1. AND it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of 2 the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag; it came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. 3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the 4 camp of Israel am I escaped. And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also 5 are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. And David said unto the 6 young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul 7 leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. 8, 9 And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. And he said unto me, Stand, I pray thee, beside me, and slay me, for anguish hath taken hold of me; 10 because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood beside him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, 11 and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: 12 and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. 13 And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I 14 am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid 15 to put forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed? And David called one of the young 16 men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed. 17, 18 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: and he bade them teach the children of Judah the song of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jashar. 19. Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen! 20. Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 21. Ye mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of offerings: For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul [as of one], not anointed with oil. 22. 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. 23. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. 24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet delicately, Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. 25. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places. 26. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: Very pleasant hast thou been unto me: Thy love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women. 27. How are the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished! The Second Book of Samuel continues and almost concludes the life of David. He is the central figure throughout. Round him are grouped many remarkable men, but no one of those times makes such an impression on us as David himself, through the force of his character, the versatility of his mind, and the variety of incidents and experience through which he passed. The narrative is worthy of its place in the canon of Scripture, not only for its biography of this great king, but also for its intimations of Messiah to come, its practical teachings concerning the way of patience and faith, and its piercing exposure of the lustings of the flesh, which war against the soul. There are fascinating passages in the book, and splendid bursts of poetry, but there are pages that we read with pain and shame, for the ways of David in prosperity were not close with God as in the earlier days when he bore the yoke in his youth. D. F. It was at Ziklag, in the land of the Philistines, that David heard of the issue of the battle on Mount Gilboa. He received the tidings of a disaster which involved the ruin of his enemy, if it also inflicted a terrible blow on his country, in no unworthy spirit. That David's mourning for Saul, no less than for Jonathan, was heartfelt, cannot be doubted. He had no purpose to serve in paying insincere honors to the memory of a king who had already lost his hold on the affections of his former subjects. And every word of the magnificent elegy which he composed on the occasion bears testimony to the depth of the emotions by which it was inspired. W. Lee.—It must have been a very wonderful heart that could so soon rid itself of every shred of bitter feeling to Saul—that could blot out, in one great act of forgiveness, the remembrance of many long years of injustice, oppression, and toil, and leave no feelings but those of kindness, admiration, and regret, called forth by the contemplation of what was favorable in Saul's character! Does not this show forgiveness to be a Divine spirit? W. G. B. 2. On the third day. The exact position of Ziklag in the Negeb, or "South country," has not been determined. But if we may place it in the neighborhood of Beersheba, the distance from the battle-field of Gilboa was about ninety or one hundred miles as the crow flies, between two and three days' journey for an active runner, so that the battle probably took place about the same time as David's return home. 3-10. The Amalekite's story was clearly a fabrication. In wandering over the field of battle he had found the corpse of Saul and stripped it of its ornaments. With these he hastened to David, and invented his fictitious story in the hope of securing an additional reward for having with his own hand rid David of his bitterest enemy and removed the obstacle which stood between him and the throne. A. F. K. 16. This self-convicted, wretched Amalekite died for a crime which he had not committed; yet he well deserved to die for taking the guilt of it upon him. David rightly judged that Saul had no power over his own life, and consequently should not have been obeyed in such a command. Besides, it behooved David to vindicate his own innocence to the world by this public execution, since otherwise he might have been branded with the guilt of employing that wretch to murder his persecutor. Delaney. David's Elegy upon the Slain. Verses 17-27. The song of lamentation or elegy, composed by David upon occasion of the death of Saul and Jonathan has been admired in all ages for its touching pathos and exquisite beauty. "David lamented with this lamentation." He not only composed this elegy, but sung it; not only sung it himself, but gave command that it be taught to the sons and daughters of "Judah"—of Judah specially because they were of his own tribe; because then and for the ensuing seven years he was king of Judah only; and because his magnanimous soul discarded all tribal jealousies, and would have the men of Judah mourn for Saul no less than the men of Benjamin. "He bade them teach Judah" the bow-song—this very song in which "the bow of Jonathan" holds a sufficiently prominent position to supply a distinctive name for this song. The Hebrews were accustomed to designate their songs by some such catch-words, of which we have instances apparently in the Psalms. H. C. The elegy is not a Divine hymn, nor given to be used in Divine service; nor is there any mention of God in it; but it is a human composition, and therefore was inserted, not in the Book of Psalms, which, being of Divine original, is preserved; but in the Book of Jasher, which, being only a collection of common poems, is long since lost. H.—The elegy was included in the volume known as The Book of Jasher, or, the Upright. This book is mentioned only here and in Josh. 10 : 13. All that can be inferred from the references to it is that it contained a collection of ancient poems, commemorating remarkable events or great heroes of the national history; so that it formed a "book of Golden Deeds" for the instruction of posterity, a "national anthology" to which additions would be made from time to time as occasion offered. A. F. K. The poem opens with verse 19. "The beauty of Israel"—her warrior king and his noble sons—"are slain upon the high places of Israel" [Mount Gilboa]. The key-note of the song is in the refrain—"How are the mighty fallen!" repeated in verses 25, 27. "Tell it not in Gath"—for David had spent years in Gath, and knew but too well how its sons and daughters would catch up these tidings, and hasten to their idol temples with jubilant songs of triumph. He knew how the streets of Askelon would re-echo with rejoicings; and this thought was bitter to his soul. "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain fall on you," henceforth forever! Let there be no fields rich with products for sacrificial offerings. Let everlasting bright mar you former glory! It would be painfully incongruous to see those hill-tops smiling again in verdure and beauty after having been the theatre of scenes so mournful. To the sad heart of mourners it seems some relief to imprecate desolation on the localities which have become associated with the death of the loved and the brave. All this is touchingly true to nature. These imprecations were felt to be the more appropriate, because on those heights the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away as if of one who had never been anointed king of Israel. Yet let it not be hastily assumed that Saul and Jonathan were not brave and successful warriors. The bow of Jonathan never turned back from before the mighty; the sword of Saul never returned from battle without being laden with trophies of the slain. Moreover, Saul and Jonathan were not only valiant in war; "they were lovely and pleasant in their lives." Of Jonathan's amiable and noble spirit, David never could say too much. He had profound reason to appreciate him, and he was of a nature too appreciative, too noble and magnanimous, not to reciprocate such love. As to Saul, David cherished a profound regard for him as his anointed sovereign, and, no doubt, saw much (in some aspects of his character) that he could both esteem and love; but Saul's manifestations were strangely mixed; and David leaves us a little in doubt how much of this touching elegy of Saul and Jonathan was indebted to Jonathan rather than to Saul for its tenderness and pathos, and its unsurpassed appreciation of amiable qualities. In verse 24, Saul stands out in his distinctive personality as king of Israel. The daughters of the land might fitly bewail the death of their king, remembering how he had ministered to their adornment—the ruling passion in the oriental woman's heart being recognized here as in the song of Deborah (Ju. 5 : 30). But when the poet's thought turns to Jonathan (verses 25, 26), his tones tremble with most touching pathos:—"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been to me; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women." Thus the loving heart of David bewails what seemed to him the untimely death of his dearest friend. All his fond hopes that Jonathan might survive his father, and stand beside himself in the honors or the cares of Israel's throne, are dashed suddenly and forever. The joys of a friendship so deep, so self-sacrificing, so noble, and so pure, have passed away, to return no more! H. C. In some respects, Jonathan stands without a rival in all history, sacred or profane. Had we known him better, no doubt we might have found some faults in him, and said that it was true of him as of the best of fallen men, that the brightest sun is dimmed by spots. Yet there is no fault recorded of Jonathan; and conferring on him more honor than on any one else whose name stands in this sacred book, God has not left a stain to blot his memory. If there ever was friendship in this world, pure, unalloyed by any inferior metal, disinterested, free of envy, without an element of selfishness, incapable of harboring a suspicious thought, and capable of rejoicing in another's gain, even to his own loss, it had glowed in the bosom that now lay cold on Gilboa's mountains. Battle spear never pierced such a generous heart; nor had war ever such a graceful victim offered at her blood-stained shrine. Man never possessed a friend such as David lost in Jonathan; and none with a head and heart can read his tragic history without feeling that he was worthy of this extraordinary, but not extravagant, laudation: "Thy love to me was wonderful." Guthrie. This ode is a lamentation equally pathetic and heroic, the lamentation of a brave man over brave men. The bursts of sorrow in it are so strong and sudden; so short, various, and unconnected, that never perhaps was grief painted in more living and lasting colors. It affords a beautiful proof that David's heart was so softened and melted by grief as to lose every trace of Saul's cruelty to him. He remembered nothing in him now but the brave man, the valiant leader, the magnificent prince, the king of God's appointment, his own once indulgent master; the father of his Jonathan. Delaney.—In his circumstances, the utmost required of David would have been to preserve a decent and becoming silence about Saul, burying all recollections of him in the grave. But he was incapable of this; he was cast in a finer mould; he was made of nobler metal. His generous heart, forgiving and forgetting every wrong, warmed at the recollection of those early, happy days, when the king drew the shepherd boy from obscurity, received him into the bosom of his family, showered royal favors on his head; and when, harp in hand, he threw the chains of music over Saul's stormy passions, bidding the waves be still. David has buried Saul's faults in the grave, "earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes." But while he leaves the dross to lie undisturbed among the cold embers, he brings out the gold—the finer elements of Saul's character; and without, after the fashion of many lying tombstones, imputing to him virtues which he never possessed, he tells all the good of Saul he can, and crowns his memory with the honors due to a king, a dutiful son, a kind-hearted father, and a man as brave as ever faced a foe. Guthrie.—Peculiarly touching is the absence in this elegy of even the faintest allusion to David's painful relations to Saul in the past. All that is merely personal seems blotted out, or, rather, as if it had never existed in the heart of David. In this respect we ought to regard this ode as casting most valuable light on the real meaning and character of what are sometimes called the vindictive and imprecatory Psalms. Nor should we omit to notice what a German divine has so aptly pointed out: that, with the exception of the lament of Jabesh-gilead, the only real mourning for Saul was on the part of David, whom the king had so bitterly persecuted to the death. A. E. Its poetic beauty is the least merit of this exquisite ode. It is as an effusion of the heart, the spontaneous expression of a spirit the most noble, the most generous, the most forgiving, the most affectionate, that we value it the most. What profound sympathy for the fallen king, what remembrance of every virtue, what a veil drawn over every fault, and, above all, what a sinking out of sight of all bygone injuries, an utter wiping of them out of the memory, does this sublime elegy exhibit! We believe that David not only wrote here exactly as he thought and felt; that there had been so much in Saul in his intercourse with Jonathan of the pleasant and the lovely, as fully to sustain what was thus said of him, and to keep the people that sang this funeral dirge from thinking that they were chanting an untruth over the dead. The Scriptural narrative of the life and reign of Saul was intended to represent him in his character and conduct as the first anointed king of God's chosen people. It traces the false steps which in that character he took. It unfolds the fearful evils, both personal and national, that the taking of these steps produced. But it covers only a very small portion of the forty years of his lengthened reign. It gives us, after all, but a few glimpses of him as a man. We see especially but very little of his domestic life and habits—his intercourse with his children. We take David's testimony for it, that in these large intervals, uncovered by the Scripture story, in those quiet domestic scenes that brought him and his children together, there was a power in the love of Jonathan and the rest, that did all, perhaps more than all, that David's harp had done in earlier years—that under its spell, the cares of the kingdom for the time thrown off, the moody monarch forgot his melancholy, and—the evil spirit far away—became all as a father that he had promised to be when himself a son. Hanna. We have a wonderful variety in the Bible. Had the Bible (which is an inspired library rather than an inspired book) been put together by men, no matter how learned and holy, this variety would have been wanting. We should have had a more or less useful and edifying, but probably more rather than less insipid volume, suited at best to the needs of the generation in which its compilers lived, and probably of only a limited portion of that. Instead of this, we have, both in form and in matter, a many-sidedness and variety of which the world has never wearied, and in which every person can find something to delight his taste, and every soul something to satisfy its needs. Side by side with the stormy and blood-stained pictures of the Book of Judges we have had the bright oasis of the Book of Ruth; the vile conduct of the sons of Eli is narrated in the same chapter with the sweet innocence of the child Samuel; and as the reign of Saul darkens through his withdrawing more and more from God, and God at last withdrawing His Spirit from him, we have bright lights constantly breaking in from the life of the young son of Jesse. His guileless youth, the gloomy king's love for him, never quite quenched even in Saul's darkest days, the touching friendship with his persecutor's son, the exquisite lament over Saul and Jonathan, all these things are a relief and a refreshment in the midst of such scenes as Saul's bloodthirsty hunt after David, the massacre of the priests, the night visit to Endor, the suicide on Mount Gilboa. Plummer DAVID ANOINTED AT HEBRON AS KING OVER JUDAH. ISHBOSHETH MADE KING OVER ISRAEL BY ABNER. CONFLICT OF FORCES UNDER ABNER AND JOAB. 1. And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither 2 shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. So David went up thither, and his two wives also, 3 Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities 4 of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. 5 And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried 6 him. And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this 7 kindness, because ye have done this thing. Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant: for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them, 8 Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, 9 and brought him over to Mahanaim; and he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel, 10 (Ish-bosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned 11 two years.) But the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. - Verses 12-32. Conflict between Abner and Joab at Gibeon. Abner is beaten, but is suffered to retire by Joab. The First Book of Samuel brings the history of David's life down to the close of that period of preparatory discipline by which he was divinely educated for his high destiny. The quiet life in the home at Bethlehem, the novel duties and temptations of Saul's court, the manifold hardships and perils of exile, had done their work, and moulded the lines of that many-sided character with an ineffaceable impress. As shepherd he had acquired the spirit of calm thought and deep reflection; as courtier he had been trained in prudent self-control and chivalrous generosity; as outlaw he had learned quick sympathy with the oppressed, knowledge of men, and power of government; and above all, each successive phase of experience had quickened and developed that conscious dependence upon God which was the fundamental secret of his strength throughout his life. Step by step he had been led forward, steadily refusing to take the shaping of his career into his own hands by deeds of violence, and "committing his way unto the Lord," in the full assurance that "He would bring it to pass." The Second Book of Samuel contains the history of David's reign. When the discipline of his early life was complete, the death of Saul opened his way to the throne. The task before him was immense. Internal disorganization consequent upon the misrule of Saul's later years; the jealousy of the partisans of the old dynasty; the antagonism of conflicting interests among the different tribes; a country overrun with victorious and powerful enemies; the certain prospect that any vigorous attempt to consolidate the kingdom would excite the hostility of foreign enemies—these were some of the difficulties which met him at the outset. And if these obstacles were successfully overcome, and he became the acknowledged sovereign of a united and powerful nation, the trial to his own character could not fail to be severe. Would he continue to be, as the essential nature of the Theocratic Monarchy demanded that he should be, the faithful "servant of Jehovah," the obedient instrument of His will; or would he, like Saul, assume an attitude of autocratic independence, and fall by the sin of pride and self-reliance? From such difficulties a weaker man might well have shrank. But David was a born ruler of men. In his well-knit, sinewy frame, insensible to hardship, incapable of fatigue, he possessed the indispensable prerequisite for a warrior-king; but higher qualifications than these were the innate aptitude for governing which was early displayed in his control of the wild spirits who gathered round him in his outlaw life; the fearless courage which had characterized him from his earliest days; and the singular power which he possessed of inspiring enthusiastic devotion in his followers: and the highest qualification of all was his firm trust and unshaken dependence upon God, coupled with the consciousness of a Divine commission, which led him in each crisis to "wait patiently upon God," in the confident expectation of Divine guidance. A. F. K. 1-7. The battle of Gilboa left Israel in a state as forlorn as that which ensued upon the defeat of Aphek, except that the ark was not lost, and David was ready to be her deliverer. The country west of Jordan was overrun by the Philistines, who occupied the cities from which their inhabitants had fled. The surviving members of the house of Saul took refuge on the east of Jordan, while David, at the command of God, removed with his band and all his family from Ziklag to Hebron, the ancient sacred city of the tribe of Judah. Here the men of Judah came to him, and anointed him king over their tribe. Thence he sent a message to the men of Jabesh-gilead to thank them for the honor paid to Saul's remains and to announce his accession to the throne. He was now thirty years old, and he reigned in Hebron seven and a half years. P. S. The death of Saul with his three eldest sons in the fatal battle of Gilboa, fully authorized David to advance his own claims without the reserve he had hitherto maintained. He was king by right. He had been anointed for the reversion, and he was now entitled to possession. By the same right under which Saul had held his crown, David was now entitled to claim it. Saul had been appointed on certain well-understood conditions, which he had violated, and on certain principles, which he had contravened. Kit.—Instead of reigning in his own name and right, as Saul sought to do, David regarded himself as the viceroy of God, and sought to serve His will. Yet it seems to have been desirable that such a king as Saul should precede David, in order that the contrast of character might be the more impressively exhibited, and that the nation might learn, through telling experiences, the sort of kingly government that God approved. N. C. B. 1. Not till the offices of justice and affection had been performed, does David remember himself and the change in his own position which had been effected. He had never thought of Saul as standing between him and the kingdom; the first feeling on his death was not, as it would have been with a less devout and less generous heart, a flush of gladness at the thought of the empty throne, but a sharp pang of pain from the sense of an empty heart. And even when he begins to look forward to his own new course, there is that same remarkable passiveness which we have observed already. His first step is to "inquire of the Lord saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" He will do noth ing in this crisis of his fortunes, when all which had been so long a hope seemed to be rapidly becoming a fact, until his Shepherd shall lead him. A. M.—He will not stir from the heaps of Ziklag till he have consulted with the Lord. It did not content him that he had God's warrant for the kingdom; but he must have his instructions for the taking possession of it. Bp. H.—Signally the brief record reveals the one sublime fact of absolute surrender of all self-will, the simple seeking, obeying, and waiting upon the will of God. He ventures not fully to interpret even so marked an event as the death of Saul, though knowing that he has been Divinely anointed as successor to the throne. Much less does he institute any movement looking toward his enthronement. All is referred to God. God has anointed, has appointed his way thus far, opened the pathway to the crown, but not one forward step will he take of himself, until he is sent. But the same faith that bids him await God's direction, constrains him to seek God's guidance, and, as has been his wont for years, he asks of God wisdom, practical guidance. "What wilt thou have me to do?" is the simple prayer of his trustful, submissive spirit. And when the response is given, instantly he obeys the direction, to go to Hebron. B. The central position of Hebron in the tribe of Judah, its mountainous and defensible situation, its importance as a priestly settlement and an ancient royal city, the patriarchal associations connected with it, combined to render it the most suitable capital for the new kingdom, while the North was held partly by the Philistines, partly by Saul's adherents. In its neighborhood, moreover, David had spent a considerable part of his fugitive life, and gained many supporters. A. F. K. 3. 4. The second anointing at Hebron. In that then ancient city, crowning the loftiest eminence of the mountain ridge of Judah, which had been the place of Abraham's abode, and where he received the covenant promise of Jehovah, which had been the home of Isaac and Rebekah, and where the Patriarchs were buried, which long afterward had been conquered, and possessed as God's special gift, by Caleb, the like-minded companion of Joshua in the earliest years of Israel's wandering, of whose stainless life we have the Divine record, "He followed the Lord fully," the city which had subsequently been the metropolis of the tribe of Judah, in that central city of greatest historic memories, David was received with welcome, and by acclamation of the tribe at once anointed "King over the house of Judah." B. The language of the history seems rather to imply a disbanding of his army, or at least their settling down to domestic life in the villages round Hebron, without a thought of winning the kingdom by arms. And his elevation to the partial monarchy which he at first possessed was the spontaneous act of "the men of Judah," who come to him and anoint him king over Judah. The limits of his territory are substantially those of the kingdom over which his descendants ruled after Jeroboam's revolt, thus indicating the existence of a natural "line of cleavage" between north and south. The geographical position of Benjamin finally attached it to the latter monarchy; but for the present, the wish to retain the supremacy which it had had while the king was one of the tribe, made it the nucleus of a feeble and lingering opposition to David, headed by Saul's cousin Abner, and rallying round his incompetent son Ishbosheth. A. M. 5-7. David's first act as king of Judah was to send an embassy to Jabesh-gilead to express his admiration of their noble loyalty to Saul. Nor does it detract from this mark of his generosity that, now their master was dead, he intimated his own elevation, to bespeak, if possible, their allegiance. The support of such men was well worth seeking. Besides, Jabesh-gilead was the capital of the whole of that district; and already the standard had there been set up of a rival, whose claims were neither founded on the appointment of God nor on the choice of the people. A. E. 8-10. The next event recorded is Abner's proclamation of Ishbosheth, the eldest surviving son of Saul, as king over Gilead, the Ashurites, the valley of Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin, and nominally over all Israel; his residence was at Mahanaim, east of Jordan. It is added that Ishbosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and that he reigned two years. Now, as we cannot suppose an interval of five years from his death to David's full recognition, and as the Philistines were in full possession of all Israel west of Jordan except where David's power extended, it would seem that Abner was occupied for five years or more in recovering the territory of the other tribes from them, after which the two years of Ishbosheth begin to be reckoned, so as to end just before David's full recognition as king of all Israel. P. S.—Abner was a soldier of consummate ability, and he not only succeeded in securing the acknowledgment of the authority of Ishbosheth in Gilead, but wresting successively "Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and [with the exception of Judah] all Israel” from the Philistines, he raised him at last to a position which, if Ishbosheth himself had had any capacity, would have rendered him a formidable rival to David. W. Lee.—It shows how entirely David submitted himself to the Divine guidance, that he made no attempt to grasp the rest of the kingdom, and did not oppose the setting up of Ishbosheth as Saul’s successor, but waited for God to give him the kingdom in His own way. Plummer.—Conflict did indeed arise; but through an attempt of Abner upon the kingdom of Judah, not of David upon that of Ishbosheth. Kit. 12. In the commencement of the war, the first step was taken by Abner. He went out from Mahanaim, descended the Jordan Valley, and came to Gibeon, in the tribe of Benjamin, a place but a few miles distant from Gibeah, where Saul had reigned. His immediate object probably was to gain such an advantage over David in that quarter as would enable him to establish Ishbosheth at Gibeah, and thus bring to him all the prestige due to the son and successor of Saul. W. G. B. 13. It is now that Joab first appears on the scene. He was the eldest and the most remarkable of David’s three nephews, who, as we have shown, stood to him rather in the relation of cousin, from the interval of age between their mother and David, her youngest brother. Asahel was the darling of his brothers, and would have doubtless won a high place among the heroes of his youthful uncle’s army. Abishai was thoroughly loyal and faithful to David, even before the adherence of Joab,—like Joab, implacable to the enemies of the royal house; unlike Joab, faithful to the end. But Joab with those ruder qualities combined something of a more statesmanlike character, which brings him more nearly on a level with David, and gives him the second place in the whole coming history. Stanley. 14. Both the commanders under David and Ishbosheth were so inured to blood, that they make but a sport of killing. Custom makes sin so familiar that the horror of it is to some turned into pleasure: “Come, let the young men play before us.” Abner is the challenger, and speeds the worse; for though in the matches of duel both sides miscarried, yet in the following conflict Abner and his men are beaten. Bp. H. 15-23. The Pool of Gibeon, on the opposite sides of which the armies encamped, was made memorable by the deadly combat of twelve Benjamites against twelve men of Judah, in which each man seized his adversary by the head with one hand, and with the other thrust his sword through his side, so that all of them fell down dead together. The scene of this mutual slaughter received the name of Helkath-hazzurim (the field of the strong men). In the battle which ensued, the men of Israel were routed. Abner himself was closely pursued by Asahel, one of the three sons of Zeruiah, who were as swift-footed as the wild roe. Unable to escape, and unwilling to kill Asahel, Abner twice entreated him to go after some one else, that he might have spoils to carry back with him; but, as Asahel persisted, Abner thrust him through with the hinder end of his spear. P. S. 26. In the speech of Abner to Joab, there occurs an expression worthy of being taken out of its connection and of being viewed with wider reference. “Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?” How many of the miseries and how many of the worst sins of men come of forgetting the “bitterness in the latter end” which evil beginnings give rise to! It is one of the most wholesome rules of life never to do to-day what you shall repent of to-morrow. Yet how constantly is the rule disregarded! W. G. B. 27,28. Joab, though a conqueror, generously sounds a retreat, knowing very well his master’s mind and how averse he was to the shedding of blood. He justly upbraids Abner with his forwardness to engage; he lays the blame upon him that there had been so much blood shed as there was; “Unless thou hadst spoken”—that is, “hadst given order to fight, hadst bidden the young men arise and play before us, none of us had struck a stroke, nor drawn a sword against our brethren. We had retired in the morning, if thou hadst not given the challenge.” This might have served to excuse Joab, if he had pushed on his victory, and made a full end of Abner’s forces; but he very honorably put a stop to the pursuit, and suffered Abner to make an orderly retreat. H. 29-32. If Joab had known what was to follow, he might have taken a different course. If he had foreseen the “long war” that was to be between the house of Saul and the house of David, he might have tried on this occasion to strike a decisive blow, and pursued Abner’s men until they were utterly broken. But that day’s work had probably sickened him, as he knew it would sicken David; and leaving Abner and his people to make their way across the Jordan, he returned to bury his brother, and to report his proceedings to David at Hebron. W. G. B. This is the only battle on record between the parties contending for the succession to the throne of Israel. David wisely adopted the policy of conciliation and "masterly inactivity," waiting, as he had trained himself to wait during the life of Saul, for the slow movements of God's providence to seat him in his own time on the throne over the whole people. H. C. —Remaining quietly at Hebron, as during the long period of his persecution, so now in this protracted period of comparative rest, David's trust and patience of soul are strengthened and matured by simple unbroken waiting upon God's direction, waiting to know His further will. And these chapters show how, without one act of David, events were shaped in Providence to accomplish that will in David's final enthronement over all Israel. B. The summary narrative of these seven years presents the still youthful king in a very lovable light. The same temper which had marked his first acts after Saul's death is strikingly brought out. He seems to have left the conduct of the war altogether to Joab, as if he shrank from striking a single blow for his own advancement. When he does interfere, it is on the side of peace, to curb and chastise ferocious vengeance and dastardly assassination. The incidents recorded all go to make up a picture of rare generosity, of patient waiting for God to fulfil His purposes, of longing that the miserable strife between the tribes of God's inheritance should end. A. M. # ABNER BRINGS OVER ALL ISRAEL TO DAVID, AND IS MURDERED BY JOAB. ASSASSINATION OF ISHBOSHETH. 3 1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: and David waxed stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. Verses 2-5. Sons born to David in Hebron. 6. And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheh said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine? Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheh, and said, Am I a dog's head that belongeth to Judah? This day do I shew kindness unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, and yet thou chargest me this day with a fault concerning this woman. God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as the LORD hath sworn to David, I do not even so 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. And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him. Verses 12-16. Abner proposes to "bring all Israel" to David. As a condition David requires the return of Michal; and she is sent back. 17. And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, In times past ye sought for David to be king over you: now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies. And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and to the whole house of Benjamin. So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast. And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thy soul desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace. Verses 22-27. Joab reproaches David for his dealing with Abner. Luring Abner back by a deceitful message, Joab murders him in the gate of Hebron. 28. And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth by the sword, or that lacketh bread. So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle. 31. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and 32 gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David followed the bier. And 33 they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth? 34. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: As a man falleth before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. 35. And all the people wept again over him. And all the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else, till the sun be down. And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? 39 And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the Loup reward the wicked doer according to his wickedness. Ch. 4: 1-12. Murder of Ishbosheth, and execution of the murderers by David. 3: 1. "There was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David." The war was not carried on by pitched battles, but by a series of fretting and worrying skirmishes. But the drift of things was manifest. "David waxed stronger and stronger; but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker." The cause of the house of Saul was weak because God was against it; it was weak in its champion Ishbosheth; its only element of strength was Abner, and even he could not make head against such odds. W. G. B. 2-5. The list of David's sons born in Hebron appears to interrupt the course of the narrative here, but it is quite in accordance with the usual practice of Old Testament historians to insert information about the family of a king at critical points in the history of his reign, and moreover it is in place here as a practical evidence of the strengthening of David's house. A. F. K. Of how many grievous sins and sorrows did he sow the seed when he thus multiplied wives to himself! We do not hesitate to ascribe to the life of David an influence on successive generations on the whole pure and elevating; but it is impossible not to own that by many, a justification of relaxed principle and unchaste living has been drawn from his example. W. G. B. 6-11. Quarrel between Abner and Ishbosheth. Ishbosheth was evidently weak and incapable, a mere puppet in the hands of Abner, who had made himself the mainstay of Saul's house, partly from his family connection, partly with a view to secure the greatest amount of influence, possibly with the hope of eventually becoming king himself. At length, foreseeing the impossibility of continuing a successful opposition to David's growing power, he took the opportunity of a quarrel with Ishbosheth to make such overtures to David as might secure him favorable terms and an influential position. A. F. K. 9. As the Lord hath sworn to David.** Abner is self-convicted by these words. He knew that the Lord had sworn to give the throne to David, and yet he had resisted—consciously resisted—to the best of his power, the fulfilment of that high decree. He now reaps his reward in this—that his return to what was really his duty bears the aspect of treachery, meanness, and dishonor. Kit.— 12. Even now there is no trace of humility in the language of Abner. He approaches King David, not as one who has done him a great wrong, but as one who offers to do him a great favor. There is no word of regret for his having opposed what he knew to be God's purpose and promise, no apology for the disturbance he had wrought in Israel, no excuse for all the distress which he had caused to David by keeping the kingdom and the people at war. He does not come as a rebel to his sovereign, but as one independent man to another. Make a league with me. Secure me from punishment; promise me a reward. For this he simply offers to place at David's disposal that powerful hand of his that had been so mighty for evil. W. G. B. 13. David's reasons for demanding the restoration of Michal were probably genuine affection for the wife of his youth who had saved his life, a desire to efface the slight put upon him by the deprivation, and a wish to conciliate the good-will of the northern tribes by an alliance with Saul's family. 14. David sent messengers to Ishbosheth.** The acceptance of the condition by Abner is implied, but the formal demand was made from Ishbosheth, who was powerless to resist the will of his master. Thus the restoration of Michal took place openly as a public act of justice; it clearly exhibited the strength of David and the weakness of Ishbosheth; it gave Abner opportunity to go to Hebron as Michal's escort, and mature his plans for deposing Ishbosheth. A. F. K. 17-21. Abner set himself with great vigor to fulfil the promise made by him in his league with David. First, he held communication with the representatives of the whole nation, "the elders of Israel," and showed to them his own self-condemnation, how God had designated David as the king through whom deliverance would be granted to Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies. Next, remembering that Saul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, he took special pains to attach that tribe to David, and as he was himself likewise a Benjamin, he must have been eminently useful in this service. Thirdly, he went in person to Hebron, David's seat, "to speak in the ears of David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin." Finally, after being entertained by David at a great feast, he set out to bring about a meeting of the whole congregation of Israel, that they might solemnly ratify the appointment of David as king, in the same way as, in the early days of Saul, Samuel had convened the representatives of the nation at Gilgal. That in all this Abner was rendering a great service both to David and the nation cannot be doubted. He was doing what no other man in Israel could have done at the time for establishing the throne of David and ending the civil war. 22-27. In these measures Joab had not been consulted. When Abner was at Hebron, Joab was absent on a military enterprise. In that enterprise he had been very successful, and had brought back a large amount of spoil. When he heard of David's agreement with Abner he was highly displeased. His rudeness to David is highly offensive. He speaks to him in the tone of those servants who rule their master, as if he were accountable to Joab, and not Joab to him. Of the king's answer to Joab nothing is recorded; but from David's confession (verse 39) that the sons of Zeruiah were too strong for him, we may infer that it was not very firm or decided, and that Joab set it utterly at nought. For the very first thing that Joab did after seeing the king was to send a message to Abner, most likely in David's name but without David's knowledge, asking him to return. Joab was at the gate ready for his treacherous business, and taking Abner aside as if for private conversation, he plunged his dagger in his breast, ostensibly in revenge for the death of his brother Asahel. There was something eminently mean and dastardly in the deed. Abner was now on the best of terms with Joab's master, and he could not have apprehended danger from the servant. The laws of hospitality were outraged when one who had just been David's guest was assassinated in David's city. The outrage was all the greater, as was also the injury to King David and to the whole kingdom, that the crime was committed when Abner was on the eve of negotiation with the other tribes of Israel. W. G. B. Joab's act was not justifiable on the score of blood-revenge. This was merely a convenient pretext for getting rid of a dangerous rival. He foresaw that if he allowed Abner to have the credit of placing the crown of Israel on David's head, he would lose his own position and influence. Failing in his endeavor to persuade David that Abner was playing him false, with characteristic unscrupulousness he planned this deliberate and treacherous murder, as on a later occasion he murdered his rival Amasa (ch. 20 : 10). A. F. K.—Abner, who promises kingdoms (verse 10), cannot secure to himself one certain hour of life. David had sent him away, and he departed in peace; but, being called back by Joab, he fell. Delaney. 28. I and my kingdom are guiltless.** With a strong asseveration David asserts his entire innocence of any complicity in this murder. Neither upon himself personally nor upon "his kingdom"—i.e., the royal house, his descendants and successors, could punishment for shedding this innocent blood justly fall. A. F. K. 29. That Joab deserved to die for his dastardly crime, none could have denied; if David abstained from inflicting that punishment, it was only natural that he should be very emphatic in proclaiming what such a criminal might look for, in never-failing visitations on himself and his seed, when he was left to be dealt with by the God of justice. W. G. B.—David ought to have done his duty, and trusted God with the issue. If the law had had its course against Joab, perhaps the murder of Ishbosheth, Amnon, and others had been prevented. It was carnal policy and cruel pity that spared Joab. Righteousness supports the throne, and will never shake it. Yet it was only a reprieve that David gave to Joab; on his death-bed, he left it to Solomon (who could the better wield the sword of justice, because he had no occasion to draw the sword of war) to avenge the blood of Abner. Evil pursues sinners, and will overtake them at last. David preferred Abner's son Jassiel (1 Chron. 27 : 21). H. 37. All the people and all Israel.** Not only David's own subjects in Judah, but the people of the northern kingdom, who must have been specially aggrieved by the murder of their hero, recognized the sincerity of David's grief, and acquitted him of all complicity in the act. A. F. K. The people were pleased with the evidence afforded of David's feelings, and the event that had seemed likely to destroy his prospects turned out in this way in his favor. "The people took notice of this, and it pleased them, as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people." It was another evidence of the conquering power of goodness and forbearance. By his generous treatment of his foes, David secured a position in the hearts of his people, and established his kingdom on a basis of security which he could not have obtained by any amount of severity. 4 : 1-8. Ishbosheth, in setting up a claim to the throne in opposition to the Divine call of David, not only lost the distinction he coveted, but also his life. One day, while lying in his bed at noon, he was despatched by two of his servants. The two men that murdered him seem to have been among those whom Saul enriched with the spoil of the Gibeonites. They were brothers, men of Beeroth, which was formerly one of the cities of the Gibeonites, but was now reckoned to Benjamin. Mistaking the character of David as much as it had been mistaken by the Amalekite who pretended that he had slain Saul, they hastened to Hebron, bearing with them the head of their victim, a ghastly evidence of the reality of the deed. This revolting trophy they carried all the way from Mahanaim to Hebron, a distance of some fifty miles. W. G. B. 9-11. If David had put the Amalekite to death for merely saying that he had slain Saul, even at his own command, how much more would he take signal vengeance of their united treachery and murder? The Amalekite might have some ground of vengeance against Saul, in respect of the destruction he had wrought upon his nation; but what had they—the trusted servants of Ishbosheth, the appointed guardians of his life—what had they to allege against their master? Kit.—David's behavior in this treatment of the murderers of Ishbosheth was not only an act of justice in itself, but it publicly declared that he would never be served by treachery and murder, nor ever forgive such crimes, however the pretence for committing them might be for his own interest and service. The concern he expressed for the death of Ishbosheth, especially for the manner of it, "in his own house upon his bed," argued humanity and honor, and an utter abhorrence of villains and their crimes. Chandler. And thus at last, not by his own act, but through circumstances over which he had had no control,—allowed by Him who gives full liberty to each man, though He overrules even the darkest deeds of the wicked for the evolving of good—David was left undisputed claimant to the throne of Israel. Faith, patience, and integrity were vindicated; the Divine promises to David had come true in the course of natural events—and all this was better far than even if Saul had voluntarily resigned his place, or Abner succeeded in his plans. The Divine principle of monarchy was that the will of the earthly should be in avowed subjection to that of the heavenly King. This was right in itself; it was expressive of the covenant-relationship by which Jehovah became the God of Israel, and Israel the people of Jehovah; and it embodied the typical idea of the kingdom of God, to be fully realized in the King of the Jews, who came not to do His own will. Saul was the king after Israel's own heart; David the king after God's own heart, not because of his greater piety or goodness, but because, despite his failings and his sins, he fully embodied the Divine idea of Israel's kingdom; and for this reason also he and his kingdom were the type of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His kingdom. A. E. DAVID'S THIRD ANOINTING, AT HEBRON, AS KING OVER ALL ISRAEL, BY A GREAT HOST FROM ALL THE TRIBES. JERUSALEM CAPTURED AND MADE HIS CAPITAL. 3 1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: and David waxed stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. Verses 2-5. Sons born to David in Hebron. 6. And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheh said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine? Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheh, and said, Am I a dog's head that belongeth to Judah? This day do I shew kindness unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, and yet thou chargest me this day with a fault concerning this woman. God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as the LORD hath sworn to David, I do not even so 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. And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him. Verses 12-16. Abner proposes to "bring all Israel" to David. As a condition David requires the return of Michal; and she is sent back. 17. And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, In times past ye sought for David to be king over you: now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies. And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and to the whole house of Benjamin. So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast. And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thy soul desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace. Verses 22-27. Joab reproaches David for his dealing with Abner. Luring Abner back by a deceitful message, Joab murders him in the gate of Hebron. 28. And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth by the sword, or that lacketh bread. So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle. 31. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and 32 gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David followed the bier. And 33 they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth? 34. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: As a man falleth before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. 35. And all the people wept again over him. And all the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else, till the sun be down. And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? 39 And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the Loup reward the wicked doer according to his wickedness. Ch. 4: 1-12. Murder of Ishbosheth, and execution of the murderers by David. 3: 1. "There was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David." The war was not carried on by pitched battles, but by a series of fretting and worrying skirmishes. But the drift of things was manifest. "David waxed stronger and stronger; but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker." The cause of the house of Saul was weak because God was against it; it was weak in its champion Ishbosheth; its only element of strength was Abner, and even he could not make head against such odds. W. G. B. 2-5. The list of David's sons born in Hebron appears to interrupt the course of the narrative here, but it is quite in accordance with the usual practice of Old Testament historians to insert information about the family of a king at critical points in the history of his reign, and moreover it is in place here as a practical evidence of the strengthening of David's house. A. F. K. Of how many grievous sins and sorrows did he sow the seed when he thus multiplied wives to himself! We do not hesitate to ascribe to the life of David an influence on successive generations on the whole pure and elevating; but it is impossible not to own that by many, a justification of relaxed principle and unchaste living has been drawn from his example. W. G. B. 6-11. Quarrel between Abner and Ishbosheth. Ishbosheth was evidently weak and incapable, a mere puppet in the hands of Abner, who had made himself the mainstay of Saul's house, partly from his family connection, partly with a view to secure the greatest amount of influence, possibly with the hope of eventually becoming king himself. At length, foreseeing the impossibility of continuing a successful opposition to David's growing power, he took the opportunity of a quarrel with Ishbosheth to make such overtures to David as might secure him favorable terms and an influential position. A. F. K. 9. As the Lord hath sworn to David.** Abner is self-convicted by these words. He knew that the Lord had sworn to give the throne to David, and yet he had resisted—consciously resisted—to the best of his power, the fulfilment of that high decree. He now reaps his reward in this—that his return to what was really his duty bears the aspect of treachery, meanness, and dishonor. Kit.— 12. Even now there is no trace of humility in the language of Abner. He approaches King David, not as one who has done him a great wrong, but as one who offers to do him a great favor. There is no word of regret for his having opposed what he knew to be God's purpose and promise, no apology for the disturbance he had wrought in Israel, no excuse for all the distress which he had caused to David by keeping the kingdom and the people at war. He does not come as a rebel to his sovereign, but as one independent man to another. Make a league with me. Secure me from punishment; promise me a reward. For this he simply offers to place at David's disposal that powerful hand of his that had been so mighty for evil. W. G. B. 13. David's reasons for demanding the restoration of Michal were probably genuine affection for the wife of his youth who had saved his life, a desire to efface the slight put upon him by the deprivation, and a wish to conciliate the good-will of the northern tribes by an alliance with Saul's family. 14. David sent messengers to Ishbosheth.** The acceptance of the condition by Abner is implied, but the formal demand was made from Ishbosheth, who was powerless to resist the will of his master. Thus the restoration of Michal took place openly as a public act of justice; it clearly exhibited the strength of David and the weakness of Ishbosheth; it gave Abner opportunity to go to Hebron as Michal's escort, and mature his plans for deposing Ishbosheth. A. F. K. 17-21. Abner set himself with great vigor to fulfil the promise made by him in his league with David. First, he held communication with the representatives of the whole nation, "the elders of Israel," and showed to them his own self-condemnation, how God had designated David as the king through whom deliverance would be granted to Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies. Next, remembering that Saul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, he took special pains to attach that tribe to David, and as he was himself likewise a Benjamin, he must have been eminently useful in this service. Thirdly, he went in person to Hebron, David's seat, "to speak in the ears of David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin." Finally, after being entertained by David at a great feast, he set out to bring about a meeting of the whole congregation of Israel, that they might solemnly ratify the appointment of David as king, in the same way as, in the early days of Saul, Samuel had convened the representatives of the nation at Gilgal. That in all this Abner was rendering a great service both to David and the nation cannot be doubted. He was doing what no other man in Israel could have done at the time for establishing the throne of David and ending the civil war. 22-27. In these measures Joab had not been consulted. When Abner was at Hebron, Joab was absent on a military enterprise. In that enterprise he had been very successful, and had brought back a large amount of spoil. When he heard of David's agreement with Abner he was highly displeased. His rudeness to David is highly offensive. He speaks to him in the tone of those servants who rule their master, as if he were accountable to Joab, and not Joab to him. Of the king's answer to Joab nothing is recorded; but from David's confession (verse 39) that the sons of Zeruiah were too strong for him, we may infer that it was not very firm or decided, and that Joab set it utterly at nought. For the very first thing that Joab did after seeing the king was to send a message to Abner, most likely in David's name but without David's knowledge, asking him to return. Joab was at the gate ready for his treacherous business, and taking Abner aside as if for private conversation, he plunged his dagger in his breast, ostensibly in revenge for the death of his brother Asahel. There was something eminently mean and dastardly in the deed. Abner was now on the best of terms with Joab's master, and he could not have apprehended danger from the servant. The laws of hospitality were outraged when one who had just been David's guest was assassinated in David's city. The outrage was all the greater, as was also the injury to King David and to the whole kingdom, that the crime was committed when Abner was on the eve of negotiation with the other tribes of Israel. W. G. B. Joab's act was not justifiable on the score of blood-revenge. This was merely a convenient pretext for getting rid of a dangerous rival. He foresaw that if he allowed Abner to have the credit of placing the crown of Israel on David's head, he would lose his own position and influence. Failing in his endeavor to persuade David that Abner was playing him false, with characteristic unscrupulousness he planned this deliberate and treacherous murder, as on a later occasion he murdered his rival Amasa (ch. 20 : 10). A. F. K.—Abner, who promises kingdoms (verse 10), cannot secure to himself one certain hour of life. David had sent him away, and he departed in peace; but, being called back by Joab, he fell. Delaney. 28. I and my kingdom are guiltless.** With a strong asseveration David asserts his entire innocence of any complicity in this murder. Neither upon himself personally nor upon "his kingdom"—i.e., the royal house, his descendants and successors, could punishment for shedding this innocent blood justly fall. A. F. K. 29. That Joab deserved to die for his dastardly crime, none could have denied; if David abstained from inflicting that punishment, it was only natural that he should be very emphatic in proclaiming what such a criminal might look for, in never-failing visitations on himself and his seed, when he was left to be dealt with by the God of justice. W. G. B.—David ought to have done his duty, and trusted God with the issue. If the law had had its course against Joab, perhaps the murder of Ishbosheth, Amnon, and others had been prevented. It was carnal policy and cruel pity that spared Joab. Righteousness supports the throne, and will never shake it. Yet it was only a reprieve that David gave to Joab; on his death-bed, he left it to Solomon (who could the better wield the sword of justice, because he had no occasion to draw the sword of war) to avenge the blood of Abner. Evil pursues sinners, and will overtake them at last. David preferred Abner's son Jassiel (1 Chron. 27 : 21). H. 37. All the people and all Israel.** Not only David's own subjects in Judah, but the people of the northern kingdom, who must have been specially aggrieved by the murder of their hero, recognized the sincerity of David's grief, and acquitted him of all complicity in the act. A. F. K. The people were pleased with the evidence afforded of David's feelings, and the event that had seemed likely to destroy his prospects turned out in this way in his favor. "The people took notice of this, and it pleased them, as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people." It was another evidence of the conquering power of goodness and forbearance. By his generous treatment of his foes, David secured a position in the hearts of his people, and established his kingdom on a basis of security which he could not have obtained by any amount of severity. 4 : 1-8. Ishbosheth, in setting up a claim to the throne in opposition to the Divine call of David, not only lost the distinction he coveted, but also his life. One day, while lying in his bed at noon, he was despatched by two of his servants. The two men that murdered him seem to have been among those whom Saul enriched with the spoil of the Gibeonites. They were brothers, men of Beeroth, which was formerly one of the cities of the Gibeonites, but was now reckoned to Benjamin. Mistaking the character of David as much as it had been mistaken by the Amalekite who pretended that he had slain Saul, they hastened to Hebron, bearing with them the head of their victim, a ghastly evidence of the reality of the deed. This revolting trophy they carried all the way from Mahanaim to Hebron, a distance of some fifty miles. W. G. B. 9-11. If David had put the Amalekite to death for merely saying that he had slain Saul, even at his own command, how much more would he take signal vengeance of their united treachery and murder? The Amalekite might have some ground of vengeance against Saul, in respect of the destruction he had wrought upon his nation; but what had they—the trusted servants of Ishbosheth, the appointed guardians of his life—what had they to allege against their master? Kit.—David's behavior in this treatment of the murderers of Ishbosheth was not only an act of justice in itself, but it publicly declared that he would never be served by treachery and murder, nor ever forgive such crimes, however the pretence for committing them might be for his own interest and service. The concern he expressed for the death of Ishbosheth, especially for the manner of it, "in his own house upon his bed," argued humanity and honor, and an utter abhorrence of villains and their crimes. Chandler. And thus at last, not by his own act, but through circumstances over which he had had no control,—allowed by Him who gives full liberty to each man, though He overrules even the darkest deeds of the wicked for the evolving of good—David was left undisputed claimant to the throne of Israel. Faith, patience, and integrity were vindicated; the Divine promises to David had come true in the course of natural events—and all this was better far than even if Saul had voluntarily resigned his place, or Abner succeeded in his plans. The Divine principle of monarchy was that the will of the earthly should be in avowed subjection to that of the heavenly King. This was right in itself; it was expressive of the covenant-relationship by which Jehovah became the God of Israel, and Israel the people of Jehovah; and it embodied the typical idea of the kingdom of God, to be fully realized in the King of the Jews, who came not to do His own will. Saul was the king after Israel's own heart; David the king after God's own heart, not because of his greater piety or goodness, but because, despite his failings and his sins, he fully embodied the Divine idea of Israel's kingdom; and for this reason also he and his kingdom were the type of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His kingdom. A. E. DAVID'S THIRD ANOINTING, AT HEBRON, AS KING OVER ALL ISRAEL, BY A GREAT HOST FROM ALL THE TRIBES. JERUSALEM CAPTURED AND MADE HIS CAPITAL. 2. S. 5:1 THEN came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Be- 2 hold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said to thee, Thou shalt feed 3 [or, be shepherd of] my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince [or, leader] over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Samuel. 4,5 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. 1. Chron. 12 : 23 And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, which came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. Verses 24-37. Numbers of the armed men of the several tribes. 38. All these, being men of war, that could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to 39 make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for 40 their brethren had made preparation for them. Moreover they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victual of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel. In the remaining text we harmonize 2 S. 5 : 6-10, and 1 Chron. 11 : 4-9. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and smite the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul. Wherefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come into the house. