalm, and it were well if,
every time we sang it, our hearts would expand into the no
ble liberality manifested by the king and the people of Isra
el on the day by which it was probably occasioned ; for what
is the cause of missions but the building of a nobler temple
than that which Solomon reared — a temple, the stones of
which are living souls ; the incense of which is the love of
holy hearts, and the praises of which are the songs of the re
deemed ?
Let me make this thought the centre of the practical re
marks with which my exposition must conclude. Observe,
then, in the first place, the work to which God has called
us in the world. It is that of building a temple for his
abode. The edifice for which David made such magnifi
cent preparations, and which Solomon reared in splendor,
was, after all, only a typical structure. That which was out
ward came first, and afterward that which is spiritual. In
the New Testament, indeed, the figure of the temple is em-

The Coronation of Solomon. 409
ployed with a threefold reference. Sometimes it is used to
signify the body of the Saviour himself, as when he said to
the Jews, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up again." Sometimes it is applied to the body of the be
liever, as when Paul says, " Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which -is in you, which ye have
of God ?" But more usually it is employed to describe the
spiritual church which our Lord Jesus Christ has founded in
the world. The Lord himself is the foundation of this holy
edifice, according as Paul has said, " Other foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Be
lievers are the stones of which it is composed, as Peter has
written: "Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual
house ;" and Paul again has affirmed, " In whom ye also are
builded together for a habitation of God through the Spir
it." Apostles, evangelists, ministers, missionaries, and active
Christian workers are the builders engaged in its erection,
for Paul has called himself " a wise master-builder," and urges
others to enthusiasm in the great undertaking ; while at the
same time he bids every man "take heed how he buildeth
thereupon." This, then, is the work which is committed to our care as
Christians — the building in- of believing souls to this great
living edifice; which we call the Christian Church, or, in
simpler and less figurative phraseology, the conversion of
human souls, and the formation in them of a holy character ;
and it will be completed only when the prophecy shall be
fulfilled, that " the earth shall be filled with the knowledge
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." I have said this
is our work, and yet in another sense, and from another side,
it is the work of God himself; but it is his work, carried on,
in, and through our consecration of ourselves to its perform
ance, "for we are laborers together with God." And what a
work it is ! There is an interest deep and peculiar in taking
18

4Jo David, King of Israel.
the stones from the quarry, and hewing them into shape, and
polishing them into shining smoothness, and placing them in
their courses one above another, until at length the house is
finished for a royal palace, or a temple of worship. But what
is that, after all, to the delight which is felt, or the enthusi
asm which is awakened, as we dig up human souls from the
quarry of sin, or ignorance, or degradation, and, through the
processes of a loving and holy education prepare them for
their places in this living temple ! What marble so precious
as a human soul ! what granite so indestructible as an im
mortal spirit ! what beauty so rare as that of a character
which is moulded and fashioned after the pattern of the Re
deemer himself! And it is given to us to work with such
valuable and imperishable materials for the adornment of
that stately structure which is " built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner-stone." What an exalted honor, but what a sol
emn responsibility ! Let us not loiter at our holy enterprise,
but day by day let us labor on with untiring earnestness, un
til, when evening comes, we shall be greeted with the " well-
done " of him who is the architect and is to be the inhab
itant of the temple itself. My hearer, hast thou builded in
yet even one living stone into this holy fane ?
Observe, in the second place, that it is not given to any
one man, or to any single generation, to finish this glorious
structure. David gathered the materials, and Solomon built
the house. So, many of those who were present on the joyful
occasion which we have described might also be spectators
on the gladsome day of the consecration, when the mystic
cloud descended and filled the newly-finished Temple. But
with the Church of Christ it is different. That has been in
process of erection for centuries, and it is not completed yet.
In this respect it resembles not so much the sacred building
that crowned the height of Moriah as one of these mediaeval

The Coronation of Solomon. 411
cathedrals on which many successive generations labored,
and which to-day remain as the result of many hundred years
of toil. "Other men have labored" on it, and "we are en
tered upon their labors." The architect is one ; the builders
are multitudinous, belonging to every age and nation. It is
but a small portion of it we can hope to rear at best, there
fore let us employ every moment of our time, and let us make
our part worthy of the workmanship of our illustrious prede
cessors. It is ours to carry forward a building on which Paul,
arid John, and Augustine, and Chrysostom, and Luther, and
Calvin, and Knox, and Edwards, and Wesley, and Whitefield
spent their strength and showed their skill. Let us not dis
honor their workmanship, but let us strive so to do our por
tion that those who may come after us shall be stimulated by
our example, as we have been by that of those who have
gone before us.
Observe, again, the principles by which we should be ani
mated in prosecuting this work. " The palace is not for man,
but for God." What we do for him, therefore, should be of
our best, the more especially as every thing which we have
has come from him. Every day we are receiving new favors
from his hands ; and behind and above all the rest there is
the unspeakable gift of his Son. Let us do as we may, there
fore, it is still true that " of his own we give to him ;" for if
we lay our hearts upon his altar, it is he who has produced
within us the holy impulse of self-consecration ; and if we
bring our offering of silver and gold to him, we are but giv
ing to him that which is already his, since in the sense of ab
solute possession he is the sole proprietor of the universe, and
we are only the hands by which for the time he holds that
wealth which we so fondly call our own. To adopt the New
Testament words, "We are stewards of the manifold bounty
of God;" and if we had a right idea of our duty, we would seek
to use every thing which we have for him. Now he desires

412 David, King of Israel.
us specially to build this spiritual house for his own abode ?
Shall we not, then, gratefully, lovingly, and liberally obey his
command ? Moreover, this house will be his eternal habita
tion. The Temple of Solomon is no more, and the stateliest
cathedral must one day crumble into dust ; but this spirit
ual edifice abides, and shall be the temple ofthe skies. In
threading our way through the streets of some ancient city —
such, for example, as the Cowgate and Canongate of Edin
burgh — we mark the strange devices graven above the portals
of the houses, which indicate that in former days they were
the habitations of nobility; and here and there we come Upon
some quaint mottoes, such as this, " My trust is in the Lord ;"
or this, " Be merciful to me, O God," which render it proba
ble that the dwellings on which they are engraved were first
erected by those " who feared the Lord and thought upon his
name." But now they are for the most part the homes of
the guilty and the vile, and wickedness is holding riot in the
chambers which architecture originally reared for the habita
tions of rank or the homes of piety. One can not visit these
places as they are to-day without thinking of the transitori
ness of all earthly things, and wondering whether, if the first
builder had foreseen the base uses to which his house would
be ultimately turned, he would have bestowed so much pains
in its erection, or adorned it with such exquisite products
of the sculptor's skill. But there is no danger of such a de
terioration in the house — composed of human souls — which
Christian men are rearing for a habitation of God through
the Spirit. The Lord shall be the eternal inhabitant, and the
beauty and the grandeur of his palace shall be as immortal
as he is himself. It was the boast of the Grecian artist that
he painted for eternity, and yet his works have all but disap
peared already; but they who engage in the service of Christ
and succeed in bringing souls to him, are building literally
for eternity. Their work shall abide. Time that changes

The Coronation of Solomon. 413
all things else will not eat into these spiritual walls, and
eternity itself shall see no decay in this fabric of the ages.
It will need all time for its completion, indeed, but then
it will last through eternity ; and so, if we wish to put forth
our efforts where they will be most permanently effective,
we will devote them to labor on this palace for the King
of kings.
Once more, let us reflect that the progress of this spiritual
edifice, thus honoring to God, is also inseparably associated
with the happiness of men. Recall for a moment the words
of the 72d Psalm, which, though applicable primarily to the
influence of the Prince of Peace as a ruler, may be trans
lated into harmony with this great temple-building. "Men
shall be blessed in him, and all nations shall call him bless
ed ;" that is to say, in proportion as souls are brought to Je
sus and built into this spiritual fabric, the purity, the pros
perity, and the progress of mankind shall advance. Does
any one doubt this ? Let him look around ! To what do
we owe our liberties, our privileges, and our proud position
among the nations of the earth ? Is it not to the degree
in which the Gospel of Christ has leavened the land ? The
Christianity of the nation is the nation's life. All that is
true, and honest, and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good
report among us has been but a development of the princi
ples which centre in the cross of Calvary ; and if the evils .
that remain are ever to be removed, they can only be so
by the conversion of the masses of our fellow-citizens to Je
sus; that is, by the building of them into this living temple
that has been rising so majestically through all the Christian
ages. Nay, wider still, if the world is to be elevated and pu
rified, if the race of men is to be developed to its noblest
possibilities of good, whether intellectual, or moral, or social,
the Gospel of Christ must still be the instrument which we
employ ; and that end shall be reached only when the head-

4i4 David, King of Israel.
stone of this holy house shall be brought forth with shout
ings, " Grace, grace unto it !"
Having, therefore, all these truths before you, suffer me
now to make the appeal of David : " Who then is willing to
consecrate his service this day unto the Lord ?" Who is
willing. It is a voluntary thing. The Lord will accept no
begrudged laborer. He will have no reluctant toil. Whoso
labors for him must labor with a will. "Who is willing to
consecrate his service?" It is a holy offering — a laying of
self, and service, and substance upon the altar of Jehovah ;
"for the palace is not for man, but for God," of whom riches
and honor come. "Who then is willing to consecrate his
service this day unto the Lord?" This day! this day! "For
our days upon -the earth are as a shadow, and there is none
abiding." Even now it may be almost even-tide with many.
The eleventh hour may have struck for some, and the warn
ing of the twelfth may have sounded for others from the
clock of destiny ; yet as they stand idly in the market-place,
there comes even to such the command, " Go, work to-day
for me." Make haste that you may do something before
the opportunity goes past. And if there should be here
some David whom God has intrusted with large possessions
or great prosperity, or what is better than either, a great
heart, let him, too, hasten to bring forth his gifts for this glo
rious cause, that so his example may stimulate others, and
we may see a revival of life, liberality, and labor in the
Church of Christ. As said the great, good Whitefield, in
days past, so say I now to you : " I want more tongues, more
bodies, more souls for the Lord Jesus. Had I ten thousand,
he, should have them all. So that I had as many tongues
as there are hairs on my head, the ever-loving, ever lovely
Jesus should have them all !" "Who then is willing to con
secrate his service this day unto the Lord ?"

XXIII.
LAST WORDS.
i Kings ii. ; 2 Samuel xxiii., 1.
AFTER the solemn assembly of the estates of the realm,
at which David publicly inaugurated the reign of Sol
omon, the strength of the aged monarch seems gradually to
have ebbed away until "the days drew near that he must
die." During these heart-searching times of silence and re
tirement, as he lay looking back upon the irrevocable past,
and forward into the dread eternity, many thoughts must
have filled his mind, and much close communion with God
must have been enjoyed by him. He meddled now not
much with earthly things, but when he did give any atten
tion to them, the reign of Solomon still came uppermost,
and his earnest admonitions to his son concerning the build
ing of the Temple, and the character which he was to choose
and cultivate, were renewed. One such occasion appears to
have been more important than all the rest ; and it is to that
the sacred historian refers in the portion of the narrative at
which we have now arrived (1 Kings ii., 1-9). Feeling with
in him the sure premonitions of approaching death, he laid
upon Solomon, with all the importance of a last injunction,
a most important charge. First he reminded him of the
conditional promise which God had given to him through
Nathan in these words : " If thy children take heed to their
way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with
all their soul, there shall not fail thee a man on the throne of
Israel ;" and upon this he founded the following exhortation :
" Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man ; and keep

416 David, King of Israel.
the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways." We
can not read this injunction now without being reminded
of Paul's words to Timothy, in somewhat similar circum
stances : " Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus." Nor can we fail to see the appro
priateness of the command to ourselves, for God's promises,
even in Christ, are conditioned on our acceptance of them, and
on our obedience of the precepts in connection with which
they are given. It may seem, indeed, strange that we should
be commanded to be strong, since, at first sight, strength
may not appear to be a thing wholly in our own hands ; but
we must never forget that God imparts his strength to us
only through the strenuous forth-putting of our own. If we
would secure his might, we must earnestly employ our own.
If we would receive grace from him to resist temptation,
we must ourselves show firmness and courage ; if we would
ultimately, through him, be conquerors in the battle of life,
we must zealously carry on the fight ourselves. In the
Gospel narrative, the man who had the withered arm re
ceived strength to put it forth, by honestly and believingly
making the attempt to do what Jesus bade him; and we
shall be supported in the discharge of difficult duty only
when we endeavor to perform it as heartily as if the whole
power required were our own ; while at the same time we
look up to God for help as sincerely as if all the might were
really to come from him, as indeed it always does. When
God says " Be strong," we get the strength which we need by
acting in such a way as implies that we already possess it.
This may seem a paradox, but it is the paradox of faith in
every form. Admirably has one said, " The moment relig
ion ceases to cdmmand men to attempt the impossible, it
ceases to be religion ;" and when faith that is really faith at
tempts the impossible, it changes it forthwith into the possi
ble ; for then the strength of God is made perfect in human

Last Words. 4I7
weakness. For the young especially no axiom is more im
portant than this, contradictory as it may seem, that to gain
divine strength we must be strong, and set ourselves de
fiantly against all evil. Take then, my friends, a decided
stand for God, and truth, and duty, and the strength needed
to maintain that stand will not be withheld from those who
seek it. " Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like
men, be strong."
Appended to this wise paternal counsel, David gave to
Solomon sundry injunctions as to the discharge of his gov
ernmental duties toward certain individuals. First he spoke
of Joab ; and, after referring to his murder of Abner and
Amasa in circumstances of peculiar atrocity, he said, "Do
therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head
go down to the grave in peace." Next he alluded in kind
ly terms to the sons of good old Barzillai, and commended
them to his tender care thus : " Let them be of those that
eat at thy' table : for so they came to me when I fled because
of Absalom thy brother." Finally he spake of Shimei, who
had so shamefully and spitefully cursed him on the same sad
occasion ; and after acknowledging the oath by which he had
bound himself to him, he added, " Now therefore hold him
not guiltless : for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou
oughtest to do unto him ; but his hoar head bring thou down
to the grave with blood." Now, so far as regards his request
concerning the sons of Barzillai, we can have no feelings but
those of approbation ; but it does seem as if his injunctions
concerning Joab and Shimei were characterized by a vin
dictive and revengeful spirit altogether out of harmony with
his usual disposition, arid utterly inconsistent with the sol
emn position in which he was placed. A death-bed is a
place for forgiveness, and not for implacability; and even
those who in their lives have not been conspicuous for their
religious principle have, as they lay dying, sent messages
18*