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief. And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about and inward: and Joab repaired the rest of the city. And David waxed greater and greater; for the LORD of hosts was with him. The consummation to which events in God's Providence had been leading was now come. Saul and Jonathan, Abner and Ishbosheth, were all dead; there was no one of the house of Saul capable of taking the lead; David was already head of a very large portion of Israel; the Philistines, and perhaps the remnants of the Canaanites, were restless and threatening; and it was obviously the interest of the Israelitish nation to unite themselves under the sovereignty of the valiant and virtuous son of Jesse, their former deliverer, and the man designated by the Word of God as their Captain and Shepherd. Bib. Com. 2. S. 5 : 1-5. David's final anointing and establishment as King of all Israel. Moved by a unanimity of spirit,—wrought indirectly and largely by the severe Providences through which they had been led, but effectually seconded by the Spirit of God, stirring into fresh glow the fire of devout patriotism through the remembrance of God's great promises and deeds in their behalf as a people,—an immense representation from all the tribes came to David at Hebron. Three hundred thousand men (1 Chron. 12 : 23-40), gathered in convocation, expressed their desire for national unity, recognized his personal fitness for the throne, called to mind the days in which he so valiantly and successfully led the armies of Saul, frankly admitted and gladly accepted his Divine appointment to the kingdom (which, it plainly appears, they all, like Abner, had long understood); then, by their elders, entered into solemn covenant with David—the covenant being as solemnly accepted by him—and finally, “before the Lord they anointed David King over Israel.” The seven years of patient waiting in Hebron, years of trustful submission to God’s will, years of forbearance with the disunited tribes, even in their warfare against himself, years of Divine inward maturing of his own spiritual character, years of wise, faithful, foundation work in teaching and training the people of Judah, these long secluded years of patient waiting were not in vain. According to God’s plan, by the interworking of his Providence and Spirit, they had borne abundant fruit of good, and now had established him in the kingdom. And, let us not fail to remark it in passing, in the actual result, in the methods by which it was brought about, crowned and completed as these methods were by the spontaneous united action of the tribes, we find one of the most extended and effective illustrations in all history of the perfect accord of human freedom with Divine sovereignty; of voluntary human action in the widest combination of varying interests and events, in the end concentrating upon the fulfilment of Divine purpose and prediction. A kindred illustration we read in that other greater event in the history of David’s Son and Lord, His elevation through the Cross to a universal everlasting throne as the Redeemer King! B. It is interesting to notice the grounds on which the elders offered him the crown (verses 1-3). He possessed the general but requisite qualification of being one of themselves—“Thou art our bone and our flesh.” He had been in former times their leader, and had proved himself worthy to be their king: “In time past, when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel.” But above all, the Lord had nominated him to the kingdom: “The Lord said to thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be captain over Israel.” They knew this seven years ago as well as they knew it then, and their acknowledgment is somewhat tardy. It is, however, satisfactory to find them so distinctly placing his nomination on this footing; and the acknowledgment of the constitutional validity of his claim to the throne is important. David then “made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord.” Certain conditions were agreed to on both sides, defining his rights and theirs; and where such conditions exist, the monarchy is constitutional, not absolute. The conditions were doubtless such as had been established by Samuel, forming something like a coronation oath—which all future kings seem to have taken at their accession, although the limitations it involved do not appear to have been very exactly observed by all of them—the tendency of all power in the East, however formally limited, being toward absolutism. David was then anointed king over all Israel—being the third anointing he had received. Kit. Thus, without any advantage of birth, without any dexterous scheming or violent revolution, in ripeness of mind and body, at the moment when he was most needed, the greatest man of the age reached the highest position in it, the headship over the whole of God’s chosen people. The shepherd-lad, musician, courtier, warrior, poet, outlaw, and tribal king, had reached the throne of united Israel. He had experienced the trials of solitary watching in the wilderness, of jealousies and plots at court, of being hunted like a wild beast in the mountains, of being an exile in the land of Israel’s deadliest enemies. There remained the severest trial of all, the possession of supreme power. Plummer. 1. Chron. 12 : 23-38. Here is a record of the numbers from each of the tribes who had espoused the cause of David. But besides giving the numbers from each tribe, it often briefly characterizes them. Thus the two hundred captains of Issachar are described as men “who had understanding of the times so that they could see what Israel ought to do”—men, i.e., of fine political sagacity; “and all their brethren acted according to their mouth”—i.e., took the advice of these skilful statesmen. The fifty thousand of Zebulun are described as “expert in war, and in the use of all weapons of war,” as men “who could keep rank, because they were not of a heart and a heart, because they were animated by a single overmastering purpose, by an entire and perfect devotion. In each man, as in the whole army, there was a single and supreme aim. When the chronicler sums up, he says of the whole three hundred thousand what he had already said of the fifty thousand of Zebulun: “All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel.” No wonder that they succeeded in their aim. Three hundred thousand men who knew how to keep rank, and were of a single heart, might still overturn a kingdom, if not overrun the world. And it is this unity of heart, this singleness of motive and purpose, which is still the secret of order and victory. The secret of unity in our individual lives is one with the secret of unity in a camp or an army. We bring order and peace into our lives as we become of one heart, and a perfect heart before God. Coz. 38-40. And now Hebron witnessed a wondrous and joyful spectacle. The nation, wearied with war and persuaded toward David, not only send their elders, but in counted thousands and ten thousands come themselves, to crown him king over the whole country. The choice men, not only of the neighboring tribes of Simeon and Benjamin and Ephraim, but also of the tribes beyond the Jordan, and of Issachar in the plain of Esdraelon, and of the three tribes still farther north—all flock to Hebron, bringing “bread and meat, meal-cakes of figs and bunches of raisins, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly;” “on asses and on camels and on mules and on oxen.” This valley before Hebron and these hills surrounding it were doubtless covered with the joyful multitudes keeping the coronation festival and celebrating the praises of the new king of the united country. N. C. B. 28.6-10; 1 Chron. 11:4-9. Jerusalem chosen as the Capital. David—now thirty-eight years old—was established as king over Israel. A capital for the new kingdom was next to be chosen. This should contain the royal residence, should be the established seat of government and worship, and so be regarded as the centre of the national unity. A new site was desirable, in which all the tribes might have a common interest. Such a locality was chosen in the natural stronghold of Jebus, on the borders of Benjamin and Judah. For four hundred years it had withstood Israel’s assault. The situation combined beauty with strength, in both far surpassing any other city on earth. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,” David justly said of it in its splendor. Between deep gorges on either side and on the south, and with a depressed valley on the north, rose up lofty elevations. The highest point, and most impregnable, was that so long held by the Jebusites, afterward called the hill of Zion. It was on the southwest of, and a hundred feet above, the whole city area. This fastness was taken by Joab, after its defenders had scornfully taunted David with the folly of his attempt to subdue it. Upon the next highest hill, on the east, Moriah, Abraham had erected the altar of sacrifice for Isaac, a type of the after sacrifice on Calvary. And upon Moriah the three Temples were afterward built. The name, Jerusalem, has been interpreted, Inheritance of Peace. And now at its founding, we remember that the hill of Zion, the Temple structure, and the City itself, after bearing distinguished and memorable part in the sublime associations of all the centuries to Christ, are reproduced in the apocalyptic symbols of the heavenly city. Thus in its duration, its wonderful yet incomplete history, and its typical connections with the heavenly state, we find ground for peculiar interest in Jerusalem, the City of the great King. B. So great was their confidence in the natural strength of their citadel that the Jebusites believed the blind and lame of their number were adequate for its defence. Subsequently these words passed into a proverb: Because of the blind and the lame, he shall not enter the house; or as given by Perowne: “The blind and the lame are there; let him enter if he can.” Joab was the first to master the ascent and thus secure the honor of being David’s chief captain. The reference to “the watercourse” suggests that the ascent was made through some water-worn passage. The citadel once mastered, David proceeded to enlarge the area of this lofty summit and to strengthen its fortifications. H. C. From Millo and inwards. The fortification “inwards” must have consisted in the enclosure of Mount Zion with a strong wall upon the north side, where Jerusalem joins it as a lower town, so as to defend the place against hostile attacks on the north or town side. The “Millo” was at any rate some kind of fortification, probably a large tower or castle. The definite article before Millo indicates that it was a well-known fortress, probably one that had been erected by Jebusites. Keil. The City of Jerusalem, said by the monkish writers to be the centre of the earth, is emphatically the centre of Palestine. It is exactly on the watershed of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, 2650 feet above the level of the former: a truly mountain city. Built on the very backbone of the country—the summit of that long ridge which traverses the Holy Land from north to south, and only approachable by wild mountain roads—the position of the city was one of great natural strength. The twin hills of Zion and Moriah are enclosed, excepting on the north, by the ravines of Hinnom and of Kedron. They rise to the north of Jerusalem, very near each other. The westernmost, the Valley of Hinnom, runs southward for a mile and a quarter, skirting the city of David to the west, then turns suddenly to the east, and, passing through a deep gorge, joins the Kedron at Bir Eyub, a deep well, southeast of the city. The Valley of Kedron or Jehoshaphat, Wady en När, beginning to the north of the city, runs eastward for a mile and a half, and then makes a sharp bend southward, skirting the Mount Moriah, separating it from the Mount of Olives, and rapidly descends, till, at its junction with the Valley of Hinnom, it is 670 feet below its original starting point. H. B. T. (For diagrams, etc., see pp. 660-63, New Testament, Vol. I.) Here David established his seat of government, and centuries of history have ratified the wisdom of his choice. The creation of the national capital is therefore contemporaneous with the establishment of the monarchy in its complete form, and both are the work of David. That it should be called "the city of David" was doubly justified by his having captured it, and by the use he made of it. Strategically its position is very strong. Most of the approaches to it are too intricate and precipitous for large armies; and the one that is least so, the one that has almost invariably been used by hostile armies, is very circuitous—from Jaffa and Lydda, over the pass of the Beth-horons to Gibeon, and thence over the hills to the north side of Jerusalem. History shows that the armies of Egypt and Assyria often marched by along the plain, and sometimes fought there, without in any way interfering with Jerusalem. Plummer. Thus Jerusalem was the city of David, born to greatness in the first year of his reign over all Israel. In the result it came to be more richly embalmed in sacred song and hallowed with more sweet associations and blessed memories than any other city brought before us in the holy Scriptures; indeed, we might say, above any other city known to history. H. C.—Zion was memorable because it was God's dwelling-place, Jerusalem because it was the city of the great King. If Jerusalem and Zion impress our imagination even above other places, it is because God had so much to do with them. We recall the unrivalled moral and spiritual forces that were concentrated there: the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of the martyrs, the glorious company of the apostles, all living under the shadow of Mount Zion, and uttering those words that have moved the world as they received them from the mouth of the Lord. We recall Him who claimed to be Himself God, whose blessed lessons, and holy life, and atoning death were so closely connected with Jerusalem, and would alone have made it forever memorable. Century after century, millennium after millennium has passed; and still Zion and Jerusalem draw all eyes and hearts. W. G. B. Established at Jerusalem as his capital, David reigns for some ten years with unbroken prosperity over a loyal and loving people, with this for the summary of the whole period, "David went on and grew great, and the Lord God of Hosts was with him." These years are marked by three principal events—the bringing up of the ark to the city of David, the promise by Nathan of the perpetual dominion of his house, and the unbroken flow of victories over the surrounding nations. A. M. "NAMES OF THE MIGHTY MEN WHOM DAVID HAD" DURING HIS OUTLAW LIFE AND AT HEBRON, AND SOME OF THEIR HEROIC DEEDS. 2. S. 5 : 11** And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons : and they built David an house. And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. Verses 13-16. Wives taken and children born in Jerusalem. 17. And when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David ; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. Now the 19 Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines ? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand ? And the LORD said unto David, Go up : for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into 20 thine hand. And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there ; and he said, The LORD hath broken mine enemies before me, like the breach of waters. Therefore he 21 called the name of that place Baal-perazim. And they left their images there, and David and his men took them away. 1. Chron. 14 : 12** And David gave commandment, and they were burned with fire. 2. S. 5 : 22** And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 1. Chron. 14 : 14** And David inquired again of God ; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them : turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry 15 trees. And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle : for God is gone out before thee to smite the host 16 of the Philistines. And David did as God commanded him : and they smote the host of the 17 Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. And the fame of David went out into all lands : and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations. 2. S. 9 : 1** And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may 2 shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake ? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him unto David ; and the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba ? 3 And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him ? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath 4 yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he ? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from 6 Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came unto David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold, thy servant ! And David said unto him, Fear not : for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father ; and thou 8 shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he did obeisance, and said, What is thy servant, 9 that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am ? Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, All that pertained to Saul and to all his house have I given unto 10 thy master's son. And thou shalt till the land for him, thou, and thy sons, and thy servants ; and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have bread to eat : but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons 11 and twenty servants. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king commandeth his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he 12 shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem : for he did eat continually at the king's table ; and he was lame on both his feet. 28.5:11. With a just and generous appreciation of David's Divine appointment to the throne, Hiram, King of Tyre, proposed to erect a palace for the royal residence. David assented, and the structure was erected, with all the art and beauty of the times. Thus was laid the foundation of a lasting friendship with Hiram, continued after David's death by Solomon. B.—When we look to the name borne by this prince—the first Phœnician mentioned by name in Scripture—we are at once struck with its authentic character. That Hiram was really a Phœnician name, and one which kings were in the habit of bearing, is certain from the Assyrian Inscriptions and from Herodotus, as well as from the Phœnician historians, Dius and Menander. And these last-named writers show moreover that the name was actually borne by the Tyrian king contemporary with Solomon and David, and they speak distinctly of the close connection between Hiram and Solomon; adding facts, which, though not contained in Scripture, are remarkably in accordance with the sacred narrative. G. R. 11. Tyre.** One of the two great cities of Phœnicia, celebrated for its commerce, its mechanical skill, and its wealth. When the Israelites entered Canaan, it was already noted for its strength (Josh. 19:29). Three causes co-operated to bring Phœnicia into close and friendly relation with Israel. (a) The contiguity of the countries, and the short distance between their capitals. From Tyre to Jerusalem by land was scarcely more than one hundred miles, so that intercourse was easy. (b) Similarity of language. Phœnician so closely resembles Hebrew, that it must have been readily intelligible to the Israelites. (c) Tyre depended upon Palestine for its supplies of wheat and oil, and in return sent to Jerusalem its articles of commerce, and provided skilled workmen for the buildings erected by David and Solomon. A. F. K.—This kind of intercourse accounts for the remarkable fact that the Phœnicians are the only neighboring nation with whom the Israelites never had any war. The Israelites could thus possess themselves in large abundance of the various foreign commodities which abounded in the Phœnician markets, while their diffusion through the land produced a marked change for the better in the attire, the arms and armor, the dwellings, the furniture, the domestic utensils, and probably the agricultural implements of the Hebrews. Of this we find frequent indications in the later books of Scripture. What was a convenience to the Hebrews became in time a vital necessity to the Phœnicians, and always continued to be such. So late as the time of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the Phœnicians of Tyre taking the most earnest and even humiliating means of overcoming some resentment that Herod Agrippa had conceived against them, and why? "Because their country was nourished by the king's country" (Acts 12:20). Kd. Build David an house. This was erected upon Mount Zion, the highest and the largest of the hills on which the city stood. The crest of Zion is more than three hundred feet above the Kedron at En-Rogel. It was the first spot in Jerusalem occupied by buildings. Probably the Salem of Melchizedek, Zion was certainly the Jebus of the Jebusites, and then the City of David. Here David built his palace, and for more than a thousand years the kings and the foreign rulers who succeeded him resided here. In it David constructed the Royal Sepulchre, where he and fourteen of his successors were laid in the grave. Zion was the last spot which held out against Titus and the Romans. When the Temple fortress had been stormed, the last remnant of the Jews crossed the Tyropœon by the bridge, and held the City of David and the old palace of their kings till the very last, and perished among its ruins. H. B. T. 12. And David perceived that the Lord had established him to be king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel's sake.** When David saw that all conspired steadily and harmoniously to the enlargement and establishment of his kingdom, he perceived that the Lord was with him, and was now visibly fulfilling to him that great principle of His government which He had so solemnly declared to Eli, "Them that honor Me, I will honor." W. G. B.—David's kingdom was lifted up on high, not for his own sake, that he might look great; but because of his people Israel, that he might be a guide and protector to them. We are therefore blessed, that we may be blessings. We are not born, nor do we live, for ourselves. H. David's early and later life illustrates to us the value of discipline to right character and conduct. In his earlier years, the long period of persecution and the patient waiting at Hebron, and in his later years, the sore visitations of God because of his fearful sin, were the means by which, first patience and fortitude, and then penitence and a deeper trust were wrought in his soul. But, apart from this teaching, the life and character of David interest and instruct us at every point. In his youth he is brightest, noblest, most attractive. Then he is modest and manly, heroic and meek, wise, trustful, and devout. Faith prompts and nerves his acting, and humility quenches the natural pride and self-relation of victory or success. It is true, he failed again and again in the subsequent days of adversity, and therefore these days were lengthened that he might not only learn patience, but the higher lesson (the highest we all can learn) that he and his life were not for himself but for God. Well he learned this lesson, during the seven years of quiet waiting at Hebron, and never afterward was it forgotten, even in his greatest exaltation. Well may it be emphasized! This rare excellence in David was not simply the utter absence of self-will—by which indeed he was always distinguished—but higher and better than this, it was the conviction that himself, his faculties, gifts, possessions, and honors, his very crown and kingdom, all were supremely, entirely, for God's use and glory, not for his own. And no sin of David, many and enormous as were his sins, revealed the least forgetfulness of this, the least tendency unduly to exalt himself. B.—The king ruled so long as his throne was based upon righteousness; the moment he sought for any other foundation, he would become weak and contemptible. All David's discipline had been designed to settle him in this truth. He was the man after God's own heart, because he so graciously received that discipline and imbibed that truth. The signal sin of his life confirmed it still more mightily for himself and for all ages to come. Maurice. 13-16. "David took to him more concubines and wives" in Jerusalem. With all his light and grace, he had not overcome the prevalent notion that the dignity and resources of a kingdom were to be measured by the number and rank of the king's wives. W. G. B.—David stopped short of that fatal step contemplated in the warning of Moses, and taken by Solomon, of multiplying to himself wives from heathen nations, so as to turn away his heart from God; but the miseries he suffered in his family give the best answer to the folly which quotes Scripture in sanction of polygamy. P. S. 71-20. David's first victory over the Philistines. This warlike and powerful people had been for centuries the cause of Israel's sorest trials, since Joshua's death the chief hindrance to any approach to unity and consolidation of the tribes. The first necessity of the new government, the thing most essential not merely to peace and general prosperity among the tribes, but to their existence and homogeneous develdevelopment as a nation, was the utter overthrow of this long dominant and powerful foe. And the achievement of this overthrow was brought about, still under the overruling of God's Providence, first and foremost by the natural yet aggressive action of the Philistines themselves. So soon as they saw all Israel united under the only man who had in former days invariably vanquished their forces in conflict, they saw that their dominant power, nay, their very existence was threatened. At once, therefore, before time or opportunity could be given for the consolidation and training of the forces of Israel, they gather in mighty force in the Valley of Rephaim, southward from Jerusalem, on the frontier which separated Judah from all the other tribes. And now mark the trustful spirit and the dauntless courage of David, in meeting this immense array of Philistia. Well he still understands and believes that the battle is the Lord's, and that the people are the Lord's. So he asks of the Lord not merely direction to go against the Philistines, but a Divine assurance that the Lord will give him the victory. And with the certainty of success, wrought by his implicit faith in God, he leads his unprepared, unequal army to conflict and to an overwhelming victory. And then in the same faith (verse 20) he reverently and gratefully ascribes the success to Him whose interposition had assured it. B. 20,21. David called the field of battle Baalperazim—i.e., "God has by my hands scattered mine enemies." In this war the Philistines lost even their images, which must have reminded them of Israel's loss of the ark on a former occasion. David burned them. C. G. B.—By this David afforded sufficient evidence that he regarded hostility to idolatry as belonging to the functions of his office, being the only indication of practical hostility against the gods of the heathen, when not introduced for worship among the Israelites, that has hitherto appeared. Kit. 1. Chron. 14: 14-17.** Israel's final and decisive triumph over the Philistines. With a yet more numerous and mightier force the Philistines return to the same battle-field. But now the Lord gave another answer to the inquiry of His anointed King. Now He will more directly and effectually interpose for the utter destruction of his people's enemies. He bids David set his army in ambush, aside from their foes, and declares that He will go before them and smite the host of the Philistines. But he commands that David shall follow up and complete the work of destruction. "And David did so." He obeyed the Divine direction, and God fulfilled his promise. The hosts of Philistia fled panic smitten from the field, and were pursued for a great distance with immense slaughter, so that their power was permanently broken. B. Once more the sacred oracle was consulted, and this time he was forbidden to go out and assail them in front, but to fetch a compass, and to come out secretly behind them over against a certain mulberry plantation. He was to remain quiet till he heard "the sound of a going upon the tops of the mulberry trees"—a sound probably like the rush of a mighty host to battle—which was to be a signal to him that the Divine power was moving forth to destroy and defeat his enemies; and then he was to march out against them. The king followed these directions implicitly, and the enemy hearing, it would seem, the sound of a mighty army in their rear, which they might easily imagine to be even more numerous and formidable than that led by David, and which appeared at the very moment these sounds were heard, fell into panic and confusion and were easily put to the rout. The victors pursued them hard for many long miles, even to the frontier of their own territory. Kit. Let David's inquiry of God, once and again, upon occasion of the Philistines' invading him, direct us in all our ways to acknowledge him, in distress to fly to him, when we are wronged, to appeal to him, and when we know not what to do, to ask counsel at his oracles, to put ourselves under his conduct, and to beg of him to show us the right way. And let the sound of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees direct us to attend God's motions, both in his providence and in the influence of his Spirit. When we perceive God to go before, let us gird up our loins, gird on our armor, and follow him. H. Being thus repulsed, and then reduced to a tributary condition, the Philistines appear to have done little mischief during the remainder of David's reign or during that of Solomon his successor. In the after-portion of the period of the kings, they sometimes encroached on Judea and sometimes in turn yielded the advantage, until, by-and-by, they became involved in the wars of the great empires of Assyria and Egypt, being on the highway of communication between those countries. Just when the Philistines lost their identity as a people is not known; perhaps not before the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century. Their country has outlived them, and on the field of their goings for two thousand years other races have come. N. C. B. David's Kindness to Jonathan's Son. The wars of David occupy but a small space in the history of his reign. An act of kindness toward the son of his early friend, Jonathan, is told at greater length than the battles and triumphs of these numerous wars. Of his own accord, and in remembrance of his vows of friendship, he caused inquiries to be made for any of the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness. Sime.—When Ishbosheth was slain, and all Israel went over to David, Mephibosheth was about twelve years old, and there were obvious reasons why the friends who had taken charge of him should desire his existence to be forgotten. Thus Mephibosheth lived a quiet and peaceful life among his friends at Lo-de-bar; and when he grew to manhood, he married and had a son. When David was well established on his throne, he inquired one day of those about him, "Is there yet any left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" One Ziba, a servant of Saul, now a prosperous man with fifteen sons and twenty servants, it was supposed could acquaint the king with that which he desired to know. This man was sent for. The king asked: "Is there yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?" Ziba then told him of Mephibosheth, and where he was to be found; on which the king forthwith sent messengers to bring him to Jerusalem. Kit.—The kindness he promised to show, he calls the kindness of God; kindness in pursuance of the covenant that was between him and Jonathan, to which God was a witness. Jonathan's request to David was, "Show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not, and the same to my seed." The kindness of God is kindness done with an eye to God and his honor and favor. 9,10. He gives him all the land of Saul his father,—that is, his paternal estate, which was forfeited by Ishbosheth's rebellion, and added to his own revenue. Though he had thus given him a good estate, sufficient to maintain him, yet, for Jonathan's sake, he will take him to be a constant guest at his own table, where he will not only be comfortably fed, but have company and attendance suitable to his birth and quality. H.—The estate now made over to Mephibosheth was assigned for cultivation to Ziba, who, with his sons and servants, was to devote himself to it, and was to retain one half the produce in recompense for his expense and labor, paying the other moiety as rent to the owner of the land. Mephibosheth was thus enabled to keep up a becoming establishment for his family in Jerusalem, while habitually taking his principal meals at the royal table, and associating with the king's sons, some of whom were nearly of his own age. As men do not sit down at table with their wives and children in the East, this constant dining at court was a distinction unaccompanied by any of the drawbacks it would bring to us. Kit. THE ARK REMOVED FROM KIRJATH-JEARIM. UZZAH SMITTEN, AND IT REMAINS THREE MONTHS WITH OBED-EDOM. TAKEN TO ITS TENT IN JERUSALEM. DAVID'S PSALM FOR THE FIRST APPOINTED SONG-SERVICE. 1. Chron. 15 : 1** And David made him houses in the city of David ; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. 13 1 And David consulted with the captains of thousands and of hundreds, even with every leader. And David said unto all the assembly of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and if it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad everywhere unto our brethren that are left in all the land of Israel, with whom the priests and Levites are in their cities that have suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us : and let us bring again the ark of our God to us : for we sought not unto it in the days of Saul. And all the assembly said that they would do so : for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So David assembled all Israel together, from Shihor the brook of Egypt even unto the entering in of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, the LORD that sitteth upon the cherubim, which is called by the Name. 2. S. 6 : 2, 3** Even the name of the LORD of hosts that sitteth upon the cherubim. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill : and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was in the hill, with the ark of God : and Ahio went before the ark. And when they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it ; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah ; and God smote him there for his error ; because he put forth his hand to the ark : and there he died before God. 1. Chron. 13 : 11** And David was displeased, because the LORD had broken forth upon Uzzah : and he called that place Perez-uzzah, unto this day. And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me ? So David removed not the ark unto him into the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months : and the LORD blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he had. 2. S. 6 : 12** And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. 1. Chron. 15 : 3** And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto its place, which he had prepared for it. And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, and said unto them, Ye are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites : sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye bare it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not according to the ordinance. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the 16 staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD. And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren the singers, with instruments of music,19 psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy. So the Levites appointed the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, with cymbals of brass to sound20 aloud; and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and21 Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries set to Alamoth; and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps set to the Sheminith, to lead.22 And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he instructed about the song, be-23, 24 cause he was skilful. And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and25 Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark. So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of26 Obed-edom with joy: and it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of27 the covenant of the LORD, that they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven rams. And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with28 the singers: and David had upon him an ephod of linen. Thus David and all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and29 with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with psalteries and harps. And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised16 him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings before God.2 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings, he3 blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a portion of flesh, and a cake of raisins.1 Chron. 16: 43 And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his household.2 S. 6: 20-23. Michal's reproach and David's reply.1 Chron. 16: 4 And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD, the God of Israel.7 Then on that day did David first ordain to give thanks unto the LORD, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren.8 O give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name; Make known his doings among the peoples.9 Sing unto him, sing praises unto him; Talk ye of all his marvellous works.10 Glory ye in his holy name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.11 Seek ye the LORD and his strength; Seek his face evermore.12 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;13 O ye seed of Israel his servant, Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.14 He is the LORD our God: His judgments are in all the earth.15 Remember his covenant forever, The word which he commanded to a thousand generations;16 The covenant which he made with Abraham, And his oath unto Isaac;17 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute, To Israel for an everlasting covenant:18 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance:19 When ye were but a few men in number; Yea, very few, and sojourners in it; 20 And they went about from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people. 21 He suffered no man to do them wrong; Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones, And do my prophets no harm. 23 Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; Shew forth his salvation from day to day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, His marvellous works among all the peoples. 25 For great is the LORD, and highly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols: But the LORD made the heavens. 27 Honor and majesty are before him: Strength and gladness are in his place. 28 Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the peoples, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. 29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come before him: Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 30 Tremble before him, all the earth: The world also is stablished that it cannot be moved. 31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, the LORD reigneth. 32 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; Let the field exult, and all that is therein; 33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing for joy before the LORD, For he cometh to judge the earth. 34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: For his mercy endureth forever. 35 And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us together and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks unto thy holy name, And to triumph in thy praise. 36 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD. Omitted verses mainly repetitions. David had recognized the superior kingship of Jehovah, and loyally acknowledged his elevation over Israel as God's sole act. More than this, he had openly admitted that the new kingdom, and he, its king, were for the people's sake, and not his own. And this sublime and just conception of God's relation which had actuated him in assuming the government, and in all his civil and military arrangements, at the same time led him now to engage in the work of reforming religion among the tribes. In this greatest work of all, the first essential was the restoration to a fitting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the golden shining symbol of God's presence and supreme sway over king and people. This sacred coffer, with mercy-seat and cherubim of gold above, with the tables of the Law and other lesser memorials within, which had been for centuries the central point and object of Israel's representative worship, had now been neglected for seventy years. The Philistines took it upon the defeat of Israel, but were glad to escape the visitations of God by its speedy surrender. And in comparative neglect it had long remained in the house of Amishdab at Kirjath-jearim, or Baale of Judah, ten or twelve miles northwest of Jerusalem. B.—No greater event signalized the reign of David than the removal of the Ark of the Covenant from the place of its exile in Kirjath-jearim to what was henceforth to become not only the "royal" but the "holy" city. W. Lee. 1. Chron. 15 : 1.** A tent is specially prepared by David for the reception of the Ark. Though no particulars are given, we know, from the number of servitors in the worship, and the character of the service and offerings, especially the sacrifices, that this Tabernacle must have been the centre of various and extensive temporary structures, like those of the Temple which succeeded. B.—The tabernacle which Moses had made was in Gibeah, and there, since the murder of the priests at Nob, Zadok officiated, while Abiathar acted as high-priest with David. Neither of these two could be deposed; and so there must be two tabernacles, till God Himself should set right what the sin of men had made wrong. And for this, as we believe, David looked forward to the building of a house for the God of Israel. A. E. 1. Chron. 13 : 1-6.** In befitting state David goes to bring again the Ark of God. His object in convoking so immense a representation of Israel's chosen men was twofold. He would thus signally honor the symbol of the Divine Majesty. And he would reinculcate upon the long forgetful and careless people the solemnity and need of their appointed religious observances; he would reimpress the fact, so manifest to himself, that regard to religious duty alone gave value to other reforms, vitality and permanence to all national institutions. B.—The Ark had been in the house of Abinadab for seventy or eighty years—twenty during the Philistine oppression, forty or fifty under Samuel and Saul, and perhaps ten of David's reign. A. F. K. 2. S. 6 : 3-7.** The Ark brought on its new carriage part of the journey. The first error, which led to all the rest, was an inconsiderate haste, which hindered their noting the simple ordinance respecting the bearing of the ark. They simply followed the last custom, though seventy years before, of the Philistines, in transporting it upon a new carriage. They had forgotten that the Levites were bidden to bear it on their shoulders, and not to touch it, lest they should die. So it was set in a new carriage, and the oxen were driven by the sons of Abinadab, in whose home, perhaps, the ark had become too familiar a thing for the reverence which was its due. We are then in some measure prepared for the sad close of David's first undertaking with the ark. In a seeming peril, Uzzah, one of these sons, laid hold upon the ark to keep it firm. And for this error God visited instant death upon him, in the very act. This visitation of God, with all the sorer ones, of family and national destructions for great transgrestransgressions, can readily be reconciled with a wise and right judgment of God. It needs mainly that we understand the very low mental and moral culture attained by the Israelites in those ages; and that we study the long process of training which God was constrained to employ in connection with stringent ordinances and ceremonials. At this juncture they had fallen back, had lost the reverence due to God in losing all sense of his presence in symbol and ordinance. Uzzah simply showed this, as an example of the many who had forgotten Jehovah, in neglecting and holding irreverently the Ark of His presence. And now that God comes with this chief symbol of a restored religion, He must prove his presence, and must waken awe fresh in their minds, by visiting the death he had before, by Moses, specifically threatened against him that should touch the sacred symbol. Uzzah died, but God used that death to invest Himself and the institutions of His worship with a vastly higher sacredness in the estimate of all the tribes of Israel. B. 7. God smote him there for his error.** As before at Bethshemesh an act of irreverence toward the Ark was punished with death. The Ark was the symbol of His presence, and the Levitical ordinances were designed to secure the strictest reverence for it. It was to be carried by the Levites, but they might not come near until it had been covered by the priests, nor touch it except by the staves provided for the purpose, upon pain of death. The occasion was an important one. It was the first step in the inauguration of a new era of worship, in the newly-established capital of the kingdom; and if these breaches of the Divine ordinances had been left unpunished, the lessons they were intended to teach might have been neglected. Uzzah's death was necessary for a solemn warning to David and the people. A. F. K. 1. Chron. 13 : 11-14.** Afraid and displeased, David leaves the Ark for three months in the house of Obed-Edom. Very mercifully God had dealt with David's fault, and that of the Levites, in the matter of their common inconsideration. But David does not at once see it. Like a believer of ordinary grade, even with all his superior instruction by the Spirit, he indulged in hard feelings against God for what had been done to the heedless Uzzah. God suffers him to deposit the ark by the way, and to return home for reflection awhile. Then He sends His blessing upon the whole family of the man who had gladly received and reverently watched over the ark. Afterward He brings the fact of this blessing to the knowledge of David. B. This event hath helped Obed-Edom to a guest he looked not for. God shall now sojourn in the house of him, in whose heart he dwelt before by a strong faith: else the man durst not have undertaken to receive that dreadful ark, which David himself feared to harbor. Oh, the courage of an honest and faithful heart! Obed-Edom knew well enough what slaughter the ark had made among the Philistines, and after that among the Bethshemites, and now he saw Uzzah lie dead before him; yet doth he not make any scruple of entertaining it. But he opens his doors with a bold cheerfulness, and notwithstanding all those terrors, bids God welcome. The God of heaven will not receive anything from men, on free cost. He will pay liberally for his lodging; a plentiful blessing upon Obed-Edom and all his household. It was an honor to that zealous Gittite, that the ark should come under his roof; yet God rewards that honor with benediction: never man was loser by true godliness. 2. S. 6: 12.** Now, David and Israel were not more affrighted with the vengeance upon Uzzah, than encouraged by the blessing of Obed-Edom. The wise God doth so order his just and merciful proceedings, that the awfulness of men may be tempered by love. Bp. H. 1. Chron. 15: 3-29; 16: 1, 2.** David at length brings the Ark of God into Jerusalem. With reflection his wrong fears and thoughts of God all gone, his frank admission that all his own doing had been wrong before, led him now to repair the previous error. "None ought," he said, "to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for them hath the Lord chosen." So, with a retinue of nearly a thousand priests, and "gathering all Israel," "he went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with gladness." With every solemn ceremonial, with every token of reverence and joy, with all instruments of melody, with multitudinous song and shouting, led by David, who laid aside his royal majesty and dress in the Divine presence, the mighty throng, with one heart and voice, rendered praise and honor to Jehovah, their nation's God. "So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before God." B. 15: 26. God helped the Levites that carried it. The ark was no very great burden, that they who carried it needed any extraordinary help. But the Levites, remembering the breach upon Uzzah, were ready to tremble when they took up the ark; but God helped them—that is, he encouraged them to it, silenced their fears, and strengthened their faith. God helped them to do it decently and well, and without making any mistake. God's ministers that bear the vessels of the Lord have special need of Divine help in their ministrations, that God in them may be glorified and his church edified. And if God help the Levites, the people have the benefit of it. H. 27. A linen ephod.** David laid aside his royal robes and appeared in the distinctive dress of a priest. As the head and representative of "a kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19: 6), the king possessed a priestly character; and David on this occasion exercised priestly functions in directing the sacrifices, even if he did not offer them himself (verses 17, 18), and in blessing the people. A. F. K. 1. Chron. 16: 1, 2.** The ark was placed in a tent which David had prepared to receive it, and burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were then largely offered, for the first time in Jerusalem. When these religious solemnities were performed, the king "blessed the people in the name of the Lord." Kit.—Jehovah thus returns once more to Israel, and takes up his abode in the midst of his people. The return of the Ark is not merely the bringing forth into notice of a long neglected and sacred vessel belonging to the sanctuary; it is the coming back of God himself to a people whom he had temporarily forsaken. W. H. G.—Jerusalem thus became the sanctuary as well as the capital of the kingdom. This union of the political and religious centres inaugurated a new epoch in the nation's history. It was a visible realization of the true principle of the Theocratic Monarchy. The day on which he welcomed the Ark into Zion, his own city, as a very Advent of Jehovah to dwell in the midst of His people, was the greatest day of David's life. From that day dates the beginning of the sanctity of "the Holy City," round which so many sacred associations cluster, and which has become the earthly type of heaven. A. F. K. 2. S. 6: 20-23.** Michal's reproach and David's reply. Michal is intentionally designated the daughter of Saul here, instead of the wife of David, because on this occasion she manifested her father's disposition rather than her husband's. The proud daughter of Saul was offended at the fact that the king had set himself down to the level of the people. She availed herself of the shortness of the priest's shoulder-dress to make a contemptuous remark concerning David's dancing, as an impropriety that was unbecoming in a king. Keil and Dlitzech. 21. Before the Lord, who chose me rather than thy father, yea I will play before the Lord. "Before the Lord" stands emphatically at the beginning of David's answer. No service offered to the God to whom he owed all his advancement could be degrading. Thus he defends his own conduct, and at the same time he humbles Michal's pride by alluding to Saul's rejection. A. F. K.—22.** "I will be base in mine own sight, and will think nothing too mean to stoop to for the honor of God." In the throne of judgment, and in the field of battle, none shall do more to support the grandeur and authority of a prince than David shall; but in acts of devotion he lays aside the thoughts of majesty, humbles himself to the dust before the Lord, joins in with the meanest services done in honor of the ark, and yet thinks it no diminution to him. H. 23. David came to bless his house; Michal brings a curse upon herself. Her scorns shall make her childless to the day of her death. Barrenness was held in those times none of the least judgments. God doth so revenge David's quarrel upon Michal, that she shall not be held worthy to bear a son to him whom she unjustly contemned. Bp. H. 1. Chron. 16: 4.** After the tabernacle and ark were established on Zion, he began that grand order of musical service which he enriched from time to time with his psalms, until it was ready for Solomon's grander introduction into his temple. Knox.—It was the happiness of David, not only as a warrior to draw warriors round him, and as an able ruler to attract statesmen, but also, as a born musician and poet to surround himself with musicians and poets, who assisted in the production of the psalter and composed suitable melodies for the lyrics in which the king delighted. Suddenly there came upon Jerusalem the golden age of Hebrew music and song. The songs are, happily, preserved for the admiration and use of the Christian Church. It is of great importance to note well the period at which sacred song established its place in Divine worship. By the law, came neither psalm nor sacred music. Praise is united with the spirit of prophecy. Moses sang, as a prophet, over the redemption and exodus from Egypt, and sang again before his death, or better exodus to rest with God. Deborah, the prophetess, sang of victory. A company of prophets, in the days of Samuel, prophesied, as the Spirit of God moved them, "with a psaltery, a tabret, a pipe, and a harp." So David prophesied, and Asaph and Heman "prophesied and sang." It was a time of the operation of the Spirit of God, in which sweet song obtained a leading place in the religious service. It was the time of the kingdom, too, a decided advance on that of Moses and the Law. The throne of David was established in grace, and secured by a covenant of promise. Then, and not till then, was heard the voice of praise in the courts of the house of the Lord. Why is it that the Christian Church has had, from the beginning, impulse and capacity for sacred song? It is because the Spirit of God has been poured out, and because Christ reigns in grace, and "sings praise in the midst of the Church." It is meet that there should be a continual offering of the sacrifice of praise from every Christian assembly. D. F. 7-36. We have here the thanksgiving psalm which David, by the Spirit, composed, and delivered to the chief musician, to be sung upon occasion of the public entry the ark made into the tent prepared for it. H.—It is so closely and beautifully connected in its various parts, as to give the impression of one whole, parts of which may afterward have been inserted in different Psalms, just as similar adaptations are found in other parts of the Psalter (compare, for example, Ps. 40: 17, etc., with Ps. 70). Whatever may be thought of its original form, this "Psalm" of eight stanzas, as given in the Book of Chronicles, is one of the grandest hymns in Holy Scripture. From first to last the hymn breathes a missionary spirit, far beyond any narrow and merely national aspirations. The placing of the Ark in the capital of Israel, thus making it "the city of God," was an event not only of deep national but of such typical importance, that it is frequently referred to in the sacred songs of the sanctuary. A. E.—There are many Psalms to be referred to the removal of the ark to Jerusalem, both on the ground of tradition and of their own internal evidence. At the head of these is the 132d, in which David in his own name describes the removal of the ark from the first desire of his heart to its final accomplishment, records God's eternal covenant with him and his house, and celebrates Jehovah's choice of Zion for his abode. The 68th is equally suitable for the first removal of the ark; it begins with the words appointed by Moses to be sung when the ark was lifted, "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered," and it advances from the record of victory after victory to the final establishment of God's house at Jerusalem, and the prediction of the worship He should receive from all nations of the earth. The 24th marks the entrance of the ark into the citadel of Zion by its grand refrain, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in" words which clearly set forth the idea which runs through all these psalms, of victory as well as praise. They celebrate not only the inauguration of the place of religious worship, but the installation of Jehovah, the glorious King, in the citadel from which he shall still go forth to conquer all the world. The 96th, 105th, 106th, are probably the full form, adapted to the Temple service, of the Psalm which David delivered to Asaph and his brethren at the close of this great ceremony. P. S. Truths suggested by the incidents under review. (1) The disuse of God's Word and the neglect of His worship always go together. Each leads to the other, and both lead, through heedlessness, to irreverence and disobedience. These in their turn bring results of unhappiness. (2) God's work must be done in His way, to the letter where He gives a literal command. His cause cannot be advanced, will be hindered, by any other way. Nor will He suffer men to judge of right or wrong, when he has clearly spoken. (3) God's people sometimes misinterpret His dealings, and cherish hard thoughts concerning his doings. But even then He will not judge them harshly. He will give them time for reflection, and will help them back to right thinking and feeling by gentler and instructive Providences. (4) As individual piety brings the largest personal blessings, so household piety invariably ensures the best of household blessings. Where God's presence is always desired and welcomed, where fidelity to the covenant is regarded and faith in the Covenant-Maker is firmly cherished, and where the incense of the family altar keeps up its heavenward ascent throughout the day, like the incense flame of old, there God abides. Every such household may share a kindred blessing with that bestowed on the family of Obed-Edom. (5) Joy underlies all true worship. It was a leading characteristic of the Old Testament service; instruments, and even dancing before the Lord, were only an allowed expression of a holy enthusiasm and gladness. So joy belongs equally to the spiritual worship of the New Testament. Its hallowed and beautiful ministry should be oftener invoked, and more heartily responded to, in all the services of private and public devotion. B. DAVID'S DESIRE TO BUILD A HOUSE FOR JEHOVAH. GOD'S MESSAGE BY NATHAN. THE GREAT COVENANT PROMISE. DAVID'S GRATEFUL PRAISE AND PRAYER. 2. S. 7 : 1** And it came to pass, when the king dwelt in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies round about, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. And it came to pass the same night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou (Thou shalt not, Chron.) build me an house for me to dwell in? for I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedar? Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldst be prince over my people, over Israel: and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a great name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the 11 first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will cause thee to rest from all thine enemies. Moreover the LORD telleth thee that the LORD will 12 make thee an house. When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his king- 13 dom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom 14 forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten 15 him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my mercy shall 16 not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be made sure forever before thee: thy throne shall be established for- 17 ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. 18. Then David the king went in, and sat before the LORD; and he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? 1. Chron 17:** 17 And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate 18 of a man of high degree, O LORD God. What can David say yet more unto thee concerning 19 the honor which is done to thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. O LORD, for thy word's sake, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness, to make thy servant know all these great things. 2. S. 7:** 22 Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is 23 there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem unto himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and terrible things for thy land, in driving out nations from before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee out 24 of Egypt, from the nations and their gods? And thou didst establish to thyself thy people 25 Israel to be a people unto thee forever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God. And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, 26 confirm thou it forever, and do as thou hast spoken. And let thy name be established and magnified forever, saying, The LORD of hosts is God over Israel: and the house of thy servant 27 David shall be established before thee. For thou, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found 28 in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, O LORD God, thou art God, and thy 29 words are truth, and thou hast promised this good thing unto thy servant: now therefore 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. The same desire to exalt the Lord which had distinguished David thus far now manifests itself in reference to a house for God. He dwelt in a permanent and splendid abode. God dwelt in a temporary and plain tent. The contrast impresses him painfully, and he forms the design of erecting a costly temple for God's worship. This feeling and design he communicated to the Prophet Nathan, who approved and encouraged its execution. But neither had consulted God, and both were mistaken in their confident assurance of the Divine approval. For that very night God intimated His will in the matter to Nathan. He has not desired as yet "a house of cedar," nor will he accept one at the hands of David. Elsewhere and at another time, God commends David's purpose, and assigns the reason for declining it—that David had been a man of war and of blood. Further, in the message by Nathan, David is reminded of his lowly shepherd lot, out of which God had taken him, and advanced him to a great kingdom and name. And this, not for David's sake, as David himself had before "perceived," but to establish His people Israel as a nation; to give them a permanent home and rest in the land He had promised before to Abraham, and now bestowed on them. B. 2. S. 7: 1, 2.** To complete the history of the religious movement of that period, the sacred writers insert in this place the account of David's purpose to build a temple. The introduction to the narrative (verse 1), and the circumstance that at the time most if not all the wars mentioned in 2 S. 8 and 10 were past, sufficiently indicate that in this, as in other instances, the history is not arranged according to strict chronological succession. Still it must have taken place when David's power was at its zenith. A. E. 31-11. The impulse of generous devotion, which cannot bear to lavish more upon self than it gives to God, at first commended itself to the prophet; but in the solitude of his nightly thoughts the higher Wisdom speaks in his spirit, and the Word of God gives him a message for the king. The narrative makes no mention of David's war like life as unfitting him for the task, which we find from 2 Chron. was one reason why his purpose was set aside, but brings into prominence the thought that David's generous impulse was outrunning God's commandment. So the prophetic message reminds him that the Lord had never, through all the centuries, asked for a house of cedar, and recalls the past life of David as having been wholly shaped and blessed by Him, while it pointedly inverts the king's proposal in its own grand promise, "The Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house." A. M. Of David's purpose to build a house God took notice, and he was well pleased with it, as appears (1 K. 8 : 18), Thou didst well that it was in thine heart; yet he forbade him to go on with his purpose. David is a man of war, and he must enlarge the borders of Israel, by carrying on their conquests. David is a sweet psalmist, and he must prepare psalms for the use of the temple when it is built, and settle the courses of the Levites; but his son's genius will better suit for building the house, and he will have a better treasure to bear the charge of it. 11. David had purposed to build God a house, and, in requital, God promises to build him a house. Whatever we do for God, or sincerely design to do, though Providence prevents our doing it, we shall in no wise lose our reward. He had promised to make him a name (verse 9), here he promises to make him a house, which should bear up that name. These promises God faithfully performed to David, and his seed, in due time. Though David came short of making good his purpose to build God's house, yet He did not come short of making good His promise to build him a house. Such is the tenor of the covenant we are under; though there are many failures in our performances, there are none in God's. H. 12-16. God's Covenant with David, a covenant with immediate and far-reaching promises. In reach, meaning, and preciousness, this finds its main parallel in the Covenant with Abraham. Both are but amplifications of the brief promise to the fallen Adam. Like the promise made to Abraham, this to David has a twofold reference and meaning. It refers to David's natural posterity and his earthly kingdom, and, in this refreference, is conditional upon right conduct, and is a contingent and temporary promise (1 Chron. 28 : 9). Its larger and sublimer reference is to Christ and His spiritual kingdom. Here the promise is absolute and unlimited. With this double meaning in thought, read the terms of this Divine pledge to David: I will make thee a house. I will set up thy seed after thee, and will establish his kingdom. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. Thine house and thy throne shall be established forever. This promise had a literal fulfilment, in the establishment of David's dynasty, in the enthronement of Solomon, despite the machinations of his elder brethren, and in the long perpetuation of the house of David; virtually, in the desire and will of the Jewish people, until the coming of Christ. Then the temporal part of the promise was linked on to the spiritual, of which it was the designed type and pledge. Christ was the promised seed and son of David, His kingdom that which should be established forever, according to the Old Testament and New. Paul's simple utterance sums up the substance of both: "Of this man's (David's) seed hath God, according to his promise (this very promise before us), raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus." And as this text thus expounds and explains the promise to David in its ultimate supreme reference to Christ, so it as plainly intimates that the nation Israel stands here, not for the Hebrew race, but for the greater spiritual nation or kingdom of believers in all ages. This, too, is the cheering doctrine of the whole Old Testament and New. This "royal nation," this "people all His own," shall have an everlasting habitation and rest under the enduring dominion of Jesus. Based upon this covenant with David, from this time forth Christ's Kingship is dwelt upon by David himself, and referred to by the prophets. And because the vital meaning of the Priestly office and sacrifice had been lost, it came to pass that at the Advent and onward this Kingship was the exclusive thought of the Jewish people respecting the looked-for Messiah. B. This promise has ultimate respect to Christ, the seed of David, and is fulfilled in him only; for the kingdom of David has long since ceased, any otherwise than it is upheld in Christ. That this covenant which God now established with David by Nathan the prophet, was the covenant of grace, is evident by the plain testimony of Scripture in Isa. 55 : 1-3. There we have Christ inviting sinners to come to the waters. And in the third verse he says, "Incline your ear, come unto me; hear, and your souls shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David." Here Christ offers to sinners, if they will come to him, to give them an interest in the same everlasting covenant that he had made with David, conveying to them the same sure mercies. But what is that covenant but the covenant of grace? This was the fifth solemn establishment of that covenant. The first was with Adam, the second was with Noah, the third was with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fourth was in the wilderness by Moses, and now the fifth is this made to David. This establishment of the covenant of grace with David, David always esteemed the greatest smile of God upon him, the greatest honor of all that God had put upon him; he prized it, and rejoiced in it above all the other blessings of his reign. You may see how joyfully and thankfully he received it here. And so, in his last words, he declares this to be all his salvation, and all his desire (2 S. 23 : 5). Edwards. From the very exalted emotions which the promise raised in his breast, and the enthusiasm with which he poured forth his thanksgivings for it, we infer that David saw in it far more than a promise that for generations to come his house would enjoy a royal dignity. He must have concluded that the great hope of Israel was to be fulfilled in connection with his race. God's words implied that it was in His line the promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled—"In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." He saw Christ's day afar off and was glad. W. G. B. 15. Under no circumstances would God withdraw his favor from David's royal house, or annul his gift of the kingdom, as he had done in the case of Saul. Hence, when the ten tribes revolted and set up a separate kingdom, in memory of this promise, Judah was preserved faithful to the house of David; and in the confidence that the kingdom should be given to the great Son of David in the future, the prophets speak of "the sure mercies of David." 16. The perpetuity of David's house and kingdom is further emphasized by a double "forever." The promise here made to David forms the basis of most of the Messianic hopes and prophecies from this time forward. It is dwelt upon by David in his last words (2 S. 23 : 5), and in his charge to Solomon (1 K. 2 : 4); it is more or less prominently the theme of several of the psalms (e.g., Ps. 89 : 19-37 ; 132 : 11, 12), and of the predictions of the prophets (Isa. 9 : 6, 7 ; 11 : 1, etc. ; Jer. 33 : 20, 21). W. H. G. This prophecy marks an important stage in the Old Testament revelation which prepared the way for the Messiah's coming. The primeval promise to Adam held out the hope of deliverance through "the seed of the woman." Abraham received the assurance that "in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed;" Jacob in his dying blessing assigned the sceptre to Judah. Thus the whole human race, one nation of the race, and one tribe of the nation, were successively designated to be the means of realizing the promise of blessing to mankind. And now by this prophetic declaration a further limitation was made, and the family of David was chosen out of the tribe of Judah as the depository of the promise. At this epoch of the national history, Israel's hopes centred in the theocratic kingdom, in the establishment of a government whose head was to be the visible representative of Jehovah. And now by God's message through Nathan this kingdom was forever promised to the house of David. To it therefore men's hopes were now directed as the destined instrument of salvation. But this prophecy does not speak of the Messiah as an individual; it does not predict the perfect reign of a sinless king. It contemplates a succession of kings of David's line, who would be liable to fall into sin and would need the discipline of chastisement. The perfect king in whom, as we now know, the line was to culminate, and the prophecy receive its highest fulfilment, is not yet foreshadowed. It remained for prophet and psalmist, developing this fundamental revelation, to draw the picture of the ideal king who should spring from David's seed, and exercise dominion as the true representative of Jehovah on earth. As each human heir of David's line failed to fulfil the expectation, hope was carried forward and elevated, until He came to whom is given the throne of His father David, and of whose kingdom there shall be no end. The subsequent references to this great promise should be carefully studied: David applies it to Solomon (1 Chron. 22 : 9, 10 ; 28 : 2). Solomon claims it for himself (1 K. 5 : 5 ; 2 Chron. 6 : 7 ff. ; 1 K. 8 : 17-20). It is confirmed to Solomon (1 K. 9 : 4, 5). It is repeatedly affirmed, that in spite of the sin of individual kings, the kingdom shall not be withdrawn from David's house for his sake (1 K. 11 : 31-39 ; 15 : 4, 5 ; 2 K. 8 : 18, 19). Ps. 89, written no doubt in the dark days when the monarchy was already tottering to its fall, recapitulates this promise, and pleads with God that He should not suffer it to be frustrated. See especially verses 19-37. A. F. K. This prophecy is a covenant-promise which, extending along the whole line, culminates in the Son of David, and in all its fulness applies only to Him. These three things did God join in it, of which one necessarily implies the other, alike in the promise and in the fulfilment: a unique relationship, a unique kingdom, and a unique fellowship and service resulting from both. The unique relationship was that of Father and Son, which in all its fulness only came true in Christ (Heb. 1: 5). The unique kingdom was that of the Christ, which would have no end (Luke 1: 32, 33; John 3: 35). And the unique sequence of it was that brought about through the temple of His body (John 2: 19), which will appear in its full proportions when the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven (Rev. 21: 1-3). Such was the glorious hope opening up wider and wider, till at its termination David could see "afar off" the dawn of the bright morning of eternal glory; such was the destiny and the mission which, in His infinite goodness, God assigned to His chosen servant. Many were his failings and sins, and those of his successors; and heavy rods and sore stripes were to fall upon them. But that promise never failed. Apprehended from the first by the faith of God's people, it formed the grand subject of their praise, and continued the hope of the Church, as expressed in the burning language and ardent aspirations of psalmists and prophets. Brighter and brighter this light grew, even unto the perfect day; and when all else seemed to fail, these were still "the sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55: 3), steadfast and stable, at last fully realized in the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A. E. This is a germinal or seed prophecy—a standard prediction which leads the thought of numerous subsequent prophecies, and which furnishes largely the current phraseology—the symbols and terms in which later prophecies of the Messiah were clothed. The Messiah was subsequently presented very generally as a King—a king after the type of David, with a kingdom analogous to his; as a successor to David, on his throne; and as bearing in prophecy the name, David. The latter point is the more conclusive because he was never known by this name during his incarnation. It appears in prophecy only, and, therefore, has the more unquestionable allusion to this great germinal prophecy. The Messianic Psalms, especially those written by David himself, must be high authority on this point, since they reveal his own conceptions of the promised Messiah. Remarkably these Psalms do everywhere represent the Messiah as King. The Messiah, as seen by Isaiah, is in several visions a King on the throne of David (9: 6, 7, etc.) In Isa. 55: 3 the phrase "the sure mercies of David," looks toward this very passage (2 S. 7) as embodying and embosoming in itself the fullness of Messianic promise—the great idea of Divine mercy to a lost world. It can scarcely be necessary to follow this argument through the Messianic prophecies of the other prophets. But we ought not to overlook the sublime strains of those latest prophets who, standing in the presence of the infant Jesus, foresaw his future triumphs and gave their interpretation of these earliest promises made to David. The angel Gabriel brought down these words prophetic of Jesus: "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1: 32). So Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for having raised up an horn of Salvation (a powerful Saviour) for us in the house of his servant David, under whom we shall be saved from our enemies,"—he being a real king over his people. Further, note the testimony of Peter, given under the special inspiration of the great day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 30): "David, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath unto him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne," etc. There seems to be no room to doubt that Peter refers to this passage in 2 S. 7, for there is no other promise of God to David on record to which he can refer. Peter inferred (very justly) that the promise of an eternal throne to one who was a descendant of David must assume and imply his resurrection, and an immortal life beyond. Let us close with the testimony of Paul, from whose sermon at Antioch (Acts 13: 22, 23) we may read—"I have found David the Son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart; of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus"—the promise referred to being none other than this in 2 S. 7. H. C. Now we can understand why David was overcome with ecstasy of emotion; why he thought that all which Jehovah had done for him in raising him to a throne was a small thing compared with this new covenant promise. He felt himself now exalted to the position of the Adam, in that, like Adam and Noah and Abraham, he had been selected to stand as the great representative and typical man, and the starting-point of a new covenant, in the grand series through which the scheme of redemption was to be developed to men. And this new covenant with David becomes a new and additional development of the relations and office of the promised Deliverer to the faith of the church. Before, he has been revealed, in every age, as her Prophet, to reveal the will of God. Thus was he revealed in all the Theophanies of the Patriarchal era, in the Sinai revelations, and in the oracles of the Theocratic era. Before, he has been revealed, in every age, as her Priest. So he was revealed in all the varieties of the ritual of atonement by sacrifice. Now he is revealed also as her King, to rule his chosen people and conquer all enemies. And henceforth, while faith contemplates him none the less as Prophet and Priest, it contemplates him chiefly as coming in his Kingly office to gather out of all nations and all ages a great spiritual kingdom as the result of his prophetic and priestly work. From this time forward the chief purpose of the prophetic teachings and revelations is to develop the nature, the functions and the destiny of this peculiar typical kingdom, organized by the covenant with David, under the administration of the great Founder and King typified in David's royal line. The key-note to which the harp of prophecy is attuned henceforth is "Thy throne, Oh God, is forever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." The fundamental form of the Church's theology is moulded in this promise of a coming King to administer a universal kingdom. The Church gospel becomes a proclamation, as in Isaiah, "I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the sure mercies of David." As this conception of a spiritual kingdom to come is that with which the series of Old Testament revelations closes, so it is that with which the New Testament opens. Jesus has come to sit upon the throne of his father David, is the grand annunciation at the incarnation of the Son of God, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" is the first New Testament preaching. This kingdom according to the covenant with David, as the kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God, was the grand subject of the preaching of Jesus during his personal ministry. The great truth first proclaimed by the Apostles after his ascension and the outpouring of the spirit was, "Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour." The last vision of him by mortal eye is as the "Lamb in the midst of the throne." The last gospel that closes up revelation, comes from Jesus as "the root and the offspring of David." Thus, in the entire Scriptures Jesus Christ is exhibited as the Prophet who reveals all and the Priest who redeems all, in order that He may be the King that rules all. S. R. 18-21. David gratefully acknowledges God's unmerited favors. Profoundly moved by the message of Nathan, he goes to the tabernacle, and there continues for a time before the Lord. Accepting without a word the disappointment of his desire to build a House for the Lord, rejoicing, as we learn, that it would be erected by his son, and content with the humble part of garnering material for the sacred structure, David now simply responds almost in terms to the words of Jehovah. "Thou didst take me," he says, "from the sheep-cote, thou didst choose me from a lowly household. And it was a small thing for thee to do, to elevate me to the highest honor. Now thou hast added to all this the promise to perpetuate my name and house! How can I express my obligations?" Then gratefully he traces "all these great things" to previous promises, and to God's own love and grace alone. "Not from any desert of mine, but of thine own heart hast thou been moved in doing all." Next he passes from this gracious dealing with himself to the higher election of the Jewish nation. 22-24. David recognizes God's sovereign love in his choice and confirmation alike of the earthly and the spiritual Israel. "Nations, like individuals, are subjects of thy sovereign dealing. And Israel thou hast 'redeemed to thee' from among the nations. In all the way thou hast led this people, in all the great and terrible things thou hast done for their protection and deliverance, thou hast shown thy sovereign power and thine electing love." Then, recurring to the enlarged promises in behalf of His people, just uttered at the mouth of Nathan, David recognizes in the words God's own eternal confirmation of His long-covenanted blessings, His pledge that the spiritual Israel shall be His people, and that He will be their God forever. To these words in this sublime interpretation, Isaiah refers in that wonderful Gospel invitation, his fifty-fifth chapter, where he declares in God's name "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." So Zacharias in his song, Peter and Paul in their discourses make similar reference to these words of David in this their larger application to God's spiritual Israel. Nay, more than this, as already intimated, David himself afterward, in his Messianic Psalms, the Evangelical Prophet, and the Apostles, centre all the blessings of this everlasting covenant in the person and work of Christ the Son of David, the only King eternal. Here then, let it be noted again, in this higher significance of God's covenant with David, we find the central truth which links all truths of the entire Revelation of God. And here we learn that David's kingship and David's kingdom are distinguished from others only as they represent the Almighty Kingship and the everlasting Kingdom of the Lord Jehovah, Jesus. B. 26. David prays for the glorifying of God's name; Let thy name be magnified forever; this ought to be the summary and centre of all our prayers, the Alpha and the Omega of them; begin with Hallowed be thy name, and end with Thine is the glory forever. 29. Let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, and again, with thy blessing; let the house of thy servant be truly and eternally blessed. Those whom thou blessest are blessed indeed. The care of good men is very much concerning their families; and the best entail on their families is that of the blessing of God. The repetition of this request is not a vain repetition, but expressive of the value he had of the Divine blessing, and his earnest desire of it, as all in all to the happiness of his family. H. 25-29. In these verses we have a characteristic supplication of an Old Testament believer. David's one request is that God will do as He has said, that He will establish and bless His servant's house forever. This request is presented in many forms and with various urgent pleas. Yet one plea is strongest, and blends with all others. It is God's promise, His voluntary promise. He says, "Thou hast promised this goodness, and thy words be true!" "Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it, and thou art that God" who "for thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast done all these great things!" His simple faith affirms, "Thou canst not deny thyself, thy promised mercies are sure!" Yet while he thus believes, he well understands that true faith and desire must and will find expression in earnest prayer—that God wills that true faith and desire shall turn promises into prayers, and so insure that prayers be turned into fulfilments. Hence his many, varied, importunate requests. We take this as the first of several pointed suggestions that may be gathered out of this entire prayer of David. The soul that truly prays first considers God's promises; realizes that the good promised is that which it needs and desires; believes, from what God is and has done, that He will keep the promise and give the desired good; and, under the quickening of desire and faith, earnestly asks and pleads for it. Whatever increase of spiritual breadth and light the New Testament brings, it adds nothing to the teachings of the Old respecting the elements and practice of prayer. The prayers of Paul are grander in their reach, sublimer in their spiritual depth, but the prayers of Abraham, Moses, and David deeply touch and teach our hearts with their simplicity of faith and fervor of expression. Most effectively do these Old Testament saints "teach us how to pray." Another suggestion from David's prayer. He believed and therefore prayed the Scripture doctrine of God's sovereignty. Belief in the doctrine did not hinder, but prompted his prayer. He admitted the fact of this sovereignty exactly as God asserted it. Then he applied it to himself, to his people, and to all peoples forevermore. Nay more, he found motive and comfort in it, motive to pray, and comfort in praying. And this kind of prayer, this reference to God's sovereign greatness and grace, and these repeated, intense pleas based on His sovereignty, were accepted of God. So to-day, with us. The same faith in God's gracious control over life's daily events, admitted and cherished, will prompt and help, not hinder prayer; will strengthen motive and increase comfort in praying. And now, as ever, God delights in and will respond to every plea resting upon His sovereign gracious willing and doing. Specially instructive, also, in this same connection, are two expressions of this prayer when set together. Because "according to thine own heart thou hast done," "thy servant hath found in his heart to pray." Here God's heart and man's are referred to as the ultimate spring of action. And here the acting of God's heart is counted as the moving influence in the acting of man's heart. David believed that the heart of God actuated His doing, that love impelled and executed His plans, therefore his own heart was moved to love, to gratitude and devotion. Here is the Divine love waking the human. Here is the Divine Plan exhibited as actuated and formed under the instigation of Divine Love. Here, in a word, is the Old Testament way of rendering that incomparable utterance of Christ, "God so loved the world," etc. And as God's heart moves His will and hand in all his deeds toward men, so it is in man's heart He seeks response, in man's love He supremely delights. A final point is, that the heart quickened to pray as David's was, may well imitate the simplicity and directness of his pleading. Such pleading is not common—is scarce counted reverent by some. But if the heart be in it, if an object desired be promised, if there be faith with desire, then, however simple, plain, or defective the form of expression, God will see in it no disrespect, but the attempt to do honor to Him. No matter how large the blessing sought, if it come within the reach of promise, and if faith turn the promise into prayer, then God will turn the prayer into praise by its fulfilment. B. 1. The whole of the Jewish dispensation was designed by God to be a preparation for the coming of Christ. Many of its institutions, ordinances, events, and characters were typical—that is to say, they were intended to be as it were outlines drawn beforehand to prefigure and foreshadow Christ, and to prepare men's minds to expect His coming. 2. The Kingdom of God in Israel was typical of the Kingdom of God afterward to be established in the world; and the King of Israel was typical of Christ, the King of that universal kingdom. The characteristics of his office, as interpreted by a succession of prophets, led men to look for One who should perfectly realize the ideal, which had been imperfectly realized by the best of their human kings. 3. The Theocratic King was typical of Christ in the following respects: (1) His distinctive title was "the Lord's Anointed:" and under this very title men were led to look for the coming Deliverer as the Messiah or the Christ. (2) He was the visible representative of Jehovah, who was Himself the true King of Israel; the instrument of the Divine government, through whom He dispensed deliverance, help, and blessing. He would therefore be a conquering king, before whom no enemies could stand, if he was true to his calling. So Christ came as the representative of God, with supreme authority in earth, delegated to Him by His Father, and destined finally to conquer all His enemies. (3) His will was therefore to be in perfect harmony with the will of God; and his kingdom would be, in proportion as it realized its purpose, a kingdom of righteousness and peace; foreshadowing imperfectly what was never perfectly accomplished except by Christ. (4) In virtue of this intimate relation to God he received the lofty title of God's Son (2 S. 7 : 14), a title given to no other individual, signifying God's parental care over him, and the filial obedience due from him to God. This title is a most striking anticipation of the mysterious relationship of Christ to God. 4. In these respects any king of Israel, who at all fulfilled his office, was to some extent a type of Christ; and David, because he was the truest example of a king after God's own heart, was the most prominent and striking type of Christ among them. And David, more than any other single individual, was a type, an anticipatory likeness, of Christ the Perfect Man. In the fervency of his aspirations, in the closeness of his communion with God, in the firmness of his trust, in the strength of his love, he was unrivalled by any human character of the Old Testament. No man ever "touched humanity at so many points;" and the many-sidedness of his character, and the variety of his experience, which qualified him for practical sympathy with all ranks and all conditions of life among his subjects, made him again a type of Him whom "it behoved in all things to be made like unto his brethren." He was an eminent example of the spiritual capability of the human soul as a recipient of Divine illumination, preparing the way for the highest Example of all. (7) In these respects, both as king and as man, David was an undoubted type of Christ. Many other striking correspondences between him and the antitype whom he prefigured may be noted; for example, his occupation as shepherd, first of his flock, and then of Israel: his persecution by enemies, and elevation to reign through many sufferings and trials: the misunderstandings and scorn he met with from his own relations: his betrayal by one who had been admitted to his closest confidence, and so forth: but though these analogies are most interesting and instructive, it may be questioned whether they can, strictly speaking, be called typical. A. F. K. DAVID'S VICTORIES OVER PHILISTIA, MOAB, TWO SYRIAN KINGDOMS, AND EDOM. GATHERED TREASURE DEDICATED TO GOD'S HOUSE. HIS WISE, JUST REIGN. CIVIL OFFICERS. 2. S. 8 : 1** And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them : and David took the bridle of the mother city Gath, and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground ; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became servants to David, and brought presents. David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen : and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots. And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succor Hadadezer king of Zobah, David smote of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus : and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought presents. And the LORD gave victory to David whithersoever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass. And when Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer, then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and smitten him : for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him all manner of vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass : these also did king David dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued ; of Syria, of Edom, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men. And he put garrisons in Edom ; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the LORD gave victory to David whithersoever he went. And David reigned over all Israel ; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people. And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host ; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder : and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were priests ; and Seraiah was scribe ; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites ; and David's sons were chief about the king. By a fitting arrangement, the record of God's promise to establish the kingdom of David is followed by an account of all his wars, though here also the order is not strictly chronological. In fact, we have merely a summary of results, which is all that was necessary in a history of the kingdom of God—the only exception being in the case of the war with Ammon and their allies the Syrians, which is described in detail in 2 S. 10 and 11 because it is connected with David's great sin. A. E. 2. S. 8 : 1-15. His own throne, and the service of God's sanctuary, being thus established, David advanced to the final subjugation of the enemies of Israel. 1.** The Philistines were now, in their turn, invaded and subdued by David, who took the proud frontier city of Gath, "The bridle of the mother-city," with its "daughter towns." Except one or two minor combats, we hear of no further trouble from the Philistines during David's reign. This conquest secured to Israel its promised boundary on the southwest, the "river of Egypt." 2. Turning to the eastern frontier, David exacted from Moab a signal vengeance for all her enmity against Israel down from the time of Balak. Two thirds of the people were put to death, and the other third reduced to tribute. David's personal relations to this nation, whose blood he shared, had been so friendly that we have seen him committing his father and mother to the care of the King of Moab, but we may be quite sure that David's vengeance was provoked by some treacherous insult, as in the later case of Ammon. Thus was Balaam's prophecy fulfilled:—"Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of Ar" (the metropolis of Moab). 3-6. The eastern frontier being now secured, for Nahash the Ammonite was his friend, David advanced to the conquest of the promised boundary on the northeast, "the great river Euphrates." Two Syrian kingdoms lay between him and his purpose. That of Zobah, which has been mentioned more than once before, was then governed by Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, whom David defeated, taking from him his force of 1000 chariots, 700 horse, and 20,000 infantry. The chariot-horses were hamstrung, according to the command of Moses, but David could not resist the temptation of reserving 100 chariots as an ornament for his royal state. The Syrians of Damascus, coming to the help of Hadadezer, were defeated with the loss of 22,000 men: and that fairest and oldest of the cities of the world was made tributary to David, and garrisoned by his troops. "Thus did Jehovah preserve David whithersoever he went." 9-12. These victories led to an alliance with Toi, king of Hamath (the Cœle-Syria of the Greeks), who sent his son Joram to congratulate David on the defeat of Hadadezer, his own enemy. This, together with the old friendship of Hiram king of Tyre, secured the northern frontier; and David returned to Jerusalem, laden with the golden shields of Hadadezer's body guard, the brass taken from his cities (verse 8) and the vessels of gold and silver and brass which Joram had brought as presents. All these, together with the spoils of Moab and the Philistines, the plunder formerly taken from Amalek, and that gained afterward from Edom and the sons of Ammon, he dedicated for the service of the future Temple. 13, 14. The long conflict of Edom with his brother Israel was now brought to its first decision by a great victory gained by Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, in "the valley of Salt" (on the south of the Dead Sea), in which the Edomites lost 18,000 men. David was probably in Syria at the time of this battle, which was followed up by a great army under Joab, who in six months almost exterminated the male population. David then visited the conquered land, and placed garrisons in all the cities. The young king, Hadad, however, escaped to Egypt, and became afterward a formidable enemy to Solomon. These victories, which David celebrates in the 60th and 110th Psalms, carried the southern frontier of Israel to the eastern head of the Red Sea; and from that point to the frontier of Egypt, the Arab tribes had felt enough of his power as an exile not to molest him in the hour of his triumph. The bounds of the promised land were now fully occupied, though not even now so completely as if Israel had been faithful from the first. For, besides the scattered remnants of the old inhabitants, several of whom (as Itai the Gittite, Uriah the Hittite, and others) were conspicuous among the king's great men; besides that the Philistines and others, who had been devoted to extermination, were only reduced to tribute; there was one fair province unsubdued, the whole coast of Phoenicia, the great cities of which still flourished under their native kings, the chief of whom was David's first ally. These extended limits were only preserved during the reigns of David and of Solomon, a period of about sixty years. For that time, however, the state formed no longer a petty monarchy barely holding its own among the surrounding nations, as under Saul; but it was truly one of the great Oriental monarchies; too truly, indeed, for the magnificence of Solomon sapped its strength, and prepared its speedy dissolution. Meanwhile David's position is thus described by the Prophet Nathan:—"Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth." 15. Thus "David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people." P. S. 2. In the first wars the conquerors gave no quarter at all, but destroyed all their enemies without distinction of age or sex. Prisoners were also destroyed in the same manner. This was the ancient war law. We are fully persuaded that it is for the very purpose of marking his humane consideration for the Moabites, contrary to all the rules of warfare in that age, the fact is mentioned, which has been fastened upon by thoughtless persons as a proof of his harshness. There can be no doubt, we think, that every man among the Moabitish prisoners fully expected to be put to death; and that the exemption of a large third was received as an act of unparalleled grace on the part of David. Kit. 6. This war is mentioned not only by Eupolemus, who appears to have been well acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures, but also by Nicolas of Damascus, the friend of Augustus Cæsar, who clearly draws his history from the records of his native place. "After this," says Nicolas, "there was a certain Hadad, a native Syrian, who had great power: he ruled over Damascus, and all Syria, except Phoenicia. He likewise undertook a war with David, the king of Judea, and contended against him in a number of battles; in the last of them all—which was by the river Euphrates, and in which he suffered defeat—showing himself a prince of the greatest courage and prowess." This is a testimony of the same nature with those already adduced from Berosus and Manetho; it is a separate and independent notice of an event in Jewish history, which has come down to us from the other party in the transaction, with particulars not contained in the Jewish account, yet compatible with all that is so contained, and strictly corroborative of the main circumstances of the Hebrew narrative. G. R. 7-12. The troops of Hadadezer seem to have brought something like Assyrian magnificence from beyond the Euphrates. There were not only the chariots and horses, but some of the troops had golden shields, which of course came into the hands of David. He found also valuable spoils of brass in some of the captured cities. All this, as well as the metallic spoils of his other wars, David appropriated, not to his own enrichment, but to the object he had most at heart,—the future temple of the Lord. He was forbidden to build it himself, but there was nothing to prevent him from gathering materials for it; and this he did to such an extent—not only by the treasure he accumulated, but by leaving a plan of the building, and by organizing the sacred ministrations—that a careful consideration of the matter may leave it doubtful, whether much more of the credit of the undertaking is not due to him than to Solomon. Kit.—David aimed at the glory of God. All the precious things he was master of were dedicated things; they were designed for the building of the temple; and a good omen it was of kindness to the Gentiles in the fulness of time, and of the making of God's house a house of prayer for all people, that the temple was built of the spoils and presents of Gentile nations. In allusion to which, we find the kings of the earth bringing their glory and honor into the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21: 24). H. 13,14. The superscription of Psalm 60 indicates that the main army of David was still occupied in the Syrian war, when Abishai was detached to oppose the Edomites. At such a time nothing but the most urgent necessity of resisting their aggressions could have constrained the king to weaken an army engaged in the most important campaign of all his wars. The Edomites, therefore, by their aggression brought down upon their heads the ancient doom of eventual subjection to the house of Jacob. On the approach of Abishai into the valley of Salt, at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, a most bloody battle was fought between the two armies, and the desperateness with which the Edomites contested the victory may be judged from the fact that they left eighteen thousand of their number slain upon the battle-field. From 1 K. 11: 14-17, it appears that as soon as Joab was released from the Syrian campaign, he marched to this new scene of action, in order to settle the conquered country. He remained there six months, with the bulk of the Hebrew army. Joab's mode of settling the country was after the Oriental fashion—of making a desolation, and calling it peace. Exasperated at the attempt of the Edomites, which might have endangered the large operations in the north, he caused the male Edomites to be hunted out and put to death, wherever they were found; and established Hebrew garrisons in the strongholds and principal towns of Edom. Thus Edom became subject to David. Kit. Since the days of Moses, Edom had never come into a collision with Israel. But in an evil hour, Edom had joined the great Ammonite confederacy. Brief as are the Scripture references, it is evident that this confederacy was one of supreme peril for the Israelite monarchy, and had been planned with consummate political skill by Hanun and Hadadezer. Humanly speaking, the battles of Helam and Betah were, as those of Bethhoron and Kadesh had been, four hundred and fifty years before, the decisive battles of the crisis of Israel's history. David, like all successful leaders, was prompt to strike, and never too late. While Joab and the bulk of his army was detained after his victories before the fortress of Ammon, he detached Abishai to inflict speedy vengeance on Edom. At the south end of the Dead Sea he won a signal victory, which left the pass of Akrabbim open. He ascended it, took the strong city (Ps. 60: 9)—that is, Petra, and penetrated every ravine and defile of the rugged mountains. Joab, when the eastern campaign was over, followed up his brother's success, gave no quarter to the male population, and completely subdued and garrisoned the whole country. Thus the frontiers of Egypt and Israel became conterminous. H. B. T. 15. God gives men power, not that they may look great with it, but that they may do good with it. When David reigned over all Israel, he executed judgment and justice among all his people, and so answered the end of his elevation. He was not so intent on his conquests abroad as to neglect the administration of justice at home. Herein he served the purposes of the kingdom of providence, and of that God who sits in the throne judging right; and was an eminent type of the Messiah, the sceptre of whose kingdom is a right sceptre. H.—This idea of equal justice to all, and especially to those who had no helper, was a very beautiful one in David's eyes. It gathered round it those bright and happy features which in the seventy-second Psalm are associated with the administration of another King. The thought is one on which the Psalmist dwells with great delight. "He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight." So far from need and poverty repelling him, they attract him. His interest and his sympathy are moved by the cry of the destitute. And in this we find the features of that higher government of David's Son which shows so richly His most gracious nature. The cry of sorrow and need, as it rose from this dark world, did not repel, but rather attracted, Him. Though the woes of man sprang from his own misdeeds, He gave Himself to bear them and carry their guilt away. All were in the lowest depths of spiritual poverty, but for that reason His hand was the more freely offered for their help. W. G. B. 16-18. A summary notice of the internal administration of the kingdom, with a list of David's chief officers of state, is appended to the account of his wars. Another list of these officers is given in ch. 20 : 23-26. A similar list of Solomon's officers is to be found in 1 K. 4 : 1-6. The principal civil officers of the king's court were the Counsellor, the Recorder or Remembrancer, the Scribe or Secretary of State, the King's Companion or Friend, and, in the later years of his reign, the Superintendent of the Levy. These, together with the king's sons, who had the title of "Ministers," the two High-priests, the Commander-in-chief of the army, and the Captain of the body-guard, formed the king's privy council. A. F. K. The systematic administration of his kingdom by King David was the fruit of a remarkable faculty of orderly arrangement that belonged to most of the great men of Israel. We see it in Abraham, in his prompt and successful marshalling of his servants to pursue and attack the kings of the East when they carried off Lot; we see it in Joseph, first collecting and then distributing the stores of food in Egypt; in Moses, conducting that marvellous host in order and safety through the wilderness; and, in later times, in Ezra and Nehemiah, reducing the chaos which they found at Jerusalem to a state of order and prosperity which seemed to verify the vision of the dry bones. We see it in the Son of David, in the orderly way in which all His arrangements were made: the sending forth of the twelve Apostles and the seventy disciples, the arranging of the multitude when He fed the five thousand, and the careful gathering up of the fragments "that nothing be lost." In the spiritual kingdom, a corresponding order is demanded, and times of peace and rest in the Church are times when this development is specially to be studied. W. G. B. David's conquests must have been considerable. The methods by which he subjected the immense territory between the frontiers of Egypt and the Euphrates must have given proof of uncommon military skill and prowess. Yet the sacred historian merely refers to them. His sufferings under Saul's persecutions, on the contrary, of which an ordinary historian would have made cursory mention, are in the Bible fully and graphically reported, because they formed the school in which the heart of that "man of God" was trained so as to make him truly a "man after God's heart." It is only from some incidental scraps of the sacred record that we know of David's extraordinary talents as a politician, a general, and a poet; but often-times it is from the most elaborate pictures that we obtain knowledge of his confidence in God in times of trouble, and of his deep contrition in times of sin and guilt. De Liefde. Thus began the powerful reign of David, during which, by a series of successful wars, he rendered the kingdom of Israel not only independent of foreign domination, but even extended its northern and eastern boundary to the Euphrates, and raised himself to a position of power which inspired other nations with fear. Thus the kingship of David becomes the type of the kingdom of God which overcomes the world. David was himself filled with the idea of a theocratic ruler: his life and acts were founded on the one thought of being found as the servant of Jehovah, the God who had chosen him and taken him from the sheepfolds to feed His chosen people (Ps. 78 : 70-72). This is evident in several of his psalms,—in that mirror of kings (Ps. 101), in which he portrays a sovereign as a righteous judge, and in the song of thanksgiving (Ps. 18). O. 1. Chron. Chs. 23 and 24: Courses and Office of Priests and Levites. Ch. 25: Courses and Service of Singers and Players in the Praise-Ministry of the House of God. Ch. 26: Courses of the Doorkeepers and the Treasure-Keepers of the House of God. Ch. 27: Monthly Courses of Chief Captains of the King's Host. Rulers over the Several Tribes. Receivers and Trustees of the Royal Revenue, as Annually Contributed from the Industries and Produce of the whole People. Established upon the throne in the full maturity of his powers, his wisdom and capacity of organization are illustrated in the great work of his life, for which God had anointed and prepared him—the consolidation of the long disunited tribes into an imperial nation. With a statesman's constructive genius he centralized the national power, and buttressed it with well-organized institutions of religion, education, justice, civil order, and even of industry. Many years passed ere the completion of this work, years of unbroken prosperity because years of trust and devotion, of pure aspiration and faithful toil. B. The ordinances of David are mentioned as of a parallel validity with those of Moses in 2 Chron. 23:18. The worship of Israel was perfected by David, by the addition that he made to the ceremonial law, which we have an account of in the 23d, 24th, 25th, and 26th chapters of the First Book of Chronicles, consisting in the several orders and courses into which David divided the Levites, and the work and business to which he appointed them, different from what Moses had appointed them to; and also in the divisions of the priests the sons of Aaron into four-and-twenty courses, assigning to every course their business in the house of the Lord, and their particular stated times of attendance there; appointing some of the Levites to a new office, that of singers, and others to the several services of porters, treasurers, officers, and judges: and these ordinances of David were kept up henceforth in the church of Israel, as long as the Jewish Church lasted. Thus we find the several orders of priests, and the Levites, the porters, and singers, after the captivity. So we find the courses of the priests appointed by David still continuing in the New Testament; so Zacharias the father of John the Baptist was a priest of the course of Abia; which is the same with the course of Abijah appointed by David, that we here read of (24:10). Edwards. It moves our veneration,—the majestic continuity of this holy office, the order of its courses reaching from the reign of King David, unbroken save by the short interruptions of captivity, and scarcely even then, for four of the courses returned to Jerusalem to take their places when the exile was over;—the priesthood itself, dating back to the wilderness, reaching over a tract of centuries that saw the rising and falling of many empires,—its ranks very commonly embracing thousands of men. The sublimity of it is only heightened when we recall the nature of that ministry committed to them by God himself. Constant as the morning and evening that daily open and shut their gates on the eyes of men, they waited around that altar which steadfastly prefigured and prophesied the Redeemer; they kept a sleepless watch over the fire on the altar of burnt-offerings, which typified Christ's eternal sacrifice, never letting it go out, day or night; they "fed the golden lamps outside the veil with sacred oil;" they offered the daily sacrifices, morning and evening, at the door of the tabernacle; they were always ready at hand to do the cleansing and comforting offices commanded in the law. F. D. H. The great improvement in the organization effected by David related to the Levites. He made their former duties more definite; divided them into classes, assigning to each its service; and he very considerably enlarged the field of their labors. They were still employed as before to wait on the priests and perform multitudinous services in purifying, cleansing, etc.; also in preparing the shew-bread and the materials for meat-offerings, etc., as we see in 23:28-32. They were also employed as porters, having charge of the gates; as scribes and recorders; and, not least, as treasurers—an important function after the large accession of consecrated wealth which came in from the spoils of war (26 : 20-28). The directions in which their service was greatly enlarged were chiefly these three : the service of instruction ; the service of civil officers and judges ; and the service of song. Very distinct reference to their service as teachers among the people appears in the history of the reformation under Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17 : 9) ; also under Hezekiah (2 Chron. 30 : 22) ; and under Josiah (2 Chron. 35 : 3). Very probably this branch of their duties was a growth, advancing from the time of David onward. Much the same may be said of their functions as civil judges, this service, like that of public instruction, resulting from the fact that they were by profession devoted largely to the study of the Hebrew law. We read here (26 : 29) that David assigned "Chenaiah and his sons for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges." Jehoshaphat made them prominent in the capacity of judges (2 Chron. 19 : 8-11). But by far the most important change made by David in the service of the Levites lay in the direction of sacred song. This was chiefly if not entirely a new service—a new appendage to the religious worship at the tabernacle. The provisions made for it were at once systematic and ample. As "the sweet Psalmist of Israel," who said of himself, "The Spirit of Jehovah spoke by me, and His word was in my tongue," it was David's peculiar honor, not only for the Jewish Church, but for the Church Universal to the end of time, to direct that part of God's worship which is the best utterance of the heart, the tuneful notes of praise, inseparably blended with prayer and with the utterance of Divine truth. A great truth is expressed by the common title which names the whole book "The Psalms of David ;" for he founded psalmody as an institution, taught it to Asaph and his other immediate successors, and gave the model which all later psalmists followed. While he thus furnished the matter of psalmody, he regulated its manner, by arranging for the first time a full choral service. To this office David, in conjunction with the chiefs of the Levites, set apart three families, one from each of the three houses of the tribe, the Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites. They were prophets as well as singers, "to prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals ;" and they handed down their art from generation to generation by a systematic course of instruction, "the teacher as well as the scholar." These families were those of Asaph, the son of Berechiah the Gershonite, the chief singer, and also distinguished as a seer ; of Heman the Kohathite, son of Joel, and grandson of the Prophet Samuel, and himself "the king's seer in the words of God ;" and of Jeduthun (or Ethan), a Merarite, who is also called "the king's seer." The names of each of these leaders are found in the titles of particular Psalms ; and the tripartite division was observed till the Captivity, and probably restored after the return. At first they were divided between the ark at Jerusalem and the tabernacle at Gibeon, the family of Asaph being assigned to the former, and those of Heman and Jeduthun to the latter. The three families numbered 288 principal singers, divided by lot into twenty-four courses of twelve in each ; but the total of the Levites engaged in praising Jehovah "with the instruments which David made" was 4000. P. S. On this whole subject the passage (25 : 1-7) is classic, showing that those men were not mere performers—professional yet heartless singers and players on instruments ; but they poured their souls forth in sacred song ; "prophesied" the phrase is—"prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord." Due training in music was not neglected, for we read that they were instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that were skilful—in number, 288. It is noticeable that this service of song was not merely occasional (as seems to have been the case before David) but was constant, for after locating the ark in its sacred tent, they "left there before the ark, Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually as every day's work required" (1 Chron. 16 : 37). Another allusion (1 Chron. 23 : 30) speaks of the office of these Levite singers "to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even." In the standard passages in 1 Chronicles which describe David's reorganization of the tabernacle worship and the introduction of music, we are not informed definitely at what stage in the course of sacrificial worship music and song were introduced—whether they preceded the offering of sacrifice, followed, or accompanied simultaneously. But in the historical account of the great passover under Hezekiah, the desired information appears in full. Having put the Levite choir in position with the orchestra also (instruments) "Hezekiah commanded to proceed with the burnt-offering ; and, when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded ; and all this continued until the burnt-offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped" (2 Chron. 29 : 25-30). Thus sacred song strictly accompanied the service of the burnt-offering till it was ended; after which, all, king and people, reverently oowed themselves and worshipped. Whether the music of that age would be pronounced "classic" in our own, we have absolutely no means of deciding. Yet of this we may be certain, it was music, the harmony of sweet sounds. It had the power to lift up human souls to a true devotional enthusiasm. It bore on high the outgoings of devout thanksgiving, praise, and adoration; it stirred pious souls to their depths of love and grateful trust; and, best of all, was well pleasing to God. Of the poetry of those songs, we fortunately have ample means of judging. If the music was worthy of the poetry—equal to it in beauty and in power, we can afford to wish it had come down to our age in all its glory. That it made the tabernacle worship attractive, inspiring, impressive—a most effective means of reviving true piety in Israel, there can be no manner of doubt. Such hallowed songs, embodying and impressing such lofty sentiments, bringing God so near to men and lifting men so near to God; and all this backed up by the earnest example and the noble enthusiasm of a king whom to know was to esteem and to honor—these influences and impulses must have wrought a great reviving in the piety of the Hebrew people. H. C. It would be taking a very narrow view of the duties of the Levites if we regarded them as limited to their services at the sanctuary. They were to read the volume of the Law publicly every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles. This public and solemn periodical instruction, though eminently useful, was not the entire of their duty; they were bound from the spirit of this ordinance to take care that at all times the aged should be improved, and the children be instructed in the knowledge and fear of God, the adoration of His majesty, and the observance of His Law. They acquired such influence and reverence among the people as were necessary to secure attention to their instructions; and they were led to study the rules of moral conduct, the principles of equity, and, above all, the Mosaic code, with unceasing attention; but they were not laid under any vows of celibacy, or monastic austerity and retirement, and thus abstracted from the intercourse and feelings of social life. Thus circumstanced, they were assuredly well calculated to answer the purpose of their institution, to preserve and consolidate the union of all the other tribes, and to instruct and forward the poor in knowledge, virtue, and piety. Dean Graves. 27 : 1-15. The general military arrangements of the kingdom were made on the same principle as the distribution of the priests and Levites. The men who bore arms were divided into twelve courses of twenty-four thousand each; these were regularly officered; and for one month of each year the officers, and probably the men of one of the twelve courses, attended in succession. W. G. B.—David's plan for maintaining the discipline of his army was the calling out of a part of the Hebrew militia for a month's duty every year. Twenty-four thousand soldiers were gathered into a camp of exercise at Jerusalem, as we would term it, for a month's training at a time. The chiefs of these twelve brigades were almost all men who had been trained along with David in the hardships of desert warfare. Sime. 27 : 16-22. Whatever changes David introduced in the central government, he did not supersede the local government of the tribes. Each tribe had still its prince or ruler, and continued, under a general superintendence from the king, to conduct its local affairs. The supreme council of the nation continued to assemble on occasions of great national importance; and though its influence could not have been so great as it was before the institution of royalty, it remained an integral element in the constitution; and in the time of Rehoboam, through its influence and organization, the kingdom of the ten tribes was set up almost without a struggle. 27 : 25-31. In developing the material resources of the country, King David seems, with rigorous conscientiousness, to have applied the rule of Christ—"let nothing be lost." He had storehouses in the fields, in the cities, in the villages, and in the castles; there were vineyards and wine-cellars, and cellars of oil, superintended each by appointed officers; in different valleys, herds and flocks grazed under the care of royal herdsmen and shepherds; an officer, skilled in agriculture, presided over the tillage of the fields; the sycamore and olive trees were under the eye of skilful foresters; nothing was wasted; nothing done lazily; all was regularity, order, and care. W. G. B.—While the management of the crown estates and revenues was thus intrusted to a number of officers stationed in different parts of the kingdom, the maintenance of law and order was committed to a numerous body of magistrates and judges (verses 16-22): each tribe was placed under the government of a prince or ruler. Thus far the scanty notices preserved in Chronicles indicate the existence of a thorough system of internal administration, though they do not enable us to determine its details. David's reign was always looked back to as the golden age of the nation, the type of a still more glorious age to which the national hope looked forward as the crown and consummation of its destiny. Himself a warrior, he led the nation to victory; himself a prophet, and the pupil of one of the greatest of the prophets, he sympathized with the prophetic work, and yielded himself, without losing his royal dignity, to prophetic guidance; himself, though not by descent a priest, performing priestly functions, he was the patron of the hierarchy; and thus for a brief space, all the strongest and noblest powers of the nation were brought into harmony, and full scope given to their influences. A. F. K. The age of David seems to have been recognized almost at once by the Jews themselves as the grandest epoch that the nation has as yet known; as we can now see that it has never since been surpassed. Hence the record of it has been preserved with a fulness of detail found nowhere else in the historical books of the Bible. Everything is of interest that belongs to that glorious time; every one is of importance whose fortunes are entwined with the career of that glorious king. Hence we have a full account, not merely (as in the case of Saul) of the opening and close of his reign, but of the whole of it. Hence also we have a very vivid account of a great deal of David's life previous to his ascending the throne. And in the Psalms of David we have the outpourings of his spirit and the secret workings of his soul, the key not only to that age and that reign, but to the human heart throughout all ages. We have the rare privilege of comparing the picture unconsciously drawn by himself in his songs with that which the native historians give us of him. Thus we are able to penetrate to the springs of the actions which they record, and also to judge how the events in which he shared told on that noble and tender spirit. Plummer. The glorious days of King David, which afterward became the national ideal of a polity, were days of the most faithful adherence to the Mosaic forms of worship. No Jew could thoughtfully ponder upon those prosperous days, and not remember that the son of Jesse inaugurated his reign by burning the Philistine images at Baalperizim, sanctified his capture of the stronghold of Zion by making it the central sanctuary, brought the ark to its resting-place with songs and sacrifices, coveted beyond conquest the honor of transforming the Tent into the Temple of witness, completed the organization of the priestly service which Samuel had begun, and laid his genius under contribution to provide psalms, which perpetually testified to his joyful recognition of the spiritual advantages of the tabernacle service. Cave. 2. S. 5:1 THEN came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Be- 2 hold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said to thee, Thou shalt feed 3 [or, be shepherd of] my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince [or, leader] over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Samuel. 4,5 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. 1. Chron. 12 : 23 And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, which came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. Verses 24-37. Numbers of the armed men of the several tribes. 38. All these, being men of war, that could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to 39 make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for 40 their brethren had made preparation for them. Moreover they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victual of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel. In the remaining text we harmonize 2 S. 5 : 6-10, and 1 Chron. 11 : 4-9. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and smite the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul. Wherefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come into the house. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief. And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about and inward: and Joab repaired the rest of the city. And David waxed greater and greater; for the LORD of hosts was with him. The consummation to which events in God's Providence had been leading was now come. Saul and Jonathan, Abner and Ishbosheth, were all dead; there was no one of the house of Saul capable of taking the lead; David was already head of a very large portion of Israel; the Philistines, and perhaps the remnants of the Canaanites, were restless and threatening; and it was obviously the interest of the Israelitish nation to unite themselves under the sovereignty of the valiant and virtuous son of Jesse, their former deliverer, and the man designated by the Word of God as their Captain and Shepherd. Bib. Com. 2. S. 5 : 1-5. David's final anointing and establishment as King of all Israel. Moved by a unanimity of spirit,—wrought indirectly and largely by the severe Providences through which they had been led, but effectually seconded by the Spirit of God, stirring into fresh glow the fire of devout patriotism through the remembrance of God's great promises and deeds in their behalf as a people,—an immense representation from all the tribes came to David at Hebron. Three hundred thousand men (1 Chron. 12 : 23-40), gathered in convocation, expressed their desire for national unity, recognized his personal fitness for the throne, called to mind the days in which he so valiantly and successfully led the armies of Saul, frankly admitted and gladly accepted his Divine appointment to the kingdom (which, it plainly appears, they all, like Abner, had long understood); then, by their elders, entered into solemn covenant with David—the covenant being as solemnly accepted by him—and finally, “before the Lord they anointed David King over Israel.” The seven years of patient waiting in Hebron, years of trustful submission to God’s will, years of forbearance with the disunited tribes, even in their warfare against himself, years of Divine inward maturing of his own spiritual character, years of wise, faithful, foundation work in teaching and training the people of Judah, these long secluded years of patient waiting were not in vain. According to God’s plan, by the interworking of his Providence and Spirit, they had borne abundant fruit of good, and now had established him in the kingdom. And, let us not fail to remark it in passing, in the actual result, in the methods by which it was brought about, crowned and completed as these methods were by the spontaneous united action of the tribes, we find one of the most extended and effective illustrations in all history of the perfect accord of human freedom with Divine sovereignty; of voluntary human action in the widest combination of varying interests and events, in the end concentrating upon the fulfilment of Divine purpose and prediction. A kindred illustration we read in that other greater event in the history of David’s Son and Lord, His elevation through the Cross to a universal everlasting throne as the Redeemer King! B. It is interesting to notice the grounds on which the elders offered him the crown (verses 1-3). He possessed the general but requisite qualification of being one of themselves—“Thou art our bone and our flesh.” He had been in former times their leader, and had proved himself worthy to be their king: “In time past, when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel.” But above all, the Lord had nominated him to the kingdom: “The Lord said to thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be captain over Israel.” They knew this seven years ago as well as they knew it then, and their acknowledgment is somewhat tardy. It is, however, satisfactory to find them so distinctly placing his nomination on this footing; and the acknowledgment of the constitutional validity of his claim to the throne is important. David then “made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord.” Certain conditions were agreed to on both sides, defining his rights and theirs; and where such conditions exist, the monarchy is constitutional, not absolute. The conditions were doubtless such as had been established by Samuel, forming something like a coronation oath—which all future kings seem to have taken at their accession, although the limitations it involved do not appear to have been very exactly observed by all of them—the tendency of all power in the East, however formally limited, being toward absolutism. David was then anointed king over all Israel—being the third anointing he had received. Kit. Thus, without any advantage of birth, without any dexterous scheming or violent revolution, in ripeness of mind and body, at the moment when he was most needed, the greatest man of the age reached the highest position in it, the headship over the whole of God’s chosen people. The shepherd-lad, musician, courtier, warrior, poet, outlaw, and tribal king, had reached the throne of united Israel. He had experienced the trials of solitary watching in the wilderness, of jealousies and plots at court, of being hunted like a wild beast in the mountains, of being an exile in the land of Israel’s deadliest enemies. There remained the severest trial of all, the possession of supreme power. Plummer. 1. Chron. 12 : 23-38. Here is a record of the numbers from each of the tribes who had espoused the cause of David. But besides giving the numbers from each tribe, it often briefly characterizes them. Thus the two hundred captains of Issachar are described as men “who had understanding of the times so that they could see what Israel ought to do”—men, i.e., of fine political sagacity; “and all their brethren acted according to their mouth”—i.e., took the advice of these skilful statesmen. The fifty thousand of Zebulun are described as “expert in war, and in the use of all weapons of war,” as men “who could keep rank, because they were not of a heart and a heart, because they were animated by a single overmastering purpose, by an entire and perfect devotion. In each man, as in the whole army, there was a single and supreme aim. When the chronicler sums up, he says of the whole three hundred thousand what he had already said of the fifty thousand of Zebulun: “All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel.” No wonder that they succeeded in their aim. Three hundred thousand men who knew how to keep rank, and were of a single heart, might still overturn a kingdom, if not overrun the world. And it is this unity of heart, this singleness of motive and purpose, which is still the secret of order and victory. The secret of unity in our individual lives is one with the secret of unity in a camp or an army. We bring order and peace into our lives as we become of one heart, and a perfect heart before God. Coz. 38-40. And now Hebron witnessed a wondrous and joyful spectacle. The nation, wearied with war and persuaded toward David, not only send their elders, but in counted thousands and ten thousands come themselves, to crown him king over the whole country. The choice men, not only of the neighboring tribes of Simeon and Benjamin and Ephraim, but also of the tribes beyond the Jordan, and of Issachar in the plain of Esdraelon, and of the three tribes still farther north—all flock to Hebron, bringing “bread and meat, meal-cakes of figs and bunches of raisins, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly;” “on asses and on camels and on mules and on oxen.” This valley before Hebron and these hills surrounding it were doubtless covered with the joyful multitudes keeping the coronation festival and celebrating the praises of the new king of the united country. N. C. B. 28.6-10; 1 Chron. 11:4-9. Jerusalem chosen as the Capital. David—now thirty-eight years old—was established as king over Israel. A capital for the new kingdom was next to be chosen. This should contain the royal residence, should be the established seat of government and worship, and so be regarded as the centre of the national unity. A new site was desirable, in which all the tribes might have a common interest. Such a locality was chosen in the natural stronghold of Jebus, on the borders of Benjamin and Judah. For four hundred years it had withstood Israel’s assault. The situation combined beauty with strength, in both far surpassing any other city on earth. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,” David justly said of it in its splendor. Between deep gorges on either side and on the south, and with a depressed valley on the north, rose up lofty elevations. The highest point, and most impregnable, was that so long held by the Jebusites, afterward called the hill of Zion. It was on the southwest of, and a hundred feet above, the whole city area. This fastness was taken by Joab, after its defenders had scornfully taunted David with the folly of his attempt to subdue it. Upon the next highest hill, on the east, Moriah, Abraham had erected the altar of sacrifice for Isaac, a type of the after sacrifice on Calvary. And upon Moriah the three Temples were afterward built. The name, Jerusalem, has been interpreted, Inheritance of Peace. And now at its founding, we remember that the hill of Zion, the Temple structure, and the City itself, after bearing distinguished and memorable part in the sublime associations of all the centuries to Christ, are reproduced in the apocalyptic symbols of the heavenly city. Thus in its duration, its wonderful yet incomplete history, and its typical connections with the heavenly state, we find ground for peculiar interest in Jerusalem, the City of the great King. B. So great was their confidence in the natural strength of their citadel that the Jebusites believed the blind and lame of their number were adequate for its defence. Subsequently these words passed into a proverb: Because of the blind and the lame, he shall not enter the house; or as given by Perowne: “The blind and the lame are there; let him enter if he can.” Joab was the first to master the ascent and thus secure the honor of being David’s chief captain. The reference to “the watercourse” suggests that the ascent was made through some water-worn passage. The citadel once mastered, David proceeded to enlarge the area of this lofty summit and to strengthen its fortifications. H. C. From Millo and inwards. The fortification “inwards” must have consisted in the enclosure of Mount Zion with a strong wall upon the north side, where Jerusalem joins it as a lower town, so as to defend the place against hostile attacks on the north or town side. The “Millo” was at any rate some kind of fortification, probably a large tower or castle. The definite article before Millo indicates that it was a well-known fortress, probably one that had been erected by Jebusites. Keil. The City of Jerusalem, said by the monkish writers to be the centre of the earth, is emphatically the centre of Palestine. It is exactly on the watershed of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, 2650 feet above the level of the former: a truly mountain city. Built on the very backbone of the country—the summit of that long ridge which traverses the Holy Land from north to south, and only approachable by wild mountain roads—the position of the city was one of great natural strength. The twin hills of Zion and Moriah are enclosed, excepting on the north, by the ravines of Hinnom and of Kedron. They rise to the north of Jerusalem, very near each other. The westernmost, the Valley of Hinnom, runs southward for a mile and a quarter, skirting the city of David to the west, then turns suddenly to the east, and, passing through a deep gorge, joins the Kedron at Bir Eyub, a deep well, southeast of the city. The Valley of Kedron or Jehoshaphat, Wady en När, beginning to the north of the city, runs eastward for a mile and a half, and then makes a sharp bend southward, skirting the Mount Moriah, separating it from the Mount of Olives, and rapidly descends, till, at its junction with the Valley of Hinnom, it is 670 feet below its original starting point. H. B. T. (For diagrams, etc., see pp. 660-63, New Testament, Vol. I.) Here David established his seat of government, and centuries of history have ratified the wisdom of his choice. The creation of the national capital is therefore contemporaneous with the establishment of the monarchy in its complete form, and both are the work of David. That it should be called "the city of David" was doubly justified by his having captured it, and by the use he made of it. Strategically its position is very strong. Most of the approaches to it are too intricate and precipitous for large armies; and the one that is least so, the one that has almost invariably been used by hostile armies, is very circuitous—from Jaffa and Lydda, over the pass of the Beth-horons to Gibeon, and thence over the hills to the north side of Jerusalem. History shows that the armies of Egypt and Assyria often marched by along the plain, and sometimes fought there, without in any way interfering with Jerusalem. Plummer. Thus Jerusalem was the city of David, born to greatness in the first year of his reign over all Israel. In the result it came to be more richly embalmed in sacred song and hallowed with more sweet associations and blessed memories than any other city brought before us in the holy Scriptures; indeed, we might say, above any other city known to history. H. C.—Zion was memorable because it was God's dwelling-place, Jerusalem because it was the city of the great King. If Jerusalem and Zion impress our imagination even above other places, it is because God had so much to do with them. We recall the unrivalled moral and spiritual forces that were concentrated there: the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of the martyrs, the glorious company of the apostles, all living under the shadow of Mount Zion, and uttering those words that have moved the world as they received them from the mouth of the Lord. We recall Him who claimed to be Himself God, whose blessed lessons, and holy life, and atoning death were so closely connected with Jerusalem, and would alone have made it forever memorable. Century after century, millennium after millennium has passed; and still Zion and Jerusalem draw all eyes and hearts. W. G. B. Established at Jerusalem as his capital, David reigns for some ten years with unbroken prosperity over a loyal and loving people, with this for the summary of the whole period, "David went on and grew great, and the Lord God of Hosts was with him." These years are marked by three principal events—the bringing up of the ark to the city of David, the promise by Nathan of the perpetual dominion of his house, and the unbroken flow of victories over the surrounding nations. A. M. "NAMES OF THE MIGHTY MEN WHOM DAVID HAD" DURING HIS OUTLAW LIFE AND AT HEBRON, AND SOME OF THEIR HEROIC DEEDS. 2. S. 5 : 11** And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons : and they built David an house. And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. Verses 13-16. Wives taken and children born in Jerusalem. 17. And when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David ; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. Now the 19 Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines ? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand ? And the LORD said unto David, Go up : for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into 20 thine hand. And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there ; and he said, The LORD hath broken mine enemies before me, like the breach of waters. Therefore he 21 called the name of that place Baal-perazim. And they left their images there, and David and his men took them away. 1. Chron. 14 : 12** And David gave commandment, and they were burned with fire. 2. S. 5 : 22** And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 1. Chron. 14 : 14** And David inquired again of God ; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them : turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry 15 trees. And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle : for God is gone out before thee to smite the host 16 of the Philistines. And David did as God commanded him : and they smote the host of the 17 Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. And the fame of David went out into all lands : and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations. 2. S. 9 : 1** And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may 2 shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake ? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him unto David ; and the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba ? 3 And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him ? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath 4 yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he ? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from 6 Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came unto David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold, thy servant ! And David said unto him, Fear not : for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father ; and thou 8 shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he did obeisance, and said, What is thy servant, 9 that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am ? Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, All that pertained to Saul and to all his house have I given unto 10 thy master's son. And thou shalt till the land for him, thou, and thy sons, and thy servants ; and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have bread to eat : but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons 11 and twenty servants. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king commandeth his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he 12 shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem : for he did eat continually at the king's table ; and he was lame on both his feet. 28.5:11. With a just and generous appreciation of David's Divine appointment to the throne, Hiram, King of Tyre, proposed to erect a palace for the royal residence. David assented, and the structure was erected, with all the art and beauty of the times. Thus was laid the foundation of a lasting friendship with Hiram, continued after David's death by Solomon. B.—When we look to the name borne by this prince—the first Phœnician mentioned by name in Scripture—we are at once struck with its authentic character. That Hiram was really a Phœnician name, and one which kings were in the habit of bearing, is certain from the Assyrian Inscriptions and from Herodotus, as well as from the Phœnician historians, Dius and Menander. And these last-named writers show moreover that the name was actually borne by the Tyrian king contemporary with Solomon and David, and they speak distinctly of the close connection between Hiram and Solomon; adding facts, which, though not contained in Scripture, are remarkably in accordance with the sacred narrative. G. R. 11. Tyre.** One of the two great cities of Phœnicia, celebrated for its commerce, its mechanical skill, and its wealth. When the Israelites entered Canaan, it was already noted for its strength (Josh. 19:29). Three causes co-operated to bring Phœnicia into close and friendly relation with Israel. (a) The contiguity of the countries, and the short distance between their capitals. From Tyre to Jerusalem by land was scarcely more than one hundred miles, so that intercourse was easy. (b) Similarity of language. Phœnician so closely resembles Hebrew, that it must have been readily intelligible to the Israelites. (c) Tyre depended upon Palestine for its supplies of wheat and oil, and in return sent to Jerusalem its articles of commerce, and provided skilled workmen for the buildings erected by David and Solomon. A. F. K.—This kind of intercourse accounts for the remarkable fact that the Phœnicians are the only neighboring nation with whom the Israelites never had any war. The Israelites could thus possess themselves in large abundance of the various foreign commodities which abounded in the Phœnician markets, while their diffusion through the land produced a marked change for the better in the attire, the arms and armor, the dwellings, the furniture, the domestic utensils, and probably the agricultural implements of the Hebrews. Of this we find frequent indications in the later books of Scripture. What was a convenience to the Hebrews became in time a vital necessity to the Phœnicians, and always continued to be such. So late as the time of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the Phœnicians of Tyre taking the most earnest and even humiliating means of overcoming some resentment that Herod Agrippa had conceived against them, and why? "Because their country was nourished by the king's country" (Acts 12:20). Kd. Build David an house. This was erected upon Mount Zion, the highest and the largest of the hills on which the city stood. The crest of Zion is more than three hundred feet above the Kedron at En-Rogel. It was the first spot in Jerusalem occupied by buildings. Probably the Salem of Melchizedek, Zion was certainly the Jebus of the Jebusites, and then the City of David. Here David built his palace, and for more than a thousand years the kings and the foreign rulers who succeeded him resided here. In it David constructed the Royal Sepulchre, where he and fourteen of his successors were laid in the grave. Zion was the last spot which held out against Titus and the Romans. When the Temple fortress had been stormed, the last remnant of the Jews crossed the Tyropœon by the bridge, and held the City of David and the old palace of their kings till the very last, and perished among its ruins. H. B. T. 12. And David perceived that the Lord had established him to be king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel's sake.** When David saw that all conspired steadily and harmoniously to the enlargement and establishment of his kingdom, he perceived that the Lord was with him, and was now visibly fulfilling to him that great principle of His government which He had so solemnly declared to Eli, "Them that honor Me, I will honor." W. G. B.—David's kingdom was lifted up on high, not for his own sake, that he might look great; but because of his people Israel, that he might be a guide and protector to them. We are therefore blessed, that we may be blessings. We are not born, nor do we live, for ourselves. H. David's early and later life illustrates to us the value of discipline to right character and conduct. In his earlier years, the long period of persecution and the patient waiting at Hebron, and in his later years, the sore visitations of God because of his fearful sin, were the means by which, first patience and fortitude, and then penitence and a deeper trust were wrought in his soul. But, apart from this teaching, the life and character of David interest and instruct us at every point. In his youth he is brightest, noblest, most attractive. Then he is modest and manly, heroic and meek, wise, trustful, and devout. Faith prompts and nerves his acting, and humility quenches the natural pride and self-relation of victory or success. It is true, he failed again and again in the subsequent days of adversity, and therefore these days were lengthened that he might not only learn patience, but the higher lesson (the highest we all can learn) that he and his life were not for himself but for God. Well he learned this lesson, during the seven years of quiet waiting at Hebron, and never afterward was it forgotten, even in his greatest exaltation. Well may it be emphasized! This rare excellence in David was not simply the utter absence of self-will—by which indeed he was always distinguished—but higher and better than this, it was the conviction that himself, his faculties, gifts, possessions, and honors, his very crown and kingdom, all were supremely, entirely, for God's use and glory, not for his own. And no sin of David, many and enormous as were his sins, revealed the least forgetfulness of this, the least tendency unduly to exalt himself. B.—The king ruled so long as his throne was based upon righteousness; the moment he sought for any other foundation, he would become weak and contemptible. All David's discipline had been designed to settle him in this truth. He was the man after God's own heart, because he so graciously received that discipline and imbibed that truth. The signal sin of his life confirmed it still more mightily for himself and for all ages to come. Maurice. 13-16. "David took to him more concubines and wives" in Jerusalem. With all his light and grace, he had not overcome the prevalent notion that the dignity and resources of a kingdom were to be measured by the number and rank of the king's wives. W. G. B.—David stopped short of that fatal step contemplated in the warning of Moses, and taken by Solomon, of multiplying to himself wives from heathen nations, so as to turn away his heart from God; but the miseries he suffered in his family give the best answer to the folly which quotes Scripture in sanction of polygamy. P. S. 71-20. David's first victory over the Philistines. This warlike and powerful people had been for centuries the cause of Israel's sorest trials, since Joshua's death the chief hindrance to any approach to unity and consolidation of the tribes. The first necessity of the new government, the thing most essential not merely to peace and general prosperity among the tribes, but to their existence and homogeneous develdevelopment as a nation, was the utter overthrow of this long dominant and powerful foe. And the achievement of this overthrow was brought about, still under the overruling of God's Providence, first and foremost by the natural yet aggressive action of the Philistines themselves. So soon as they saw all Israel united under the only man who had in former days invariably vanquished their forces in conflict, they saw that their dominant power, nay, their very existence was threatened. At once, therefore, before time or opportunity could be given for the consolidation and training of the forces of Israel, they gather in mighty force in the Valley of Rephaim, southward from Jerusalem, on the frontier which separated Judah from all the other tribes. And now mark the trustful spirit and the dauntless courage of David, in meeting this immense array of Philistia. Well he still understands and believes that the battle is the Lord's, and that the people are the Lord's. So he asks of the Lord not merely direction to go against the Philistines, but a Divine assurance that the Lord will give him the victory. And with the certainty of success, wrought by his implicit faith in God, he leads his unprepared, unequal army to conflict and to an overwhelming victory. And then in the same faith (verse 20) he reverently and gratefully ascribes the success to Him whose interposition had assured it. B. 20,21. David called the field of battle Baalperazim—i.e., "God has by my hands scattered mine enemies." In this war the Philistines lost even their images, which must have reminded them of Israel's loss of the ark on a former occasion. David burned them. C. G. B.—By this David afforded sufficient evidence that he regarded hostility to idolatry as belonging to the functions of his office, being the only indication of practical hostility against the gods of the heathen, when not introduced for worship among the Israelites, that has hitherto appeared. Kit. 1. Chron. 14: 14-17.** Israel's final and decisive triumph over the Philistines. With a yet more numerous and mightier force the Philistines return to the same battle-field. But now the Lord gave another answer to the inquiry of His anointed King. Now He will more directly and effectually interpose for the utter destruction of his people's enemies. He bids David set his army in ambush, aside from their foes, and declares that He will go before them and smite the host of the Philistines. But he commands that David shall follow up and complete the work of destruction. "And David did so." He obeyed the Divine direction, and God fulfilled his promise. The hosts of Philistia fled panic smitten from the field, and were pursued for a great distance with immense slaughter, so that their power was permanently broken. B. Once more the sacred oracle was consulted, and this time he was forbidden to go out and assail them in front, but to fetch a compass, and to come out secretly behind them over against a certain mulberry plantation. He was to remain quiet till he heard "the sound of a going upon the tops of the mulberry trees"—a sound probably like the rush of a mighty host to battle—which was to be a signal to him that the Divine power was moving forth to destroy and defeat his enemies; and then he was to march out against them. The king followed these directions implicitly, and the enemy hearing, it would seem, the sound of a mighty army in their rear, which they might easily imagine to be even more numerous and formidable than that led by David, and which appeared at the very moment these sounds were heard, fell into panic and confusion and were easily put to the rout. The victors pursued them hard for many long miles, even to the frontier of their own territory. Kit. Let David's inquiry of God, once and again, upon occasion of the Philistines' invading him, direct us in all our ways to acknowledge him, in distress to fly to him, when we are wronged, to appeal to him, and when we know not what to do, to ask counsel at his oracles, to put ourselves under his conduct, and to beg of him to show us the right way. And let the sound of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees direct us to attend God's motions, both in his providence and in the influence of his Spirit. When we perceive God to go before, let us gird up our loins, gird on our armor, and follow him. H. Being thus repulsed, and then reduced to a tributary condition, the Philistines appear to have done little mischief during the remainder of David's reign or during that of Solomon his successor. In the after-portion of the period of the kings, they sometimes encroached on Judea and sometimes in turn yielded the advantage, until, by-and-by, they became involved in the wars of the great empires of Assyria and Egypt, being on the highway of communication between those countries. Just when the Philistines lost their identity as a people is not known; perhaps not before the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century. Their country has outlived them, and on the field of their goings for two thousand years other races have come. N. C. B. David's Kindness to Jonathan's Son. The wars of David occupy but a small space in the history of his reign. An act of kindness toward the son of his early friend, Jonathan, is told at greater length than the battles and triumphs of these numerous wars. Of his own accord, and in remembrance of his vows of friendship, he caused inquiries to be made for any of the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness. Sime.—When Ishbosheth was slain, and all Israel went over to David, Mephibosheth was about twelve years old, and there were obvious reasons why the friends who had taken charge of him should desire his existence to be forgotten. Thus Mephibosheth lived a quiet and peaceful life among his friends at Lo-de-bar; and when he grew to manhood, he married and had a son. When David was well established on his throne, he inquired one day of those about him, "Is there yet any left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" One Ziba, a servant of Saul, now a prosperous man with fifteen sons and twenty servants, it was supposed could acquaint the king with that which he desired to know. This man was sent for. The king asked: "Is there yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?" Ziba then told him of Mephibosheth, and where he was to be found; on which the king forthwith sent messengers to bring him to Jerusalem. Kit.—The kindness he promised to show, he calls the kindness of God; kindness in pursuance of the covenant that was between him and Jonathan, to which God was a witness. Jonathan's request to David was, "Show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not, and the same to my seed." The kindness of God is kindness done with an eye to God and his honor and favor. 9,10. He gives him all the land of Saul his father,—that is, his paternal estate, which was forfeited by Ishbosheth's rebellion, and added to his own revenue. Though he had thus given him a good estate, sufficient to maintain him, yet, for Jonathan's sake, he will take him to be a constant guest at his own table, where he will not only be comfortably fed, but have company and attendance suitable to his birth and quality. H.—The estate now made over to Mephibosheth was assigned for cultivation to Ziba, who, with his sons and servants, was to devote himself to it, and was to retain one half the produce in recompense for his expense and labor, paying the other moiety as rent to the owner of the land. Mephibosheth was thus enabled to keep up a becoming establishment for his family in Jerusalem, while habitually taking his principal meals at the royal table, and associating with the king's sons, some of whom were nearly of his own age. As men do not sit down at table with their wives and children in the East, this constant dining at court was a distinction unaccompanied by any of the drawbacks it would bring to us. Kit. THE ARK REMOVED FROM KIRJATH-JEARIM. UZZAH SMITTEN, AND IT REMAINS THREE MONTHS WITH OBED-EDOM. TAKEN TO ITS TENT IN JERUSALEM. DAVID'S PSALM FOR THE FIRST APPOINTED SONG-SERVICE. 2. S. 10:** 1 And it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon 2 died, and Hanun—his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. But the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. And when the children of Ammon saw that they were become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate of the city; and the Syrians of Zobah, and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: and the rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother, and he put them in array against the children of Ammon. And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good. So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him. And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem. And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they gathered themselves together. And Hadadezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the River: and they came to Helam, with Shobach the captain of the host of Hadadezer at their head. And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. 1. Chron. 19:** 18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host. And when all the kings that were the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and served him: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more. David had now reached the summit of his prosperity and power. The historian has now to record how he fell from that height into a sin which brought shame and suffering upon himself and disaster upon his kingdom. This war with the Ammonites is described in detail, because of its close connection with that act, which marked the fatal turning-point in David's reign. The war with the Ammonites is incidentally alluded to in ch. 8: 12 among David's other wars; and the war with the Syrians to which it led is not improbably the same as that recorded in ch. 8: 3-6. It is there related that Hadadezer sustained a crushing defeat, and that a great part of his vassals transferred their allegiance to David. The circumstances narrated here (verse 16) explain the otherwise obscure mention of the Euphrates in ch. 8: 3: the seat of war, the persons engaged, the results, and the general details, are so similar as to make it improbable that the narratives refer to two distinct wars. It is easy to assign a reason for this repetition. There the account forms part of the collected summary of David's principal wars, as it was probably by far the most important and most distant of them: here it appears as a necessary pendant to the history of the Ammonite war, which is being related in full in order to lead up to and explain the circumstances of David's fall. A. F. K. #### Hanun's Insult to David's Ambassadors. 4. The rights of ambassadors—the peculiar privileges belonging to their office, as representing the power from whom they came and as being still under its protection in a foreign land, were already well understood. We may therefore conceive the indignation of David when he heard that his ambassadors—men of rank and station—had been treated with the most gross indignity by the king of Ammon, under the pretence that they had come to spy the nakedness of the land. He shaved off half their beards, and cut off the skirts of their robes, so as to leave half of their persons bare. Kit.—The shaving of the beard was one of the highest indignities that the malice of man could invent in those countries, where all people thought their hair the greatest ornament : insomuch that they never shaved their heads or their beards, except in case of mourning ; and even in that case it was forbidden to the Israelites (Lev. 19 : 27). Thus when the Ammonites had caused one half of their beards to be shaven, they abhorred to cut the other. It is still a great mark of infamy among the Arabs to cut off the beard. Patrick. 6. The Ammonites did not wait for a formal declaration of war by David. Nor did they flatter themselves, when they came to their senses, that against one who had gained such renown as a warrior they could stand alone. Their insult to King David turned out a costly affair. To get assistance they had to give gold. The parallel passage in Chronicles gives a thousand talents of silver as the cost of the first bargain with the Syrians. These Syrian mercenaries came from various districts—Beth-rehob, Zoba, Beth-maacah, and Tob. Some of these had already been subdued by David ; in other cases there was apparently no previous collision. W. G. B. The text of Chronicles differs from that of Samuel in several points. It mentions the price paid to the Syrians, a thousand talents of silver, and names Medeba as the rendezvous where their forces assembled. The names of the countries from which the mercenaries were drawn are given as Mesopotamia, Maacah, and Zobah. Beth-rehob may be included under Mesopotamia. Tob is not mentioned : perhaps it was a dependency of Zobah, and is included under it. The contingent sent by each is not specified. The total number of thirty-two thousand besides the men of Maacah, agrees with the numbers here ; but the reading chariots in the present text of 1 Chron. 19 : 7 can scarcely be right. Thirty-two thousand chariots would be a force of unexampled magnitude. The text of Samuel also seems to be defective, as the force doubtless had some cavalry and chariots and did not consist of infantry only. 8. At the entering in of the gate.** This is generally supposed to be the gate of the Ammonite capital Rabbah. But the account in Chronicles states explicitly that the Syrian mercenaries mustered at Medeba, which was nearly twenty miles southwest of Rabbah, and clearly implies that it was the city which the Ammonites occupied. Further, it is evident from verse 9, which describes Joab as in danger of being crushed between the two forces, that the Syrians were at no great distance from the city. And how came the Syrian force to march past Rabbah to Medeba, if the Ammonites meant to make their stand at Rabbah ? or how could Joab possibly have advanced to Rabbah, leaving this huge Syrian force in his rear ? A. F. K. 12. Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God : and the Lord do that which seemeth Him good.** There are here four useful and practical lessons. (1) A lesson of mutual helpfulness. "As occasion demands," says Joab, "thou shalt help me and I will help thee." He was neither so vain as to think he could not possibly need a brother's help, nor so mean as to dream of standing aloof in a brother's difficulty. God intends that we shall be indebted to each other, and if Joab has to come to the help of Abishai, Abishai has no more reason to be ashamed than Joab. (2) A lesson of manly heroism. "Be of good courage and let us play the man." A hero is a man in the fullest sense of the word. There are heroes of the workshop, of the counter, of the office, of the market-place, on whose fortitude might be put quite as severe a strain as though they stood upon the battle-field, amid the glitter of cold steel or the rattle of musketry. If you are to play the part of the man, you must carefully cultivate the higher part of your nature. Lay the foundation of those intellectual and moral habits which will not only open up to you a vast range of elevating enjoyment, but will make you more capable of receiving the highest truth of all—the truth that concerns the kingdom of God. (3) A lesson of Christian patriotism. Great dangers put an edge upon true courage. "God and our country," was the cry of these two young men. It was a call to action and to danger, impelled by love to Israel and Israel's God. "Christian patriotism" was the term I used. You have no right to separate these words. The weal of our land is inseparably bound up with its religious condition. A true patriot will burn with desire to have his country leavened with real piety. (4) A lesson of trust and submission. "And the Lord will do that which seemeth Him good." I do not venture to say that Joab was a saint, but on this occasion, certainly, his conduct and language were admirable, and worthy of imitation. J. T. Davidson. Of poor sauntering triflers, in human shape and men's apparel, we have enough ; of literary Sybarites, bred on stories, fugitive poetry, and monthly magazines; of minute scholars, glorying in the niceties of metre and accent, college honors, and other tongues; of dressed creatures that sweeten soirées and playhouses with their odors; of things that flutter and die in the light of fashion, as moths about a lamp; of religious professors that almost ask leave to serve Christ of the sons of Belial who surround them; more than enough have we of such young men whose everlasting discourse is of the last amusement or the last scandal. But of MEN, spirits in earnest, souls that have an aim, bent toward some object, and that a great one; bearing and doing, training themselves by toil, by temperance, by self-denial, by prayer, for the benefit of the greatest number, it must be confessed with lamentation that we have but few. And if, as we suppose, the times which are coming on the earth will demand such men, strong to do and strong to suffer, our only mode of providing them is to deal with the young, and to pour the plastic masses into the shaping mould. J. W. A. 13,14. The Syrians were routed by Joab, and the Ammonites fled before Abishai, and retreated to their walled city Rabbah. B.—15-18. But the Syrians were not disposed to yield without another conflict. Determined to do his utmost, Hadadezer, king of the Syrians of Zobah, sent across the Euphrates, and prevailed on their neighbors there to join them in the effort to crush the power of David. That a very large number of these Mesopotamian Syrians responded to the invitation of Hadadezer is apparent from the number of the slain (verse 18). The matter assumed so serious an aspect that David himself was now constrained to take the field, at the head of "all Israel." The Syrian troops were commanded by Shobach, who appears to have been a distinguished general. It must have been a death-struggle between the Syrian power and the power of David. But again the victory was with the Israelites, and among the slain were the men of seven thousand chariots and forty thousand horsemen, along with Shobach, captain of the Syrian host. It must have been a most decisive victory, for after it took place all the states that had been tributary to Hadadezer transferred their allegiance to David. W. G. B.—The power of Hadadezer was so entirely broken that he no more appears in history. The Syrian tributary princes, who had been obliged to join him, made their own terms with David, and left the Ammonites to their own resources. Kit.—Thus the promise made to Abraham (Gen. 15 : 18) and repeated to Joshua (ch. 1 : 4), that the borders of Israel should extend to the river Euphrates, was performed at length. H. Ammon offered but a feeble resistance to the Hebrews after the battle of Helam. All their cities except Rabbah were taken in the beginning of the following year. Rabbah itself was closely beleaguered. Its strong position, the existence of a water supply within its walls, and the inability of the Hebrews to conduct siege operations, gave the survivors of the nation a respite from destruction. But the war yields in importance to events which were then taking place at Jerusalem. Sime. The close of the great wars of conquest just referred to brings us to the fiftieth year of David's age and the twentieth of his reign. It brings us also to the saddest and the most deplorable event in his history. The period of David's greatest worldly prosperity seems not to have been by any means one of corresponding prosperity as regarded his spiritual condition. Probably worldly success had itself been a snare to him. Whatever the true cause, it is evident there was a general falling away of spirituality and conscientiousness in the service of God on the part of David about this period. Lee.—The period which had now elapsed of David's reign comprehends a space of about twenty years; during which he had waged several wars, all righteously begun, and successfully ended. He had fought no battle during that period which he did not win, and assaulted no city which he did not take. In a civil war of five years' continuance he never once lifted up his sword against a subject; and, at the end of it, he punished no rebel, he remembered no offence, he revenged no injury, but the murder of his rival. To crown all, with all his rare and true felicities, their only sure source and security, his religion and his innocence, still remained with him; and, had his innocence still remained with him, his happiness would have continued also. But a new and sad scene, very different from the past, is now to be opened. Delaney. 2. S. 11 : 1 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Art thou not come from a journey? wherefore didst thou not go down unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, the ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men were. And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; and he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling all the things concerning the war unto the king, it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore went ye so nigh unto the city to fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, that he died at Thebez? why went ye so nigh the wall? then shalt thou say, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said unto David, The men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. And the shooters shot at thy servants from off the wall; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. Beautiful and most promising was the state of the nation at this period of David's life. Unbounded prosperity had flowed into the country. Every enemy had been subdued. There was no division in the kingdom, and no one likely to cause any. The king was greatly honored by his people, and highly popular. The arrangements which he had made, both for the civil and spiritual administration of the kingdom, were working beautifully, and producing their natural fruits. All things seemed to be advancing the great purpose of God in connection with Israel. Let this state of things but last, and surely the consummation will be reached. The promise to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will be fulfilled, and the promised Seed will come very speedily to diffuse His blessing over all the families of the earth. But into this fair paradise the serpent contrived to creep, and the consequence was another fall. W. G. B. David's career thus far has been one of singular excellence and attractiveness—not without great weaknesses, and blemishes of character, and many sins. Under Divine direction, and with Divine help, he engaged and conquered all neighboring hostile nations, and made them tributaries of Israel. He established a perfect system in the administration of all affairs, religious, judicial, and industrial, and so wrought the dissevered tribes into a united organic nation, holding imperial power. During the first half of his reign all his acts and all God's Providences tended toward this ultimate culmination of his power, and of the greatness of his kingdom. And through all his constant exposures to selfish pride and vain glory David stood fast in his integrity, proved himself a man after God's own heart. But there came a time when, through the sudden blinding power of evil passions, the pure man became vile, and under the prolonged madness of unrepented evil, for nearly a year deliberately planned crime after crime, adding baseness to lust and falsehood, and murder to hypocrisy. And from that hour of his great sin began the sad contrast to his previous history. That one grievous offence against God and man shadowed and embittered the latter half of his reign. Following it came the sorest personal and domestic griefs, an unrecovered loss of self-respect and previous peace of heart, civil distractions and revolts. But the same Inspiration that faithfully records all the enormity and aggravations of his sin, that reveals its life-long effects of sadness and calamity, discloses the depth and genuineness of his repentance, and the greatness of God's pardoning mercy. We have only to read, with our souls alive to the intense feeling of the writer, the 51st and 32d Psalms, and we shall learn that this royal penitent, though long and severely chastened, was forgiven. A sad contrast indeed find we in his latter Psalms, and yet there comes through all at length a burst of joy, the joy of sanctified, penitent grief! The "joy of God's salvation" was "restored" unto his broken, contrite spirit! B. Chronologically, these events fall within the period of David's last great war—that against Ammon and Rabbah. This one sin of David's known life is recognized by the sacred historian (1 K. 15 : 5) as so far surpassing all his other sins in enormity that it might be said he did that which was right in all else, "turning not aside from the things commanded of God, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." This great sin had in it almost every possible element of aggravation. It was flagrant adultery, for David already had not one wife only, but many; and Bath-sheba had a husband—one of the noblest of men, whose record as a brave, patriotic, self-denying warrior is pre-eminently spotless and grand. David's sin included not adultery alone, but murder—the deliberate murder of this heroic and self-sacrificing man, Uriah the Hittite. One sin naturally leads on to more sinning. Thus David sought first and desperately to cover his iniquity. Could he not bring Uriah, the husband, home to his own house and bed? He orders him sent back from the field of war; converses with him as if no dreadful guilt lay heavy on his soul; and then dismisses him to his home. "There followed him a mess of meat from the king." Surely (thought David) he will carry that home to his wife. No; the warrior slept with David's servants at the palace gate, ready for the stern duties of the soldier's life. But David cannot afford to be baffled, and therefore summons Uriah to his presence again and urges him to go to his home, but with the result only of bringing out more strongly the heroic spirit of the true warrior. "My Lord Joab and the servants of my king camp in the open fields;" my country calls me to like sacrifices; and so long as she does no home attractions can be heeded. Then it occurs to David that this heroic spirit may be overcome by wine. He therefore tempted him to eat and drink, "and made him drunk." Even then he failed of his purpose. In the next stage David rushed to the horrid purpose to take Uriah's life—for how could he meet the disclosure of his guilty connection with Uriah's wife, especially since Uriah himself is a man so noble, of a nature so pure and lofty? Did he let Joab into this guilty secret? He found him in this case a ready instrument for his purpose—viz, to put Uriah into the hottest of the fight, and then retire the supporting column and let him fall in battle. This letter of instructions to Joab, he sent by the hand of Uriah with no fear that he would break the seal and come at the awful secret. And he knew Uriah too well to fear that he would retreat before the foe even if all others did. Thus David slew Uriah by the sword of the warriors of Ammon. Some of the points of peculiar aggravation in this double sin of David are presented tersely and with telling force in the supposed case by which the prophet Nathan introduces his rebuke of his king. The poor man's one lamb—his household pet; nursed in his bosom; fed at his table; to him as a daughter—this lamb is torn away by his rich neighbor, who had lambs enough and to spare—the heartless tyrant! The case kindled David's indignation; but, oh, how did the application of it—"Thou art the man," pierce his soul with daggers of self-condemnation! He felt every word as a burning arrow. Conviction brought forth confession, penitent grief, and imploring cries for mercy. Now let it be distinctly noted: these sins not only had their aggravating circumstances, but the inspired pen records them. Not one is withheld. Not only is the crime charged upon David, but its points of special enormity are thoroughly unfolded. There is no attempt to suppress a single fact bearing upon the aggravation and guilt of these sins. Moreover, there is no concealment or suppression of the fact that these great sins were utterly displeasing to God. He did, indeed, forgive the royal penitent; but he took care that these dreadful sins should be rebuked over and over again; brought up to David's sad remembrance; brought out in sunlight before the nation and before the world. First, the babe is smitten, and after seven days of lingering life and prolonged suffering—David meanwhile on the ground, weeping, fasting, praying—the child dies. Then came those dreadful scenes of lust and murder among his own sons and daughters—Tamar ravished; the guilty Ammon, David's first-born, murdered by his brother Absalom:—how terribly suggestive of his own example before these very children! How hot with scorching rebuke! What griefs harrowed his sensitive spirit when it became known to him and to all Israel that Absalom had outraged his father's bed! Then he drove that father from his palace, city, and throne. Bitterest of all, Absalom dies in his sins! David could bear the vilest indignities; the basest ingratitude toward himself; the foulest treason; the sadness of enforced exile; but oh! when the tidings came that Absalom was dead—his own guilty son dead—gone—lost, amid the horrors of unpardoned sin—alas, this filled his cup of woe! Did he not then recall his own sin in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite? Alas, how does God bring the sins of men to their remembrance, and make them feel in the depth of their souls that it is a fearful thing to sin! Another line of thought and feeling is fitly awakened by these scenes in the life of David. We cannot think of him as if he were one of the fallen angels—a junior brother of Satan or of Moloch. He was one of our own fallen race, a brother to our very selves. If he had passions tempting him into awful sin, so have we. If he could so far forget his manhood, his piety, his obligations to his Infinite Benefactor, his relations to the noble warriors in the field and to their virtuous wives at home, as to fall into these most grievous sins, so, alas, may we! This fearful record lies against our own fallen nature. If we, personally, have been kept from sins so great and aggravated, let us rather honor the grace that has saved than plume ourselves on the assumption of better self-control and purer virtue. We have, then, a real though sad interest in the most tragic and painful scenes of human sinning. It were well if this interest shall move us to such a study of David's case as will be morally wholesome. It stands on the Scripture record for the sake of its great moral lessons. H. C. 1. The Ammonites, although beaten, having retired to their fortified towns, held out with much obstinacy. The next campaign against them was conducted by Joab, who, after ravaging the country, laid siege to the metropolitan city of Rabbah. It was while the army was engaged in these distant operations that David fell into those deep sins which have left a dark blot upon his name, that all his tears have not been able to expunge from the view of man, nor all his griefs to make man forget. Kit. It is, perhaps, not without bitter emphasis that the narrative introduces it by telling us that, "at the time when kings go forth to battle," David contented himself with sending his troops against Ammon, and "tarried still at Jerusalem." At all events, the story brings into sharp contrast the levy en masse, encamped round Rabbah, and their natural head, who had once been so ready to take his share of blows and privations, loitering behind, taking his quiet siesta in the hot hours after noon, as if there had been no soldiers of his sweltering in their armor, and rising from his bed to stroll on his palace roof, and peer into the household privacies below, as if his heart had no interest in the grim tussle going on behind the hills that he could almost see from his height, as they grew purple in the evening twilight. He has fallen to the level of an Eastern despot, and has lost his sense of the responsibilities of his office. Such loosening of the tension of his moral nature as is indicated in his absence from the field, during what was evidently a very severe as well as long struggle, prepared the way for the dismal headlong plunge into sin. A. M. How rare and fearless an outspokenness marks the language in which the sins of God's saints are recorded in that Book which is eminently a Scripture of truth, a Word of God. Reasons enough there were, and those bearing on the highest interests of our souls, why these should not be passed over. Thus what a proof do they furnish of the fatal readiness with which we, set as we are to keep this city of "Mansoul" against all forces of our spiritual enemy, too often shamefully betray our trust; or, if we do not advance so far as this, remit that watchfulness all round, that habitual circumspection of our spirits which we were set to maintain. It needs but a few easy triumphs over sins which do not mightily solicit us, a few ordinary temptations overcome, and we count that all is won, that we may now dwell securely, none making us afraid. What a commentary on such a vain confidence as this does this history supply, both in what it tells and also in what it does not tell. It is thus that the story of David's fall begins: "And it came to pass, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David"—did what? Is it, led forth the Lord's host? Alas! no; nothing of the kind; but what, then? that he sent Joab with others on this war-like errand; but "David himself tarried still at Jerusalem." If the king had been sharing the hard couch of earth in the open fields with Joab and Uriah and the rest before the walls of Rabbah, it is little likely that we should have ever heard of his sin. One page of his history, a page now so blurred and so blotted, would be looked for in vain. Trench. 2-4. Never was there a case which showed more emphatically the dreadful chain of guilt to which a first act, apparently insignificant, may give rise. His first sin was allowing himself to be arrested to sinful intents by the beauty of Bathsheba. Had he, like Job, made a covenant with his eyes; had he resolved that when the idea of sin sought entrance into the imagination it should be sternly refused admission; had he, in a word, nipped the temptation in the bud, he would have been saved a world of agony and sin. But instead of repelling the idea he cherishes it. He makes inquiry concerning the woman. He brings her to his house. He uses his royal position and influence to break down the objections which she would have raised. He forgets what is due to the faithful soldier who, employed in his service, is unable to guard the purity of his home. He forgets the solemn testimony of the law, which denounces death to both parties as the penalty of the sin. This is the first act of the tragedy. W. G. B. The aggravations of the sin. He was now in years, fifty at least, when those lusts should not have been violent in him. He had many wives and concubines of his own; this is insisted on (ch. 12 : 8). Uriah, whom he wronged, was one of his own worthies; a person of honor and virtue, one that was now abroad in his service, jeopardizing his life in the high places of the field, for the honor and safety of him and his kingdom, where he himself should have been. Bathsheba was of good reputation till she was drawn by him and his influence into this wickedness; nor perhaps could any one in the world but David have prevailed against her. The adulterer not only wrongs and ruins his own soul, but, as much as he can, another's soul too. David was a king whom God hath intrusted with the sword of justice and the execution of the law upon other criminals, particularly upon adulterers, who were by the law to be put to death; for him therefore to be guilty of those crimes himself was to make himself a pattern, when he should have been a terror, to evil-doers. Much more might be said to aggravate the sin; and I can think but of one excuse for it, which is, that it was done but once; it was far from being his practice; it was by the surprise of a temptation that he was drawn into it. H. With what unwillingness, with what fear, do I still look upon the miscarriage of the man after God's own heart! O holy prophet, who can promise himself always to stand, when he sees thee fallen and maimed with the fall? Who can assure himself of an immunity from the foulest sins when he sees thee offending so heinously, so bloodily? Let profane eyes behold thee as an excuse of sinning; I shall never look upon thee but through tears, as a woful spectacle of human infirmity. O God, whither do we go, if thou stay us not? Whoever among the millions of thy servants, could find himself furnished with stronger preservatives against sin? Against whom could such a sin find less pretence of prevailing? Oh keep thou us, that presumptuous sins prevail not over us; so only shall we be free from great offences. 10. Alas, instead of clearing thy sin, thou laborest to cloak it; and spendest those thoughts in the concealing of thy wickedness which thou shouldest rather have bestowed in preventing it. The best of God's children may not only be drenched in the ways of sin, but lie in them for the time, and perhaps sink twice to the bottom. What hypocrite could have done worse than study how to cover the face of his sin from the eyes of men, while he regarded not the sting of sin in his soul. Bp. II. 11. The consideration of the public hardships and hazards kept Uriah from lawful pleasures, yet could not keep David, though more nearly interested, from unlawful ones. Uriah's severity to himself should have shamed David for his indulgence of himself. The law was, When the host goeth forth against the enemy, then, in a special manner, keep thyself from every wicked thing (De. 23 : 9). Uriah outdid that law, but David violated it. H. 14. Uriah must be got rid of, not, however, openly, but by a cunning stratagem that shall make it seem as if his death were the result of the ordinary fortune of war. And to compass this David must take Joab into his confidence. To Joab, therefore, he writes a letter, indicating what is to be done to get rid of Uriah. Could David have descended to a lower depth? It was bad enough to compass the death of Uriah; it was mean enough to make him the bearer of the letter that gave directions for his death; but surely the climax of meanness and guilt was the writing of that letter. Surely it was a horrible sin—committed, too, by the head of the nation, who was bound not only to discountenance sin in every form, but especially to protect the families and preserve the rights of the brave men who were exposing their lives in his service. W. G. B.—If David had been but himself, how had he loved, how had he honored, this honest and religious zeal in his so faithful servant, whom now he cruelly seeks to reward with death! That fact which wine cannot hide, the sword shall. Is not this the man whom we lately saw so heart-smitten, for but cutting off the lap of the garment of a wicked master, that is now thus lavish of the blood of a gracious and well-deserving servant? Could it be likely that so worthy a captain could fall alone? Could David have expiated this sin with his own blood, it had been but well spent; but to cover his sin with the innocent blood of others was a crime above astonishment. Bp. II. 15. Uriah must die; that innocent, valiant, gallant man, who was ready to die for his prince's honor, must die by his prince's hand. David has sinned, and Bathsheba has sinned, and both against him, and therefore he must die; David determines he must. Is this he that executed judgment and justice to all his people? How can he now do so unjust a thing? See how fleshly lusts war against the soul, and what devastations they make in that war; how they blind the eyes, harden the heart, sear the conscience, and deprive men of all sense of honor and justice. Whoso committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh understanding, and quite loses it; he that doth it, destroys his own soul (Prov. 6 : 32). H. 16,17. In the letter which Uriah carried to Joab, David directed the general to place him at a point of danger, to provoke a sally from the town, to retire without withdrawing Uriah, and to make sure of his death in battle. Joab acted up to these orders, aware, perhaps, of the reason for them. A small body of Hebrews, led by Uriah, attacked one of the best-defended gates of Rabbah. Shooters discharged stones and arrows from the wall; soldiers rushed out of the town. A fierce fight ensued. No supports were sent to strengthen the handful of Hebrews in front of the gate. Uriah, with several of his soldiers, fell in battle; the rest of the assailants were repulsed. Their king had murdered those who fell. Vileness had triumphed, blood had been shed, and in the grave of a brave soldier the guilty king hoped all this wickedness was buried and forgotten. It was not so. There was an Avenger of blood looking on, who had seen the whole from beginning to end: "The thing that David had done displeased the Lord." Sime. 18-25. Joab had no principles apart from what he deemed his duty to the king and the people, and was quite as ready to serve his master's vices as his virtues, so long as they did not interfere with his own interests, or tended to promote them by enabling him to make himself useful to the king. His ready apprehension of the king's meaning in the matter of Uriah, and the facility with which he made himself the instrument of the murder, and of the hypocrisy by which it was covered, are proofs of this, and form as deep a stain upon his character as his own murders. Kit. Let not Joab be displeased, for David is not; he blames not his conduct, nor thinks they did ill in approaching so near the wall; all is well, now that Uriah is got out of the way. This point being gained, he can make light of the loss, and turn it off easily with an excuse, The sword devours one as well as another; it was a chance of war—nothing more common. He orders Joab to make the battle more strong next time, while he, by his sin, was weakening it, and provoking God to blast the undertaking. 26,27. He married the widow in a little time. She submitted to the ceremony of mourning for her husband as little a time as custom would admit, and then David took her to his house as his wife and she bare him a son. The birth of the child so soon after the marriage published the crime; sin will have shame; yet that was not the worst of it, The thing that David had done displeased the Lord; the whole matter of Uriah (as it is called, 1 K. 15 : 5), the adultery, falsehood, murder, and this marriage, at last—it was all displeasing to the Lord. He had pleased himself, but displeased God. God sees and hates sin in his own people. Nay, the nearer any are to God in profession, the more displeasing to him their sins are, for in them there is more ingratitude, treachery, and reproach, than in the sins of others. H. If the composition of the Bible had been in human hands it would never have contained such a chapter as this. There is something quite remarkable in the fearless way in which it unveils the guilt of David; it is set forth in its nakedness, without the slightest attempt either to palliate or to excuse it; and the only statement in the whole record designed to characterize it is the quiet but terrible words with which the chapter ends—“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” And now we begin to understand why this supremely horrible transaction should be given in the Bible, and given at such length. It bears the character of a beacon, warning the mariner against some of the most deceitful and perilous rocks that are to be found in all the sea of life. First of all, it shows the danger of interrupting, however briefly, the duty of watching and praying, lest you enter into temptation. It is at your peril to discontinue earnest daily communion with God, especially when the evils are removed that first drove you to seek His aid. Further, it affords a sad proof of the danger of dallying with sin even in thought. Admit sin within the precincts of the imagination, and there is the utmost danger of its ultimately mastering the soul. The outposts of the spiritual garrison should be so placed as to protect even the thoughts, and the moment the enemy is discovered there the alarm should be given and the fight begun. It is a serious moment when the young man admits a polluted thought to his heart, and pursues it even in reverie. The door is opened to a dangerous brood. And everything that excites sensual feeling, be it songs, jests, pictures, books of a lascivious character, all tends to enslave and pollute the soul, till at length it is saturated with impurity, and cannot escape the wretched thraldom. And, further, this narrative shows us what moral havoc and ruin may be wrought by the toleration and gratification of a single sinful desire. W. G. B. Had David been enduring hardship with the armies of Israel, these temptations to luxury and uncleanness would probably never have come near him; certainly he would not have succumbed beneath them. The first lesson from the story is that prosperous times are perilous times. Then, notice the way in which sins are linked to one another, in which, as by a terrible necessity, one leads on to a second, and a second to a third, and so on. The great enemy of souls is in nothing more skilful than in breaking down the bridges of retreat behind the sinner. Wrong may become worse wrong, but it never becomes right. Close walking with God is the only safe walking. Further, do not miss this lesson—the ignoble servitude to men in which the sinner is very often through his sin entangled. Mark how David becomes the servant of Joab from the moment that he has made Joab the partaker of his evil counsels, the accomplice of his crime. Let no man in this sense be thy master. Let no man know that of thee which, if he chose to reveal it, would cast thee down from the fair esteem and reputation which thou enjoyest before men. Trench. The carnal appetite, with its lusts, is very deceitful; a party within holding correspondence with our spiritual enemies, the evil angels so active and assiduous in conspiring and accomplishing the damnation of men. The devil, in Scripture, is called the tempter by way of eminence, who manages and improves temptations; and his pernicious design is by the objects of sense, ordered and made more alluring and killing by his various arts, to engage the affections into a compliance and so to gain the will. Now our great danger is not so much from Satan, the enemy without, as from the carnal appetite, the traitor within, that gives him the first and easy entrance into the soul. He can only entice by representing what is amiable to sense; but the corrupt appetite inclines to the closing with it. We might preserve our innocence inviolable notwithstanding all his attempts, did not some cherished corrupt affection lay us open to his poisoned darts. The Apostle Peter, who discerned wherein the strength of our great enemy lies, admonishes Christians: "I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul." And we are told by him that "the corruption that is in the world is through lust." The outward objects are useful and beneficial in their kind; the abuse of them is from lust. It is therefore infinitely dangerous to consult or trust our carnal faculties in this matter, for they are bribed and corrupted and will commend temporal things to our choice. The sensual affections are so numerous and clamorous, so vehement and hasty, that if they are admitted to counsel and give the decisive vote, the voice of conscience will not be heard or regarded. Bates.