418 David, King of Israel.
of reconciliation to such as have been at variance with
them. At first, therefore, and without going into the consideration
of the cases in detail, we are disposed to express our aston
ishment at the spirit here manifested by David, and to pro
nounce condemnation on it. In regard to Shimei, indeed,
some have supposed that the case is not so bad as our trans
lators have made it appear. Kennicott, the learned Hebra
ist, has affirmed that it is not uncommon in that language to
omit the negative in the second part of a sentence, and con
sider it as repeated where it has been expressed in the for
mer part of the sentence, if they be connected by the usual
conjunctive particle. Therefore he would read David's in
junction as to Shimei thus : " Hold him not guiltless, but
bring thou not his hoar head to the grave with blood." I am
not sufficiently conversant with the niceties of the Hebrew
language to be competent to give an opinion on. such a point
as this ; but this proposed rendering has been adopted by
such scholars as Dr. Angus, in his " Bible Hand-book," and
Dr. Jameson, in his excellent commentary on the historical
books ofthe Old Testament ; and it must be confessed that
it receives a certain measure of support from Solomon's af
ter-treatment of Shimei, since he did not put him to death at
first, but merely confined him within the limits of the city of
Jerusalem, and shed his blood only when he had violated the
conditions on which his life had been granted to him.
But whatever may be said regarding Shimei, there remains
the case of Joab ; and when we remember how much David
owed him, we are apt to feel that he might now have con
doned his faults, and let him go unpunished. All this must
be frankly conceded ; but when we go below the surface of
the narrative and take all the bearings of the subject into
our consideration, the case against David is not so bad
as it looks. I at least am not disposed to pronounce un-

Last Words. 419
qualified censure upon him ; nay rather, I am inclined to
stand up in his defense, and to maintain that his design in
giving these commands was to secure the prosperity of Sol
omon's reign, and to prevent his son from erring, as he him
self had erred, by timidly and weakly passing over the crimes
of men simply because they happened to be related to him
self, or to be powerful and prominent in the land. Let it be
remembered that revenge was not a characteristic feature
of David's disposition. He was chivalrous in a high degree.
He was a generous enemy. He did not cherish malice, or
vindictively plot for a rival's destruction. Once and again,
when he might easily have rid himself of Saul, he allowed
him to go unharmed ; and in his treatment of Joab on the
two occasions to which he here makes reference, there was
a criminal weakness which was unworthy of a king. We
noted the same thing in his dealing with Amnon and Absa
lom. Hence we can not suppose that when he was on his
death-bed, subdued by the feelings which his conscious near
ness to the unseen world had produced in him, he would al
low himself to be hurried away by a passion which had nev
er moved him at any single period of his history. How,
then, shall we account for these injunctions ? I answer, by
regarding, them as deeds of justice, tardily executed, it is
true, but yet executed at last on public grounds, for the wel
fare of the nation and the happiness of his son. He wish
ed Solomon's reign to be undisturbed ; and recognizing in
Shimei a turbulent and unprincipled man, who might yet
give trouble as the leader or abettor of some Benjamite re
volt, he put his successor on his guard against him. Then,
in regard to Joab, we must remember that all through the
old economy the principle is maintained that blood unright
eously shed cries to God for vengeance ; and it is every
where implied that if he who shed it should go unpunished,
the slight thus done to justice would certainly bring down

42° David, King of Israel,
calamity on the land. Thus, in the book of the law, in con
nection with the enactment providing cities of refuge for the
accidental man-slayer, we have this injunction : " But if any
man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up
against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth
into one of these cities: then the elders of his city shall send
and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the
avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity
him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from
Israel, that it may go well with thee."*
As an instructive commentary upon this portion of the sa
cred statute-book, we had before us a few evenings ago the
fact that the slaughter of the Gibeonites by Saul, which had
continued unatoned for, brought down upon the land, even
after the lapse of more than thirty years, a visitation of fam
ine which ceased only when seven of Saul's descendants
had been given up to justice. Hence we may suppose that
David feared lest some similar judgment should come upon
the people in Solomon's time for the unpunished crimes of
Joab, and that he sought, by laying these injunctions upon
his son, to avert such a calamity from the nation. Besides,
though at certain critical times in his history he had been
greatly indebted to Joab, yet he had been galled and irri
tated by his haughty and overbearing character, and may
have wished that Solomon should be delivered from a yoke
under which he had been fretted and borne down for many
years. With our New Testament ideas, indeed, we almost
instinctively recoil from these injunctions, given on his death
bed by David to Solomon, but we must place ourselves, like
him, under the Mosaic law, with the old ideas of blood-re
venge which then prevailed, and which that law sought to
regulate rather than to abolish, before we presume to sit in

* Deuteronomy xix., 1 1-13.

Last Words. 421
judgment upon them. Now, when we thus regard them, we
can not condemn David so confidently as many have done.
On the contrary, we see, in his anxiety about the disposal of
these malefactors, evidence of a quickening of his conscience
as a magistrate, which was very natural at the approach of
death, while at the same time it indicates the intensity of
his desire to relieve Solomon from the evil consequences
that would else have resulted from his own failure in the
administration of justice. To our thinking, they wrong the
dying man most shamefully who would impute to personal
malice or cruel revenge recommendations which were given
solely on public and judicial grounds by one who felt him
self already face to face with his own final account. Nor
can I forbear to add, that the disposition which cavils at
these injunctions thus understood, is of a piece with the
mawkish sentimentalism of these times, which turns every
criminal into a simple object of benevolence, when it does
not exalt him into a hero, and of which we see the results
to-day, when justice is lying torn and bleeding in our streets ;
when human life, instead of being the most sacred object of
protection by society, is almost as little regarded among us
as that of the brutes that perish ; and when the perpetrators
of the most palpable murders contrive, by a thousand plausi
ble pretexts, to elude that penalty which the law has annexed
to their crime. Let us not forget that the God of Israel is
the God of all nations, and that his providence is still regu
lated by the principles on which he governed the world in
the days of David. Alas ! what evils may be even now im
pending over us, because of the indifference to justice which
has characterized so much of our recent so-called judicial
procedure ! We have had all manner of consideration and
pity shown to the criminals ; it might be well now if a little
of both were manifested to the community at large.
It only now remains, before we come to the last scene of

422 David, King of Israel.
this eventful history, that we glance a little at the interest
ing oracle which is introduced by the sacred historian in the
twenty-third chapter of 2 Samuel with this phrase : " Now
these be the last words of David." It is not necessary to
believe that the portion of sacred poetry to which this state
ment is prefixed was the very latest utterance of the Psalm
ist before he closed his eyes in death. The meaning of the
clause may be that the prediction which it introduces was
the last formal communication made by David in the char
acter of an inspired prophet, or it may simply indicate that
the oracle belongs to the last illness of the king ; and so,
over and above its divine inspiration, it may serve to show
the current of his thoughts and the support of his heart, as
he was passing through the valley of shadow. In any case,
it has a character which is quite unique among the produc
tions of David. It is not a Psalm in which we have the ele
ment of praise commingled with that of prediction, neither
is it a plain declaration of David's spiritual experience in
the near prospect of death ; but it is a prophecy, or oracle,
commencing with a description of the prophet and an asser
tion of his inspiration, and then proceeding to delineate the
nature of Messiah's dominion, with its twofold effect of bless
ing on the obedient and lowly, and punishment on the rebell
ious and proud. Then, between the indication of the bless
ing and the curse, we have a kind of parenthetic reference
to David's royal dynasty, the perpetuity of which, as secured
in the Messiah, he declares to be all his salvation and all
his desire.
Let us attend to each of these portions of this interesting
passage. There is, first, the description of the prophet him
self. This is usual in the introduction of important predic
tions. We find it, for example, in the opening verses of the
books of Isaiah, Amos, and Jeremiah, and, in particular, we
have a strain very similar to that before us in the commence-

Last Words. 423
ment of Balaam's well-known prophecy. In the passage un
der consideration, David is called by his simple patronymic,
the son of Jesse ; and with special allusion to the fact that he
was elevated from the lowly life of a shepherd to the lofty
glory of a throne, he is styled " the man who was raised up
on high." Nor is this all : he is denominated "the anointed
of the God of Jacob," in recognition of his having been des
ignated by prophetic anointing for the royal office. Fur
thermore, he is described as "the sweet Psalmist of Israel."
Some have attempted to render the original phrase here by
the words, " sweet in the Psalms of Israel ;" or, as Bunsen
has translated them, " the darling of the songs of Israel ;"
and they vindicate their view by referring to the victory ode
which was sung concerning him after his defeat of the giant;
and to other similar songs. But I rather regard the phrase,
" the sweet Psalmist of Israel," as a title which, even in his
lifetime, David had received, as the author of those sacred
hymns which form so large a portion of the book of Psalms ;
and I am confident that its appropriateness will be thorough
ly indorsed by the spiritually-minded even of this latest gen
eration ; for the shepherd-king of Israel, when he sang out of
his own heart, produced- lyrics which have found their way
to the heart of humanity itself, and which have been in all
ages, as they are in this, the chosen vehicle through which
devout spirits have sent alike their joys and their, sorrows,
their penitence and their praise, their thanksgivings and
their petitions up to God. David seems, indeed, to have
been led through manifold trials and experiences, and to
have been divinely inspired to sing his -feelings in them all,
just that he might be a leader of psalmody to God's people
in every age, and in all circumstances ; and so it is that the
pious heart even now finds the emotions which are vainly
struggling within it for expression already uttered in the
book of Psalms, and that, too, to the music of a harp so

424 David, King of Israel.
sweet that as one listens he seems to hear for the time the
melody of heaven, and all sorrow and anxiety are charmed
away. His joyful odes bear aloft our praises, as on eagles'
wings, to heights to which alone and without his assistance
we had never soared ; his Psalms of penitence and sadness
give us minor strains wherewith to humble ourselves before
the Lord ; while in the sweet simplicity of such pastoral
hymns as "The Lord is my shepherd" we have a beauty
that never grows dim, a tenderness that never fails to touch
the heart, and a music that never palls upon the ear. Truly,
therefore, is he styled "the sweet psalmist of Israel."
The next verse sets before us his divine inspiration : " The
Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my
tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake
to me." All his songs, as gathered together in the book
with which his name is associated, were divinely inspired ;
but here, as it seems to me, the reference is specially to the
oracle which he is about to utter, and to which he wishes
that particular importance should be attached. This was to
be his dying prophecy, like that given by Jacob to his sons,
or those given by Moses and Joshua to the tribes ; and he
desired that special attention should be given to it as being
not his only, but the utterance of the Divine Spirit through
him. How the Spirit spake by him we are not informed ;
but the assertion of the union of the divine and human in
the utterances of the prophet is clearly and emphatically
made. David spoke, and the human style had all the char
acteristics of his usual productions ; for the Spirit used not
the vocal organs of the prophet alone, but his intellectual
and emotional powers as well. But God spoke by David,
and that which he uttered was the truth, infallible as he who
gave it. The style was natural and human, the thought was
supernatural and divine ; and no part of it would fall away
without fulfillment. Indeed, to make this more striking and

Last Words. 425
impressive, Jehovah is here styled " the Rock of Israel ;" for
as a rock is immovable in mid-ocean, so God is unchange
able and incorruptible ; and the word which he speaks
through his servant partakes of his own character, and is a
part of that Scripture "which can not be broken."
The oracle thus introduced speaks first of the character
of a ruler, whom we easily identify as the Messiah. It is,
indeed, the description of an ideal ruler, but the real in
whom it is fulfilled is Christ : " He that ruleth over men,
just ruling in the fear of God." I have read the clause
without the italic supplement in our version, for I take it to
be not an affirmation of what a ruler ought to be, but a de
lineation of the sort of ruler the Messiah should be. It is
thus parallel to the prediction- in the 72d Psalm. "He
shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with
judgment;" and to that of Isaiah : " There shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out
of his roots. With righteousness shall he judge the poor,
and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth : and he
shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." Thus the ef
fect of his administration should be different on different
individuals. The meek, the righteous, the poor would be
blessed ; but the unrighteous, the disobedient, the proud
would be destroyed. The righteous would be blessed. This
is what is affirmed in the fourth verse. The sense of the
words, indeed, both in the Hebrew and in the English, is ob
scure by reason both of the brevity of the expression and
the figurative character of, the language which is employed ;
but a slight alteration of the rendering brings out a beautiful
and appropriate meaning.
Kennicott found in an old MS. the word Jehovah, and
he gives the following version of the passage : "And as the
morning light, shall Jehovah the sun arise, even an uncloud-

426 David, King of Israel.
ed morning, and the verdure shall spring out of the earth by
the warm, bright splendor, after rain." Now, if this be adopt
ed as the correct rendering, it gives not only an exquisite de
scription of the blessings flowing from the reign of Messiah
to his friends — light symbolizing truth and gladness, and the
fresh springing of the grass after the shower representing
the growth of holiness and peace, which is always consequent
upon the reception of the Gospel — but it also furnishes a
striking parallel to other prophetic announcements concern
ing the Son of David. Thus, in Hosea vi., 3, we read, " His
going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto
us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."
And in Malachi iv., 2, it is said, " The Sun of righteousness
shall arise with healing in his wings." So again, in the 72d
Psalm, the date of which, as we have seen, was near to the
time at which the oracle before us was given, we read, " He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass : as showers
that water the earth." The full force of such a figure, how
ever, can be realized only when we take into account the
physical phenomena of the land of Palestine, in which, as
Jameson has said ,* "Little patches of grass are seen rapid
ly springing up after rain ; and even where the ground has
been long parched and bare, within a few days or hours after
the enriching showers begin to fall, the face of the earth is
so renewed that it is covered over with a pure fresh mantle
of green." Now, could any thing more appropriately illus
trate the effects which are everywhere produced when the
Gospel has been received and obeyed ? Great joy fills the
hearts of those who, owning Jesus as their Lord, receive for
giveness at his hands, and forthwith they begin to grow in
all that is beautiful, and good, and godlike, so that (to bor-
* " Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and
New Testaments," by Jameson, Fausset, and Brown, vol. ii., p. 282.

Last Words. 427
row again from the 72d Psalm) the handful of corn sown
even upon the barren mountain top springs up, and its fruit
shakes like Lebanon, while " they of the city flourish like
grass of the earth." Therefore, they are the greatest bene
factors ofthe race who labor in the missionary enterprise ; and
the world shall reach its highest excellence when all the na
tions of men shall own the sceptre of the Prince of Peace.
But while the results of Messiah's administration are thus
beneficent to those who willingly submit themselves to him,
they are fraught with evil to those who refuse to own his
sway ; for thus are his enemies spoken of in this prediction
(verses 6 and 7), " But the sons of Belial shall be all of them
as thorns thrust away, because they can not be taken with
hands : but the man that shall touch them must be fenced
with iron and the staff of a spear ; and they shall be utterly
burned with fire in the same place." These words, at first
sight, seem obscure ; but when you read them properly, they
become perfectly clear. Thus, let the last clause of the sixth
verse and the first of the seventh be thrown into a paren
thesis, and let the first part of the sixth verse be connected
with the last of the seventh, and we have this result: "But
the sons of Belial, all of them, are as thorns to be thrust out,
and to be utterly burned with fire in the place ; for they can
not be taken by the hand, and the man who shall touch them
must be armed with an axe, and with the shaft of a spear."
The enemies of Christ are thus compared to the strong,
prickly thorns peculiar to Palestine, whose stalks twine to
gether, and whose spines, pointing in every direction, are so
troublesome that they can not be touched by the hand without
danger, but must be cut down and removed by long-handed
instruments of iron. We have here, therefore, a description
parallel to that given by the author of the Epistle to the He
brews (chap, vi., 7, 8) : " The earth which drinketh in the
rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet

428 David, King of Israel.
for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God :
but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is
nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned ;" and both
alike bring before"us the solemn fact, that while the recep
tion of the Gospel is the means of blessing to those who
believe and obey it, its rejection entails the greatest calami
ties on those who put it from them. Christ has a baptism
of the Holy Ghost for his people, but a baptism of fire for his
enemies. The wheat he shall gather into his barn, but the
chaff he shall burn with fire unquenchable. They who wel
come the Messiah with open arms, and receive him into their
hearts, have every thing to hope for from his royal admin
istration ; but they who defiantly reject him, and refuse to
submit themselves to him, are courting their eternal de
struction. Midway between these figurative descriptions ofthe bless
edness of those who receive the Gospel, and the destruction
of those who reject it, we have a touching verse, making ref
erence to David's personal feelings in the case: "Although
my house be not so with God ; yet he hath made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure : for this
is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it
not to grow." The common interpretation of these words
is, that David is alluding to the sad events in his own per
sonal and domestic history, and declaring that, in spite of
these, he trusted in God's well-ordered and everlasting cov
enant. That was all his salvation and desire, though in
himself and in his sons it had not been made to grow.
Now it is always painful to disturb an old and, it may be,
hallowed explanation of such a passage as this ; but the ob
jections to this understanding of David's words are so seri
ous, that I fear we must conclusively give it up ; for not only
does it require us to give to one Hebrew word, which occurs
four times in the verse, four different meanings, but it takes

Last Words.

429

the term house in its limited sense of family circle ; whereas
here, as in all the Messianic prophecies connected with Da
vid, it means dynasty or regal lineage. The best expositors,
therefore, propose to read it thus, or somehow after this fash
ion : " For is not my house so with God ? for he hath made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and
sure ; for this is all my salvation and all my desire ; for will
he not make it [that is, my house] to grow ?" Observe, Da
vid has been describing the character of a ruler ; and redu
plicating on that description, he in effect says, " Is it not to
be the distinctive feature of my lineage that it shall rule in
justice, and in the fear of the Lord ?" a feature which came
out not only in Solomon, but also in Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hez
ekiah, Josiah, and others, and especially and pre-eminently
in Jesus Christ, in whom this prophecy culminated, and by
whom it was thoroughly fulfilled. Nay, was it not assured
to David by God's everlasting covenant that this should be
the character of his house, and peculiarly of Him who was
its greatest and most illustrious member ? In this, therefore,
he would rest. This was his salvation, this was his desire ;
for beyond all doubt God would make it to grow. Thus, as
the aged prophet sings his death-song he sees Messiah's glo
ry afar off, and is glad. He rests in the promise of the com
ing ruler. He looks forward in death to the same Saviour-
King to whom now we look backward ; and so, stretching
through long centuries on either side, our hands meet and
touch his, as together we take hold of the same benign Re
deemer. Nor is this a mere fanciful interpretation, resting
upon no foundation ; for what says Peter in reference to the
16th Psalm? "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that
God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his
loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit
on his throne ; David, seeing this before, spake of the resur
rection of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, neither

43° David, King of Israel.
his flesh did see corruption."* David, then, Peter being wit
ness, had a glimpse of Messiah's coming, and on that com
ing he rested all his hope. It was his salvation and desire.
For years he had lived on the prophecy and promise which
God gave to him by the mouth of Nathan ; and now, as he
lay dying, he pillowed his head upon God's covenant that
the great righteous Ruler would be sure to come. This was
his hope in death ; for now we take our leave of him whose
checkered history we have followed with such growing in
terest during these by-gone months. " David slept with his
fathers." Slept ; for thus early was the good man's death
accounted a sleep, not only as bringing rest after " life's fit
ful fever," but also as predicting an awakening at the resur
rection-day. "He was buried in the city of David," and
doubtless, as in the case of Samuel, all Israel would mourn
beside, his grave, which in after-years became the centre of
the catacombs wherein were contained the sepulchres of the
kings of Judah. Even so late as the Day of Pentecost Da
vid's sepulchre was distinguishable, but now it is unknown.
Yet it matters not where his tomb is ; here is his monument
in the history which we have been studying, and in the lega
cy of sacred song which he has left to the Church of every
age, and yonder, on high, is his record. Adieu ! thou sweet
Psalmist ; thou royal prophet ; thou tempted, tried, stricken,
erring, yet in the main, true-hearted man of God ; we shall
know thee better when we meet above, now that we have
traced thy history so minutely here. Now is thy wish grati
fied, now is thy prayer answered, for now beholdest thou " the
beauty of the Lord," and inquirest " in his Temple." May
God make us meet to be there eternally thy fellow -wor
shipers !
I have time only for two practical reflections, which I
*Acts ii.,30, 31.

Last Words. 431
can do little more than name. We must have felt, all through
our study of this great man's life, how honest the biographies
of the Bible are. Here is no hiding of imperfections, no
cloaking of sins, no palliating or excusing of iniquity. Da
vid is spoken of as he was ; and we see him to have been a
man of like passions with ourselves, very far from being
perfect, sorely marked, indeed, by sin, yet in the main a man
of God. Though often falling into errors, he never made
his rest in sin ; frequently overtaken in a fault, yet not de
lighting in iniquity, he proved that the polarity of his soul
was heavenward. Who so bitterly bewailed his sins as he
did himself? Who so broken-hearted for his iniquities as he
was himself? If his sins were exceptional, so was his repent
ance ; and He on whom he rested would not cast him out.
The voyage of his life had been long and perilous, and at
one time such a storm overtook. him that he had well-nigh
gone down ; but after many turnings and tackings, he bore
up anew and steered right onward ; and now he enters the
harbor — not, indeed, with all sails set, and banners flying,
and the firing of salutes, and the sound of merry music, but
battered and weather-beaten ; the canvas torn and the masts
broken, and with every evidence of having passed through a
fearful gale. Yet he enters the harbor, and that is a great
thing ; let the Judge of all determine the measure of his
blame. To be blamed he certainly was; and as we see in
all this that he was a man like ourselves, let us remember
that there is another life recorded here in which there is no
flaw. Now if we accept the honesty of the sacred biogra
pher in telling us of David's sins, shall we not accept it also
when he tells us of the sinlessness of Jesus ? and shall we
not see in that the evidence that he was more than man?
From all our imperfections, let us flee to his perfection ;
from all our iniquities, let us turn to his spotlessness ; and
let us be thankful that, amidst our agony in the struggle with

43 2 David, King of Israel.
self and sin, there is One to whom we can cling who " was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin," and who
is a human brother indeed, but also and especially a Divine
Helper. The more closely we keep to him, the more se
curely shall we be kept from falling into sin. It is much to
get safely to the land at last, even though it should be " on
boards, or on broken pieces of the ship." But if we give all
diligence to follow him, and determine in all circumstances
to adhere to his commands, we shall have " an entrance min
istered to us abundantly " into his everlasting kingdom. It
is better to be " saved, yet so as by fire," than not to be saved
at ail. But oh, how much better still it is to be saved in full
ness. Be it ours, therefore, to aim after the abundant en
trance and the glad "Well done !"
Finally: we may see here the believer's hope in death.
David dies not in despair. He has a firm hold of God's
covenant. He knows God will bring the Redeemer at the
appointed time, and in the administration of the Messiah-
King he has his simple trust. Thus his experience in look
ing forward to Christ's day was singularly parallel to that
of Paul looking backward to Christ's work, and upward to
Christ's throne, and saying, " I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed to him against that day." Christ, as the great
deliverer of God's covenant and promise, was thus the com
forter alike of David and of Paul. Death was easy to both,
for they trusted in him, and death will become gain to us
also, when we live in him. " It shall come to pass that
at evening time it shall be light." Thus it was with Isra
el's king, and thus it shall be also with us, if all our salva
tion be in and all our desire be for him who is the righteous
ruler and the atoning priest of his believing people. Years
ago I used to travel on foot in the winter mornings for five
miles, to teach in a country school. I had to set out from