—There can be no safety to that soul where the senses are let loose. He can never keep his covenant with God that makes not a covenant with his eyes. It is an idle presumption to think the outward man may be free while the inward is safe. He is more than a man, whose heart is not led by his eyes; he is no regenerate man, whose eyes are not restrained by his heart. Bp. II. We only add, what vigilance and prayer are necessary against the sudden violent surprises of temptation! These may come with as little warning almost as the dreadful accidents that befall men's persons. A sudden flash of infernal fire kindles the passions and prostrates the judgment and conscience. Divine aid can come as suddenly as these assaults. Think solemnly of the frightful extent of the possibilities of falling into sin, and that it is an insult to God to calculate on escaping without the means he has enjoined. "Watch and pray." These must be combined; for watching without prayer were but an impious homage to ourselves. Prayer without watching were but an impious and also absurd homage to God. And what emphatic importance there is in the point of being saved from entering into temptation; since, when a man is fully in it and under the strength of its influence, there is an end of watching and an utter indisposition to pray! Foster. It has appeared a difficulty to some, that persons raised up, aided, inspired, directed, or assisted by God, should have been guilty of such crimes as David, such idolatries as Solomon, such weaknesses as Samson, such apostasies as the Jewish nation in general. To this it may be answered, that it is perfectly credible that they should be raised up for particular purposes; aided in effecting a particular object; inspired with a certain degree of knowledge; assisted at particular periods, and in a special manner; and yet that, beyond this, their natural character, their external temptations, their acquired habits, may have produced all the irregularities and crimes which gave so much offence. To ask why God did not prevent this, is to ask why he did not exercise a greater degree of supernatural control than the peculiar purposes of Providence required—a question as absurd as it is presumptuous. Dr. Graves. NATHAN'S PARABLE AND MESSAGE FROM GOD TO DAVID. DAVID'S REPENTANCE. SICKNESS AND DEATH OF BATHSHEBA'S CHILD. Capture of Rabbah. Amnon and Tamar. Murder of Amnon and Flight of Absalom. Absalom's Recall, and Subsequent Restoration to David's Favor. 2 Sam. 12:26-31; 13:1-39; 14:1-33. 1 Chron. 20:1-3. 12 1 AND the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, 2 There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, 5 but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the 6 man that hath done this is worthy to die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, I 8 anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such 9 things. Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the LORD, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy 10 wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken 11 the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give 12 them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou 13 didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, the LORD 14 also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto 15 thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all 17 night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise 18 him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that 19 the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered together, David per- ceived that the child was dead: and David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And 20 they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat 22 bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who know- 23 eth whether the LORD will not 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 24 not return to me. And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay 25 with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him; and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the LORD's sake. In the very culmination of David's prosperity, at the very crowning point of his great work for Israel, and when he had sung his brightest, sweetest, most trustful songs, came that fierce outbreak of his passionate nature, for the time —and a long time—overriding and benumbing all that was spiritual and devout in him. Like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Peter, David sin- ned at the very point of his peculiar excellence. As it was the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, the intrepidity of Elijah, and the cour- age of Peter, so it was David's purity and kind- liness of heart that failed. At length he "sor- rowed toward God," and was forgiven; but troubles and afflictions in his family, and sore judgments among his people, were the tokens of God's rebuke, and kept his "sin ever before" him. His harp was strung to new measures of sadness, in which grief for transgression is blended with fervent aspiration after the purity and peace of God. And in these later Psalms, by showing that there is forgiveness, and that in God is our strength, he has helped many a sin- ning soul, while warning the faithful and pure against the force of sudden temptation in an unguarded hour. B. A year had passed since David's fall. The child of sin had been born. And all this time God was silent! Yet all the time there hung over him this Divine sentence: "But the thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of Je- hovah." A. E.—It was about a year that David lay under the guilt of that sin, and for aught that appears, unrepented of. And then David did not send for Nathan (though he had never had so much occasion as he had now for his confessor), but God sent Nathan to David. H.—Alas, what long and dead sleeps may the holiest soul take in fearful sins! Were it not for thy mercy, O God, the best of us should end our spiritual lethargy in sleep of death. Bp. H. 1-7. Detestable as was the double guilt of this dark story, we must still remember that David was not an Alfred or a Saint Louis. He was an Eastern king, exposed to all the temptations of a king of Ammon or Damascus then, of a Sultan of Bagdad or Constantinople in modern times. What follows, however, could have been found nowhere in the ancient world but in the Jewish monarchy. A year had passed; the child of guilt was born in the royal house, and loved with all the passionate tenderness of David's paternal heart. Suddenly the prophet Nathan appears before him. He comes as if to claim redress for a wrong in humble life. It was the true prophetic spirit that spoke through Nathan's mouth. The apologue of the rich man and the ewe lamb has, besides its own intrinsic tenderness, a supernatural elevation, which is the best sign of true Revelation. It ventures to disregard all particulars, and is content to aim at awakening the general sense of outraged justice. It fastens on the essential guilt of David's sin,—not its sensuality, or its impurity, so much as its meanness and selfishness. It rouses the king's conscience by that teaching described as specially characteristic of prophecy, making manifest his own sin in the indignation which he has expressed at the sin of another. Thou art the man is, or ought to be, the conclusion, expressed or unexpressed, of every practical sermon. Stanley. He puts his parable in such life-like form that the king has no suspicion of its real character. The rich robber that spared his own flocks and herds to feed the traveller, and stole the poor man's ewe lamb, is a real flesh-and-blood criminal to him. And the deed is so dastardly, its heartlessness is so atrocious, that it is not enough to enforce against such a wretch the ordinary law of fourfold restitution; in the exercise of his high prerogative the king pronounces a sentence of death upon the ruffian, and confirms it with the solemnity of an oath—"The man that hath done this thing shall surely die." The flash of indignation is yet in his eye, the flush of resentment is still on his brow, when the prophet, with calm voice and piercing eye, utters the solemn words, "Thou art the man!" Thou, great king of Israel, art the robber, the ruffian, condemned by thine own voice to the death of the worst malefactor! W. G. B. 7-9. The answer of Nathan is a perfect example of the Divine way of convincing of sin. There is first the plain charge pressed home on the individual conscience, "Thou art the man." Then follows, not reproach or further deepening of the blackness of the deed, but a tender enumeration of God's great benefits, whereon is built the solemn question, "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?" The contemplation of God's faithful love, and of the all-sufficient gifts which it bestows, makes every transgression irrational as well as ungrateful, and turns remorse, which consumes like the hot wind of the wilderness, into tearful repentance which refreshes the soul. A. M. 9. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord. Great as was David's sin against Uriah and Bathsheba, his sin against God was greater in thus breaking two express commandments of the Decalogue. And hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. This is not a mere repetition of the clause "thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword." The verb is stronger, "thou hast murdered;" and the offence is shown to have been aggravated by the employment of the Ammonites, the enemies of God's people, as the instruments for its commission. A. F. K.—He charges him with a high contempt of the Divine authority, in the sins he had been guilty of. Wherefore hast thou (presuming upon thy royal dignity and power) despised the commandment of the Lord? This is the spring, and this the malignity of sin, that it is making light of the Divine law and the Lawmaker; as if the obligation of it were weak, the precepts of it trifling, and the threats not at all formidable. David despised the word of the Lord, so it is in the Hebrew, the particular word of promise, which God had, by Nathan, sent to him some time before, that he would build him a house: which sacred promise, if he had had a due value and veneration for, he would not thus have polluted his house with lust and blood. H. 10,11. Here we find a great principle in the moral government of God,—correspondence between an offence and its retribution. Of this many instances occur in the Old Testament, Jacob deceived his father; he was deceived by his own sons. Lot made a worldly choice; in the world's ruin he was overwhelmed. So David having slain Uriah with his sword, the sword was never to depart from him. He had robbed Uriah of his wife; his neighbors would in like manner rob and dishonor him. He had disturbed the purity of the family relation; his own house was to become a den of pollution. He had mingled deceit and treachery with his actions; deceit and treachery would be practised toward him. What a sad and ominous prospect! For him there was to be no calm in the evening of his life. His trial was to fall on the tenderest part of his nature. He had a strong affection for his children; in that very feeling he was to be wounded, and that, too, all his life long. W. G. B.—The sentence pronounced upon him—“Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house,” furnishes the key to David’s future history and career, which was as unprosperous and troubled, as the earlier part of his reign had been happy and successful. There was in all things a great change—even in the man himself. Broken in spirit by the consciousness of how deeply he had sinned against God and against man; humbled in the eyes of his subjects, and his influence with them weakened by the knowledge of his crimes; and even his authority in his own household, and his claim to the reverence of his sons, relaxed by his loss of character—David appears henceforth as a much altered man. Kit. 12. The sin was secret and industriously concealed, but the punishment should be open and industriously proclaimed, to the shame of David, whose sin in the matter of Uriah would then be called to mind and commonly talked of. As face answers to face in a glass, so does the punishment often answer to the sin; here is blood for blood, and uncleanness for uncleanness. And thus God would show how much he hates sin, even in his own people, and that wherever he finds it he will not let it go unpunished. H. 13. David cannot have the heart or the face to stand out against the message of God; but now, as a man confounded and condemned in himself, he cries out, in the bitterness of a wounded soul, I have sinned against the Lord. It was a short word, but passionate; and such as came from the bottom of a contrite heart. Bp H. The prophet Nathan came to tell him in clear words that which he had been hearing in muttered accents within his heart for months before. He came to tell him that the God of righteousness and mercy, who cared for Uriah, the poor man with the single ewe-lamb, was calling him, the king, to account for an act of unrighteousness and unmercifulness. Nathan brought him to face steadily the light at which he had been winking, and to own that the light was good and the darkness only was horrible and hateful; so that he might turn to the light, and crave that it should once more penetrate into the depths of his being and take possession of him. And this was his confession and prayer. He makes out no case for himself; he pleads no extenuating circumstances. Maurice.—“I have sinned against the Lord.” Two words (in the Hebrew) make the transition from sullen misery to real though shaded peace. No lengthened outpouring, no accumulation of self reproach; he is too deeply moved for many words, which he knows God does not need. More would have been less. All is contained in that one sob, in which the whole frostwork of these weary months breaks up and rolls away, swept before the strong flood. A. M. The instant recognition of his guilt breaks up the illusion of months. “I have sinned against the Lord.” The sense of his injustice to man waxes faint before his sense of sin against God. “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” Stanley.—“The strength of David’s confession lay in the three words “against the Lord.” Any one can say, “I have sinned,” but one must have known God, must have realized what sin is to God, and must have felt something of what God is to the soul before one can say, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Vaughan.—“Who has not read that fifty-first Psalm, in which David does solemn penance in presence of all the people, and in which he utters, on account of his sin, a cry of anguish which still re-echoes throughout all ages? Ah! far from veiling itself in this transaction, the holiness of God shines forth brilliantly, so brilliantly that David himself humbly acknowledges it in the very hour when it strikes him most rigorously, by exclaiming, “That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest;” that is, when Thou reproachest me; “and be clear when Thou judgest.” Godet. In Ps. 51 we hear David crying out for mercy in the bitterness of his pangs. He seems to lose sight of everything else but God. His sins are seen as if committed against God only. Oh, can he ever be forgiven? And if forgiven, can he hope to be so washed and cleansed and lifted above temptation’s power that he shall never fall again? These are the words of his prayer. Never were fitter words poured forth from a penitent soul. H. C.—In these words the humiliation of the Psalmist before God is very profound, very thorough. His case is one for simple mercy; he has not the shadow of a plea in self-defence. His sin is in every aspect atrocious. It is the product of one so vile that he may be said to have been shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin. The aspect of it as sin against God is so overwhelming that it absorbs the other aspect—the sin against man. Not but that he has sinned against man, too; but it is the sin against God that is so awful, so overwhelming. Yet, if his sin abounds, the Psalmist feels that God's grace abounds much more. He has the highest sense of the excellence and the multitude of God's loving-kindnesses. Man can never make himself so odious as to be beyond the Divine compassion. He can never become so guilty as to be beyond the Divine forgiveness. "Blot out my transgressions," sobs David, knowing that it can be done. "Purge me with hyssop," he cries, "and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." But this is not all; it is far from all. He pleads most plaintively for the restoration of God's friendship. "Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,"—for that would be hell; "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit,"—for that is heaven. And, with the renewed sense of God's love and grace, there would come a renewed power to serve God and be useful to men. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise." Deprive me not forever of Thy friendship, for then life would be but darkness and anguish; depose me not forever from Thy ministry, continue to me yet the honor and the privilege of converting sinners unto Thee. Of the sacrifices of the law it was needless to think, as if they were adequate to purge away so overwhelming a sin. "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else I would give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." With all his consciousness of sin, David has yet a profound faith in God's mercy, and he is forgiven. W. G. B. And as brief and simple as the confession, is the response, And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin. How full and unconditional the blessing bestowed in these few words; how swift and sufficient the answer! So the long estrangement is ended. Thus simple and divine is the manner of pardon. In such short compass may the turning-point of a life lie! But while confession and forgiveness heal the breach between God and David, pardon is not impunity, and the same sentence which bestows the remission of sin announces the exaction of a penalty. A. M.—We learn from the case of David, that God can punish, and that he can forgive, at the same time. Punishment from him, when it falls upon good men, is not the punishment of wrath and vengeance, but that of love and correction; it is therefore a sign that he forgives, and it ought to be so understood. When Nathan said to David, "The sword shall never depart from thy house;" he said at the same time, "The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." God, therefore, forgives while he punishes, and punishes because he forgives. Jones of N.—Pardon may well stand with temporal afflictions. Where God hath forgiven, though he doth not punish, yet he may chastise, and that unto blood; neither doth he always forbear correction, where he remits revenge. So long as he smites us not as an angry judge, we may endure to smart from him as a loving father. Bp. H. There is yet another Psalm which manifestly pertains to David's experience in this great sin, viz., Ps. 32. It seems to have been written a little later than Ps. 51, and yet to record in part his earlier experience. H. C.—What untold agonies he suffered while he covered up his sin, he himself has told us in the thirty-second Psalm. In general, we have in this respect also in the Psalter a faithful record for the guidance of penitents in all ages—to preserve them from despair, to lead them to true repentance, and to bring them at last into the sunlight of forgiveness and peace. Throughout one element appears very prominently, and is itself an indication of "godly sorrow." Besides his own guilt the penitent also feels most keenly the dishonor which he has brought on God's name, and the consequent triumph of God's enemies. Placing these Psalms, so to speak, in the chronological order of David's experience, we would arrange them as follows: Ps. 38, 6, 51, and 32—when at last it is felt that all "transgression is forgiven," all "sin covered." A. E. 14. Howbeit. While he who has fully confessed is fully forgiven, there is still, as concerns this present life, a sad "howbeit" behind. God had taken from him the eternal penalty of his sin; but He had never said, Thy sin shall not be bitter to thee. God may forgive His children their sin, and yet He may make their sin most bitter to them here, teaching them in this way its evil, which they might else have been in danger of forgetting, the aggravation which there is in the sins of a child, in sins against light, against knowledge, against love. Trench.—Because thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.** This is an aggravation. tion of guilt which only God's children can commit. And it is an aggravation of a most distressing kind, enough surely to warn off every Christian from vile self-indulgence. The blasphemy to which David had given occasion was that which denies the reality of God's work in the souls of His people. It denies that they are better than others. They only make more pretence, but that pretence is hollow, if not hypocritical. There is no such thing as a special work of the Holy Ghost in them, and therefore there is no reason why any one should seek to be converted, or why he should implore the special grace of the Spirit of God. Alas, how true it is that when any one who occupies a conspicuous place in the Church of God breaks down, such sneers are sure to be discharged on every side! W. G. B. That the man after God's own heart should have so fallen from his high estate as to become the adulterer and the assassin, has been ever urged with great effect by unbelievers; and this very consequence of David's sin was foreseen and foretold by Nathan the prophet, when he approached the king, bearing with him the rebuke of God on his tongue, and saying, "By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme." Such has indeed been its effect from the day when it was first done unto this day, and such probably will its effect continue to be unto the end of time. That the sin of David was great and grievous, the Almighty proclaimed even more loudly perhaps by suffering David to live, than if in the sudden burst of his instant displeasure he had slain him. For with this sin the sorrow of his life began, and the curse which the prophet denounced against him sat heavy on his spirit to the last; a curse which has a peculiar reference to the nature of his crime; as though upon this offence all his future miseries and misfortunes were to turn; as though he was only spared from the avenger's violent hand to be made a spectacle of righteous suffering to the world. He had committed murder by the edge of the sword, and therefore the sword was never to depart from his house. He had despised the commandment of the Lord (so Nathan expressly says), and taken the wife of another to be his wife; therefore were his own wives to be taken from him, and given to his neighbor in turn. The complexion, therefore, of his remaining years was set by this one fatal deed of darkness (let none think or say that it was lightly regarded by the Almighty), and having become the man of blood, of blood he was to drink deep; and having become the man of lust, by that same baneful passion in others was he himself to be scourged forever. Now the manner in which these tremendous threats are fulfilled is very remarkable; for it is done by way of natural consequence of the sin itself. And now can any say that God winked at this wickedness of his servant? That the man after his own heart, for such in the main he was, frail as he proved himself, sinned grievously, and sinned with impunity! On the contrary, this deed was the pivot upon which David's fortunes turned; that done, and he was undone; then did God raise up enemies against him for it out of his own house, for "the thing," as we are expressly told, "displeased the Lord;" thenceforward the days of his years became full of evil. Blunt. 22. 23. The death of the child showed that it was not God's will to grant his petition, notwithstanding his deep repentance and earnest prayer and fasting. All suspense was now at an end, and, therefore, all reason for continuing to fast and pray. For David to abandon himself to the wailings of aggravated grief at this moment would have been to quarrel with the will of God. It would have been to challenge God's right to view the child as one with its father, and treat it accordingly. And there was yet another reason. If his heart still yearned on the child, the reunion was not impossible, though it could not take place in this life. "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." The glimpse of the future expressed in these words is touching and beautiful. The relation between David and that little child is not ended. Though the mortal remains shall soon crumble, father and child are not yet done with one another. But their meeting is not to be in this world. Meet again they certainly shall, for "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." And this glimpse of the future relation of parent and child, separated here by the hand of death, has ever proved most comforting to bereaved Christian hearts. Very touching and very comforting it is to light on this bright view of the future at so early a period of Old Testament history. Words cannot express the desolation of heart which such bereavements cause. When Rachel is weeping for her children she cannot be comforted if she thinks they are not. But a new light breaks on her desolate heart when she is assured that she may go to them, though they shall not return to her. W. G. B. 24. 25. And once more there came peace to David's soul. Bathsheba was now truly and before God his wife. Another child gladdened their hearts. David named him, symbolically and prophetically, Solomon, "the peaceful;" the seal, the pledge, and the promise of peace. But God called him, and he was "Jedidiah," the Jehovah-loved. Once more, then, the sunshine of God's favor had fallen upon David's household—yet was it, now and ever afterward, the sunlight of autumn rather than that of summer; a sunlight, not of undimmed brightness, but amid clouds and storm. A. E. The story is told without palliation or reserve, without comment or heightening, in that stern judicial fashion so characteristic of the Bible records of its greatest characters. Every step is narrated without a trace of softening, and without a word of emotion. Not a single ugly detail is spared. The portraiture is as vivid as ever. It is told because it teaches us, as no other page in the history of God's church does, how the alchemy of Divine love can extract sweet perfumes of penitence and praise out of the filth of sin; and, therefore, though we turn with loathing from David's sin, we have to bless God for the record of it, and for the lessons of hope that come from David's pardon. To many a sin-tortured soul since then, the two psalms (51 and 32), all blotted with tears, in which he has sobbed out his penitence, have been as footsteps in a great and terrible wilderness. A. M. It is one object of Holy Scripture to paint sin in its true colors. No friendly flattery, no false modesty, draws a veil over this dark scene in David's life. It is recorded as a warning, that even holy men may yield to temptation and fall into gross sin; that one sin almost inevitably leads to others; that sin, even when repented of, brings punishment in its train. With stern simplicity the inspired prophet-historian describes how "the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death" (James 1: 15). The king, who but a few years before had sung of "clean hands and a pure heart" (Ps. 24: 4), and vowed to exclude from his palace all workers of deceit (Ps. 101: 7), is dragged by his passion into meanness, ingratitude, dissimulation, treachery, murder. "These things were written for our admonition. . . . Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." But if the history is a stern record of the enthralling power and the inevitable consequences of sin, it is no less a testimony to the liberating power of repentance. In the words of Bishop Hall: "How can we presume of not sinning, or despair for sinning, when we find so great a saint thus fallen, true risen." It is the necessary key to the history of the rest of David's reign. It explains the sudden overclouding of his life; the change from triumph and prosperity to sorrow and failure. A. F. K. Jewish tradition declares that the sin of Israel in making the golden calf and the fall of David were only recorded—it might almost seem, that they were only allowed—for the sake of their lessons about repentance. The former showed that, even if the whole congregation had erred and strayed, the door of mercy was still open to them; the latter, that not only for Israel as a whole, but for each individual sinner, however low his fall, there was assurance of forgiveness, if with true penitence he turned to God. The one case proved that nothing was too great for God to pardon; the other that there was not any one beneath His gracious notice. Be they many, or only one solitary individual, the ear of God was equally open to the cry of the repentant. The other point to which the Rabbis call attention is, that all the trials of David's later life, and all the judgments which overtook him and his house, might be traced up to his great sin, which, though personally pardoned, made itself felt in its consequences throughout the whole of his after-history. It cannot be doubted that there is deep truth in this view. For, although David was graciously forgiven, and again received into God's favor, neither he nor his government ever wholly recovered from the moral shock of his fall. It is not merely that his further history was attended by an almost continuous succession of troubles, but that these troubles, while allowed of God in judgment, were all connected with a felt and perceptible weakness on his part, which was the consequence of his sin. If the figure may be allowed: henceforth David's hand shook, and his voice trembled; and both what he did and what he said, alike in his own household and in the land, bore evidence of it. A. E. The fall of David is one of the most instructive and alarming recorded in that most faithful and impartial of all histories, the Holy Bible. The transgression of one idle and unguarded moment pierced him through with many sorrows, and embittered the rest of his life. The remainder of his days was as disastrous as the beginning had been prosperous. Rape, incest, murder, and rebellion, raged among his children; he was deserted by his friends, reviled by his enemies, banished from his capital, plunged into the deepest affliction by the ingratitude and death of his favorite and rebellious son Absalom; and, to fill up the measure of his calamities, had a dreadful plague brought upon his subjects by his last offence; so that he died, exhausted, at seventy years of age, still older in constitution than in years. Dr. Hales.—The death of Uriah marks the change in David's personal fortune. The avenger of blood pursues him relentlessly. Deeply does he repent of his sin, and Nathan assures him of the Divine forgiveness; but the natural consequences of the sin are not thereby cancelled, nor is chastisement suspended. It is an awful and salutary lesson, that sin compels us to eat the bread of bitterness even though our pardon be sealed by the Word of God. The great contrast between Saul and David is to be observed in the profound and constant respect with which the latter heard and heeded the admonition of the prophets of God. The prophets were preachers of righteousness. Saul heard Samuel, and then did as he pleased. He was restless under admonition, and disobedient. David bowed his heart, and repented in dust and ashes. Here is the moral grandeur of the man which makes him a model for all time, a true servant of God, because always and promptly submissive to the Divine reproof. It is a splendid tribute which that severest and sourest of all critics, Thomas Carlyle, pays to the character of the great Hebrew king: "David, the Hebrew king, had fallen into sins enough,—blackest crimes; there was no want of sins. And thereupon unbelievers sneer, and ask, 'Is this your man according to God's heart?' The sneer seems to me but a shallow one. David's life and history, as written for us in those Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem 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, repentance, true, unconquerable purpose begun anew. Poor human 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 a 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." Ah, the man who sneers at David does not know his own heart, nor does he dream how a fierce, hot breath might consume to ashes his own boastful superiority! The true man will profit by David's example, and double the guard over his own conduct; while he will be profoundly grateful that even for David was there forgiveness with God. It is the parable of the prodigal in real life. It will send no man into the slums, but it will encourage many a man to come back or to call a halt in his course. There are scars upon your soul, perhaps; there are secrets that haunt and curse you; there are memories that torment you; but, my brother, the gate of return is open, and He who pardoned David has mercy for thousands, and will make you whiter than snow, if you come to Him with a broken heart. Behrends. David, in his two characters, is not one man, but two. There is no concord between David fighting for God, in the confidence of God's righteousness, and David violating the plainest laws of society for his own selfish lusts. They are not to be reconciled. It is just in this circumstance that David's righteous and evil acts are not to be harmonized, that the wholesomeness of his written story lies. We do not feel the inconsistency which unbelievers point to in David, with the sneering question, "Is this the man after God's own heart?" We feel rather that were it not for these inconsistencies David would be unlike us, and his story no pattern of ours. Ainger. We are obliged to admit that characters full of open faults, and even stained by manifest sins, are often more estimable than those in which the fault never comes to the surface. Peter, who denied his Master and yet really loved Him, would have been less worthy of regard if he had loved less although he never had denied. His sin was a revelation of what sin is, but not of the comparative worth of his character. So, too, the great crimes of David show that sin in the form of strong desire leads to enormous wickedness, even to so heinous a crime as murder; while yet in the judgment of God and of man many a person would stand far below David in character, who had lived an outwardly unspotted life. Woolsey.—Many have sinned even more deeply than David sinned; few, very few, have repented as deeply as did he. It is easy to sin with his passion, but how difficult to repent with his grief! M. J. Though the sins and backsliding of a believer cannot destroy his interest in Christ, yet they may so far destroy his comfort (especially if long persisted in against light and love, and of a foul nature) that, even after he is delivered from the power of them, he may for a long time go bleeding under the wounds he has received from the commission of them. The promise indeed is sure, that God will not UTTERLY "take away his loving-kindness" from one individual of the seed of grace; yet the threat is no less certain, that "He will visit their iniquity with a rod, and their sin with scourges;" not in a way of vindictive wrath, but in a way of mercy and fatherly chastisement. As it is in temporals, so in spirituals: a strong Christian, by venturing too much on the slippery borders of temptation, may get a fearful tumble into the mire, and complain of broken bones, as David did; but by grace he will rise again and walk more warily; whereas spiritual declensions (at the root of which the cankerworm of worldly-mindedness usually lies concealed) eat up the very vitals of religion; and are the more dangerous, as they advance more imperceptibly. Hill. One other fact we must notice ere passing from the record of David's confession and chastisement,—the moral courage which he showed in delivering the fifty-first Psalm to the chief musician, and thus helping to keep alive in his own generation and for all time coming the memory of his trespass. Most men would have thought how the ugly transaction might most effectually be buried, and would have tried to put their best face on it before their people. Not so David. He was willing that his people and all posterity should see him the atrocious transgressor he was—let them think of him as they pleased. He saw that this everlasting exposure of his vileness was essential toward extracting from the miserable transaction such salutary lessons as it might be capable of yielding. And the first public record of the transaction came from his own pen, and was delivered to the chief musician, for public use. Infidels may scoff, but this narrative will be a standing proof that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The view given to God's servants of the weakness and deceitfulness of their hearts; the warning against dallying with the first movements of sin; the sight of the misery which follows in its wake; the encouragement which the convicted sinner has to humble himself before God; the impulse given to penitential feeling; the hope of mercy awakened in the breasts of the despairing; the softer, humbler, holier walk when pardon has been got and peace restored,—such lessons as these, afforded in every age by this narrative, will render it to thoughtful hearts a constant ground for magnifying God. W. G. B. CAPTURE OF RABBAH. AMNON AND TAMAR. MURDER OF AMNON AND FLIGHT OF ABSALOM. JOAB'S STRATAGEM TO SECURE ABSALOM'S RECALL. ABSALOM'S RETURN TO JERUSALEM, AND SUBSEQUENT RESTORATION TO DAVID'S FAVOR. 1. S. 12: 26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, yea, I have taken the city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much. And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under (or to) saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through (or labor at) the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem. Ch. 13: 1-39. The cruel crime of Ammon, and his assassination by Absalom's order. Absalom flees to the Syrian King Talmai, and remains in Geshur three years. 14 1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead: and go in to the king, 3 and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. And when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king. And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, Of a truth I am a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and killed him. And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also: thus shall they quench my coal which is left, and shall leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth. And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee. And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless. And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one which is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one. For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him. Now therefore seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. Then thine handmaid said, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: and the LORD thy God be with thee. Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, aught that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid: to change the face of the matter hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and saw not the king's face. Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head, (now it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight. And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance. And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem; and he saw not the king's face. Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab, 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 were better for me to be there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me. So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom. 12 : 26-31. It is often the method of the writers of Scripture, when the stream of public history has been broken by a private or personal incident, to complete at once the incident, and then go back to the principal history, resuming it at the point at which it was interrupted. In this way it sometimes happens that earlier events are recorded at a later part of the narrative than the natural order would imply. In the course of the narrative of David's war with Ammon, the incident of his sin with Bathsheba presents itself. In accordance with the method referred to, that incident is recorded straight on to its very close, including the birth of Bathsheba's second son (verses 24, 25—see previous section), which must have occurred at least two years later. That being concluded, the history of the war with Ammon is resumed at the point at which it was broken off. We are not to suppose, as many have done, that the events recorded in these concluding verses of this chapter happened later than those recorded immediately before. This would imply that the siege of Rabbah lasted for two or three years—a supposition hardly to be entertained. The order of events is probably as follows: After the death of Uriah, Joab prepares for an assault on Rabbah. Meanwhile, at Jerusalem, Bathsheba goes through the form of mourning for her husband, and when the usual days of mourning are over David hastily sends for her and makes her his wife. Next comes a message from Joab that he has succeeded in taking the city of waters, and that only the citadel remains to be taken, for which purpose he urges David to come himself with additional forces, and thereby gain the honor of conquering the place. It rather surprises one to find Joab declining an honor for himself, as it also surprises us to find David going to reap what another had sowed. David, however, goes with "all the people," and is successful, and after disposing of the Ammonites he returns to Jerusalem. Soon after Bathsheba's child is born; then Nathan goes to David and gives him the message that lays him in the dust. This is not only the most natural order for the events, but it agrees best with the spirit of the narrative. W. G. B. 26. And Joab fought against Rabbah.** The narrative returns to the point at which it was left in ch. 11 : 1. But how long a time was occupied in the siege does not appear. It is possible that it lasted more than one year, and did not come to an end till after the birth of Bathsheba's first child. But, on the other hand, it would be quite natural for the historian, having once commenced his account of Bath- Bathsheba, to complete it before narrating the capture of Rabbah, so that this may have been effected within a year. Rabbah (the great city), or more fully Rabbah of the children of Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites, was situated in a strong position about twenty-two miles east of the Jordan, on a branch of the valley of the Jabok. It consisted of the lower town, called "the city of waters" (verse 27), from the perennial stream which has its source in it; and the citadel, a place of great strength, built on a hill rising abruptly on the north side of the lower town. We are not told whether the city was destroyed on its capture. If so, it was afterward rebuilt, and was a place of importance at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. A. F. K. 27. City of Waters.** This expression of Joab, and the fact of the citadel requiring a separate siege, are at once understood on the spot. Ammon stands on the confluence of two little streams, which unite in the centre of the place, the two valleys converging into one, and enclosing between them a bold, flat triangle of rock, the ancient citadel. This is of itself a large city of several acres. H. B. T.—"The royal city" seems to be equivalent to "the city of waters"—that is, the lower city on the river, as distinguished from "the city" (verse 28)—i.e., the citadel. The capture of this probably deprived the citadel of its water-supply, and so rendered it untenable for any length of time. 31. These cruel punishments must be judged according to the standard of the age in which they were inflicted, not by the light of Christian civilization. The Ammonites were evidently a savage and brutal nation, and in all probability they were treated no worse than they were accustomed to treat others. It was the age of retaliation, when the law of like for like—the lex talionis—prevailed. They had foully insulted David, and it is not to be wondered at if he was provoked into making a signal example of them by this severity. In this respect he did not rise above the level of his own age. A. F. K.—Although the fact is not stated (as it is only incidentally done in the case of Adonizedek) that the present severity was retributive, the certainty that it was so is sufficiently indicated by sundry dispersed facts, which bring out the peculiarly savage character of this people. Look, for instance, at their refusal of any other terms than the loss of their right eyes, to the men of Jabesh Gilead, who were inclined to surrender without resistance. This is quite of a piece with their treatment of David's ambassadors; and the character thus manifested they still show in a later age, when they are reproached by the prophet for deliberate and excessive cruelty (Amos 1 : 13). To an enemy of this description, it could not have appeared unjust to treat them according to their dealings with others. Severe that treatment was, no doubt, and was meant to be; but to call it more than this is to confound the modern with the ancient law of nations, or with the law of nature itself. Kit. While some think the surviving citizens were sent into the royal forests as hewers of timber or cutters in the saw-pits, or became brickmakers for the king, others believe they were cruelly torn with saws or axes, and even burned to death. But the history of the following years does not square with this alleged cruelty. Many of the people appear to have been left in the town under the rule of Shobi, a son of Nahash, and a friend of David. That prince had held aloof from the court of Ammon when it encouraged Hanun to insult David's men. He and his adherents were rewarded for this friendship when the rest of their countrymen had been punished for the crime. Among the Ammonite captives was an infant girl named "Naamah," or "Delight." She may have belonged to the royal family and been received into David's palace on the overthrow of her kindred. Many years afterward she became the wife of Solomon. Sime. In the whole transaction at Rabbah David shows poorly. It is not like him to be roused to an enterprise by an appeal to his love of fame. It is not like him to go through the ceremony of being crowned with the crown of the king of Ammon, as if it were a great thing to have so precious a diadem on his head. Above all, it is not like him to show so harsh a spirit in disposing of his prisoners of war. But all this is quite likely to have happened if he had not yet come to repentance for his sin. When a man's conscience is ill at ease, he is in the temper that most easily becomes savage when provoked. No one can imagine that David's conscience was at rest. W. G. B. Amnon and Tamar. Before his marriage with Bathsheba, David had sixteen sons, who lived as princes among the people, each in his own house. Only three of them are of any note in history: the eldest, Amnon, son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the third, Absalom, son of Maacah of Geshur; and the fourth, Adonijah, son of Haggith. For the precedence due to Amnon as the first-born he was likely to have a formidable rival in Absalom, whose mother was a king's daughter, and who was himself unequalled for beauty among the people. But we do not hear of any jealousy or dissension among the king's sons till the event here narrated led to fatal results. P. S. We do not find that David's children imitated him in his devotion; but his false steps they trod in, and in those did much worse, and repented not. Parents know not how fatal the consequences may be, if, in any instance, they give their children bad examples. H.—Where the father of the family brings sin home to the house, it is not easily swept out. Unlawful lust propagates itself by example. How justly is David scourged by the sins of his sons whom his act taught to offend! Bp. H. 1. Beauty is a snare to many; it was so to Tamar; she was fair, and therefore Amnon coveted her. They that are peculiarly handsome have no reason on that account to be proud, but great reason to stand upon their watch. H.—3. Perhaps this unkindly flame might in time have gone out alone, had there not been a Jon-adab to blow these coals with ill counsel. Had he been a true friend, he had bent all the forces of his dissuasion against the wicked motions of that sinful lust, and had showed the prince of Israel how much those desires provoked God and blemished himself, and had lent his hand to strangle them in their first conception. Bp. H. 12. No such thing ought to be done in Israel. Israel was a holy nation, sanctified by the peculiar presence of Jehovah among them; and therefore all acts of unchastity were an offence against the true character and calling of the nation. Such acts might be common among heathen nations, but to Israel they were forbidden by the Law, which placed them on a loftier level of morality. 13. As one of the fools in Israel. "Fool" denotes not merely one who is stupid and ignorant, but one who has abandoned the fear of God, and cast off the restraints of decency and morality (cp. ch. 3 : 33; Ps. 14 : 1). "Folly" is a term specially applied to unchastity. A. F. K. 15-17. Amnon appears with no redeeming features in his character. That his love of Tamar turned so suddenly and so meanly to hate—what shall we say of it less than to call it unutterable vileness! But ungoverned lust will naturally dislodge and expel from human souls all that is noble, and leave scope only for what is ineffably base and mean. This hatred in Amnon's soul suggests that worst law of sinning natures, which in a sort compels the sinner to hate whom he harms, and to hate most those he has most cruelly wronged. Incidentally these events were among the fruits of polygamy—the children of envious and rival mothers having the same father were not wont to waste much love upon each other. H. C.—It is among the many curses of polygamy that the children of the different wives grow up from the first in an atmosphere of sensual indulgence; secondly, that there is sure to be rivalry between them, and intriguing among their mothers, with a view to their father's favor and the succession to his property. All this is abundantly illustrated in the history of David's children, especially of Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah. Plummer. 21. In spite of his anger David did not punish or even rebuke the offence, though the legal penalty of his crime was death. David's indulgent treatment of his sons was a fruitful source of mischief, and led in this case to the murder of Amnon, and ultimately to Absalom's rebellion. The consciousness of his own guilt moreover weakened his hands for dealing with Amnon's offence. A. F. K.—How could he who had himself sinned so deeply, call his son to account for his misconduct? and with what an awful retort, drawn from the example he had set to his children, might not his rebuke be met? 22. "He spoke not a word to Amnon, neither good nor bad." Absalom "hated" him for the wrong he had done to his sister; but he was too proud to "speak good" to one who had brought this dishonor to him, and too wary to put Amnon on his guard by expressing the hatred he nourished in his heart. He intended to make his revenge effectual, and to use it for clearing his way to the throne. We cannot but think that he had already taken up the design upon the kingdom which he eventually carried out, and that as Amnon was his elder brother, and the heir-apparent, he meant to use his private wrong as the excuse for removing so serious an obstacle from his path. But to this end it was necessary that the king, as well as Amnon, should be lulled into the conviction that he had no thoughts of revenge, and that the matter had gone from his mind. Kit.—David is now doomed to see his children following his own evil example, only with added circumstances of atrocity. Adultery and murder had been introduced by him into the palace; when he is done with them they remain to be handled by his sons. Amnon Murdered by Absalom. Verses 23-29. It is not easy to paint the blackness of the crime of Absalom. We have nothing to say for Amnon, who seems to have been a man singularly vile; but there is something very appalling in his being murdered by the order of his brother, something very cold-blooded in Absalom's appeal to the assassins not to flunch from their task, something very revolting in the flagrant violation of the laws of hospitality, and something not less daring in the deed being done in the midst of the feast, and in the presence of the guests. And now the first part of the retribution denounced by Nathan begins to be fulfilled, and fulfilled very fearfully,—"the sword shall never depart from thy house." Ancient history abounds in frightful stories, stories of murder, incest, and revenge, the materials, real or fabulous, from which were formed the tragedies of the great Greek dramatists. But nothing in their dramas is more tragic than the crime of Amnon, the incest of Tamar, and the revenge of Absalom. What David's feelings must have been we can hardly conceive. What must he have felt as he thought of the death of Amnon, slain by his brother's command, in his brother's house, at his brother's table, and hurried to God's judgment while his brain was reeling with intoxication! What a pang must have been shot by the recollection how David had once tried, for his own base ends, to intoxicate Uriah as Absalom had intoxicated Amnon! How could he but be filled with anguish when he thought of his son, hurried, while drunk, by his brother's act, into the presence of God, to answer for the worse than murder of his sister, and for all the crimes and sins of an ill-spent life! W. G. B. 32,33. Jonadab, David's nephew, could tell him, Amnon only is dead, and not all the king's sons, and could tell him, too, that it was done by the appointment of Absalom, and designed from the day he forced his sister Tamar. What a wicked man was he, if he knew all this or had any cause to suspect it, that he did not make David acquainted with it sooner, that means might have been used to make up the quarrel. Had he acted as an honest man, David might not have thrown Amnon into the mouth of danger by letting him go to Absalom's house. If we do not our utmost to prevent mischief we make ourselves accessory to it. If we say, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart, consider whether we did or no? See Prov. 24: 11, 12. Jonadab was possibly as guilty of Amnon's death as he was of his sin; he that would not prevent Amnon's sin, neither would he prevent his ruin, when he might have done both. H. 37. As a wilful murderer, Absalom could have no city of refuge in his own country; therefore he fled out of the kingdom to his mother's father. Thus did God, by leaving Amnon a prey to his own passions, "raise up evil to David out of his own house:" a daughter ravished by her own brother; that brother murdered by another brother; and that other in exile on this very account, and destined soon to perish by a fate which would have been more deplorable if it had been less deserved. Del meq. 39. David mourned for Amnon a good while, but he being past recall, time wore off that grief; he was comforted concerning Amnon: it also wore off too much his detestation of Absalom's sin; instead of loathing him, as a murderer, he longs to go forth to him. At first, he could not find in his heart to do justice on him, now he can almost find in his heart to take him into his favor again. This was David's infirmity; something God saw in his heart that made a difference, else we should have thought that he, as much as Eli, honored his sons more than God. H. Joab's Stratagem to Procure Absalom's Recall. 1. The words may be rendered: "And Joab knew that the king's heart was against Absalom." In favor of this rendering it may be urged that the preposition generally means against not toward: that in the only other passage where the phrase occurs (Dan. 11 : 28), it unquestionably expresses hostility: that this meaning agrees better with the whole course of the narrative, which leaves the impression that Absalom's recall was a concession extorted from David by Joab's cunning. Although David had abandoned the ideas of vengeance which he at first entertained, his heart remained set against Absalom, and he showed no disposition to recall him from exile. This view of the state of David's feelings toward Absalom at once accounts for Joab's subtle scheme to convince the king of the hardship of prolonging Absalom's exile, and for the king's refusal to see Absalom when he had been persuaded to allow him to return. It may seem inconsistent with the passionate affection which he afterward displayed for his rebellious son, but it is not really so. A violent revulsion of feeling, when Absalom's life was in danger, and still more when he had perished by a miserable death, would be quite in accordance with David's impulsive character. A. F. K. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/ Capture of Rabbah. Amnon and Tamar. Murder of Amnon and Flight of Absalom. Absalom's Recall, and Subsequent Restoration to David's Favor. 2 Sam. 12:26-31; 13:1-39; 14:1-33. 1 Chron. 20:1-3. 12 1 AND the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, 2 There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, 5 but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the 6 man that hath done this is worthy to die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, I 8 anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such 9 things. Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the LORD, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy 10 wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken 11 the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give 12 them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou 13 didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, the LORD 14 also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto 15 thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all 17 night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise 18 him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that 19 the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered together, David per- ceived that the child was dead: and David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And 20 they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat 22 bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who know- 23 eth whether the LORD will not 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 24 not return to me. And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay 25 with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him; and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the LORD's sake. In the very culmination of David's prosperity, at the very crowning point of his great work for Israel, and when he had sung his brightest, sweetest, most trustful songs, came that fierce outbreak of his passionate nature, for the time —and a long time—overriding and benumbing all that was spiritual and devout in him. Like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Peter, David sin- ned at the very point of his peculiar excellence. As it was the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, the intrepidity of Elijah, and the cour- age of Peter, so it was David's purity and kind- liness of heart that failed. At length he "sor- rowed toward God," and was forgiven; but troubles and afflictions in his family, and sore judgments among his people, were the tokens of God's rebuke, and kept his "sin ever before" him. His harp was strung to new measures of sadness, in which grief for transgression is blended with fervent aspiration after the purity and peace of God. And in these later Psalms, by showing that there is forgiveness, and that in God is our strength, he has helped many a sin- ning soul, while warning the faithful and pure against the force of sudden temptation in an unguarded hour. B. A year had passed since David's fall. The child of sin had been born. And all this time God was silent! Yet all the time there hung over him this Divine sentence: "But the thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of Je- hovah." A. E.—It was about a year that David lay under the guilt of that sin, and for aught that appears, unrepented of. And then David did not send for Nathan (though he had never had so much occasion as he had now for his confessor), but God sent Nathan to David. H.—Alas, what long and dead sleeps may the holiest soul take in fearful sins! Were it not for thy mercy, O God, the best of us should end our spiritual lethargy in sleep of death. Bp. H. 1-7. Detestable as was the double guilt of this dark story, we must still remember that David was not an Alfred or a Saint Louis. He was an Eastern king, exposed to all the temptations of a king of Ammon or Damascus then, of a Sultan of Bagdad or Constantinople in modern times. What follows, however, could have been found nowhere in the ancient world but in the Jewish monarchy. A year had passed; the child of guilt was born in the royal house, and loved with all the passionate tenderness of David's paternal heart. Suddenly the prophet Nathan appears before him. He comes as if to claim redress for a wrong in humble life. It was the true prophetic spirit that spoke through Nathan's mouth. The apologue of the rich man and the ewe lamb has, besides its own intrinsic tenderness, a supernatural elevation, which is the best sign of true Revelation. It ventures to disregard all particulars, and is content to aim at awakening the general sense of outraged justice. It fastens on the essential guilt of David's sin,—not its sensuality, or its impurity, so much as its meanness and selfishness. It rouses the king's conscience by that teaching described as specially characteristic of prophecy, making manifest his own sin in the indignation which he has expressed at the sin of another. Thou art the man is, or ought to be, the conclusion, expressed or unexpressed, of every practical sermon. Stanley. He puts his parable in such life-like form that the king has no suspicion of its real character. The rich robber that spared his own flocks and herds to feed the traveller, and stole the poor man's ewe lamb, is a real flesh-and-blood criminal to him. And the deed is so dastardly, its heartlessness is so atrocious, that it is not enough to enforce against such a wretch the ordinary law of fourfold restitution; in the exercise of his high prerogative the king pronounces a sentence of death upon the ruffian, and confirms it with the solemnity of an oath—"The man that hath done this thing shall surely die." The flash of indignation is yet in his eye, the flush of resentment is still on his brow, when the prophet, with calm voice and piercing eye, utters the solemn words, "Thou art the man!" Thou, great king of Israel, art the robber, the ruffian, condemned by thine own voice to the death of the worst malefactor! W. G. B. 7-9. The answer of Nathan is a perfect example of the Divine way of convincing of sin. There is first the plain charge pressed home on the individual conscience, "Thou art the man." Then follows, not reproach or further deepening of the blackness of the deed, but a tender enumeration of God's great benefits, whereon is built the solemn question, "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?" The contemplation of God's faithful love, and of the all-sufficient gifts which it bestows, makes every transgression irrational as well as ungrateful, and turns remorse, which consumes like the hot wind of the wilderness, into tearful repentance which refreshes the soul. A. M. 9. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord. Great as was David's sin against Uriah and Bathsheba, his sin against God was greater in thus breaking two express commandments of the Decalogue. And hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. This is not a mere repetition of the clause "thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword." The verb is stronger, "thou hast murdered;" and the offence is shown to have been aggravated by the employment of the Ammonites, the enemies of God's people, as the instruments for its commission. A. F. K.—He charges him with a high contempt of the Divine authority, in the sins he had been guilty of. Wherefore hast thou (presuming upon thy royal dignity and power) despised the commandment of the Lord? This is the spring, and this the malignity of sin, that it is making light of the Divine law and the Lawmaker; as if the obligation of it were weak, the precepts of it trifling, and the threats not at all formidable. David despised the word of the Lord, so it is in the Hebrew, the particular word of promise, which God had, by Nathan, sent to him some time before, that he would build him a house: which sacred promise, if he had had a due value and veneration for, he would not thus have polluted his house with lust and blood. H. 10,11. Here we find a great principle in the moral government of God,—correspondence between an offence and its retribution. Of this many instances occur in the Old Testament, Jacob deceived his father; he was deceived by his own sons. Lot made a worldly choice; in the world's ruin he was overwhelmed. So David having slain Uriah with his sword, the sword was never to depart from him. He had robbed Uriah of his wife; his neighbors would in like manner rob and dishonor him. He had disturbed the purity of the family relation; his own house was to become a den of pollution. He had mingled deceit and treachery with his actions; deceit and treachery would be practised toward him. What a sad and ominous prospect! For him there was to be no calm in the evening of his life. His trial was to fall on the tenderest part of his nature. He had a strong affection for his children; in that very feeling he was to be wounded, and that, too, all his life long. W. G. B.—The sentence pronounced upon him—“Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house,” furnishes the key to David’s future history and career, which was as unprosperous and troubled, as the earlier part of his reign had been happy and successful. There was in all things a great change—even in the man himself. Broken in spirit by the consciousness of how deeply he had sinned against God and against man; humbled in the eyes of his subjects, and his influence with them weakened by the knowledge of his crimes; and even his authority in his own household, and his claim to the reverence of his sons, relaxed by his loss of character—David appears henceforth as a much altered man. Kit. 12. The sin was secret and industriously concealed, but the punishment should be open and industriously proclaimed, to the shame of David, whose sin in the matter of Uriah would then be called to mind and commonly talked of. As face answers to face in a glass, so does the punishment often answer to the sin; here is blood for blood, and uncleanness for uncleanness. And thus God would show how much he hates sin, even in his own people, and that wherever he finds it he will not let it go unpunished. H. 13. David cannot have the heart or the face to stand out against the message of God; but now, as a man confounded and condemned in himself, he cries out, in the bitterness of a wounded soul, I have sinned against the Lord. It was a short word, but passionate; and such as came from the bottom of a contrite heart. Bp H. The prophet Nathan came to tell him in clear words that which he had been hearing in muttered accents within his heart for months before. He came to tell him that the God of righteousness and mercy, who cared for Uriah, the poor man with the single ewe-lamb, was calling him, the king, to account for an act of unrighteousness and unmercifulness. Nathan brought him to face steadily the light at which he had been winking, and to own that the light was good and the darkness only was horrible and hateful; so that he might turn to the light, and crave that it should once more penetrate into the depths of his being and take possession of him. And this was his confession and prayer. He makes out no case for himself; he pleads no extenuating circumstances. Maurice.—“I have sinned against the Lord.” Two words (in the Hebrew) make the transition from sullen misery to real though shaded peace. No lengthened outpouring, no accumulation of self reproach; he is too deeply moved for many words, which he knows God does not need. More would have been less. All is contained in that one sob, in which the whole frostwork of these weary months breaks up and rolls away, swept before the strong flood. A. M. The instant recognition of his guilt breaks up the illusion of months. “I have sinned against the Lord.” The sense of his injustice to man waxes faint before his sense of sin against God. “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” Stanley.—“The strength of David’s confession lay in the three words “against the Lord.” Any one can say, “I have sinned,” but one must have known God, must have realized what sin is to God, and must have felt something of what God is to the soul before one can say, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Vaughan.—“Who has not read that fifty-first Psalm, in which David does solemn penance in presence of all the people, and in which he utters, on account of his sin, a cry of anguish which still re-echoes throughout all ages? Ah! far from veiling itself in this transaction, the holiness of God shines forth brilliantly, so brilliantly that David himself humbly acknowledges it in the very hour when it strikes him most rigorously, by exclaiming, “That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest;” that is, when Thou reproachest me; “and be clear when Thou judgest.” Godet. In Ps. 51 we hear David crying out for mercy in the bitterness of his pangs. He seems to lose sight of everything else but God. His sins are seen as if committed against God only. Oh, can he ever be forgiven? And if forgiven, can he hope to be so washed and cleansed and lifted above temptation’s power that he shall never fall again? These are the words of his prayer. Never were fitter words poured forth from a penitent soul. H. C.—In these words the humiliation of the Psalmist before God is very profound, very thorough. His case is one for simple mercy; he has not the shadow of a plea in self-defence. His sin is in every aspect atrocious. It is the product of one so vile that he may be said to have been shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin. The aspect of it as sin against God is so overwhelming that it absorbs the other aspect—the sin against man. Not but that he has sinned against man, too; but it is the sin against God that is so awful, so overwhelming. Yet, if his sin abounds, the Psalmist feels that God's grace abounds much more. He has the highest sense of the excellence and the multitude of God's loving-kindnesses. Man can never make himself so odious as to be beyond the Divine compassion. He can never become so guilty as to be beyond the Divine forgiveness. "Blot out my transgressions," sobs David, knowing that it can be done. "Purge me with hyssop," he cries, "and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." But this is not all; it is far from all. He pleads most plaintively for the restoration of God's friendship. "Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,"—for that would be hell; "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit,"—for that is heaven. And, with the renewed sense of God's love and grace, there would come a renewed power to serve God and be useful to men. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise." Deprive me not forever of Thy friendship, for then life would be but darkness and anguish; depose me not forever from Thy ministry, continue to me yet the honor and the privilege of converting sinners unto Thee. Of the sacrifices of the law it was needless to think, as if they were adequate to purge away so overwhelming a sin. "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else I would give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." With all his consciousness of sin, David has yet a profound faith in God's mercy, and he is forgiven. W. G. B. And as brief and simple as the confession, is the response, And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin. How full and unconditional the blessing bestowed in these few words; how swift and sufficient the answer! So the long estrangement is ended. Thus simple and divine is the manner of pardon. In such short compass may the turning-point of a life lie! But while confession and forgiveness heal the breach between God and David, pardon is not impunity, and the same sentence which bestows the remission of sin announces the exaction of a penalty. A. M.—We learn from the case of David, that God can punish, and that he can forgive, at the same time. Punishment from him, when it falls upon good men, is not the punishment of wrath and vengeance, but that of love and correction; it is therefore a sign that he forgives, and it ought to be so understood. When Nathan said to David, "The sword shall never depart from thy house;" he said at the same time, "The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." God, therefore, forgives while he punishes, and punishes because he forgives. Jones of N.—Pardon may well stand with temporal afflictions. Where God hath forgiven, though he doth not punish, yet he may chastise, and that unto blood; neither doth he always forbear correction, where he remits revenge. So long as he smites us not as an angry judge, we may endure to smart from him as a loving father. Bp. H. There is yet another Psalm which manifestly pertains to David's experience in this great sin, viz., Ps. 32. It seems to have been written a little later than Ps. 51, and yet to record in part his earlier experience. H. C.—What untold agonies he suffered while he covered up his sin, he himself has told us in the thirty-second Psalm. In general, we have in this respect also in the Psalter a faithful record for the guidance of penitents in all ages—to preserve them from despair, to lead them to true repentance, and to bring them at last into the sunlight of forgiveness and peace. Throughout one element appears very prominently, and is itself an indication of "godly sorrow." Besides his own guilt the penitent also feels most keenly the dishonor which he has brought on God's name, and the consequent triumph of God's enemies. Placing these Psalms, so to speak, in the chronological order of David's experience, we would arrange them as follows: Ps. 38, 6, 51, and 32—when at last it is felt that all "transgression is forgiven," all "sin covered." A. E. 14. Howbeit. While he who has fully confessed is fully forgiven, there is still, as concerns this present life, a sad "howbeit" behind. God had taken from him the eternal penalty of his sin; but He had never said, Thy sin shall not be bitter to thee. God may forgive His children their sin, and yet He may make their sin most bitter to them here, teaching them in this way its evil, which they might else have been in danger of forgetting, the aggravation which there is in the sins of a child, in sins against light, against knowledge, against love. Trench.—Because thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.** This is an aggravation. tion of guilt which only God's children can commit. And it is an aggravation of a most distressing kind, enough surely to warn off every Christian from vile self-indulgence. The blasphemy to which David had given occasion was that which denies the reality of God's work in the souls of His people. It denies that they are better than others. They only make more pretence, but that pretence is hollow, if not hypocritical. There is no such thing as a special work of the Holy Ghost in them, and therefore there is no reason why any one should seek to be converted, or why he should implore the special grace of the Spirit of God. Alas, how true it is that when any one who occupies a conspicuous place in the Church of God breaks down, such sneers are sure to be discharged on every side! W. G. B. That the man after God's own heart should have so fallen from his high estate as to become the adulterer and the assassin, has been ever urged with great effect by unbelievers; and this very consequence of David's sin was foreseen and foretold by Nathan the prophet, when he approached the king, bearing with him the rebuke of God on his tongue, and saying, "By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme." Such has indeed been its effect from the day when it was first done unto this day, and such probably will its effect continue to be unto the end of time. That the sin of David was great and grievous, the Almighty proclaimed even more loudly perhaps by suffering David to live, than if in the sudden burst of his instant displeasure he had slain him. For with this sin the sorrow of his life began, and the curse which the prophet denounced against him sat heavy on his spirit to the last; a curse which has a peculiar reference to the nature of his crime; as though upon this offence all his future miseries and misfortunes were to turn; as though he was only spared from the avenger's violent hand to be made a spectacle of righteous suffering to the world. He had committed murder by the edge of the sword, and therefore the sword was never to depart from his house. He had despised the commandment of the Lord (so Nathan expressly says), and taken the wife of another to be his wife; therefore were his own wives to be taken from him, and given to his neighbor in turn. The complexion, therefore, of his remaining years was set by this one fatal deed of darkness (let none think or say that it was lightly regarded by the Almighty), and having become the man of blood, of blood he was to drink deep; and having become the man of lust, by that same baneful passion in others was he himself to be scourged forever. Now the manner in which these tremendous threats are fulfilled is very remarkable; for it is done by way of natural consequence of the sin itself. And now can any say that God winked at this wickedness of his servant? That the man after his own heart, for such in the main he was, frail as he proved himself, sinned grievously, and sinned with impunity! On the contrary, this deed was the pivot upon which David's fortunes turned; that done, and he was undone; then did God raise up enemies against him for it out of his own house, for "the thing," as we are expressly told, "displeased the Lord;" thenceforward the days of his years became full of evil. Blunt. 22. 23. The death of the child showed that it was not God's will to grant his petition, notwithstanding his deep repentance and earnest prayer and fasting. All suspense was now at an end, and, therefore, all reason for continuing to fast and pray. For David to abandon himself to the wailings of aggravated grief at this moment would have been to quarrel with the will of God. It would have been to challenge God's right to view the child as one with its father, and treat it accordingly. And there was yet another reason. If his heart still yearned on the child, the reunion was not impossible, though it could not take place in this life. "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." The glimpse of the future expressed in these words is touching and beautiful. The relation between David and that little child is not ended. Though the mortal remains shall soon crumble, father and child are not yet done with one another. But their meeting is not to be in this world. Meet again they certainly shall, for "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." And this glimpse of the future relation of parent and child, separated here by the hand of death, has ever proved most comforting to bereaved Christian hearts. Very touching and very comforting it is to light on this bright view of the future at so early a period of Old Testament history. Words cannot express the desolation of heart which such bereavements cause. When Rachel is weeping for her children she cannot be comforted if she thinks they are not. But a new light breaks on her desolate heart when she is assured that she may go to them, though they shall not return to her. W. G. B. 24. 25. And once more there came peace to David's soul. Bathsheba was now truly and before God his wife. Another child gladdened their hearts. David named him, symbolically and prophetically, Solomon, "the peaceful;" the seal, the pledge, and the promise of peace. But God called him, and he was "Jedidiah," the Jehovah-loved. Once more, then, the sunshine of God's favor had fallen upon David's household—yet was it, now and ever afterward, the sunlight of autumn rather than that of summer; a sunlight, not of undimmed brightness, but amid clouds and storm. A. E. The story is told without palliation or reserve, without comment or heightening, in that stern judicial fashion so characteristic of the Bible records of its greatest characters. Every step is narrated without a trace of softening, and without a word of emotion. Not a single ugly detail is spared. The portraiture is as vivid as ever. It is told because it teaches us, as no other page in the history of God's church does, how the alchemy of Divine love can extract sweet perfumes of penitence and praise out of the filth of sin; and, therefore, though we turn with loathing from David's sin, we have to bless God for the record of it, and for the lessons of hope that come from David's pardon. To many a sin-tortured soul since then, the two psalms (51 and 32), all blotted with tears, in which he has sobbed out his penitence, have been as footsteps in a great and terrible wilderness. A. M. It is one object of Holy Scripture to paint sin in its true colors. No friendly flattery, no false modesty, draws a veil over this dark scene in David's life. It is recorded as a warning, that even holy men may yield to temptation and fall into gross sin; that one sin almost inevitably leads to others; that sin, even when repented of, brings punishment in its train. With stern simplicity the inspired prophet-historian describes how "the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death" (James 1: 15). The king, who but a few years before had sung of "clean hands and a pure heart" (Ps. 24: 4), and vowed to exclude from his palace all workers of deceit (Ps. 101: 7), is dragged by his passion into meanness, ingratitude, dissimulation, treachery, murder. "These things were written for our admonition. . . . Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." But if the history is a stern record of the enthralling power and the inevitable consequences of sin, it is no less a testimony to the liberating power of repentance. In the words of Bishop Hall: "How can we presume of not sinning, or despair for sinning, when we find so great a saint thus fallen, true risen." It is the necessary key to the history of the rest of David's reign. It explains the sudden overclouding of his life; the change from triumph and prosperity to sorrow and failure. A. F. K. Jewish tradition declares that the sin of Israel in making the golden calf and the fall of David were only recorded—it might almost seem, that they were only allowed—for the sake of their lessons about repentance. The former showed that, even if the whole congregation had erred and strayed, the door of mercy was still open to them; the latter, that not only for Israel as a whole, but for each individual sinner, however low his fall, there was assurance of forgiveness, if with true penitence he turned to God. The one case proved that nothing was too great for God to pardon; the other that there was not any one beneath His gracious notice. Be they many, or only one solitary individual, the ear of God was equally open to the cry of the repentant. The other point to which the Rabbis call attention is, that all the trials of David's later life, and all the judgments which overtook him and his house, might be traced up to his great sin, which, though personally pardoned, made itself felt in its consequences throughout the whole of his after-history. It cannot be doubted that there is deep truth in this view. For, although David was graciously forgiven, and again received into God's favor, neither he nor his government ever wholly recovered from the moral shock of his fall. It is not merely that his further history was attended by an almost continuous succession of troubles, but that these troubles, while allowed of God in judgment, were all connected with a felt and perceptible weakness on his part, which was the consequence of his sin. If the figure may be allowed: henceforth David's hand shook, and his voice trembled; and both what he did and what he said, alike in his own household and in the land, bore evidence of it. A. E. The fall of David is one of the most instructive and alarming recorded in that most faithful and impartial of all histories, the Holy Bible. The transgression of one idle and unguarded moment pierced him through with many sorrows, and embittered the rest of his life. The remainder of his days was as disastrous as the beginning had been prosperous. Rape, incest, murder, and rebellion, raged among his children; he was deserted by his friends, reviled by his enemies, banished from his capital, plunged into the deepest affliction by the ingratitude and death of his favorite and rebellious son Absalom; and, to fill up the measure of his calamities, had a dreadful plague brought upon his subjects by his last offence; so that he died, exhausted, at seventy years of age, still older in constitution than in years. Dr. Hales.—The death of Uriah marks the change in David's personal fortune. The avenger of blood pursues him relentlessly. Deeply does he repent of his sin, and Nathan assures him of the Divine forgiveness; but the natural consequences of the sin are not thereby cancelled, nor is chastisement suspended. It is an awful and salutary lesson, that sin compels us to eat the bread of bitterness even though our pardon be sealed by the Word of God. The great contrast between Saul and David is to be observed in the profound and constant respect with which the latter heard and heeded the admonition of the prophets of God. The prophets were preachers of righteousness. Saul heard Samuel, and then did as he pleased. He was restless under admonition, and disobedient. David bowed his heart, and repented in dust and ashes. Here is the moral grandeur of the man which makes him a model for all time, a true servant of God, because always and promptly submissive to the Divine reproof. It is a splendid tribute which that severest and sourest of all critics, Thomas Carlyle, pays to the character of the great Hebrew king: "David, the Hebrew king, had fallen into sins enough,—blackest crimes; there was no want of sins. And thereupon unbelievers sneer, and ask, 'Is this your man according to God's heart?' The sneer seems to me but a shallow one. David's life and history, as written for us in those Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem 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, repentance, true, unconquerable purpose begun anew. Poor human 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 a 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." Ah, the man who sneers at David does not know his own heart, nor does he dream how a fierce, hot breath might consume to ashes his own boastful superiority! The true man will profit by David's example, and double the guard over his own conduct; while he will be profoundly grateful that even for David was there forgiveness with God. It is the parable of the prodigal in real life. It will send no man into the slums, but it will encourage many a man to come back or to call a halt in his course. There are scars upon your soul, perhaps; there are secrets that haunt and curse you; there are memories that torment you; but, my brother, the gate of return is open, and He who pardoned David has mercy for thousands, and will make you whiter than snow, if you come to Him with a broken heart. Behrends. David, in his two characters, is not one man, but two. There is no concord between David fighting for God, in the confidence of God's righteousness, and David violating the plainest laws of society for his own selfish lusts. They are not to be reconciled. It is just in this circumstance that David's righteous and evil acts are not to be harmonized, that the wholesomeness of his written story lies. We do not feel the inconsistency which unbelievers point to in David, with the sneering question, "Is this the man after God's own heart?" We feel rather that were it not for these inconsistencies David would be unlike us, and his story no pattern of ours. Ainger. We are obliged to admit that characters full of open faults, and even stained by manifest sins, are often more estimable than those in which the fault never comes to the surface. Peter, who denied his Master and yet really loved Him, would have been less worthy of regard if he had loved less although he never had denied. His sin was a revelation of what sin is, but not of the comparative worth of his character. So, too, the great crimes of David show that sin in the form of strong desire leads to enormous wickedness, even to so heinous a crime as murder; while yet in the judgment of God and of man many a person would stand far below David in character, who had lived an outwardly unspotted life. Woolsey.—Many have sinned even more deeply than David sinned; few, very few, have repented as deeply as did he. It is easy to sin with his passion, but how difficult to repent with his grief! M. J. Though the sins and backsliding of a believer cannot destroy his interest in Christ, yet they may so far destroy his comfort (especially if long persisted in against light and love, and of a foul nature) that, even after he is delivered from the power of them, he may for a long time go bleeding under the wounds he has received from the commission of them. The promise indeed is sure, that God will not UTTERLY "take away his loving-kindness" from one individual of the seed of grace; yet the threat is no less certain, that "He will visit their iniquity with a rod, and their sin with scourges;" not in a way of vindictive wrath, but in a way of mercy and fatherly chastisement. As it is in temporals, so in spirituals: a strong Christian, by venturing too much on the slippery borders of temptation, may get a fearful tumble into the mire, and complain of broken bones, as David did; but by grace he will rise again and walk more warily; whereas spiritual declensions (at the root of which the cankerworm of worldly-mindedness usually lies concealed) eat up the very vitals of religion; and are the more dangerous, as they advance more imperceptibly. Hill. One other fact we must notice ere passing from the record of David's confession and chastisement,—the moral courage which he showed in delivering the fifty-first Psalm to the chief musician, and thus helping to keep alive in his own generation and for all time coming the memory of his trespass. Most men would have thought how the ugly transaction might most effectually be buried, and would have tried to put their best face on it before their people. Not so David. He was willing that his people and all posterity should see him the atrocious transgressor he was—let them think of him as they pleased. He saw that this everlasting exposure of his vileness was essential toward extracting from the miserable transaction such salutary lessons as it might be capable of yielding. And the first public record of the transaction came from his own pen, and was delivered to the chief musician, for public use. Infidels may scoff, but this narrative will be a standing proof that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The view given to God's servants of the weakness and deceitfulness of their hearts; the warning against dallying with the first movements of sin; the sight of the misery which follows in its wake; the encouragement which the convicted sinner has to humble himself before God; the impulse given to penitential feeling; the hope of mercy awakened in the breasts of the despairing; the softer, humbler, holier walk when pardon has been got and peace restored,—such lessons as these, afforded in every age by this narrative, will render it to thoughtful hearts a constant ground for magnifying God. W. G. B. CAPTURE OF RABBAH. AMNON AND TAMAR. MURDER OF AMNON AND FLIGHT OF ABSALOM. JOAB'S STRATAGEM TO SECURE ABSALOM'S RECALL. ABSALOM'S RETURN TO JERUSALEM, AND SUBSEQUENT RESTORATION TO DAVID'S FAVOR. 1. S. 12: 26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, yea, I have taken the city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much. And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under (or to) saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through (or labor at) the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem. Ch. 13: 1-39. The cruel crime of Ammon, and his assassination by Absalom's order. Absalom flees to the Syrian King Talmai, and remains in Geshur three years. 14 1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead: and go in to the king, 3 and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. And when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king. And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, Of a truth I am a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and killed him. And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also: thus shall they quench my coal which is left, and shall leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth. And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee. And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless. And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one which is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one. For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him. Now therefore seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. Then thine handmaid said, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: and the LORD thy God be with thee. Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, aught that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid: to change the face of the matter hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and saw not the king's face. Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head, (now it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight. And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance. And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem; and he saw not the king's face. Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab, 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 were better for me to be there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me. So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom. 12 : 26-31. It is often the method of the writers of Scripture, when the stream of public history has been broken by a private or personal incident, to complete at once the incident, and then go back to the principal history, resuming it at the point at which it was interrupted. In this way it sometimes happens that earlier events are recorded at a later part of the narrative than the natural order would imply. In the course of the narrative of David's war with Ammon, the incident of his sin with Bathsheba presents itself. In accordance with the method referred to, that incident is recorded straight on to its very close, including the birth of Bathsheba's second son (verses 24, 25—see previous section), which must have occurred at least two years later. That being concluded, the history of the war with Ammon is resumed at the point at which it was broken off. We are not to suppose, as many have done, that the events recorded in these concluding verses of this chapter happened later than those recorded immediately before. This would imply that the siege of Rabbah lasted for two or three years—a supposition hardly to be entertained. The order of events is probably as follows: After the death of Uriah, Joab prepares for an assault on Rabbah. Meanwhile, at Jerusalem, Bathsheba goes through the form of mourning for her husband, and when the usual days of mourning are over David hastily sends for her and makes her his wife. Next comes a message from Joab that he has succeeded in taking the city of waters, and that only the citadel remains to be taken, for which purpose he urges David to come himself with additional forces, and thereby gain the honor of conquering the place. It rather surprises one to find Joab declining an honor for himself, as it also surprises us to find David going to reap what another had sowed. David, however, goes with "all the people," and is successful, and after disposing of the Ammonites he returns to Jerusalem. Soon after Bathsheba's child is born; then Nathan goes to David and gives him the message that lays him in the dust. This is not only the most natural order for the events, but it agrees best with the spirit of the narrative. W. G. B. 26. And Joab fought against Rabbah.** The narrative returns to the point at which it was left in ch. 11 : 1. But how long a time was occupied in the siege does not appear. It is possible that it lasted more than one year, and did not come to an end till after the birth of Bathsheba's first child. But, on the other hand, it would be quite natural for the historian, having once commenced his account of Bath- Bathsheba, to complete it before narrating the capture of Rabbah, so that this may have been effected within a year. Rabbah (the great city), or more fully Rabbah of the children of Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites, was situated in a strong position about twenty-two miles east of the Jordan, on a branch of the valley of the Jabok. It consisted of the lower town, called "the city of waters" (verse 27), from the perennial stream which has its source in it; and the citadel, a place of great strength, built on a hill rising abruptly on the north side of the lower town. We are not told whether the city was destroyed on its capture. If so, it was afterward rebuilt, and was a place of importance at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. A. F. K. 27. City of Waters.** This expression of Joab, and the fact of the citadel requiring a separate siege, are at once understood on the spot. Ammon stands on the confluence of two little streams, which unite in the centre of the place, the two valleys converging into one, and enclosing between them a bold, flat triangle of rock, the ancient citadel. This is of itself a large city of several acres. H. B. T.—"The royal city" seems to be equivalent to "the city of waters"—that is, the lower city on the river, as distinguished from "the city" (verse 28)—i.e., the citadel. The capture of this probably deprived the citadel of its water-supply, and so rendered it untenable for any length of time. 31. These cruel punishments must be judged according to the standard of the age in which they were inflicted, not by the light of Christian civilization. The Ammonites were evidently a savage and brutal nation, and in all probability they were treated no worse than they were accustomed to treat others. It was the age of retaliation, when the law of like for like—the lex talionis—prevailed. They had foully insulted David, and it is not to be wondered at if he was provoked into making a signal example of them by this severity. In this respect he did not rise above the level of his own age. A. F. K.—Although the fact is not stated (as it is only incidentally done in the case of Adonizedek) that the present severity was retributive, the certainty that it was so is sufficiently indicated by sundry dispersed facts, which bring out the peculiarly savage character of this people. Look, for instance, at their refusal of any other terms than the loss of their right eyes, to the men of Jabesh Gilead, who were inclined to surrender without resistance. This is quite of a piece with their treatment of David's ambassadors; and the character thus manifested they still show in a later age, when they are reproached by the prophet for deliberate and excessive cruelty (Amos 1 : 13). To an enemy of this description, it could not have appeared unjust to treat them according to their dealings with others. Severe that treatment was, no doubt, and was meant to be; but to call it more than this is to confound the modern with the ancient law of nations, or with the law of nature itself. Kit. While some think the surviving citizens were sent into the royal forests as hewers of timber or cutters in the saw-pits, or became brickmakers for the king, others believe they were cruelly torn with saws or axes, and even burned to death. But the history of the following years does not square with this alleged cruelty. Many of the people appear to have been left in the town under the rule of Shobi, a son of Nahash, and a friend of David. That prince had held aloof from the court of Ammon when it encouraged Hanun to insult David's men. He and his adherents were rewarded for this friendship when the rest of their countrymen had been punished for the crime. Among the Ammonite captives was an infant girl named "Naamah," or "Delight." She may have belonged to the royal family and been received into David's palace on the overthrow of her kindred. Many years afterward she became the wife of Solomon. Sime. In the whole transaction at Rabbah David shows poorly. It is not like him to be roused to an enterprise by an appeal to his love of fame. It is not like him to go through the ceremony of being crowned with the crown of the king of Ammon, as if it were a great thing to have so precious a diadem on his head. Above all, it is not like him to show so harsh a spirit in disposing of his prisoners of war. But all this is quite likely to have happened if he had not yet come to repentance for his sin. When a man's conscience is ill at ease, he is in the temper that most easily becomes savage when provoked. No one can imagine that David's conscience was at rest. W. G. B. Amnon and Tamar. Before his marriage with Bathsheba, David had sixteen sons, who lived as princes among the people, each in his own house. Only three of them are of any note in history: the eldest, Amnon, son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the third, Absalom, son of Maacah of Geshur; and the fourth, Adonijah, son of Haggith. For the precedence due to Amnon as the first-born he was likely to have a formidable rival in Absalom, whose mother was a king's daughter, and who was himself unequalled for beauty among the people. But we do not hear of any jealousy or dissension among the king's sons till the event here narrated led to fatal results. P. S. We do not find that David's children imitated him in his devotion; but his false steps they trod in, and in those did much worse, and repented not. Parents know not how fatal the consequences may be, if, in any instance, they give their children bad examples. H.—Where the father of the family brings sin home to the house, it is not easily swept out. Unlawful lust propagates itself by example. How justly is David scourged by the sins of his sons whom his act taught to offend! Bp. H. 1. Beauty is a snare to many; it was so to Tamar; she was fair, and therefore Amnon coveted her. They that are peculiarly handsome have no reason on that account to be proud, but great reason to stand upon their watch. H.—3. Perhaps this unkindly flame might in time have gone out alone, had there not been a Jon-adab to blow these coals with ill counsel. Had he been a true friend, he had bent all the forces of his dissuasion against the wicked motions of that sinful lust, and had showed the prince of Israel how much those desires provoked God and blemished himself, and had lent his hand to strangle them in their first conception. Bp. H. 12. No such thing ought to be done in Israel. Israel was a holy nation, sanctified by the peculiar presence of Jehovah among them; and therefore all acts of unchastity were an offence against the true character and calling of the nation. Such acts might be common among heathen nations, but to Israel they were forbidden by the Law, which placed them on a loftier level of morality. 13. As one of the fools in Israel. "Fool" denotes not merely one who is stupid and ignorant, but one who has abandoned the fear of God, and cast off the restraints of decency and morality (cp. ch. 3 : 33; Ps. 14 : 1). "Folly" is a term specially applied to unchastity. A. F. K. 15-17. Amnon appears with no redeeming features in his character. That his love of Tamar turned so suddenly and so meanly to hate—what shall we say of it less than to call it unutterable vileness! But ungoverned lust will naturally dislodge and expel from human souls all that is noble, and leave scope only for what is ineffably base and mean. This hatred in Amnon's soul suggests that worst law of sinning natures, which in a sort compels the sinner to hate whom he harms, and to hate most those he has most cruelly wronged. Incidentally these events were among the fruits of polygamy—the children of envious and rival mothers having the same father were not wont to waste much love upon each other. H. C.—It is among the many curses of polygamy that the children of the different wives grow up from the first in an atmosphere of sensual indulgence; secondly, that there is sure to be rivalry between them, and intriguing among their mothers, with a view to their father's favor and the succession to his property. All this is abundantly illustrated in the history of David's children, especially of Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah. Plummer. 21. In spite of his anger David did not punish or even rebuke the offence, though the legal penalty of his crime was death. David's indulgent treatment of his sons was a fruitful source of mischief, and led in this case to the murder of Amnon, and ultimately to Absalom's rebellion. The consciousness of his own guilt moreover weakened his hands for dealing with Amnon's offence. A. F. K.—How could he who had himself sinned so deeply, call his son to account for his misconduct? and with what an awful retort, drawn from the example he had set to his children, might not his rebuke be met? 22. "He spoke not a word to Amnon, neither good nor bad." Absalom "hated" him for the wrong he had done to his sister; but he was too proud to "speak good" to one who had brought this dishonor to him, and too wary to put Amnon on his guard by expressing the hatred he nourished in his heart. He intended to make his revenge effectual, and to use it for clearing his way to the throne. We cannot but think that he had already taken up the design upon the kingdom which he eventually carried out, and that as Amnon was his elder brother, and the heir-apparent, he meant to use his private wrong as the excuse for removing so serious an obstacle from his path. But to this end it was necessary that the king, as well as Amnon, should be lulled into the conviction that he had no thoughts of revenge, and that the matter had gone from his mind. Kit.—David is now doomed to see his children following his own evil example, only with added circumstances of atrocity. Adultery and murder had been introduced by him into the palace; when he is done with them they remain to be handled by his sons. Amnon Murdered by Absalom. Verses 23-29. It is not easy to paint the blackness of the crime of Absalom. We have nothing to say for Amnon, who seems to have been a man singularly vile; but there is something very appalling in his being murdered by the order of his brother, something very cold-blooded in Absalom's appeal to the assassins not to flunch from their task, something very revolting in the flagrant violation of the laws of hospitality, and something not less daring in the deed being done in the midst of the feast, and in the presence of the guests. And now the first part of the retribution denounced by Nathan begins to be fulfilled, and fulfilled very fearfully,—"the sword shall never depart from thy house." Ancient history abounds in frightful stories, stories of murder, incest, and revenge, the materials, real or fabulous, from which were formed the tragedies of the great Greek dramatists. But nothing in their dramas is more tragic than the crime of Amnon, the incest of Tamar, and the revenge of Absalom. What David's feelings must have been we can hardly conceive. What must he have felt as he thought of the death of Amnon, slain by his brother's command, in his brother's house, at his brother's table, and hurried to God's judgment while his brain was reeling with intoxication! What a pang must have been shot by the recollection how David had once tried, for his own base ends, to intoxicate Uriah as Absalom had intoxicated Amnon! How could he but be filled with anguish when he thought of his son, hurried, while drunk, by his brother's act, into the presence of God, to answer for the worse than murder of his sister, and for all the crimes and sins of an ill-spent life! W. G. B. 32,33. Jonadab, David's nephew, could tell him, Amnon only is dead, and not all the king's sons, and could tell him, too, that it was done by the appointment of Absalom, and designed from the day he forced his sister Tamar. What a wicked man was he, if he knew all this or had any cause to suspect it, that he did not make David acquainted with it sooner, that means might have been used to make up the quarrel. Had he acted as an honest man, David might not have thrown Amnon into the mouth of danger by letting him go to Absalom's house. If we do not our utmost to prevent mischief we make ourselves accessory to it. If we say, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart, consider whether we did or no? See Prov. 24: 11, 12. Jonadab was possibly as guilty of Amnon's death as he was of his sin; he that would not prevent Amnon's sin, neither would he prevent his ruin, when he might have done both. H. 37. As a wilful murderer, Absalom could have no city of refuge in his own country; therefore he fled out of the kingdom to his mother's father. Thus did God, by leaving Amnon a prey to his own passions, "raise up evil to David out of his own house:" a daughter ravished by her own brother; that brother murdered by another brother; and that other in exile on this very account, and destined soon to perish by a fate which would have been more deplorable if it had been less deserved. Del meq. 39. David mourned for Amnon a good while, but he being past recall, time wore off that grief; he was comforted concerning Amnon: it also wore off too much his detestation of Absalom's sin; instead of loathing him, as a murderer, he longs to go forth to him. At first, he could not find in his heart to do justice on him, now he can almost find in his heart to take him into his favor again. This was David's infirmity; something God saw in his heart that made a difference, else we should have thought that he, as much as Eli, honored his sons more than God. H. Joab's Stratagem to Procure Absalom's Recall. 1. The words may be rendered: "And Joab knew that the king's heart was against Absalom." In favor of this rendering it may be urged that the preposition generally means against not toward: that in the only other passage where the phrase occurs (Dan. 11 : 28), it unquestionably expresses hostility: that this meaning agrees better with the whole course of the narrative, which leaves the impression that Absalom's recall was a concession extorted from David by Joab's cunning. Although David had abandoned the ideas of vengeance which he at first entertained, his heart remained set against Absalom, and he showed no disposition to recall him from exile. This view of the state of David's feelings toward Absalom at once accounts for Joab's subtle scheme to convince the king of the hardship of prolonging Absalom's exile, and for the king's refusal to see Absalom when he had been persuaded to allow him to return. It may seem inconsistent with the passionate affection which he afterward displayed for his rebellious son, but it is not really so. A violent revulsion of feeling, when Absalom's life was in danger, and still more when he had perished by a miserable death, would be quite in accordance with David's impulsive character. A. F. K. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/ Capture of Rabbah. Amnon and Tamar. Murder of Amnon and Flight of Absalom. Absalom's Recall, and Subsequent Restoration to David's Favor. 2 Sam. 12:26-31; 13:1-39; 14:1-33. 1 Chron. 20:1-3. 12 1 AND the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, 2 There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, 5 but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the 6 man that hath done this is worthy to die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, I 8 anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such 9 things. Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the LORD, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy 10 wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken 11 the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give 12 them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou 13 didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, the LORD 14 also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto 15 thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all 17 night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise 18 him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that 19 the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered together, David per- ceived that the child was dead: and David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And 20 they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat 22 bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who know- 23 eth whether the LORD will not 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 24 not return to me. And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay 25 with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him; and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the LORD's sake. In the very culmination of David's prosperity, at the very crowning point of his great work for Israel, and when he had sung his brightest, sweetest, most trustful songs, came that fierce outbreak of his passionate nature, for the time —and a long time—overriding and benumbing all that was spiritual and devout in him. Like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and Peter, David sin- ned at the very point of his peculiar excellence. As it was the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, the intrepidity of Elijah, and the cour- age of Peter, so it was David's purity and kind- liness of heart that failed. At length he "sor- rowed toward God," and was forgiven; but troubles and afflictions in his family, and sore judgments among his people, were the tokens of God's rebuke, and kept his "sin ever before" him. His harp was strung to new measures of sadness, in which grief for transgression is blended with fervent aspiration after the purity and peace of God. And in these later Psalms, by showing that there is forgiveness, and that in God is our strength, he has helped many a sin- ning soul, while warning the faithful and pure against the force of sudden temptation in an unguarded hour. B. A year had passed since David's fall. The child of sin had been born. And all this time God was silent! Yet all the time there hung over him this Divine sentence: "But the thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of Je- hovah." A. E.—It was about a year that David lay under the guilt of that sin, and for aught that appears, unrepented of. And then David did not send for Nathan (though he had never had so much occasion as he had now for his confessor), but God sent Nathan to David. H.—Alas, what long and dead sleeps may the holiest soul take in fearful sins! Were it not for thy mercy, O God, the best of us should end our spiritual lethargy in sleep of death. Bp. H. 1-7. Detestable as was the double guilt of this dark story, we must still remember that David was not an Alfred or a Saint Louis. He was an Eastern king, exposed to all the temptations of a king of Ammon or Damascus then, of a Sultan of Bagdad or Constantinople in modern times. What follows, however, could have been found nowhere in the ancient world but in the Jewish monarchy. A year had passed; the child of guilt was born in the royal house, and loved with all the passionate tenderness of David's paternal heart. Suddenly the prophet Nathan appears before him. He comes as if to claim redress for a wrong in humble life. It was the true prophetic spirit that spoke through Nathan's mouth. The apologue of the rich man and the ewe lamb has, besides its own intrinsic tenderness, a supernatural elevation, which is the best sign of true Revelation. It ventures to disregard all particulars, and is content to aim at awakening the general sense of outraged justice. It fastens on the essential guilt of David's sin,—not its sensuality, or its impurity, so much as its meanness and selfishness. It rouses the king's conscience by that teaching described as specially characteristic of prophecy, making manifest his own sin in the indignation which he has expressed at the sin of another. Thou art the man is, or ought to be, the conclusion, expressed or unexpressed, of every practical sermon. Stanley. He puts his parable in such life-like form that the king has no suspicion of its real character. The rich robber that spared his own flocks and herds to feed the traveller, and stole the poor man's ewe lamb, is a real flesh-and-blood criminal to him. And the deed is so dastardly, its heartlessness is so atrocious, that it is not enough to enforce against such a wretch the ordinary law of fourfold restitution; in the exercise of his high prerogative the king pronounces a sentence of death upon the ruffian, and confirms it with the solemnity of an oath—"The man that hath done this thing shall surely die." The flash of indignation is yet in his eye, the flush of resentment is still on his brow, when the prophet, with calm voice and piercing eye, utters the solemn words, "Thou art the man!" Thou, great king of Israel, art the robber, the ruffian, condemned by thine own voice to the death of the worst malefactor! W. G. B. 7-9. The answer of Nathan is a perfect example of the Divine way of convincing of sin. There is first the plain charge pressed home on the individual conscience, "Thou art the man." Then follows, not reproach or further deepening of the blackness of the deed, but a tender enumeration of God's great benefits, whereon is built the solemn question, "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?" The contemplation of God's faithful love, and of the all-sufficient gifts which it bestows, makes every transgression irrational as well as ungrateful, and turns remorse, which consumes like the hot wind of the wilderness, into tearful repentance which refreshes the soul. A. M. 9. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord. Great as was David's sin against Uriah and Bathsheba, his sin against God was greater in thus breaking two express commandments of the Decalogue. And hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. This is not a mere repetition of the clause "thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword." The verb is stronger, "thou hast murdered;" and the offence is shown to have been aggravated by the employment of the Ammonites, the enemies of God's people, as the instruments for its commission. A. F. K.—He charges him with a high contempt of the Divine authority, in the sins he had been guilty of. Wherefore hast thou (presuming upon thy royal dignity and power) despised the commandment of the Lord? This is the spring, and this the malignity of sin, that it is making light of the Divine law and the Lawmaker; as if the obligation of it were weak, the precepts of it trifling, and the threats not at all formidable. David despised the word of the Lord, so it is in the Hebrew, the particular word of promise, which God had, by Nathan, sent to him some time before, that he would build him a house: which sacred promise, if he had had a due value and veneration for, he would not thus have polluted his house with lust and blood. H. 10,11. Here we find a great principle in the moral government of God,—correspondence between an offence and its retribution. Of this many instances occur in the Old Testament, Jacob deceived his father; he was deceived by his own sons. Lot made a worldly choice; in the world's ruin he was overwhelmed. So David having slain Uriah with his sword, the sword was never to depart from him. He had robbed Uriah of his wife; his neighbors would in like manner rob and dishonor him. He had disturbed the purity of the family relation; his own house was to become a den of pollution. He had mingled deceit and treachery with his actions; deceit and treachery would be practised toward him. What a sad and ominous prospect! For him there was to be no calm in the evening of his life. His trial was to fall on the tenderest part of his nature. He had a strong affection for his children; in that very feeling he was to be wounded, and that, too, all his life long. W. G. B.—The sentence pronounced upon him—“Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house,” furnishes the key to David’s future history and career, which was as unprosperous and troubled, as the earlier part of his reign had been happy and successful. There was in all things a great change—even in the man himself. Broken in spirit by the consciousness of how deeply he had sinned against God and against man; humbled in the eyes of his subjects, and his influence with them weakened by the knowledge of his crimes; and even his authority in his own household, and his claim to the reverence of his sons, relaxed by his loss of character—David appears henceforth as a much altered man. Kit. 12. The sin was secret and industriously concealed, but the punishment should be open and industriously proclaimed, to the shame of David, whose sin in the matter of Uriah would then be called to mind and commonly talked of. As face answers to face in a glass, so does the punishment often answer to the sin; here is blood for blood, and uncleanness for uncleanness. And thus God would show how much he hates sin, even in his own people, and that wherever he finds it he will not let it go unpunished. H. 13. David cannot have the heart or the face to stand out against the message of God; but now, as a man confounded and condemned in himself, he cries out, in the bitterness of a wounded soul, I have sinned against the Lord. It was a short word, but passionate; and such as came from the bottom of a contrite heart. Bp H. The prophet Nathan came to tell him in clear words that which he had been hearing in muttered accents within his heart for months before. He came to tell him that the God of righteousness and mercy, who cared for Uriah, the poor man with the single ewe-lamb, was calling him, the king, to account for an act of unrighteousness and unmercifulness. Nathan brought him to face steadily the light at which he had been winking, and to own that the light was good and the darkness only was horrible and hateful; so that he might turn to the light, and crave that it should once more penetrate into the depths of his being and take possession of him. And this was his confession and prayer. He makes out no case for himself; he pleads no extenuating circumstances. Maurice.—“I have sinned against the Lord.” Two words (in the Hebrew) make the transition from sullen misery to real though shaded peace. No lengthened outpouring, no accumulation of self reproach; he is too deeply moved for many words, which he knows God does not need. More would have been less. All is contained in that one sob, in which the whole frostwork of these weary months breaks up and rolls away, swept before the strong flood. A. M. The instant recognition of his guilt breaks up the illusion of months. “I have sinned against the Lord.” The sense of his injustice to man waxes faint before his sense of sin against God. “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” Stanley.—“The strength of David’s confession lay in the three words “against the Lord.” Any one can say, “I have sinned,” but one must have known God, must have realized what sin is to God, and must have felt something of what God is to the soul before one can say, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Vaughan.—“Who has not read that fifty-first Psalm, in which David does solemn penance in presence of all the people, and in which he utters, on account of his sin, a cry of anguish which still re-echoes throughout all ages? Ah! far from veiling itself in this transaction, the holiness of God shines forth brilliantly, so brilliantly that David himself humbly acknowledges it in the very hour when it strikes him most rigorously, by exclaiming, “That Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest;” that is, when Thou reproachest me; “and be clear when Thou judgest.” Godet. In Ps. 51 we hear David crying out for mercy in the bitterness of his pangs. He seems to lose sight of everything else but God. His sins are seen as if committed against God only. Oh, can he ever be forgiven? And if forgiven, can he hope to be so washed and cleansed and lifted above temptation’s power that he shall never fall again? These are the words of his prayer. Never were fitter words poured forth from a penitent soul. H. C.—In these words the humiliation of the Psalmist before God is very profound, very thorough. His case is one for simple mercy; he has not the shadow of a plea in self-defence. His sin is in every aspect atrocious. It is the product of one so vile that he may be said to have been shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin. The aspect of it as sin against God is so overwhelming that it absorbs the other aspect—the sin against man. Not but that he has sinned against man, too; but it is the sin against God that is so awful, so overwhelming. Yet, if his sin abounds, the Psalmist feels that God's grace abounds much more. He has the highest sense of the excellence and the multitude of God's loving-kindnesses. Man can never make himself so odious as to be beyond the Divine compassion. He can never become so guilty as to be beyond the Divine forgiveness. "Blot out my transgressions," sobs David, knowing that it can be done. "Purge me with hyssop," he cries, "and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." But this is not all; it is far from all. He pleads most plaintively for the restoration of God's friendship. "Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,"—for that would be hell; "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit,"—for that is heaven. And, with the renewed sense of God's love and grace, there would come a renewed power to serve God and be useful to men. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise." Deprive me not forever of Thy friendship, for then life would be but darkness and anguish; depose me not forever from Thy ministry, continue to me yet the honor and the privilege of converting sinners unto Thee. Of the sacrifices of the law it was needless to think, as if they were adequate to purge away so overwhelming a sin. "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else I would give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." With all his consciousness of sin, David has yet a profound faith in God's mercy, and he is forgiven. W. G. B. And as brief and simple as the confession, is the response, And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin. How full and unconditional the blessing bestowed in these few words; how swift and sufficient the answer! So the long estrangement is ended. Thus simple and divine is the manner of pardon. In such short compass may the turning-point of a life lie! But while confession and forgiveness heal the breach between God and David, pardon is not impunity, and the same sentence which bestows the remission of sin announces the exaction of a penalty. A. M.—We learn from the case of David, that God can punish, and that he can forgive, at the same time. Punishment from him, when it falls upon good men, is not the punishment of wrath and vengeance, but that of love and correction; it is therefore a sign that he forgives, and it ought to be so understood. When Nathan said to David, "The sword shall never depart from thy house;" he said at the same time, "The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." God, therefore, forgives while he punishes, and punishes because he forgives. Jones of N.—Pardon may well stand with temporal afflictions. Where God hath forgiven, though he doth not punish, yet he may chastise, and that unto blood; neither doth he always forbear correction, where he remits revenge. So long as he smites us not as an angry judge, we may endure to smart from him as a loving father. Bp. H. There is yet another Psalm which manifestly pertains to David's experience in this great sin, viz., Ps. 32. It seems to have been written a little later than Ps. 51, and yet to record in part his earlier experience. H. C.—What untold agonies he suffered while he covered up his sin, he himself has told us in the thirty-second Psalm. In general, we have in this respect also in the Psalter a faithful record for the guidance of penitents in all ages—to preserve them from despair, to lead them to true repentance, and to bring them at last into the sunlight of forgiveness and peace. Throughout one element appears very prominently, and is itself an indication of "godly sorrow." Besides his own guilt the penitent also feels most keenly the dishonor which he has brought on God's name, and the consequent triumph of God's enemies. Placing these Psalms, so to speak, in the chronological order of David's experience, we would arrange them as follows: Ps. 38, 6, 51, and 32—when at last it is felt that all "transgression is forgiven," all "sin covered." A. E. 14. Howbeit. While he who has fully confessed is fully forgiven, there is still, as concerns this present life, a sad "howbeit" behind. God had taken from him the eternal penalty of his sin; but He had never said, Thy sin shall not be bitter to thee. God may forgive His children their sin, and yet He may make their sin most bitter to them here, teaching them in this way its evil, which they might else have been in danger of forgetting, the aggravation which there is in the sins of a child, in sins against light, against knowledge, against love. Trench.—Because thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.