Last Words. 433
home in the dark, and I amused myself with marking the
brightest stars, and seeing how one by one they faded into
day. There was one that held out always longest — the bright
and beautiful planet Venus — and I can remember yet how
I used to watch and watch, sure that I would see it in the
very act of disappearing. But I was .always disappointed.
Something would attract my attention elsewhere for a mo
ment, and when I looked again it was gone. So the good
man at death goes out of human view.
" He sets as sets the morning-star,
Which goes not down behind the darkened west,
Nor hides obscured amid the tempests of the sky,
But melts away into the light of heaven."
May God grant to us such a glorious and peaceful exodus !
Amen. 19

INDEX.

Abiathar joins David in the cave of Adullam, 103 ; is made priest at
Jerusalem, 254 ; joins in the revolt of Adonijah, 400.
Abigail, character of, 157, 159, 160 ; meets David, 160 ; marriage of, to
David, 161.
Abner makes Ishbosheth king, 191 ; slays Asahel, 196 ; quarrels with Ish
bosheth, 196 ; negotiates with David, 197 ; is slain by Joab, 197.
Absalom, beauty of, 299, 317; causes the death of Amnon, and flees to
Geshur, 301 ; is recalled through Joab's instrumentality, 302 ; is rec
onciled to his father, 303, 318 ; rebels against David, 304 ; is slain by
Joab, 328 ; lamented by David, 331.
Achish, king of Gath, receives David, 100, 174.
Administration of David : military, 246 ; civil, 249 ; ecclesiastical, 253.
Adonijah, revolt against David, 399-403.
Adullam, cave of, described, 102 ; David's companions in, 103.
Adversity to be expected at an early stage of spiritual life, 72.
Ahimaaz sent by Hushai to David, 325 ; brings to David the news of Ab
salom's death, 331.
Ahithophel, adhesion of, to Absalom, accounted for, 308 ; advice of, to
Absalom, 309, 311, 320, 322 ; commits suicide, 323 ; lessons from his
conduct, 352.
Alexander, Rev. W. L., L.L.D., quoted from, 18.
Amasa, appointed to lead David's troops, 348 ; slain by Joab, 348.
Amnon, sin of, 299 ; terribly revenged by Absalom, 301.
Anger, evil of, exposed, 165.
Anointing of David, at Bethlehem, 19 ; at Hebron, 193 ; influence of, on
David, 20.
Apocryphal Psalm on the' battle of Elah, 52.
Appropriating faith, 383.
Ark of the covenant at Kirjath-jearim, 215 ; touched by Uzzah, 216 ; car
ried into the house of Obed-edom, 217 ; taken up to Jerusalem, 218-
225.
Barzillai the Gileadite joins David at Mahanaim, 327 ; declines the
royal invitation to go to Jerusalem, 343, 354 ; his sons commended to
Solomon by David, 417.
Bath-sheba, her relation to Ahithophel an explanation of his rebellion,
276 ; appeals to David for Solomon, 401.

436 Index.
Beauty, personal, right estimation of, 317.
Benevolence, relation of, to personal expenditure, 231.
Bereaved parents admonished and comforted, 289-298.
Bethlehem, situation of, 14; associations with, 14, 15 ; influence of, upon
David, 15 ; anointing of David at, 16.
Blaikie's " David, King of Israel," quoted from or referred to, 33, 34, 245,
250, 253, 266, 366.
Blood-revenge, right of, 367.
Blunt's " Scriptural Coincidences " referred to, 309, 400.
Book of Jasher, 185.
"Bow," Song ofthe, 185.
Browning, Robert, lines of, on the power of music, 28.
Carlyle, Thomas, on David's faults, 274; quotation by, from Richter,
315-
Carmel, village of, 156.
Chandler's "Life of David" referred to, 272, 385.
Character, deterioration of, illustrated from the case of Saul, 188.
Cherubim, symbolic meaning of, 226.
Children, overindulgence of, exposed, 315.
Chimham's place at the royal table, 343.
Christ at the door ofthe heart, 224.
Commerce stimulated by David, 252.
Communion with God a solace in trial, 357.
Congregational psalmody, importance of, 257.
Consequences of sin can not be arrested, 107.
Convict, letter of a, in illustration ofthe power of prayer, 127.
Coronation of David at Hebron, 199.
Cush, the slanderer, described, 143.
Cowper, Bishop, on the 119th Psalm, 85.
Cowper, William, on Friendship, 65 ; hymn of, 131.
David, personal appearance of, 19 ; anointing of, by Samuel, 19 ; at He
bron, 191 ; sent for to the court of Saul, 29 ; personal courage of, 31 ;
playing before Saul, 33 ; Psalms of, their peculiar power, 34, 123, 136,
379 ; return of, to Bethlehem, 41 ; sent to the camp at Elah, 44 ; ac
cepts the challenge of Goliath, 47 ; interviews of, with Jonathan, 58,
94, 96, 124 ; friendship of, with Jonathan, 58-63 ; marriage of, to Mi
chal, 69 ; to Abigail, 161 ; to Maachah, 195 ; escape of, from Gibeah,
77; at Ramah, 84; at Nob, 97; at Gath, 99, 174; in the cave of
Adullam, 102 ; provides an asylum for his parents, 105 ; in the wil
derness of Hareth, 116; at Keileh, 1 19-122; at Ziph, 123; at En
gedi, 133; spares Saul magnanimously, 137, 140; contrasted with
Rebekah, 146 ; applies to Nabal for supplies, and is refused, 158 ; at
Ziklag, 174, 177 ; hears of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and sings
the " Song of the Bow," 184-188 ; contrasted with Saul, 188-201 ; is

Index. 437
crowned at Hebron, 199 ; chooses Jerusalem for his capital, 202-204 >
builds for himself a cedar palace, 210 ; defeats the Philistines twice
at Rephaim, 212, 213 ; brings up the ark to Jerusalem, 216 ; returns
to bless his house, 228 ; desires to build a temple, but is prevented
by Nathan, 230 ; deals kindly with Mephibosheth, 241 ; administra
tion of, 244-263 5 victories of, 259 ; great transgression of, 264 ; peni
tence of, 270-275; bereavement of, 284; resignation of, 287 ; flees
from Jerusalem before Absalom, 309 ; at Mahanaim, 326 ; laments
over the death of Absalom, 331 ; returns to Jerusalem, 341 ; is unjust
to Mephibosheth, 346 ; suppresses the revolt of Sheba, 348 ; gives up
seven of Saul's family to the Gibeonites, 368 ; numbers the people,
371 ; buys the threshing-floor of Araunah, 373 ; gives orders for the
proclamation of Solomon, 403 ; gives a last charge to Solomon, 415 ;
last words of, 422-430 ; death of, 430.
Deception, sin of, exposed, 87-89.
Despair, the forerunner of aggravated sin, 106, 172-174.
Divine holiness, majesty of the, 225.
Divine protection given in many ways to the good man, 86, 382.
Doeg the Edomite a witness of David's deception at Nob, 98 ; accuses
David and Ahimelech to Saul, 104 ; slays the priests at Nob, 105.
Domestic comfort of the people promoted by David, 252.
Doxology sung by cotton operatives at Staleybridge, 396.
Ecclesiastical arrangements made by David, 256.
Education fostered by David, 250.
Edwards's " Personal Narrative of the Indian Mutiny " referred to, 136.
Elah, valley of, described, 43 ; battle of, 48 ; lessons from, 53-57.
Eliab rejected by the Lord as king, 17 ; rudeness of, to David, 46.
Elisha, effect of music on, 28.
Endor, situation of, 180 ; witch of, visited by Saul, 180 ; questions regard
ing her agency in Samuel's appearance, 181-183.
En-gedi, strongholds of, described, 133.
Esdraelon, vale of, with its branches, described, 178.
Evil spirit from the Lord troubling Saui, 25 ; soothed by David's music,
33 ; but only for a time, 39 ; Christ the true exorciser of, 40.
Ewald's description of the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, 134 ; his view
concerning David's " worthies," 247.
Expiation for sin, necessity of, 376.
Ezel, stone of, 94, 96.
Fairbairn's "Imperial Bible Dictionary" quoted from, 42.
Faith, lesson of, from David's conflict with Goliath, 55 ; produces humil
ity, gratitude, and prayer, 239 ; loss of, is the source of greater sin,
106, 172-174.
Family worship enforced, 228.
Famine, visitation of the land by, 360.

438 Index.
Faraday, Michael, an example of the profitable employment of leisure
time, 38.
Farinelli's music, power of, over Philip V., 28.
Free agency of man not interfered with by the purposes of God, 35, 331-
Friends, choice of, 63-65.
Froude's "History of England" referred to, 89, 251.
 Lectures referred to, 109.
Gad joins David in the cave of Adullam, 103.
Gath, departure of David to, 99.
Gerhardt, Paul, hymns of, 131, 288.
Gibeonites : their history, 364 ; slain by Saul, 366 ; Saul's seven descend
ants given to, 368.
Gilboa, battle of, 184.
" Gloaming of Life," by Wallace, referred to, 335.
God's eternity a source of comfort to the saint, 394.
 faithfulness tested by David's life, 390 ; trust in, enforced, 397.
 gentleness, power of, 391.
 long-suffering with sinners, 90.
 moral government, carried on in harmony with natural law, 360 ;
retributive in its character, 386.
 protection of his people, 86, 382.
¦ reception of a sinner contrasted with David's reception of Absa

lom, 317.
Goliath of Gath, height of, 45 ; armor of, 45 ; challenge, the army of Is
rael, 46 ; encountered and slain, by David, 47 ; sword of, given to Da
vid by Ahimelech, 97.
Guthrie, Rev. John, " Sacred Lyrics," quoted from, 221.
Guthrie, Rev. Dr. Thomas, quoted from, 290.
Hachilah, David at, 140.
Happiness, how to obtain, 71 ; compared to sleep, 71, 72.
Hebron, 192.
Holiness of God, majesty of the, 225.
Homer's heroes referred to as illustrating points in the narrative, 48, 59.
Honesty of Scriptural biographies, 277, 341.
Honors in Christ's kingdom, how distributed, 262.
Hume, Sir Patrick, sustained by David's Psalms, 136.
Humility, lesson of, from David's bearing at Elah, 57.
Hushai sent to Jerusalem to defeat Ahithophel, 311.
"I have sinned !" how differently uttered by different men, 150.
Indiscriminate indulgence of children reproved, 399.
Infant salvation, arguments in support of, 292-294; consolation from,
294 ; appeals from, 297.
 suffering and death, 284, 285, 289 ; solace under, 291.

Index. 439
Imprecatory Psalms, 351.
Ishbosheth made king by Abner, 191; war between David and, 196;
quarrels with Abner, 197 ; is slain by his servants, 199.
Jabesh-gilead, relieved by Saul, 10 ; men of, take the bodies of Saul
and his sons from the battle-field, 187; David sends a message of
thanks to, 194.
Jacox, Francis, " Scripture Texts Illustrated," quotation from, 28.
Jasher, book of, 185.
Jesse, lineage of, 17; children of, 18; character of, 18; sends David to
Elah with supplies, 45 ; sent to Moab by David for safety, 105.
Joab commands David's army against Abner, 195 ; treacherously slays
Abner, 197 ; contrives to procure Absalom's recall to Jerusalem, 302 ;
slays Absalom, 329 ; upbraids David for immoderate grief over Ab
salom, 339 ; slays Amasa, 348 ; suppresses the revolt of Sheba, 349 ;
David charges Solomon concerning, 417.
Jonathan, first victory of, 43 ; interview of, with David after the battle of
Elah, 58, 59 ; friendship with David, 59-63 ; intercession of, with Saul
for David, 75, 76 ; interview with David at the stone Ezel, 94 ; in the
wood of Ziph, 124; death of, at Gilboa, 184; David's lament over,
185.
Jonathan and Ahimaaz sent by Hushai to David, 325.
Judah, wilderness of, 116.
Judges appointed by David, 249.
" Keil on 1 Samuel," quoted from or referred to, 45, 51, 204, 233, 234
Keilah, rescue of, by David, 120 ; perfidy ofthe citizens of, 121.
Kingdom of David : its similarity and dissimilarity to that of Christ, 208,
209, 262.
Kingsley, Charles, quotation from, 397.
Kitto's " Cyclopaedia," quoted from or referred to, 44, 255.
 "Daily Bible Illustrations," quoted from or referred to, 51,97,
223, 234, 236, 277, 366.
Knighthood, order of, instituted by David, 247.
Leisure hours, importance of, 36 ; reasons for the improvement of, 36-38.
Letter of a convict, illustrating the mode in which God answers prayer,
127.
Levites the offerers ofthe service of song, 218; divided into courses for
the musical service, 257.
Liberality of the people for the building of the Temple, 405.
Little things more dangerous to a believer's life than great ones, 165.
Logan's " Words of Comfort for Parents bereaved of Little Children,"
referred to, 298.
Long-suffering of God with sinners, 89.
Luther's version ofthe 46th Psalm, 130.

440 Index.
Machir of Lo-debar joins David, 327.
M'Leod, Dr. Norman, lines from, 74.
Madness feigned by David at Gath, 100.
Mahanaim, arrival of David at, 326 ; battle of, 328.
Marriage, Christian law of, 166.
Meekness, lesson of, from the bearing of David to Eliab, 55 ; from the
conduct of Mephibosheth, 356.
Mephibosheth, kindly treated by David, 241 ; grief of, at David's depart
ure from Jerusalem, 343 ; perfidy of Ziba to, 312, 344 ; faithfulness of,
to David, and its poor requital, 344-346.
Michal, marriage of, to David, 69 ; device of, to save David's life, 77 ;
images of, 78-80 ; deceit of, 87-89 ; punishment of, by David, 224-225.
Miller, Hugh, an instance ofthe profitable employment of leisure time, 38.
Military organization formed by David, 246.
Milton, " Paradise Lost " of, 130 ; referred to, 223.
Montgomery, James, lines from, 33.
Music, congregational, how to foster, 257 ; medicinal effects of, 27-29.
Musical arrangements made by David, 256.
Nabal, character of, 156 ; rudeness of, to David, 158 ; death of, 161 ; con
trasted with Samuel, 162.
Nathan, message of, to David in reference to the Temple, 233 ; visit of, to
David after his great transgression, 271 ; parable ofthe ewe lamb, 271 ;
agency of, in the defeat of Adonijah, 401.
National prosperity intimately connected with the religious character of
the people, 260, 413.
National sins punished by national suffering, 365.
Nee Sima, Rev. Joseph, incidents in his early history, illustrative of the
power of prayer, 128.
Newton, Isaac, quoted from, 127.
Nob, David at, 97 ; massacre of the priests at, 105.
Opportunity, importance of embracing, 89, 189.
Paran, wilderness of, 153.
Parents, bereaved, comforted and counseled, 292, 297.
 , care for, enforced on their children, no.
 , lessons to, from Absalom's rebellion, 316, 333 ; from Adonijah's
revolt, 399.
Pestilence, visitation of, 371.
Philip V. soothed by Farinelli's music, 28.
Philistines, description of, 42 ; at Elah, 42 ; complain of Achish for his
kindness to David, 100, 176 ; encamp at the well of Harod, 178 ; vic
tory of, over Saul, 184; defeated by David at Rephaim, 212.
Plumer's " Studies in the Book of Psalms " quoted from, 85.
Plumtre, Professor, "Biblical Studies of," referred to, 309, 311.