** This is an aggravation. tion of guilt which only God's children can commit. And it is an aggravation of a most distressing kind, enough surely to warn off every Christian from vile self-indulgence. The blasphemy to which David had given occasion was that which denies the reality of God's work in the souls of His people. It denies that they are better than others. They only make more pretence, but that pretence is hollow, if not hypocritical. There is no such thing as a special work of the Holy Ghost in them, and therefore there is no reason why any one should seek to be converted, or why he should implore the special grace of the Spirit of God. Alas, how true it is that when any one who occupies a conspicuous place in the Church of God breaks down, such sneers are sure to be discharged on every side! W. G. B. That the man after God's own heart should have so fallen from his high estate as to become the adulterer and the assassin, has been ever urged with great effect by unbelievers; and this very consequence of David's sin was foreseen and foretold by Nathan the prophet, when he approached the king, bearing with him the rebuke of God on his tongue, and saying, "By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme." Such has indeed been its effect from the day when it was first done unto this day, and such probably will its effect continue to be unto the end of time. That the sin of David was great and grievous, the Almighty proclaimed even more loudly perhaps by suffering David to live, than if in the sudden burst of his instant displeasure he had slain him. For with this sin the sorrow of his life began, and the curse which the prophet denounced against him sat heavy on his spirit to the last; a curse which has a peculiar reference to the nature of his crime; as though upon this offence all his future miseries and misfortunes were to turn; as though he was only spared from the avenger's violent hand to be made a spectacle of righteous suffering to the world. He had committed murder by the edge of the sword, and therefore the sword was never to depart from his house. He had despised the commandment of the Lord (so Nathan expressly says), and taken the wife of another to be his wife; therefore were his own wives to be taken from him, and given to his neighbor in turn. The complexion, therefore, of his remaining years was set by this one fatal deed of darkness (let none think or say that it was lightly regarded by the Almighty), and having become the man of blood, of blood he was to drink deep; and having become the man of lust, by that same baneful passion in others was he himself to be scourged forever. Now the manner in which these tremendous threats are fulfilled is very remarkable; for it is done by way of natural consequence of the sin itself. And now can any say that God winked at this wickedness of his servant? That the man after his own heart, for such in the main he was, frail as he proved himself, sinned grievously, and sinned with impunity! On the contrary, this deed was the pivot upon which David's fortunes turned; that done, and he was undone; then did God raise up enemies against him for it out of his own house, for "the thing," as we are expressly told, "displeased the Lord;" thenceforward the days of his years became full of evil. Blunt. 22. 23. The death of the child showed that it was not God's will to grant his petition, notwithstanding his deep repentance and earnest prayer and fasting. All suspense was now at an end, and, therefore, all reason for continuing to fast and pray. For David to abandon himself to the wailings of aggravated grief at this moment would have been to quarrel with the will of God. It would have been to challenge God's right to view the child as one with its father, and treat it accordingly. And there was yet another reason. If his heart still yearned on the child, the reunion was not impossible, though it could not take place in this life. "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." The glimpse of the future expressed in these words is touching and beautiful. The relation between David and that little child is not ended. Though the mortal remains shall soon crumble, father and child are not yet done with one another. But their meeting is not to be in this world. Meet again they certainly shall, for "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." And this glimpse of the future relation of parent and child, separated here by the hand of death, has ever proved most comforting to bereaved Christian hearts. Very touching and very comforting it is to light on this bright view of the future at so early a period of Old Testament history. Words cannot express the desolation of heart which such bereavements cause. When Rachel is weeping for her children she cannot be comforted if she thinks they are not. But a new light breaks on her desolate heart when she is assured that she may go to them, though they shall not return to her. W. G. B. 24. 25. And once more there came peace to David's soul. Bathsheba was now truly and before God his wife. Another child gladdened their hearts. David named him, symbolically and prophetically, Solomon, "the peaceful;" the seal, the pledge, and the promise of peace. But God called him, and he was "Jedidiah," the Jehovah-loved. Once more, then, the sunshine of God's favor had fallen upon David's household—yet was it, now and ever afterward, the sunlight of autumn rather than that of summer; a sunlight, not of undimmed brightness, but amid clouds and storm. A. E. The story is told without palliation or reserve, without comment or heightening, in that stern judicial fashion so characteristic of the Bible records of its greatest characters. Every step is narrated without a trace of softening, and without a word of emotion. Not a single ugly detail is spared. The portraiture is as vivid as ever. It is told because it teaches us, as no other page in the history of God's church does, how the alchemy of Divine love can extract sweet perfumes of penitence and praise out of the filth of sin; and, therefore, though we turn with loathing from David's sin, we have to bless God for the record of it, and for the lessons of hope that come from David's pardon. To many a sin-tortured soul since then, the two psalms (51 and 32), all blotted with tears, in which he has sobbed out his penitence, have been as footsteps in a great and terrible wilderness. A. M. It is one object of Holy Scripture to paint sin in its true colors. No friendly flattery, no false modesty, draws a veil over this dark scene in David's life. It is recorded as a warning, that even holy men may yield to temptation and fall into gross sin; that one sin almost inevitably leads to others; that sin, even when repented of, brings punishment in its train. With stern simplicity the inspired prophet-historian describes how "the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death" (James 1: 15). The king, who but a few years before had sung of "clean hands and a pure heart" (Ps. 24: 4), and vowed to exclude from his palace all workers of deceit (Ps. 101: 7), is dragged by his passion into meanness, ingratitude, dissimulation, treachery, murder. "These things were written for our admonition. . . . Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." But if the history is a stern record of the enthralling power and the inevitable consequences of sin, it is no less a testimony to the liberating power of repentance. In the words of Bishop Hall: "How can we presume of not sinning, or despair for sinning, when we find so great a saint thus fallen, true risen." It is the necessary key to the history of the rest of David's reign. It explains the sudden overclouding of his life; the change from triumph and prosperity to sorrow and failure. A. F. K. Jewish tradition declares that the sin of Israel in making the golden calf and the fall of David were only recorded—it might almost seem, that they were only allowed—for the sake of their lessons about repentance. The former showed that, even if the whole congregation had erred and strayed, the door of mercy was still open to them; the latter, that not only for Israel as a whole, but for each individual sinner, however low his fall, there was assurance of forgiveness, if with true penitence he turned to God. The one case proved that nothing was too great for God to pardon; the other that there was not any one beneath His gracious notice. Be they many, or only one solitary individual, the ear of God was equally open to the cry of the repentant. The other point to which the Rabbis call attention is, that all the trials of David's later life, and all the judgments which overtook him and his house, might be traced up to his great sin, which, though personally pardoned, made itself felt in its consequences throughout the whole of his after-history. It cannot be doubted that there is deep truth in this view. For, although David was graciously forgiven, and again received into God's favor, neither he nor his government ever wholly recovered from the moral shock of his fall. It is not merely that his further history was attended by an almost continuous succession of troubles, but that these troubles, while allowed of God in judgment, were all connected with a felt and perceptible weakness on his part, which was the consequence of his sin. If the figure may be allowed: henceforth David's hand shook, and his voice trembled; and both what he did and what he said, alike in his own household and in the land, bore evidence of it. A. E. The fall of David is one of the most instructive and alarming recorded in that most faithful and impartial of all histories, the Holy Bible. The transgression of one idle and unguarded moment pierced him through with many sorrows, and embittered the rest of his life. The remainder of his days was as disastrous as the beginning had been prosperous. Rape, incest, murder, and rebellion, raged among his children; he was deserted by his friends, reviled by his enemies, banished from his capital, plunged into the deepest affliction by the ingratitude and death of his favorite and rebellious son Absalom; and, to fill up the measure of his calamities, had a dreadful plague brought upon his subjects by his last offence; so that he died, exhausted, at seventy years of age, still older in constitution than in years. Dr. Hales.—The death of Uriah marks the change in David's personal fortune. The avenger of blood pursues him relentlessly. Deeply does he repent of his sin, and Nathan assures him of the Divine forgiveness; but the natural consequences of the sin are not thereby cancelled, nor is chastisement suspended. It is an awful and salutary lesson, that sin compels us to eat the bread of bitterness even though our pardon be sealed by the Word of God. The great contrast between Saul and David is to be observed in the profound and constant respect with which the latter heard and heeded the admonition of the prophets of God. The prophets were preachers of righteousness. Saul heard Samuel, and then did as he pleased. He was restless under admonition, and disobedient. David bowed his heart, and repented in dust and ashes. Here is the moral grandeur of the man which makes him a model for all time, a true servant of God, because always and promptly submissive to the Divine reproof. It is a splendid tribute which that severest and sourest of all critics, Thomas Carlyle, pays to the character of the great Hebrew king: "David, the Hebrew king, had fallen into sins enough,—blackest crimes; there was no want of sins. And thereupon unbelievers sneer, and ask, 'Is this your man according to God's heart?' The sneer seems to me but a shallow one. David's life and history, as written for us in those Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem 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, repentance, true, unconquerable purpose begun anew. Poor human 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 a 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." Ah, the man who sneers at David does not know his own heart, nor does he dream how a fierce, hot breath might consume to ashes his own boastful superiority! The true man will profit by David's example, and double the guard over his own conduct; while he will be profoundly grateful that even for David was there forgiveness with God. It is the parable of the prodigal in real life. It will send no man into the slums, but it will encourage many a man to come back or to call a halt in his course. There are scars upon your soul, perhaps; there are secrets that haunt and curse you; there are memories that torment you; but, my brother, the gate of return is open, and He who pardoned David has mercy for thousands, and will make you whiter than snow, if you come to Him with a broken heart. Behrends. David, in his two characters, is not one man, but two. There is no concord between David fighting for God, in the confidence of God's righteousness, and David violating the plainest laws of society for his own selfish lusts. They are not to be reconciled. It is just in this circumstance that David's righteous and evil acts are not to be harmonized, that the wholesomeness of his written story lies. We do not feel the inconsistency which unbelievers point to in David, with the sneering question, "Is this the man after God's own heart?" We feel rather that were it not for these inconsistencies David would be unlike us, and his story no pattern of ours. Ainger. We are obliged to admit that characters full of open faults, and even stained by manifest sins, are often more estimable than those in which the fault never comes to the surface. Peter, who denied his Master and yet really loved Him, would have been less worthy of regard if he had loved less although he never had denied. His sin was a revelation of what sin is, but not of the comparative worth of his character. So, too, the great crimes of David show that sin in the form of strong desire leads to enormous wickedness, even to so heinous a crime as murder; while yet in the judgment of God and of man many a person would stand far below David in character, who had lived an outwardly unspotted life. Woolsey.—Many have sinned even more deeply than David sinned; few, very few, have repented as deeply as did he. It is easy to sin with his passion, but how difficult to repent with his grief! M. J. Though the sins and backsliding of a believer cannot destroy his interest in Christ, yet they may so far destroy his comfort (especially if long persisted in against light and love, and of a foul nature) that, even after he is delivered from the power of them, he may for a long time go bleeding under the wounds he has received from the commission of them. The promise indeed is sure, that God will not UTTERLY "take away his loving-kindness" from one individual of the seed of grace; yet the threat is no less certain, that "He will visit their iniquity with a rod, and their sin with scourges;" not in a way of vindictive wrath, but in a way of mercy and fatherly chastisement. As it is in temporals, so in spirituals: a strong Christian, by venturing too much on the slippery borders of temptation, may get a fearful tumble into the mire, and complain of broken bones, as David did; but by grace he will rise again and walk more warily; whereas spiritual declensions (at the root of which the cankerworm of worldly-mindedness usually lies concealed) eat up the very vitals of religion; and are the more dangerous, as they advance more imperceptibly. Hill. One other fact we must notice ere passing from the record of David's confession and chastisement,—the moral courage which he showed in delivering the fifty-first Psalm to the chief musician, and thus helping to keep alive in his own generation and for all time coming the memory of his trespass. Most men would have thought how the ugly transaction might most effectually be buried, and would have tried to put their best face on it before their people. Not so David. He was willing that his people and all posterity should see him the atrocious transgressor he was—let them think of him as they pleased. He saw that this everlasting exposure of his vileness was essential toward extracting from the miserable transaction such salutary lessons as it might be capable of yielding. And the first public record of the transaction came from his own pen, and was delivered to the chief musician, for public use. Infidels may scoff, but this narrative will be a standing proof that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The view given to God's servants of the weakness and deceitfulness of their hearts; the warning against dallying with the first movements of sin; the sight of the misery which follows in its wake; the encouragement which the convicted sinner has to humble himself before God; the impulse given to penitential feeling; the hope of mercy awakened in the breasts of the despairing; the softer, humbler, holier walk when pardon has been got and peace restored,—such lessons as these, afforded in every age by this narrative, will render it to thoughtful hearts a constant ground for magnifying God. W. G. B. CAPTURE OF RABBAH. AMNON AND TAMAR. MURDER OF AMNON AND FLIGHT OF ABSALOM. JOAB'S STRATAGEM TO SECURE ABSALOM'S RECALL. ABSALOM'S RETURN TO JERUSALEM, AND SUBSEQUENT RESTORATION TO DAVID'S FAVOR. 1. S. 12: 26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, yea, I have taken the city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much. And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under (or to) saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through (or labor at) the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem. Ch. 13: 1-39. The cruel crime of Ammon, and his assassination by Absalom's order. Absalom flees to the Syrian King Talmai, and remains in Geshur three years. 14 1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead: and go in to the king, 3 and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. And when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king. And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, Of a truth I am a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and killed him. And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also: thus shall they quench my coal which is left, and shall leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth. And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee. And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless. And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one which is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one. For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him. Now therefore seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. Then thine handmaid said, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: and the LORD thy God be with thee. Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, aught that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid: to change the face of the matter hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and saw not the king's face. Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head, (now it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight. And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance. And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem; and he saw not the king's face. Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab, 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 were better for me to be there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me. So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom. 12 : 26-31. It is often the method of the writers of Scripture, when the stream of public history has been broken by a private or personal incident, to complete at once the incident, and then go back to the principal history, resuming it at the point at which it was interrupted. In this way it sometimes happens that earlier events are recorded at a later part of the narrative than the natural order would imply. In the course of the narrative of David's war with Ammon, the incident of his sin with Bathsheba presents itself. In accordance with the method referred to, that incident is recorded straight on to its very close, including the birth of Bathsheba's second son (verses 24, 25—see previous section), which must have occurred at least two years later. That being concluded, the history of the war with Ammon is resumed at the point at which it was broken off. We are not to suppose, as many have done, that the events recorded in these concluding verses of this chapter happened later than those recorded immediately before. This would imply that the siege of Rabbah lasted for two or three years—a supposition hardly to be entertained. The order of events is probably as follows: After the death of Uriah, Joab prepares for an assault on Rabbah. Meanwhile, at Jerusalem, Bathsheba goes through the form of mourning for her husband, and when the usual days of mourning are over David hastily sends for her and makes her his wife. Next comes a message from Joab that he has succeeded in taking the city of waters, and that only the citadel remains to be taken, for which purpose he urges David to come himself with additional forces, and thereby gain the honor of conquering the place. It rather surprises one to find Joab declining an honor for himself, as it also surprises us to find David going to reap what another had sowed. David, however, goes with "all the people," and is successful, and after disposing of the Ammonites he returns to Jerusalem. Soon after Bathsheba's child is born; then Nathan goes to David and gives him the message that lays him in the dust. This is not only the most natural order for the events, but it agrees best with the spirit of the narrative. W. G. B. 26. And Joab fought against Rabbah.** The narrative returns to the point at which it was left in ch. 11 : 1. But how long a time was occupied in the siege does not appear. It is possible that it lasted more than one year, and did not come to an end till after the birth of Bathsheba's first child. But, on the other hand, it would be quite natural for the historian, having once commenced his account of Bath- Bathsheba, to complete it before narrating the capture of Rabbah, so that this may have been effected within a year. Rabbah (the great city), or more fully Rabbah of the children of Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites, was situated in a strong position about twenty-two miles east of the Jordan, on a branch of the valley of the Jabok. It consisted of the lower town, called "the city of waters" (verse 27), from the perennial stream which has its source in it; and the citadel, a place of great strength, built on a hill rising abruptly on the north side of the lower town. We are not told whether the city was destroyed on its capture. If so, it was afterward rebuilt, and was a place of importance at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. A. F. K. 27. City of Waters.** This expression of Joab, and the fact of the citadel requiring a separate siege, are at once understood on the spot. Ammon stands on the confluence of two little streams, which unite in the centre of the place, the two valleys converging into one, and enclosing between them a bold, flat triangle of rock, the ancient citadel. This is of itself a large city of several acres. H. B. T.—"The royal city" seems to be equivalent to "the city of waters"—that is, the lower city on the river, as distinguished from "the city" (verse 28)—i.e., the citadel. The capture of this probably deprived the citadel of its water-supply, and so rendered it untenable for any length of time. 31. These cruel punishments must be judged according to the standard of the age in which they were inflicted, not by the light of Christian civilization. The Ammonites were evidently a savage and brutal nation, and in all probability they were treated no worse than they were accustomed to treat others. It was the age of retaliation, when the law of like for like—the lex talionis—prevailed. They had foully insulted David, and it is not to be wondered at if he was provoked into making a signal example of them by this severity. In this respect he did not rise above the level of his own age. A. F. K.—Although the fact is not stated (as it is only incidentally done in the case of Adonizedek) that the present severity was retributive, the certainty that it was so is sufficiently indicated by sundry dispersed facts, which bring out the peculiarly savage character of this people. Look, for instance, at their refusal of any other terms than the loss of their right eyes, to the men of Jabesh Gilead, who were inclined to surrender without resistance. This is quite of a piece with their treatment of David's ambassadors; and the character thus manifested they still show in a later age, when they are reproached by the prophet for deliberate and excessive cruelty (Amos 1 : 13). To an enemy of this description, it could not have appeared unjust to treat them according to their dealings with others. Severe that treatment was, no doubt, and was meant to be; but to call it more than this is to confound the modern with the ancient law of nations, or with the law of nature itself. Kit. While some think the surviving citizens were sent into the royal forests as hewers of timber or cutters in the saw-pits, or became brickmakers for the king, others believe they were cruelly torn with saws or axes, and even burned to death. But the history of the following years does not square with this alleged cruelty. Many of the people appear to have been left in the town under the rule of Shobi, a son of Nahash, and a friend of David. That prince had held aloof from the court of Ammon when it encouraged Hanun to insult David's men. He and his adherents were rewarded for this friendship when the rest of their countrymen had been punished for the crime. Among the Ammonite captives was an infant girl named "Naamah," or "Delight." She may have belonged to the royal family and been received into David's palace on the overthrow of her kindred. Many years afterward she became the wife of Solomon. Sime. In the whole transaction at Rabbah David shows poorly. It is not like him to be roused to an enterprise by an appeal to his love of fame. It is not like him to go through the ceremony of being crowned with the crown of the king of Ammon, as if it were a great thing to have so precious a diadem on his head. Above all, it is not like him to show so harsh a spirit in disposing of his prisoners of war. But all this is quite likely to have happened if he had not yet come to repentance for his sin. When a man's conscience is ill at ease, he is in the temper that most easily becomes savage when provoked. No one can imagine that David's conscience was at rest. W. G. B. Amnon and Tamar. Before his marriage with Bathsheba, David had sixteen sons, who lived as princes among the people, each in his own house. Only three of them are of any note in history: the eldest, Amnon, son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the third, Absalom, son of Maacah of Geshur; and the fourth, Adonijah, son of Haggith. For the precedence due to Amnon as the first-born he was likely to have a formidable rival in Absalom, whose mother was a king's daughter, and who was himself unequalled for beauty among the people. But we do not hear of any jealousy or dissension among the king's sons till the event here narrated led to fatal results. P. S. We do not find that David's children imitated him in his devotion; but his false steps they trod in, and in those did much worse, and repented not. Parents know not how fatal the consequences may be, if, in any instance, they give their children bad examples. H.—Where the father of the family brings sin home to the house, it is not easily swept out. Unlawful lust propagates itself by example. How justly is David scourged by the sins of his sons whom his act taught to offend! Bp. H. 1. Beauty is a snare to many; it was so to Tamar; she was fair, and therefore Amnon coveted her. They that are peculiarly handsome have no reason on that account to be proud, but great reason to stand upon their watch. H.—3. Perhaps this unkindly flame might in time have gone out alone, had there not been a Jon-adab to blow these coals with ill counsel. Had he been a true friend, he had bent all the forces of his dissuasion against the wicked motions of that sinful lust, and had showed the prince of Israel how much those desires provoked God and blemished himself, and had lent his hand to strangle them in their first conception. Bp. H. 12. No such thing ought to be done in Israel. Israel was a holy nation, sanctified by the peculiar presence of Jehovah among them; and therefore all acts of unchastity were an offence against the true character and calling of the nation. Such acts might be common among heathen nations, but to Israel they were forbidden by the Law, which placed them on a loftier level of morality. 13. As one of the fools in Israel. "Fool" denotes not merely one who is stupid and ignorant, but one who has abandoned the fear of God, and cast off the restraints of decency and morality (cp. ch. 3 : 33; Ps. 14 : 1). "Folly" is a term specially applied to unchastity. A. F. K. 15-17. Amnon appears with no redeeming features in his character. That his love of Tamar turned so suddenly and so meanly to hate—what shall we say of it less than to call it unutterable vileness! But ungoverned lust will naturally dislodge and expel from human souls all that is noble, and leave scope only for what is ineffably base and mean. This hatred in Amnon's soul suggests that worst law of sinning natures, which in a sort compels the sinner to hate whom he harms, and to hate most those he has most cruelly wronged. Incidentally these events were among the fruits of polygamy—the children of envious and rival mothers having the same father were not wont to waste much love upon each other. H. C.—It is among the many curses of polygamy that the children of the different wives grow up from the first in an atmosphere of sensual indulgence; secondly, that there is sure to be rivalry between them, and intriguing among their mothers, with a view to their father's favor and the succession to his property. All this is abundantly illustrated in the history of David's children, especially of Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah. Plummer. 21. In spite of his anger David did not punish or even rebuke the offence, though the legal penalty of his crime was death. David's indulgent treatment of his sons was a fruitful source of mischief, and led in this case to the murder of Amnon, and ultimately to Absalom's rebellion. The consciousness of his own guilt moreover weakened his hands for dealing with Amnon's offence. A. F. K.—How could he who had himself sinned so deeply, call his son to account for his misconduct? and with what an awful retort, drawn from the example he had set to his children, might not his rebuke be met? 22. "He spoke not a word to Amnon, neither good nor bad." Absalom "hated" him for the wrong he had done to his sister; but he was too proud to "speak good" to one who had brought this dishonor to him, and too wary to put Amnon on his guard by expressing the hatred he nourished in his heart. He intended to make his revenge effectual, and to use it for clearing his way to the throne. We cannot but think that he had already taken up the design upon the kingdom which he eventually carried out, and that as Amnon was his elder brother, and the heir-apparent, he meant to use his private wrong as the excuse for removing so serious an obstacle from his path. But to this end it was necessary that the king, as well as Amnon, should be lulled into the conviction that he had no thoughts of revenge, and that the matter had gone from his mind. Kit.—David is now doomed to see his children following his own evil example, only with added circumstances of atrocity. Adultery and murder had been introduced by him into the palace; when he is done with them they remain to be handled by his sons. Amnon Murdered by Absalom. Verses 23-29. It is not easy to paint the blackness of the crime of Absalom. We have nothing to say for Amnon, who seems to have been a man singularly vile; but there is something very appalling in his being murdered by the order of his brother, something very cold-blooded in Absalom's appeal to the assassins not to flunch from their task, something very revolting in the flagrant violation of the laws of hospitality, and something not less daring in the deed being done in the midst of the feast, and in the presence of the guests. And now the first part of the retribution denounced by Nathan begins to be fulfilled, and fulfilled very fearfully,—"the sword shall never depart from thy house." Ancient history abounds in frightful stories, stories of murder, incest, and revenge, the materials, real or fabulous, from which were formed the tragedies of the great Greek dramatists. But nothing in their dramas is more tragic than the crime of Amnon, the incest of Tamar, and the revenge of Absalom. What David's feelings must have been we can hardly conceive. What must he have felt as he thought of the death of Amnon, slain by his brother's command, in his brother's house, at his brother's table, and hurried to God's judgment while his brain was reeling with intoxication! What a pang must have been shot by the recollection how David had once tried, for his own base ends, to intoxicate Uriah as Absalom had intoxicated Amnon! How could he but be filled with anguish when he thought of his son, hurried, while drunk, by his brother's act, into the presence of God, to answer for the worse than murder of his sister, and for all the crimes and sins of an ill-spent life! W. G. B. 32,33. Jonadab, David's nephew, could tell him, Amnon only is dead, and not all the king's sons, and could tell him, too, that it was done by the appointment of Absalom, and designed from the day he forced his sister Tamar. What a wicked man was he, if he knew all this or had any cause to suspect it, that he did not make David acquainted with it sooner, that means might have been used to make up the quarrel. Had he acted as an honest man, David might not have thrown Amnon into the mouth of danger by letting him go to Absalom's house. If we do not our utmost to prevent mischief we make ourselves accessory to it. If we say, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart, consider whether we did or no? See Prov. 24: 11, 12. Jonadab was possibly as guilty of Amnon's death as he was of his sin; he that would not prevent Amnon's sin, neither would he prevent his ruin, when he might have done both. H. 37. As a wilful murderer, Absalom could have no city of refuge in his own country; therefore he fled out of the kingdom to his mother's father. Thus did God, by leaving Amnon a prey to his own passions, "raise up evil to David out of his own house:" a daughter ravished by her own brother; that brother murdered by another brother; and that other in exile on this very account, and destined soon to perish by a fate which would have been more deplorable if it had been less deserved. Del meq. 39. David mourned for Amnon a good while, but he being past recall, time wore off that grief; he was comforted concerning Amnon: it also wore off too much his detestation of Absalom's sin; instead of loathing him, as a murderer, he longs to go forth to him. At first, he could not find in his heart to do justice on him, now he can almost find in his heart to take him into his favor again. This was David's infirmity; something God saw in his heart that made a difference, else we should have thought that he, as much as Eli, honored his sons more than God. H. Joab's Stratagem to Procure Absalom's Recall. 1. The words may be rendered: "And Joab knew that the king's heart was against Absalom." In favor of this rendering it may be urged that the preposition generally means against not toward: that in the only other passage where the phrase occurs (Dan. 11 : 28), it unquestionably expresses hostility: that this meaning agrees better with the whole course of the narrative, which leaves the impression that Absalom's recall was a concession extorted from David by Joab's cunning. Although David had abandoned the ideas of vengeance which he at first entertained, his heart remained set against Absalom, and he showed no disposition to recall him from exile. This view of the state of David's feelings toward Absalom at once accounts for Joab's subtle scheme to convince the king of the hardship of prolonging Absalom's exile, and for the king's refusal to see Absalom when he had been persuaded to allow him to return. It may seem inconsistent with the passionate affection which he afterward displayed for his rebellious son, but it is not really so. A violent revulsion of feeling, when Absalom's life was in danger, and still more when he had perished by a miserable death, would be quite in accordance with David's impulsive character. A. F. K. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/ 15 1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate : and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou ? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right ; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice ! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment : so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 7 And it came to pass at the end of four years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD. And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom is king in Hebron. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were invited, and went in their simplicity ; and they knew not anything. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong ; for the people increased continually with Absalom. 13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee ; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom : make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall choose. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him ; and they tarried in Beth-merhak. And all his servants passed on beside him ; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us ? return, and abide with the king : for thou art a stranger, and also an exile ; return to thine own place. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may ? return thou, and take back thy brethren ; mercy and truth be with thee. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will thy servant be. And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over : the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. And, lo, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God ; and they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. And the king said unto Zadok, 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 shew me both it, and his habitation : but if he say thus, I have no delight in thee ; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art thou not a seer ? return into the city in peace, and 28 your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will 29 tarry at the fords of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me. Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem : and they abode there. 1-6. How Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Absalom was the third son of David. He had killed his brother Amnon, the first-born son, because of a grievous wrong done to his own full sister, Tamar. The second son was now also dead, so that Absalom counted himself heir-presumptive to the throne. After killing Amnon he fled to Geshur, near Bashan, and remained three years with the king, his grandfather. Then he was permitted by David to return, and after two years more was admitted to his father's presence, and fully re-established in all his rights and privileges as a son. At once he begins, and for years deliberately prosecutes, a systematic plan for undermining his father's authority and substituting his own. As before, in his vengeance against Amnon, maintaining a studied deception for two years, and then commanding the murder in cold blood, so now, for four years, without compunction, and with unscrupulous determination, he pursues his ambitious and disloyal purpose. A strange contrast, we note in passing, between the sons of Saul and David in this particular. The son of a God-abandoned father was loyal, helpful, and faithful to the end, while the son of the repentant, forgiven David proves disloyal, persecuting, and impious, taking base advantage of his father's clemency, and of his many disqualifying infirmities and griefs. The acts by which he sought, and in the end attained, superior popularity with the men of Israel, are recited in these verses, and are substantially the same that demagogues of every age have used. First, he attended to the matter of display. He clad his beautiful person in princely apparel, gathered a splendid retinue of attendants, with chariots, horsemen, and footmen, and so accustomed the people to the state and equipage of royalty as his own. Then he put himself in David's proper but neglected place, "in the gate of the city," where the great duty of hearing complaints and administering justice was devolved upon every Eastern king. Not, however, to do justice did Absalom rise up early and stand in the gate. Not to stay David's feeble hands, to supply David's necessitated neglects, but to enfeeble him the more, to call attention to his neglects, and to deepen the sense of grievance and discontent felt by the people. This he did under pretence of a deep concern for their welfare, with the declaration that he would right their wrongs and remove their troubles, if only he had the power. And to this he added all personal tokens of interest and even affection, toward every one that came near him. After this method of flattery and disloyal insinuation, pursued in city and country for four years, "Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel." B. 4. A judge in Israel.** He that should himself have been judged to death for murder, has the impudence to aim at being a judge of others. We read not of Absalom's wisdom, virtue, or learning in the laws, nor had he given any proofs of his love to justice, but the contrary; yet he wishes he were a judge. Those are often most ambitious of preferment that are least fit for it; the best-qualified are the most modest and self-diffident, while it is no better than the spirit of an Absalom that says, O that I were a judge in Israel! H. 7-9. Nothing wants now but a cloak of religion, to perfect the treachery of that ungracious son, who carried peace in his name, war in his heart: and how easily is that put on! Absalom hath a holy vow to be paid in Hebron! The devout man had made it long since, while he was exiled in Syria; and now he hastens to perform it; "If the Lord shall bring me back again to Jerusalem, then will I serve the Lord." Wicked hypocrites dare to play with God, that they may mock men. Bp. H. How Absalom covered his steps in initiating the rebellion. He professes to bethink him of a vow made at least six years before, when he was an exile in Geshur. The vow was to serve—i.e., sacrifice to the Lord, if the Lord should bring him again to Jerusalem. Six years the vow has been held in abeyance, but now it must be paid—in Hebron! He asks and obtains David's permission to go. He selects Hebron as having been his own birth-place, and the old capital of David's kingdom. As a sacred city, the residence of priests, it was also a natural place for his proposed sacrifice. As a national centre, where were many still discontented at the transfer of the government to Jerusalem, and as near that city where the proposed blow is to be struck, it is the place for starting the conspiracy. "So he arose, and went to Hebron." But we hear nothing of any vow performed or sacrifice offered. B. 7. The nature of the case forbids the period of forty years. Josephus, and also the Syriac and Arabic versions, have it four years. Two ancient manuscripts have it, not "years," but days—in which case it may date from Absalom's kind reception home by his father. It should be, after four years; for so long Absalom had been pushing this enterprise, ingratiating himself into the good graces of the men of Israel; making special friends in every city of the land, who when the opportune moment should at length arrive, and the trump of rebellion should sound, would be ready to swell the cry—"Absalom reigneth in Hebron." H. C. 10-12. How the conspiracy was formed, and what it came to. Two hundred men he invited to go with him from Jerusalem, to participate in his sacrificial feast. These, it is intimated, understood nothing of his disloyal purposes, but were afterward evidently seduced into sympathy with his treason. From Hebron Absalom sent men to create disaffection and foment the conspiracy throughout all the tribes, everywhere to give the impression broadly forth that Judah was prepared to proclaim him king in Hebron, and to secure instant action, at a given signal by the disaffected in every place. Then he solicited the counsel and aid of Ahithophel, a man of whom David touchingly speaks as his own familiar friend in whom he trusted, his chosen guide and companion, with whom he took counsel and walked to the house of God (Ps. 41 and 55). This man deserted his royal master and friend, trampled all sacred ties, human and Divine, under foot, and became the main pillar of the rebellion. From the time of his accession to the counsels of Absalom until the day his counsel was rejected, the conspiracy was successful. Wisely Absalom had planned and acted throughout in securing the favor of the people, and now, having engaged David's best-known counsellor as his ally, multitudes flock to him at Hebron, and he is prepared to move against Jerusalem. B. From this stage of the proceedings, the historian turns our thought to David (15: 13 and onward). The whole country is rising to hail Absalom king, and to swell the hosts of his armed followers. H. C. 13,14. The tidings brought to David, he at once determined to flee. The narrative that follows discloses the reasons and motives which actuated his flight. Not merely that his age and infirmities impaired his physical and mental energies, nor that his excessive love for Absalom, so shocked and wounded, rendered him averse to such an unnatural conflict, but the deep conviction that this revolt of his son was a part of God's previously declared judgment against his great sin, wrought in his now thoroughly humbled heart an unwillingness to resist. And with this feeling of submission to the Divine discipline was associated an unwillingness to involve the people, and the beautiful city itself, in his personal calamities. To save his faithful dependents from destruction and the city from assault and ruin, he commands an instant departure. And the many touching incidents of his flight all the way over the Jordan to Mahanaim in Gilead, as well as the third Psalm, written at that period, show how submissively he bowed his soul before God, how he still trusted and hoped in God amid the overwhelming billows, how patiently he could bear every insult and trial, if only he might recover the peace and joy of God's restored favor! B. David did not call a council, but consulting only with God and his own heart, determined immediately to quit Jerusalem. He took up this strange resolve, so disagreeable to his character as a man of courage, as a penitent, submitting to the rod, and lying down under God's correcting hand. Conscience now reminded him of his sin in the matter of Uriah, and the sentence he was under for it, that evil should rise against him out of his own house. "Now," thinks he, "the Word of God begins to be fulfilled, and it is not for me to contend with it or fight against it: God is righteous, and I submit." Before unrighteous Absalom he could justify himself and stand it out; but before the righteous God he must condemn himself, and yield to his judgments. Thus he accepts the punishment of his iniquity. H.—He was not prostrated by unmanly fear, nor did he abandon his hope in God. He took all prudent means to arrest, if possible, the threatened danger to which his rule and even his life were exposed. But his whole conduct showed that his "sin was ever before him," and that he was deeply conscious that it was the visitation of God which was now upon him. W. Lee. It was a wise measure on the part of the king to resolve on immediate flight from Jerusalem, not only to avoid being shut up in the city, and to prevent a massacre in its streets, but to give his adherents the opportunity of gathering around him. Indeed, in the hour of danger, the king seemed his old self again. We can quite understand how, in David's peculiar state of mind, trials in which he recognized the dealings of God would rouse him to energy, while the even tenor of affairs left him listless. No weakness now—outward or inward! Prudence, determination, and courage in action; but, above all, a constant acknowledgment of God, self-humiliation, and a continuous reference of all to Him, marked his every step. A. E. 17-29. A more moving spectacle could not be exhibited than this of a king, venerable for his years and victories, sacred in the characters both of his piety and of prophecy, renowned for prowess and revered for wisdom, thus reduced to the condition of a fugitive, to a sudden and extreme necessity of flying for his life, from the presence and by the rebellion of his own son. Delaney.—His departure from Jerusalem is related with a minuteness to which we have no parallel in the Scripture history of any single day, except that of which this was the type, when the son of David, betrayed by "his own familiar friend," and rejected by his own people, went out by the same path "bearing his reproach." It was early in the morning when the king, leaving his palace in the care of his ten concubines, went forth by the eastern gate with all his household and a crowd of people; for there were still many who showed him the deepest attachment. Among his faithful guard of Cherethites and Pelethites, and his chosen heroes, the six hundred who had followed him ever since his residence at Gath, was Ittai the Gittite. David released him and his countrymen from their allegiance; but Ittai vowed that he would follow the king in life or death, and David bade him lead the way. They passed over the brook Kidron (the Cedron of the New Testament), by the way that led over the Mount of Olives to Jericho and the wilderness, while "all the country wept with a loud voice." As David halted in the valley to let the people pass on, he was joined by Zadok and Abiathar, with all the Levites, bringing with them the ark of God. With self-renouncing reverence, David refused to have the ark removed, for his sake, from the sanctuary where he had fixed its abode, and exposed to share his perils. If Jehovah willed to show him favor, he would bring him back to see both the ark and His habitation; if not—"Behold here am I! let Him do to me as seemeth good to Him!" He reminded the priests that they could do him effectual service in the city by employing their two sons, who were both swift runners, to bring him tidings, and so he sent them back with the ark. P. S. 19-21. Ittai was a stranger who had but lately come to Jerusalem, and as he was not attached to David personally, it would be safer for him to return to the city and offer to the reigning king the services which David could no longer reward. But the generous proposal of David was rejected with equal nobility on the part of Ittai. He had made up his mind, like Ruth the Moabitess with reference to Naomi, that wherever David was, in life or in death, there also he should be. How affecting must it have been to David to receive such an assurance from a stranger! W. G. B. 23. The people's sympathy with David in his affliction. When he and his attendants passed over the brook Kidron (the very same brook that Christ passed over, when he entered upon his sufferings, John 18:1), toward the way of the wilderness, which lay between Jerusalem and Jericho, all the country wept with a loud voice. H.—The ravine of Kidron is the deep ravine on the east of Jerusalem, now commonly known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which separates the city from the Mount of Olives. The single mention of it in the New Testament is perhaps designed to recall the present occasion and to suggest the parallel between David fleeing from Jerusalem, and Christ leaving the city which had rejected Him, as the treachery of Judas was the counterpart and "fulfilment" of that of Ahithophel. A. F. K. 24. The priests and Levites firmly adhered to David and his interest. They knew David's great affection to them and their office, notwithstanding his failings; the method Absalom took to gain people's affections made no impression upon them; and therefore they steadily adhered to David; Zadok and Abiathar and all the Levites, if he go will accompany him, and take the ark with them, that by it they might ask counsel of God for him. 25-27. He is very submissive to the holy will of God, concerning the issue of his present dark dispensation. He hopes the best, and hopes for it from the favor of God, which he looks upon to be the fountain of all good; "If God favor me so far, I shall be settled again as formerly:" but he provides for the worst; "If he deny me this favor, if he say, I have no delight in thee, I know I deserve the continuance of his displeasure, his holy will be done;" see him here waiting to receive the event, and willing to refer himself to God concerning it. "Let him do to me as seemeth good to him, all is well that God does." Observe with what satisfaction he speaks of the Divine disposal: not only, "He can do what he will," subscribing to his power, or, "He may do what he will," subscribing to his sovereignty, or, "He will do what he will," subscribing to his unchangeableness, but, Let him do what he will, subscribing to his wisdom and goodness. It is our interest as well as duty cheerfully to acquiesce in the will of God, whatever befalls us. That we may not complain of what is, let us see God's hand in all events; and that we may not be afraid of what shall be, let us see all events in God's hand. H. These words show how much God was in David's mind in connection with the events of that humiliating day. They show, too, that he did not regard his case as desperate. But everything turned on the will of God. It might be that, in His great mercy, He would bring him back to Jerusalem. His former promises led him to think of this as a possible, perhaps probable, termination of the insurrection. But it might also be that the Lord had no more delight in him. The chastening with which He was now visiting him for his sin might involve the success of Absalom. In that case, all that David would say was that he was at God's disposal, and would offer no resistance to His holy will. If he was to be restored, he would be restored without the aid of the ark; if he was to be destroyed, the ark could not save him. Zadok and his Levites must carry it back into the city. W. G. B. I understand not how a man can front the awful possibilities of a future on earth, knowing all the points at which he is vulnerable, and all the ways by which disaster may come down upon him, and retain his sanity, except he believes that all is ruled, not merely by a God far above him, who may be as unsympathizing as He is omnipotent, but by his elder Brother, the Son of God, who showed His heart by all His dealings with us here below, and who loves as tenderly, and sympathizes as closely with us as ever He did when on earth He gathered the weary and the sick around Him. Is it not a thing, men and women, worth having, to have this for the settled conviction of your hearts, that Christ is moving all the pulses of your life, and that nothing falls out without the intervention of His presence and the power of His will working through it? Is there any other place where a man can plant his foot and say, Now I am on a rock and I care not what comes? The riddle of Providence is solved, and the discipline of Providence is being accomplished, when we have grasped this conviction,—All events do serve me, for all circumstances come from His will and pleasure, which is love; and everywhere where I go—be it in the darkness of disaster or in the sunshine of prosperity—I shall see standing before me that familiar and beloved shape, and shall be able to say, "It is the Lord." Friends and brethren, that is the faith to live by, that is the faith to die by; and without it life is a mockery and a misery. A. M. 30. AND David went up by the ascent of the mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people that were with him covered every 31 man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the 32 counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the ascent, where God was worshipped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him 33 with his coat rent, and earth upon his head: and David said unto him, If thou passest on with 34 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 in time past, so will I 35 now be thy servant: then shalt thou defeat for me 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 shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the 36 priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan 37. Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me everything that ye shall hear. So Hushai David's friend came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem. 16 1 And when David was a little past the top of the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of 2 wine. And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to 3 eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: 4 for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, O king. 5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came out, and cursed still 6 as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the 7 people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei 8 when he cursed, Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and 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 9 taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood. Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I 10 pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Because he curseth, and because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David; who 11 then shall say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more may this Benjamite now do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. 12 It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done unto me, and that the LORD will requite 13 me good for his cursing of me this day. So David and his men went by the way: and Shimei went along on the hill side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, 14 and cast dust. And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there. Very touching and instructive are the recounted incidents of David's flight from Jerusalem to the plain of the Jordan. Fully and impressively they open to us the very heart of this trustful, penitent, submissive king. We see his self-forgetting generosity, in offering to release Ittai the Gittite and his band of six hundred from the discomforts and perils of his wandering. We admire the steadfastness and strength of his faith, the absolute resting of this great and fearful issue upon God, which he shows in calmly sending back the ark of God, and all that ministered to its care and worship. With thankful wonder we read his words of humble submission and implicit trust: "If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again; but if he say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good to him." A convincing proof of this submissive spirit we find in his meek endurance of Shimei's shameless cursing. "Let him alone and let him curse," he said to Abishai, "for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing." Yet with this submission, we also discern his continued faith in prayer, and in the need of seconding his prayer by every right means of action. Knowing Ahithophel's treachery, and aware of his practical wisdom, David beseeches the Lord to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. Then he persuades Hushai, another friend and counsellor, to join Absalom and counteract the counsels of Ahithophel. And, as we read, God answered the prayer by making the means effectual. The counsel of Hushai prevailed, "For the Lord appointed to defeat the good (wise) counsel of Ahithophel, to the end that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom." In connection with these incidents, we note these affecting references: "The king also passed over the brook Kidron;" "and David went up by the ascent of Olivet, and wept." Not the kingdom and the kingship of David alone, but many marked localities, as Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Kidron, and Olivet, all had a designed typical connection through David's history, with the Son of David. And as so often remarked, in this representative and typical association we find the special interest and value of his whole story. B.—It is touching to see David, mild, self-possessed, thoroughly humble, and most considerate of others. Adversity is the element in which he shines; it is in prosperity he falls; in adversity he rises beautifully. After the humbling events in his life to which our attention has been lately called, it is a relief to witness the noble bearing of the venerable saint amid the pelting of this most pitiless storm. W. G. B. 15 : 30. With a heavy heart, and a covered head, and a weeping eye, and bare feet, is David gone away from Jerusalem. Never did he with more joy come up to this city, than now he left it with sorrow: how could he do otherwise, whom the insurrection of his own son drove out from his house, from his throne, from the ark of God? Bp. H. 31. He prays not against Ahithophel's person, but against his counsel, that God would turn it into foolishness; that if he gave wise counsel, it might be rejected as foolish; or if it were followed, that by some providence or other it might be defeated, and not attain the end. David prayed this in a firm belief that God has all hearts in his hand, and tongues, too; that when he pleases he can take away the understandings of the aged, and make the judges fools (Job 12: 17; Is. 3: 2, 3), and in hope that God would own and plead his just and injured cause. We may pray in faith and should pray with fervency, that God will turn that counsel into foolishness which is taken against his people. 32. And now Providence brought Hushai to him, while he was yet speaking. God heard and sent him the person that should be instrumental to answer his prayer. H.—While it seemed good unto God to inflict this salutary discipline on the spirit of David, it also seemed good unto Him by the arrangements of His providence to open a way for its prosperous termination. The return of Zadok and Abiathar, but more especially of Hushai, was the preparative in the order of events for the safe and happy return of David himself in triumph to that very city from which he was now taking flight as a mournful outcast. The same God who laid this trial upon him provided also the way of escape from it. T. C. 34. For a correct estimate of the conduct of David in advising Hushai to offer his service to Absalom, for the purpose of betraying him, we should recollect that Absalom, as a traitor, a murderer, and a rebel, had forfeited all the rights of society; and David could be no more guilty of perfidy in forming a design to supplant him, than any man would be who should deceive a madman so as to prevent his murdering his friends. Stackhouse.—Absalom was an unnatural rebel, and Ahithophel a traitor; and on the quashing of their rebellious plans depended the religion and prosperity of the kingdom. Accordingly, David only desired that of Hushai, which every good subject that wished well to his king and country was in duty bound to do. Chandler. 35-37. His main business will be to oppose the counsel of Ahithophel, try to secure a little time to David, and thus give him a chance of escape. Moreover, he is to co-operate with the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and through their sons send word to David of everything he hears. Hushai obeys David, and as he returns to the city from the east, Absalom arrives from the south, before David is more than three or four miles away. But for the Mount of Olives intervening, Absalom might have seen the company that followed his father. W. G. B. Ziba Brings Food to David. Shortly after parting from Hushai, the king's forces met Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth. He had a couple of asses with him, laden with two hundred rounds of bread, one hundred bunches of raisins, one hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. When David asked him, shortly, What meanest thou by these? Ziba was ready with an answer which went to the king's heart. The asses were for the women and children to ride on, the food for the soldiers, and the wine for those to drink who might faint in the weary wilderness. Faithfulness exists somewhere, the king thought as he heard these cunning words. Ziba's present was a ray of hope in the gloom. But, he asked, where is thy master's son? "At Jerusalem," was the answer, "for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore to me the kingdom of my father." It was a falsehood. Probably it was as true as the story of the bread and the fruit and the wine. Unfortunately, David believed it. And he acted on his belief: "Thine," he said, "is everything which was Mephibosheth's." Sime.—That Ziba was calumniating Mephibosheth is sufficiently obvious. How could Mephibosheth, an insignificant cripple, who had never claimed the crown, or taken any part in politics, expect to be made king, even in the confusion of parties which might ensue upon Absalom's rebellion? Ziba's story was an audacious fiction, invented in the hope of getting a grant of the estate which he was cultivating for Mephibosheth's benefit, and in spite of its improbability, it passed muster in the haste and confusion of the moment. David was rash and hasty in thus treating his grant to Mephibosheth as forfeited by treason without a word of inquiry. This unreflecting impetuosity was a marked fault of his character. A. F. K. Shimei's Shameful Abuse of David. Verses 5-13. Shimei was guilty of every form of offensive and provoking assault. He threw stones, he called abusive names, he hurled wicked charges against David; he declared that God was fighting against him, and fighting justly against such a man of blood, such a man of Belial. And, as if this were not enough, he stung him in the most sensitive part of his nature, reproaching him with the fact that it was his son that now reigned instead of him, because the Lord had delivered the kingdom into his hand. But even all this accumulation of coarse and shameful abuse failed to ruffle David's equanimity. W. G. B. 7,8. What was done long since to the house of Saul, is the only thing which Shimei can recall, and with which he upbraids David, because that was the thing that he himself was a loser by. No man could be more innocent of the blood of the house of Saul than David was. Once and again he spared Saul's life, while Saul sought his. When Saul and his sons were slain by the Philistines, David and his men were many miles off; and when they heard it lamented it. From the murder of Abner and Ishbosheth he had sufficiently cleared himself; and yet all the blood of the house of Saul must be laid at his door; innocency is no fence against malice and falsehood. 