Index. 441
Polygamy, evils of, 167, 195, 266,315.
Popular favor, fickleness of, 321.
Prayer vindicated from modern objections, 126 ; illustrations of answers
to, 127, 128 ; answers to, consistent with the uniformity ofthe laws of
nature, 127.
Priests, arrangement of, into courses, 255.
Prophecy of Nathan, interpretation of, 233-237.
Psalm, apocryphal, after the battle of Elah, referred to, 52.
Psalms, passages in, probably referring to Elah, 52.
Psalms, probable origin or occasion of: Psalm iii., 314 ; iv., 314 ; v., 350 ;
vii., 142-145; xii., 155; xv., 219; xviii., 379; xxiv., 223; xxx., 210;
xxxi., 122 ; xxxii., 272 ; xxxiv., 101 ; xii., 350 ; xiii., 353 ; xliii., 353 ; li.,
272,283; liv., 125 ; lv.,350; lvi., 101; lvii., 135 ; lix., 81 ; lxiii., 117;
lxviii.,220; lxix.,307,350; lxxii.,407; lxxxiv.,353; ci., 193; ex., 253;
cxix.,84; cxxxii.,219; exxxiii., 201 ; cxlii., 134; cxliii.,350; cxliv.,353.
 , imprecatory, referred to, 351.
Pythagoras, use of music by, 27.
Rahab compared with Michal, 88.
Ramah, David at, 82.
Rebekah contrasted with David, 146.
Rebellion, Absalom's, accounted for, 304 ; early success of explained, 305 ;
inauguration of, 308 ; adhesion of Ahithophel to, 308 ; suppression of, 329.
Recognition of God's hand in all things by David, 389.
Religion, connection between, and national prosperity, 260, 413.
Repentance, true, distinguished from false, 150-153.
Revolt of Sheba, 348.
 of Adonijah, 399.
Richter, quotation from, by Carlyle, 315.
Rist, hymns of, 131.
Rizpah's devotion to her son, 369.
Rock of divisions, or escapes, 125.
Sacrifice, to be sincere, must cost something, 377.
Samuel, character of, 9, 153 ; commanded to anoint David, 14; visited by
David at Ramah, 82-84; death and burial of, 154; contrasted with
Nabal, 162-164; appearance of, to Saul at Endor, 180-183.
Saul, chosen king by lot, "9 ; character of, 10, 12 ; mistakes of, 10-12 ; les
sons from, 21, 187, 190 ; troubled by an evil spirit, 24 ; soothed by Da
vid's harp, 28 ; interview with David after the battle of Elah, 51 ; jeal
ousy of David, 66 ; attempts to kill David, 67, 76 ; " among the proph
ets," 87, 91 ; murders the priests at Nob, 105 ; besieges David, 120,
124; spared by David in the cave, 137, 140; vacillation of feeling in
reference to David accounted for, 142 ; repentance only partial, 150 ;
visit to Endor, 180 ; appearance of Samuel to, and questions as to
that incident, 181-183. 19*

442 Index.
Saunders's "Evenings with the Sacred Poets" referred to, 130.
Schools of the prophets described, 82, 83.
Scott, Sir Walter, reference to, 89 ; quotation from, 99.
Scriptural biographies, honesty of, 277, 431.
Selfism, evil of, illustrated from the case of Saul, 69 ; from that of the
men of Keilah, 121.
Sheba, revolt of, 348.
Shew-bread given to David by Ahimelech, 97.
Shimei curses David, 313; humbles himself before David, 342; is de
nounced by David to Solomon, 418.
Shobi, of Rabbah, joins David, 327.
Slander, sin of, 147 ; evil of listening to, 149 ; proper demeanor under,
149. 356.
Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible " quoted from or referred to, 42, 133,
218,345.
Solomon, referred to in Nathan's prophecy, 235 ; wisdom of, an incident
al proof of the diffusion of education under David, 25 1 ; birth of, 299 ;
proclaimed king, 401 ; addressed by David, 404 ; receives from him
the plans ofthe Temple, and materials for its construction, 404
Song born out of trial, 130.
" Song of the Bow," 185.
Song, service of, in the Tabernacle, 218.
Songs in the night, 358.
Staleybridgc, incident at, 396.
Stanley, Dean, quoted from or referred to, 13, 52, 134, 136, 193, 245, 247,
373-
Spurgeon's " Treasury of David " quoted from, 387.
Tamar, beauty of, 299 ; dishonored by Amnon, 300.
Taylor, Isaac, quotation from, 361.
Temple the, David's desire to build, 230 ; Nathan's message regarding,
233 ; a type of the Christian Church, 242 ; lessons from, 408-414.
Tennyson, quotations from, 64, 168.
Teraphim, dissertation on, 78-80.
Thankfulness for God's mercies enforced, 395.
Thirty Years' War in Germany fruitful in noble hymns, 130.
Tholuck, Dr. A., on marriage, 169.
Thomson's "The Land and the Book" quoted from or referred to, 51,
102, 133.
Transgression, the great, of David, 264 ; its precursors, 265 ; its aggrava
tions, 267 ; accounted for, 268 ; David's penitence for, 270 ; the con
sequences of, 275 ; lessons from, 277.
Trench, Archbishop, quoted from, 26, 136, 183, 187, 188.
Trial, fruitfulness of, 130 ; tendency of David's soul under, 144 ; solace in,
357-
" Trust in God, and do the right !" 73, 74.

Index. 443
Urim and Thummim, presence of, in the cave of Adullam, 112 ; place of,
in the education of God's people, 114; answers of, contrasted with
those of heathen oracles, 214
Uzzah, death of, 216.
Vainglory, national, rebuked, 375.
Voltaire, effect ofthe 51st Psalm upon, 273.
Whittier, J. G, hymn of, 131.
Witch of Endor, Saul's visit to, 180; questions concerning, 181-183.
Wordsworth quoted from, n8.
" Worthies" of David, 247 ; deeds of, 248.
Wright, Josiah, M.A., quotations from, 191, 375.
Young men exhorted on the improvement of leisure time, 36 ; on leav
ing home, 39 ; on the choice of friends, 63 ; on making provision for
their parents, 1 10 ; as to the attainment of success, 146, 206 ; on mar
riage, 166 ; from the history and death of Absalom, 336.
Young's " Night Thoughts " referred to, 223.
Youth not the only dangerous time of life, 278.
Zadok, priest at Shiloh, 216; assists in suppressing the revolt of Adoni
jah, 401.
Zibar, perfidy of to Mephibosheth, 312-314 ; reason for David's treat
ment of, 347.
Ziklag received by David from Achish, 174; burned by the Amalekites,
177.
Zion, fortress of, taken from the Jebusites, 204.
Ziph, 123 ; David's interview with Jonathan in the wood of, 124; treach
ery of the men of, 124

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