10,11. David observes the hand of God in it: The Lord hath said unto him, Curse David, and again, So let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. As it was Shimei's sin, it was not from God but from his own wicked heart, nor did God's hand in it excuse or extenuate it, much less justify it, any more than it did their sin who put Christ to death. But as it was David's affliction, it was from the Lord, one of the evils which he raised up against him. David looked above the instrument of his trouble to the supreme Director, as Job, when the plunderers had stripped him, acknowledges, The Lord hath taken away. Nothing more proper to quiet a soul under affliction than an eye to the hand of God in it: I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. The scourge of the tongue is God's rod. H. The sin of Shimei's curse was his own; the smart of the curse was God's. God wills that as David's chastisement which he hates as Shimei's wickedness. Wicked men are never the freer from guilt or punishment for that hand which the holy God hath in their offensive actions. Yet David can say, "Let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him;" as meaning to give a reason of his own patience, rather than Shimei's impunity. The issue showed how well David could distinguish betwixt the act of God and of a traitor. Bp. H. 12. He comforts himself with hopes that God would, some way or other, bring good to him out of his affliction, would balance the trouble itself, and recompense his patience under it; "The Lord will requite me good for his cursing. If God bid Shimei grieve me, it is that he himself may the more sensibly comfort me; surely he has mercy in store for me which he is preparing me for by this trial." We may depend upon God as our Paymaster, not only for our services, but for our sufferings. Let them curse, but bless thou. H. The fortitude of the soldier's heart was almost second nature to David. He was not at all the man to pale before scenes of martial conflict or the agonies of wounds and death. But here are far other ingredients of grief and woe. David saw in this cursing, and, indeed, in this whole conspiracy, the Lord's rebuke of his own great sins. He could bear any and every trial involved in it save this one—the frown of his own holy Lord God! We see yet more of David's heart in those Psalms (42 and 43) which obviously relate to this period of his history. These Psalms and this history are at one in the points of enforced exile from the place of hallowed worship; of the location of their respective events—viz., in the land beyond the Jordan—that of "the Hermonites;" and of crossing that river where "deep called unto deep at the noise of its water-courses," suggesting in sad symbol the waves of deep sorrow that dashed over his soul; and, not least, of the almost insupportable sense of depression and discouragement against which his soul is perpetually struggling and which it tasks the utmost energy of his will to withstand: "Why art thou cast down, oh, my soul? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet have cause to praise him for the help of his countenance" and the joy of his salvation. H. C. 14. And so the king, and his mighty men and all his people, press down the narrow and tortuous road, out of the reach of Absalom. It has been a long and weary day. At last, at the foot of the steep hills, they are where they can defend themselves for the night, and at the first alarm put the Jordan behind them. Knox.—There they rested after the long eventful day, at the ford or bridge of the river. Among the thickets of the Jordan, the asses of Ziba were unladen, and the weary travellers refreshed themselves, and waited for tidings from Jerusalem. It must have been long after nightfall that the joyful sound was heard of the two youths, sons of the High Priests, bursting in upon the encampment with the news from the capital. Stanley. At certain times and in certain circumstances it may be the duty of one who is maligned to repel falsehood and vindicate truth in the world; but all thoughts of vengeance are absolutely forbidden by the law of Christ. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." This is not only a prohibition, it is also a privileged exemption. From this rough and dangerous work the Son makes his people free. When a neighbor assails our good name, our own hearts too readily prompt to vengeance. A son of Zeruiah is ready within us to say, Let me go over and take off his head. But, beware: like David, see rather God's hand permitting the trial to come, and adjust yourself to meet it so that it will press you nearer to your Lord, and keep you closer in his steps. Arnot. What then is to be done, when on account of our sins God leads us by a path that is full of thorns and thistles? The history of David answers the question: he bends, he prays, he acts. He neglects no legitimate means to maintain himself as much as possible in his difficult position; but above all, he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, and bears what he has merited with patience. He who knows thus to bear his cross, is evidently already on the road to win the lost crown. While we follow in his footsteps of trust and submission, yet when heart and flesh faint and fail, let us rest upon the Greater than David, who trod this same path through the valley of Kedron for our deliverance. Van O. David at Mahanaim. An Army Organized under Joab. Absalom's Host Smitten by David's Army. Absalom, Caught in a Great Oak, is Slain by Joab. David's Lament over Absalom. 2 Sam. 17:24-29; 18:1-33. 16 15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king. And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend? And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the Lord, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I abide. And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence. Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give your counsel what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. 17 1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only: and I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace. And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith. And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou. And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given this time is not good. Hushai said moreover, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be fallen at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, 10. There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom. And even he that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt : for all Israel knoweth that thy father 11 is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee, from Dan even to Beer sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for 12 multitude ; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground : and of him and of all the men that are with him we will not leave so much as one. 13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will 14 draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. 15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel 16 counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel ; and thus and thus have I counselled. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night at the fords of the wilderness, but in any wise pass over ; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him. 17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-regel ; and a maidservant used to go and tell them ; 18 and they went and told king David : for they might not be seen to come into the city. But a lad saw them, and told Absalom : and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the 19 house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court ; and they went down thither. And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed bruised corn 20 thereon ; and nothing was known. And Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house ; and they said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan ? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they re- 21 turned to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David ; and they said unto David, Arise ye, and pass 22 quickly over the water : for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you. Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan : by the morning light 23 there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home, unto his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself ; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father. 18. 19. Hushai might have been a useful guide, but Absalom is bent on evil, and Ahithophel helps him in his wickedness. Hushai only seeks to defeat the evil counsel of the latter. This he attempts for David's sake, as well as Absalom's. Absalom could, if he had been true, have had a most valuable counsellor in Hushai, but, under the circumstances all Hushai can do is to endeavor to help David, or to give him time to escape, by counselling delay on the part of Absalom. F. Hastings. There is no way but to engage Absalom in some further act incapable of forgiveness. Ordinary crimes are for vulgar offenders : let Absalom sin eminently ; and do that which may make the world at once to blush and wonder. Who would ever have thought that Ahithophel had lived at court, at the council-table of a David ? Who would think that mouth had ever spoken well ? Yet had he been no other than as the oracle of God, to the religious court of Israel ; even while he was not wise enough to be good. Policy and grace are not always lodged under one roof. This man, while he was one of David's deep counsellors, was one of David's fools, that said in their hearts, "There is no God ;" else he could not have hoped to make good an evil with worse, to build the success of treason upon incest. Bp. H.—While recoiling with horror from this unnatural crime, we cannot but call to mind the judgment predicted upon David (ch. 12 : 11, 12), and note how, as so often was the case, the event, supernaturally foretold, happened, not by some sudden interference, but through a succession of natural causes. A. E. 23. When wickedness is armed with wit and power, none but a God can defeat it. If the bounty of God have thought good to furnish his creatures with powers to war against himself, his wisdom knows how to turn the abuse of those powers to the shame of the owners and the glory of the giver. Bp. H. Ch. 17. Absalom is in peaceable possession of Jerusalem, the palace royal is his own, and the thrones of judgment, even the thrones of the house of David. His good father reigned in Hebron, and only over the tribe of Judah, above seven years, and was not hasty to destroy his rival; his government was built upon a Divine promise, which he was sure of the performance of in due time, and therefore he waited patiently in the mean time. But the young man, Absalom, not only hastens from Hebron to Jerusalem, but is impatient there till he has destroyed his father; cannot be content with his throne till he has his life; for his government is founded in iniquity, and therefore feels itself tottering, and thinks itself obliged to do everything with violence. H. Ahithophel's Counsel Defeated by Hushai. Verses 1-14. 1. This night.** The night following David's flight and Absalom's entrance into Jerusalem, Ahithophel's advice was excellent. The success of the rebellion would be insured by striking a sudden blow, and securing the king's person. A small body of picked troops might easily have overtaken David, who was not likely to get more than twelve or fifteen miles from Jerusalem the first day. A. F. K. 1-3. Ahithophel advises that he be pursued immediately with a flying army, which he himself undertakes the command of, that the king only be smitten, and his forces dispersed, and then the people that were now for him, would fall in with Absalom, of course, and there would not be such a long war as had been between the house of Saul and David (verses 1-3). The man whom thou seekest, is as if all returned. By this, it appears that Absalom had declared his design to be upon David's life, and Ahithophel concurs with him in it. H. Ahithophel's counsel was a masterpiece alike of sagacity and of wickedness. He proposed to take a select body of twelve thousand out of the troops that had already flocked to Absalom's standard, and follow the fugitive king. That very night he would set out; and in a few hours they would overtake the king and his handful of defenders; they would destroy no life but the king's only; and thus, by an almost bloodless revolution, they would place Absalom peacefully on the throne. The advantages of the plan were obvious. It was prompt, it seemed certain of success, and it would avoid an unpopular slaughter. W. G. B. 7-12. How plausibly Hushai reasons; he insists much upon it, that David was a great soldier, a man of great conduct, courage, and experience; all knew and owned this, even Absalom himself: Thy father is a man of war, a mighty man, and not so weary and weak-handed as Ahithophel imagines. His retiring from Jerusalem must be imputed, not to his cowardice, but his prudence. His attendants, though few, were mighty men, men of celebrated bravery, and versed in all the arts of war. They were all exasperated against Absalom, were chafed in their minds and would fight with the utmost fury; so that with their courage and their rage there would be no standing before them. Thus does he represent them as formidable as Ahithophel had made them despicable. He suggests that probably David and some of his men would lie in ambush, and fall upon Absalom's soldiers before they were aware, and the defeat, though but of a small party, would dispirit all the rest. First. He advises that all Israel should be gathered together, his taking it for granted that they were all for him, and giving him an opportunity to see them all together under his command, would gratify him as much as anything. Secondly. He advises that Absalom go to battle in his own person, as if he looked upon him to be a better soldier than Ahithophel, more fit to give command and have the honor of the victory, insinuating that Ahithophel had put a slight upon him in offering to go without him. He counselled that which seemed to secure success without running any hazard. For if they could raise such vast numbers as they promised themselves, wherever they found him, they should not fail to crush him. H. The pretences were fairer, though the grounds were unsound. First, to sweeten his opposition he yields the praise of wisdom to his adversary in all other counsels, that he may have leave to deny it in this; then he suggests certain apparent truths concerning David's valor and skill, to give countenance to the inferences of his improbabilities: lastly, he cunningly feeds the proud humor of Absalom in magnifying the power and extent of his commands, and ends in the glorious boast of his fore-promised victory. As it is with faces, so with counsel, that is fair that pleaseth. Bp. II.—The counsel of Hushai pleased better than that of Ahithophel, and so it was preferred. Absalom's overweening vanity becomes the means of defeating the scheme and laying the foundation of Absalom's ruin. W. G. B. The most dexterous and shrewd part of this advice was the proposal to make a general levy of all Israel to be commanded in person by Absalom—thus presenting him with a picture of alluring magnificence and glory, mixed up with such an assurance of success as completely carried the acquiescence of this ambitious and wicked prince. 14. Hushai's advice was the proximate cause of Absalom's ruin; but it was the Lord who had appointed to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, and this to the intent that He might bring evil upon Absalom. It was not only He who put the counter-advice into the heart of Hushai, but it was He who inclined Absalom and the men of Israel to follow it. T. C.—God made use of a wicked son to punish the father's offences, and then cut off the very instrument of his vengeance, who, by the means he took to distress and destroy his father, had rendered himself the abhorrence of God and man. Chandler. 15,16. Hushai, as if apprehensive that his advice might not be followed, sends off to David to be prepared for the worst. He bids him speedily pass over Jordan. It is interesting to mark the geographical track of every movement recorded in Scripture; and to learn how the incidental notices, as "of the plains in the wilderness," tally with the descriptions of travellers. En-regel is in the immediate environs of Jerusalem, S.S.W., and on the brook Kidron. Bahurim, again, is the place where Shimei cursed David, after he had passed the ridge of Olivet. T. C. 17-19. Jonathan and Ahimaaz are sent, described, pursued, preserved. The fidelity of a maid instructed them in their message; the subtlety of a woman saved their lives. At the well of Rogel, they received their message; in the well of Bahurim, were their lives saved. The sudden wit of a woman hath choked the mouth of her well with dried corn, that it might not bewray the messengers. 22. And now David hears safely of his danger, and prevents it; and though weary with travel and laden with sorrow, he must spend the night in journeying. God's promises of his deliverance and the confirmation of his kingdom, may not make him neglect the means of his safety. If we be faithful, we may not be careless; since our diligence and care are appointed for the factors of that Divine providence. The acts of God must abate nothing of ours; rather must we labor by doing that which he requireth, to further that which he decreeth. Bp. H. Ahithophel, foreseeing the fatal result of delay, his ambitious hopes all frustrated, with the certain infamy and punishment of his treason in clear view, deliberately goes to his own city of Giloh, and, setting his household affairs in order, puts an end to his life. B.—He saw in exercise of his shrewd discernment that all was now over with the cause; and what, perhaps, was sorer to him than this, there was the mortification of wounded vanity in that the counsel of Hushai was preferred before his own; and so, in the extremity of his agonized feelings, he, like another traitor of still greater notoriety, went and hanged himself. He is the Judas of the Old Testament; and herein we behold the like fate of these two men—the one who betrayed David his king, and the other who betrayed the Son of David his Lord. T. C.—His name has passed into a byword for the truth that "God taketh the wise in his own craftiness;" and his unscrupulous treason forbids all sympathy with his fate. We may apply to him what was said of one of our own party leaders: "His great crimes were enhanced by his immense talents, of which God gave him the use, and the devil the application." P. S. What a mixture do we find here of wisdom and madness! Ahithophel will needs hang himself; there is madness: he will yet set his house in order; there is an act of wisdom. And could it be possible that he, who was so wise as to set his house in order, should be so mad as to hang himself? that he should care for his house, who cared not for either body or soul? How vain it is for a man to be wise, if he be not wise in God! How prosperous are the cares of idle worldlings, that prefer all other things to themselves; and, while they look at what they have in their coffers, forget what they have in their breasts! Bp. H.—His name, Ahithophel, signifies, the brother of a fool. Nothing indicates so much folly as self-murder. Observe how deliberately he did it, and of malice prepense against himself; not in a heat, but he went home to his city, to his house, to do it; and, which is strange, took time to consider of it, and yet did it. H.—In the trouble of a righteous man there is hope; but in the trouble of the wicked there is none. He had no courage to make any further trial; but, giving the whole matter up for lost, to avoid an ignominious death, which he knew was what he merited, he went home to put an end to his life, as many others have since done under the like circumstances. Jones of Nagland. Repentance and remorse, how terrible is the gulf which divides these two, terrible well-nigh as that which separates heaven and hell—remorse, of the earth earthly, of the flesh fleshly; and it is scarce too much to say of the devil devilish; born as it is, not of grief to have offended a loving Father and done despite to a Spirit of grace; but born of wounded pride, of anger against ourselves that the proud idol of self, so long the secret object of our worship, lies by our own act shattered in the dust, and as we too surely feel, never to be set on its feet again. Remorse, if it have tears at all, they are tears scorching, withering, drying up with their fierce heat every green thing in the soul. But the tears of repentance, when the hard rock of some sinner's heart has been smitten by Christ's cross as by a rod, and these waters gush freely forth, how different an operation is theirs, healing, quickening, reviving all that they touch and whithersoever they come. Remorse is that sorrow of the world whereof the apostle speaks as a sorrow working death, which literally wrought death in that unhappy one of whom we are meditating now. Trench. DAVID HOSPITALLY RECEIVED AT MAHANAIM. AN ARMY ORGANIZED UNDER JOAB. ABSALOM'S HOST, ENCAMPED IN GILEAD, IS ATTACKED AND SMITTEN BY DAVID'S ARMY. ABSALOM, CAUGHT IN A GREAT OAK, IS SLAIN BY JOAB. TIDINGS BORNE TO DAVID. HIS LAMENT OVER ABSALOM. 24. THEN David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of 25. Israel with him. And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, that went in to Abigal the daughter of Na- 26 hash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother. And Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. 27. And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai 28 the Gileadite of Rogelim, brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and 29 barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat : for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness. 1. And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. And David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the peo- 3 ple, I will surely go forth with you myself also. But the people said, Thou shalt not go forth : for if we flee away, they will not care for us ; neither if half of us die, will they care for us : but thou art worth ten thousand of us : therefore now it is better that thou be ready to succor 4 us out of the city. And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the 5 king stood by the gate side, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge 6 concerning Absalom. So the people went out into the field against Israel : and the battle 7 was in the forest of Ephraim. And the people of Israel were smitten there before the servants 8 of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country : and the forest devoured more people 9 that day than the sword devoured. And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth ; 10 and the mule that was under him went on. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and 11 said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest it, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground ? and I 12 would have given thee ten pieces of silver, and a girdle. And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son : for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 13. Beware that none touch the young man Absalom. Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hid from the king), then thou thyself wouldest have stood aloof. 14. Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and 15 thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bare Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him. 16. And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel : for Joab 17 held back the people. And they took Absalom, and cast him into the great pit in the forest, 18 and raised over him a very great heap of stones : and all Israel fled every one to his tent. Now Absalom in his life time had taken and reared up for himself the pillar, which is in the king's dale : for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance : and he called the pillar after his own name : and it is called Absalom's monument, unto this day. 19. Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that 20 the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not be the bearer of tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day : but this day thou shalt 21 bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead. Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go tell the 22 king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself unto Joab, and ran. Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou wilt have 23 no reward for the tidings? But come what may, said he, I will run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and overran the Cushite. 24. Now David sat between the two gates : and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate 25 unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man running alone. And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his 26 mouth. And he came apace, and drew near. And the watchman saw another man running : and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold, another man running alone. And 27 the king said, He also bringeth tidings. And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a 28 good man, and cometh with good tidings. And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord 29 the king. And the king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, even me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I 30 knew not what it was. And the king said, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, 31 and stood still. And, behold, the Cushite came ; and the Cushite said, Tidings for my lord 32 the king : for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the king said unto the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be 33 as that young man is. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept : and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son ! David, warned of danger, crossed the Jordan, and went northward to Mahanaim, Ishbosheth's former capital, among the hills of Gilead. Here at once he raised and organized an army to meet the host of Absalom. An interval occurred during which both armies were gathered, and Absalom's army was transferred across the Jordan to the country of Gilead. Here the battle took place. Joab directed the army of David, with Abishai and Ittai as division leaders, each of whom had been solemnly and publicly charged to "deal gently with Absalom." In the conflict the rebel army was enticed into the wood of Ephraim, and great multitudes were slaughtered—twenty thousand—by "the wood" and by "the sword." By a strange Providence, Absalom himself, while fleeing, was caught from his mule by "thick boughs of a great oak," and left hanging by the head. Spared by a common soldier from reverence to David's command, notwithstanding that command he was thrust through the heart by Joab and his armor-bearers. His body was afterward taken down, cast into a pit, and covered with "a very great heap of stones." B. The rebellion under Absalom probably lasted two or three months. For there was time for Absalom to gather and organize a great army from all the tribes. There was time for David to number and grade and officer his broken followers, and to put them under division commanders. There was time to transfer Absalom's army across the Jordan, and for the two armies to pitch in camp in the land of Gilead. 17 : 24-26. Absalom assumed the royal state and was solemnly anointed as king. Joab's office of captain of the host was conferred by him upon Amasa, the son of Ithra by Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, stepdaughter to Jesse, and sister to Zeruiah: he was half-cousin to David, and own cousin to Joab and Abishai. Absalom then crossed the Jordan in pursuit of David, and pitched his camp in Mount Gilead. P. S. 27-29. The district where David now was, "the other side of Jordan," lay far apart from Jerusalem and the more frequented places in the country, and, in all probability, it was but little affected by the arts of Absalom. The inhabitants lay under strong obligations to David; in former times they had suffered most from their neighbors, Moab, Ammon, and especially Syria; and now they enjoyed a very different lot, owing to the fact that those powerful nations had been brought under David's rule. It was a fertile district, abounding in all kinds of farm and garden produce, and therefore well adapted to support an army that had no regular means of supply. The people of this district seem to have been friendly to David's cause. The little force that had followed him from Jerusalem would now be largely recruited; and, even to the outward sense, he would be in a far better condition to receive the assault of Absalom than on the day when he left the city. W. G. B. David was secure in the fortress of Mahanaim, the ancient Trans-Jordanic sanctuary, which had formerly sheltered the rival house of Saul. Three potentates of that pastoral district came forward at once to his support. Shobi, the son of David's ancient friend Nahash, king of Ammon, perhaps put by David in his brother Hanun's place; Machir, the son of Ammiel, the former protector of Mephibosheth; Barzillai, an aged chief of great wealth and influence. Their connection with David's enemies, whether of the house of Saul or of Ammon, was overbalanced by earlier alliances with David, or by their respect for himself personally. They brought, with the profuse liberality of Arabs, the butter, cheese, wheat, barley, flour, parched corn, beans, lentils, pulse, honey, sheep, with which the forests and pastures of Gilead abounded, and on which the historian dwells as if he had been himself one of "the hungry and weary and thirsty" who had revelled in the delightful stores thus placed before them. Stanley.—No sooner is David come to Mahanaim, than Barzillai, Machir, and Shobi refresh him with provisions Who ever saw any child of God left utterly destitute? Whosoever be the messenger of our aid, we know whence he comes. Heaven shall want power and earth means, before any of the household of faith shall want maintenance. Bp. H. 18: 1-4. All the arrangements for the inevitable encounter were made with prudence, while every movement of his opponents seems to have been a blunder. It was wise in David to cross the Jordan and retire into Gilead; it was wise in him to make Mahanaim his headquarters; it was wise to divide his army into three parts, because of his inferiority of numbers; and it was wise to have a wood in the neighborhood of the battle-field, though it could not have been foreseen how this was to bear on the individual on whose behalf the insurrection had taken place. W. G. B.—David prepared to receive the attack with his usual skill. He divided his forces into three bodies, under Joab, Abishai, and Ittai; and yielding to the people's entreaties, he himself remained to hold out the city in case of a defeat. P. S. 3. The king was prepared to take part in the battle, believing that his presence would be helpful to his men; but the people would not allow him to run the risk. Aged and somewhat infirm as he seems to have been, wearied with his flight, and weakened with the anxieties of so distressing an occasion, the excitement of the battle might have proved too much for him, even if he had escaped the enemy's sword. Besides, everything depended on him; if his place were discovered by the enemy, their hottest assault would be directed to it; and if he should fall, there would be left no cause to fight for. W. G. B. 5. Absalom would have David only smitten, David would have Absalom only spared. What foils are these to each other! Never was unnatural hatred to a father more strong than in Absalom; nor was ever natural affection to a child more strong than in David; each showed how bad it is possible for a child to be to the best of fathers, and how good it is possible for a father to be to the worst of children; as if it were designed to be a resemblance of man's wickedness toward God, and God's mercy toward man, of which it is hard to say which is more amazing. "Deal gently," says David, "by all means, with the young man, even with Absalom, for my sake." This charge supposes David's strong expectation of success, having a good cause and a good God: he doubts not but Absalom would lie at their mercy, and therefore bids them deal gently with him, spare his life, and reserve him for his judgment. H. 6. We read that the battle took place "in the wood of Ephraim." This could not be a wood in the tribe of Ephraim, for that was on the other side of Jordan, but a wood in Gilead, that for some reason unknown to us had been called by that name. The whole region is still richly wooded, and among its prominent trees is one called the prickly oak. W. G. B.—All the circumstances are in favor of supposing the battle to have been fought on the eastern side of the Jordan. Absalom marched into Gilead and encamped there; David was at Mahanaim; and there is not the slightest hint that either army crossed the Jordan. It is implied beforehand that the battle would be in the neighborhood of Mahanaim (verse 3). The return of the army to Mahanaim on the same day (19 : 2-5), would scarcely have been possible had the battle been fought on the west of the Jordan. These considerations make it all but certain that “the wood of Ephraim” was some part of the great forests of Gilead. The origin of the name can only be conjectured. It may possibly have been derived from the connection of Ephraim with the trans-Jordanic Manasseh, or from some incident, such as the slaughter of the Ephraimites by Jephthah (Ju. 12 : 6). A. F. K. 7. 8. The God of Hosts, with whom it is all one to save with many or with few, takes part with justice; and lets Israel feel what it is to bear arms for a traitorous usurper. The sword devours twenty thousand of them; and the wood devours more than the sword. Bp. H. 9. With Absalom’s tragic end the bolt of retribution flew right home. Riding on the royal mule, of which he had robbed his father, he fled from the victorious army of Joab only to be caught in the thick boughs of “the great terebinth,”—caught by “the head,” says Scripture; caught, says Josephus, by the flowing locks which had been his crown and pride; and there he was hacked to death by pike and sword. And there we must leave him, an emblem of the fate which sooner or later overtakes all who put their trust in themselves,—in health, in beauty, in strength of will, in any of the natural gifts they have received from a God whom they have forgotten or disobeyed. Cox.—There hangs Absalom between heaven and earth, as one that was hated and abandoned both of earth and heaven. As if God meant to prescribe this punishment for traitors, Absalom, Ahithophel, and Judas die all one death. Bp. H.—This was a very surprising, unusual thing; it was fit that it should be so, his crime being so monstrous. God will here, as in the case of those other rebels, Dathan and Abiram, create a new thing, that it may be understood how much this man has provoked the Lord (Nu. 16 : 29, 30). H. When the hour of calamity came to Absalom it found him alone. Even Saul had his armor-bearer at his side when he fled over Gilboa; but neither armor-bearer nor friend attended Absalom as he fled from the battle of the wood of Ephraim. An hour ago, with thousands eager to obey him, and a throne before him, apparently secure from danger, now he hangs helpless between earth and heaven, with no companion but an evil conscience, and no prospect but the judgment of an offended God. W. G. B. 14. 15. Seizing three darts, Joab rushes to the place and thrusts them through Absalom’s heart. And his ten armor-bearers finish the business with their swords. We need not suppose that he was altogether indifferent to the feelings of David; but he may have been seized by an overwhelming conviction that Absalom’s death was the only effectual way of ending this most guilty and pernicious insurrection, and so preserving the country from ruin. Absalom living, whether banished or imprisoned, would be a constant and fearful danger. Absalom dead, great though the king’s distress for the time might be, would be the very salvation of the country. W. G. B.—There was probably a true regard for the king and kingdom in this act of Joab. He knew that Absalom could not with safety be suffered to live; and that now a just right to slay him had been earned in open battle. Nothing can be alleged against him in this matter but his disobedience to the king: but he, in his position, felt that he dared to disobey him for his own good; and he was quite prepared to vindicate and maintain this deed. As Joab had been on good terms with Absalom, and had taken pains to bring about a reconciliation between him and his father, we may set the higher value upon his firm adhesion to David when Absalom revolted, and upon his stern sense of duty to the king—from whom he expected no thanks—displayed in putting an end to the war by the slaughter of his favorite son, when all others shrunk from the responsibility of doing the king a service against his own will. Kit. 16. Joab, hereupon, sounds a retreat; the danger is over now that Absalom is slain; the people will soon return to their allegiance to David, and therefore no more blood shall be spilt; no prisoners are taken, to be tried as traitors and made examples: let every man return to his tent; they are all the king’s subjects, all his good subjects again. 17. 18. His body is cast into a great pit in the wood; they would not bring it to his father (for that would but have added to his grief), nor would they preserve it to be buried, according to his order, but threw it into the next pit with indignation. Now where is the beauty he had been so proud of and for which he had been so much admired? Where are his aspiring projects? His thoughts perish, and he with them. And, to signify how heavy his iniquity lay upon his bones, as the prophet speaks (Ez. 32 : 27), they raised a great heap of stones upon him, to be a monument of his villainy, and to signify that he ought to have been stoned as a rebellious son (De. 21 : 21). Travellers say that the place is taken notice of to this day, and that it is common for passengers to throw a stone to this heap, with words to this purport: Cursed be the memory of rebellious Absalom, and cursed forever be all wicked children that rise up in rebellion against their parents. To aggravate the ignominy of Absalom's burial, the historian takes notice of a pillar he had erected in the valley of Kidron, near Jerusalem, to be a monument for himself, and keep his name in remembrance, at the foot of which, it is probable, he designed to be buried. His care was to have his name kept in remembrance, and it is so to his everlasting dishonor. The pillar shall bear his name, but not to his credit; it was designed for Absalom's glory, but proved Absalom's folly. H. Self-seekers are self-losers and self-destroyers. Absalom and Judas seek themselves, and hang themselves. Saul seeks himself, and kills himself. Haman sought himself, and lost himself. That which self-seekers think should be a staff to support them, becomes, by the hand of justice, an iron rod to break them; that which they would have as springs to refresh them becomes a gulf utterly to destroy them. T. Brooks. 19-23. Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, who had brought the news from Hushai, was present, and wished to carry this news to David. Joab preferred a blunter Cushite or Ethiopian slave, but after he had gone, he permitted Ahimaaz to follow. Knox. 24-27. David, at the gate of Mahanaim, awaits tidings of the battle. We can almost see the anxious, sad-hearted king, and hear his colloquy with the watchman on the top of the outer tower, so graphic is the narrative. Between the two main gates of the double-walled city, in a court used as a place of public resort, for the administration of justice, or for audience with kings or governors, David has been long sitting anxiously awaiting intelligence, with heart burdened most of all by his concern for the fate of Absalom. One man is seen running, and then another, toward the gate. Then the watchman reports the foremost to be Ahimaaz, from which the king infers the tidings to be good. 28-30. The report of Ahimaaz, and his avoidance of David's question concerning Absalom. "All is well!" he calls aloud before reaching the king. Then reverently bowing, he devoutly declares that God had destroyed the rebellious host. But David has no heart to join in the praise to which the words of Ahimaaz designedly turn his thought. He forgets his endangered and now delivered throne. He is insensible even to the Divine goodness which has interposed to restore his kingdom. All his thought is upon Absalom, all his heart goes out in yearning to know the safety of this relentless, parricidal son. "Is the young man Absalom safe?" And when Ahimaaz, respecting his grief, again seeks further to prepare his mind for the news, by a general reference to some great scene of confusion or catastrophe, he is bidden to stand aside. 31,32. The tidings of Cushi, and his announcement of Absalom's death. In explicit language, he bluntly declares that "the Lord hath avenged the king" of all his enemies. And when the one question upon the king's heart springs to his lips, the Ethiopian answers as bluntly, "The enemies of my lord the king be as that young man!" There is no description of his fate, no aggravation of the king's feelings by telling the fearful manner of his destruction; but simply, he can no more "rise against thee to do thee hurt"—he is dead! There is no doubt on the king's mind, no hope upon which to propose a further question. Absalom is dead! 33. Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son! Strange depth and intensity of affection for one who had scarce any other recommendation save personal beauty, who had not a single excellence; whose whole career had been one of relentless cruelty and monstrous enormities! And yet, knowing David's history, we cannot but find in these words some feeling deeper and more intense, which was only quickened and aggravated by his strong natural affection. That which made it so overwhelming and unparalleled was the enormous weight of self-reproach thrown back upon his heart by the memories of paternal neglect, and of his own terrible sins. His beautiful but corrupt son, foolishly indulged, was now lost forever in his unrepented guilt! God's predicted chastisement upon himself, now fallen upon this object of his strongest affection, crushed his heart with fearful force of anguish! Had he only been faithful and pure, it would not have been thus. Reason enough then, for his wild, agonizing lament! Cause enough for that wailing cry that has sounded down the centuries, "Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son!" B. The elements of David's intense agony were mainly three. There was the loss of his son, whom with all his faults he loved still. There was the terrible fact that Absalom had died in rebellion, without expressing one word of regret, without one request for forgiveness, without one act or word that it would be pleasant to recall in time to come, as a foil to the bitterness caused by his unnatural rebellion. And there was the fact that in this rebellious condition he had passed to the judgment of God. What hope could there be for him? W. G. B. David professes to desire that he had died for Absalom, but that was a vain wish. He ought to have lived more for Absalom. I. T.—The whole scene of David's lamentation over Absalom speaks with an immediate and awful voice to parents, and urges them to make the training and commanding of their children earnest work, and especially to beware of looking tenderly upon their disobedience, or of only feebly and hesitatingly restraining them in their wickedness. Not a little of the foolish indulgence which parents show to their children is the simple effect of an aversion to be troubled, and is, therefore, with all its look of amiable, but fatal weakness, just "self-indulgence under an alias." Much of it also is affection grievously misdirected, the fruit of simple unwillingness to give present pain. Thomson. There are many Absaloms in the world who despise parental authority, jeer at all proper and needful advice, give heed to the poisoned whispers of the worst of companions, cause aching hearts and tearful eyes in the old house at home, and at last run riot to their hearts' content, but to their souls' utter damnation. H. C. Nunn. —Let those who have begun to spurn parental authority and to laugh at the remonstrances of a father, read in the career and end of Absalom in what direction and to what certain issues their course is leading them. The growing wickedness of this favorite son brought him to an untimely grave, dimmed to his father's vision even the glories of the everlasting covenant, and made him descend to his royal sepulchre mourning that "his house was not so with God," Thomson. Other suggestions of truth and duty that will repay our thought. 1. In Absalom were united a beautiful person and a monstrously deformed soul. His beauty of person was (and it always is) a double temptation and snare to parent and child. In the one, it leads to an infatuation of excessive indulgence. In the child and the youth, it stimulates natural vanity, pride, and self-seeking; and to gratify these, prompts to every form of accessible sin. As signally illustrating and sharply pointing this double warning, bear in mind that so monstrous a character as Absalom's is not found elsewhere in the Scripture. It is scarcely paralleled in profane history. Without natural affection, with an amazing hardness of heart and relentlessness of hate, yet vain-glorious, prodigal, seductive, and hypocritical in word and deed, a deliberate fratricide, a traitor against an indulgent father, for years at heart a parricide—all this was the outcome of his misuse of God's manifold and special gifts, and of parental neglect and infatuation. 2. The consequences of such a career do but add depth and force to this double warning. The end of a character so monstrous is plainly set forth in the inspired proverb: "He that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death." Not merely as elsewhere declared, "Evil pursueth sinners," "Be sure your sin will find you out," but the wilful transgressor punishes himself. "His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, he shall die without instruction." 3. In contrast with the parental neglect of David and the unfilial disobedience of Absalom, are here forcibly commended, on the one hand parental fidelity in restraint and example, and on the other, a filial spirit of affectionate obedience. Where there is mutually responsive truth, affection, and faithfulness, the family becomes, as ordained of God, the best and surest of human agencies for the right development of character, and for the greatest helpfulness and happiness in living. 4. Very suggestive, further, is the fact that, though Absalom had no relentings toward the father who loved him, David had no resentment, only a deeper affection toward the son who hated and would destroy him. In this, at least, like God in his love to sinners, and like Christ in his willingness to die for enemies. With all that was earthly in his feeling, he yet came nearer than any earthly being ever came to the illustration of that love by which "God commendeth himself to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." From David's imperfect example of willing love, let us turn to the love that died upon the cross for us! 5. Is it well with the young man? Touching, tender question of affection! How many and varied its applications! Every true heart for some other heart must cherish the spirit which prompts it. Let the earnest prayer, the consistent example, and the loving word daily respond to this spirit of yearning desire for our child, our friend, our life-companion! B. 24. THEN David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of 25. Israel with him. And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, that went in to Abigal the daughter of Na- 26 hash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother. And Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. 27. And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai 28 the Gileadite of Rogelim, brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and 29 barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat : for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness. 1. And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. And David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the peo- 3 ple, I will surely go forth with you myself also. But the people said, Thou shalt not go forth : for if we flee away, they will not care for us ; neither if half of us die, will they care for us : but thou art worth ten thousand of us : therefore now it is better that thou be ready to succor 4 us out of the city. And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the 5 king stood by the gate side, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge 6 concerning Absalom. So the people went out into the field against Israel : and the battle 7 was in the forest of Ephraim. And the people of Israel were smitten there before the servants 8 of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country : and the forest devoured more people 9 that day than the sword devoured. And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth ; 10 and the mule that was under him went on. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and 11 said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest it, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground ? and I 12 would have given thee ten pieces of silver, and a girdle. And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son : for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 13. Beware that none touch the young man Absalom. Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hid from the king), then thou thyself wouldest have stood aloof. 14. Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and 15 thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bare Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him. 16. And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel : for Joab 17 held back the people. And they took Absalom, and cast him into the great pit in the forest, 18 and raised over him a very great heap of stones : and all Israel fled every one to his tent. Now Absalom in his life time had taken and reared up for himself the pillar, which is in the king's dale : for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance : and he called the pillar after his own name : and it is called Absalom's monument, unto this day. 19. Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that 20 the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not be the bearer of tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day : but this day thou shalt 21 bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead. Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go tell the 22 king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself unto Joab, and ran. Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou wilt have 23 no reward for the tidings? But come what may, said he, I will run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and overran the Cushite. 24. Now David sat between the two gates : and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate 25 unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man running alone. And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his 26 mouth. And he came apace, and drew near. And the watchman saw another man running : and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold, another man running alone. And 27 the king said, He also bringeth tidings. And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a 28 good man, and cometh with good tidings. And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord 29 the king. And the king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, even me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I 30 knew not what it was. And the king said, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, 31 and stood still. And, behold, the Cushite came ; and the Cushite said, Tidings for my lord 32 the king : for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the king said unto the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be 33 as that young man is. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept : and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son ! David, warned of danger, crossed the Jordan, and went northward to Mahanaim, Ishbosheth's former capital, among the hills of Gilead. Here at once he raised and organized an army to meet the host of Absalom. An interval occurred during which both armies were gathered, and Absalom's army was transferred across the Jordan to the country of Gilead. Here the battle took place. Joab directed the army of David, with Abishai and Ittai as division leaders, each of whom had been solemnly and publicly charged to "deal gently with Absalom." In the conflict the rebel army was enticed into the wood of Ephraim, and great multitudes were slaughtered—twenty thousand—by "the wood" and by "the sword." By a strange Providence, Absalom himself, while fleeing, was caught from his mule by "thick boughs of a great oak," and left hanging by the head. Spared by a common soldier from reverence to David's command, notwithstanding that command he was thrust through the heart by Joab and his armor-bearers. His body was afterward taken down, cast into a pit, and covered with "a very great heap of stones." B. The rebellion under Absalom probably lasted two or three months. For there was time for Absalom to gather and organize a great army from all the tribes. There was time for David to number and grade and officer his broken followers, and to put them under division commanders. There was time to transfer Absalom's army across the Jordan, and for the two armies to pitch in camp in the land of Gilead. 17 : 24-26. Absalom assumed the royal state and was solemnly anointed as king. Joab's office of captain of the host was conferred by him upon Amasa, the son of Ithra by Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, stepdaughter to Jesse, and sister to Zeruiah: he was half-cousin to David, and own cousin to Joab and Abishai. Absalom then crossed the Jordan in pursuit of David, and pitched his camp in Mount Gilead. P. S. 27-29. The district where David now was, "the other side of Jordan," lay far apart from Jerusalem and the more frequented places in the country, and, in all probability, it was but little affected by the arts of Absalom. The inhabitants lay under strong obligations to David; in former times they had suffered most from their neighbors, Moab, Ammon, and especially Syria; and now they enjoyed a very different lot, owing to the fact that those powerful nations had been brought under David's rule. It was a fertile district, abounding in all kinds of farm and garden produce, and therefore well adapted to support an army that had no regular means of supply. The people of this district seem to have been friendly to David's cause. The little force that had followed him from Jerusalem would now be largely recruited; and, even to the outward sense, he would be in a far better condition to receive the assault of Absalom than on the day when he left the city. W. G. B. David was secure in the fortress of Mahanaim, the ancient Trans-Jordanic sanctuary, which had formerly sheltered the rival house of Saul. Three potentates of that pastoral district came forward at once to his support. Shobi, the son of David's ancient friend Nahash, king of Ammon, perhaps put by David in his brother Hanun's place; Machir, the son of Ammiel, the former protector of Mephibosheth; Barzillai, an aged chief of great wealth and influence. Their connection with David's enemies, whether of the house of Saul or of Ammon, was overbalanced by earlier alliances with David, or by their respect for himself personally. They brought, with the profuse liberality of Arabs, the butter, cheese, wheat, barley, flour, parched corn, beans, lentils, pulse, honey, sheep, with which the forests and pastures of Gilead abounded, and on which the historian dwells as if he had been himself one of "the hungry and weary and thirsty" who had revelled in the delightful stores thus placed before them. Stanley.—No sooner is David come to Mahanaim, than Barzillai, Machir, and Shobi refresh him with provisions Who ever saw any child of God left utterly destitute? Whosoever be the messenger of our aid, we know whence he comes. Heaven shall want power and earth means, before any of the household of faith shall want maintenance. Bp. H. 18: 1-4. All the arrangements for the inevitable encounter were made with prudence, while every movement of his opponents seems to have been a blunder. It was wise in David to cross the Jordan and retire into Gilead; it was wise in him to make Mahanaim his headquarters; it was wise to divide his army into three parts, because of his inferiority of numbers; and it was wise to have a wood in the neighborhood of the battle-field, though it could not have been foreseen how this was to bear on the individual on whose behalf the insurrection had taken place. W. G. B.—David prepared to receive the attack with his usual skill. He divided his forces into three bodies, under Joab, Abishai, and Ittai; and yielding to the people's entreaties, he himself remained to hold out the city in case of a defeat. P. S. 3. The king was prepared to take part in the battle, believing that his presence would be helpful to his men; but the people would not allow him to run the risk. Aged and somewhat infirm as he seems to have been, wearied with his flight, and weakened with the anxieties of so distressing an occasion, the excitement of the battle might have proved too much for him, even if he had escaped the enemy's sword. Besides, everything depended on him; if his place were discovered by the enemy, their hottest assault would be directed to it; and if he should fall, there would be left no cause to fight for. W. G. B. 5. Absalom would have David only smitten, David would have Absalom only spared. What foils are these to each other! Never was unnatural hatred to a father more strong than in Absalom; nor was ever natural affection to a child more strong than in David; each showed how bad it is possible for a child to be to the best of fathers, and how good it is possible for a father to be to the worst of children; as if it were designed to be a resemblance of man's wickedness toward God, and God's mercy toward man, of which it is hard to say which is more amazing. "Deal gently," says David, "by all means, with the young man, even with Absalom, for my sake." This charge supposes David's strong expectation of success, having a good cause and a good God: he doubts not but Absalom would lie at their mercy, and therefore bids them deal gently with him, spare his life, and reserve him for his judgment. H. 6. We read that the battle took place "in the wood of Ephraim." This could not be a wood in the tribe of Ephraim, for that was on the other side of Jordan, but a wood in Gilead, that for some reason unknown to us had been called by that name. The whole region is still richly wooded, and among its prominent trees is one called the prickly oak. W. G. B.—All the circumstances are in favor of supposing the battle to have been fought on the eastern side of the Jordan. Absalom marched into Gilead and encamped there; David was at Mahanaim; and there is not the slightest hint that either army crossed the Jordan. It is implied beforehand that the battle would be in the neighborhood of Mahanaim (verse 3). The return of the army to Mahanaim on the same day (19 : 2-5), would scarcely have been possible had the battle been fought on the west of the Jordan. These considerations make it all but certain that “the wood of Ephraim” was some part of the great forests of Gilead. The origin of the name can only be conjectured. It may possibly have been derived from the connection of Ephraim with the trans-Jordanic Manasseh, or from some incident, such as the slaughter of the Ephraimites by Jephthah (Ju. 12 : 6). A. F. K. 7. 8. The God of Hosts, with whom it is all one to save with many or with few, takes part with justice; and lets Israel feel what it is to bear arms for a traitorous usurper. The sword devours twenty thousand of them; and the wood devours more than the sword. Bp. H. 9. With Absalom’s tragic end the bolt of retribution flew right home. Riding on the royal mule, of which he had robbed his father, he fled from the victorious army of Joab only to be caught in the thick boughs of “the great terebinth,”—caught by “the head,” says Scripture; caught, says Josephus, by the flowing locks which had been his crown and pride; and there he was hacked to death by pike and sword. And there we must leave him, an emblem of the fate which sooner or later overtakes all who put their trust in themselves,—in health, in beauty, in strength of will, in any of the natural gifts they have received from a God whom they have forgotten or disobeyed. Cox.—There hangs Absalom between heaven and earth, as one that was hated and abandoned both of earth and heaven. As if God meant to prescribe this punishment for traitors, Absalom, Ahithophel, and Judas die all one death. Bp. H.—This was a very surprising, unusual thing; it was fit that it should be so, his crime being so monstrous. God will here, as in the case of those other rebels, Dathan and Abiram, create a new thing, that it may be understood how much this man has provoked the Lord (Nu. 16 : 29, 30). H. When the hour of calamity came to Absalom it found him alone. Even Saul had his armor-bearer at his side when he fled over Gilboa; but neither armor-bearer nor friend attended Absalom as he fled from the battle of the wood of Ephraim. An hour ago, with thousands eager to obey him, and a throne before him, apparently secure from danger, now he hangs helpless between earth and heaven, with no companion but an evil conscience, and no prospect but the judgment of an offended God. W. G. B. 14. 15. Seizing three darts, Joab rushes to the place and thrusts them through Absalom’s heart. And his ten armor-bearers finish the business with their swords. We need not suppose that he was altogether indifferent to the feelings of David; but he may have been seized by an overwhelming conviction that Absalom’s death was the only effectual way of ending this most guilty and pernicious insurrection, and so preserving the country from ruin. Absalom living, whether banished or imprisoned, would be a constant and fearful danger. Absalom dead, great though the king’s distress for the time might be, would be the very salvation of the country. W. G. B.—There was probably a true regard for the king and kingdom in this act of Joab. He knew that Absalom could not with safety be suffered to live; and that now a just right to slay him had been earned in open battle. Nothing can be alleged against him in this matter but his disobedience to the king: but he, in his position, felt that he dared to disobey him for his own good; and he was quite prepared to vindicate and maintain this deed. As Joab had been on good terms with Absalom, and had taken pains to bring about a reconciliation between him and his father, we may set the higher value upon his firm adhesion to David when Absalom revolted, and upon his stern sense of duty to the king—from whom he expected no thanks—displayed in putting an end to the war by the slaughter of his favorite son, when all others shrunk from the responsibility of doing the king a service against his own will. Kit. 16. Joab, hereupon, sounds a retreat; the danger is over now that Absalom is slain; the people will soon return to their allegiance to David, and therefore no more blood shall be spilt; no prisoners are taken, to be tried as traitors and made examples: let every man return to his tent; they are all the king’s subjects, all his good subjects again. 17. 18. His body is cast into a great pit in the wood; they would not bring it to his father (for that would but have added to his grief), nor would they preserve it to be buried, according to his order, but threw it into the next pit with indignation. Now where is the beauty he had been so proud of and for which he had been so much admired? Where are his aspiring projects? His thoughts perish, and he with them. And, to signify how heavy his iniquity lay upon his bones, as the prophet speaks (Ez. 32 : 27), they raised a great heap of stones upon him, to be a monument of his villainy, and to signify that he ought to have been stoned as a rebellious son (De. 21 : 21). Travellers say that the place is taken notice of to this day, and that it is common for passengers to throw a stone to this heap, with words to this purport: Cursed be the memory of rebellious Absalom, and cursed forever be all wicked children that rise up in rebellion against their parents. To aggravate the ignominy of Absalom's burial, the historian takes notice of a pillar he had erected in the valley of Kidron, near Jerusalem, to be a monument for himself, and keep his name in remembrance, at the foot of which, it is probable, he designed to be buried. His care was to have his name kept in remembrance, and it is so to his everlasting dishonor. The pillar shall bear his name, but not to his credit; it was designed for Absalom's glory, but proved Absalom's folly. H. Self-seekers are self-losers and self-destroyers. Absalom and Judas seek themselves, and hang themselves. Saul seeks himself, and kills himself. Haman sought himself, and lost himself. That which self-seekers think should be a staff to support them, becomes, by the hand of justice, an iron rod to break them; that which they would have as springs to refresh them becomes a gulf utterly to destroy them. T. Brooks. 19-23. Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, who had brought the news from Hushai, was present, and wished to carry this news to David. Joab preferred a blunter Cushite or Ethiopian slave, but after he had gone, he permitted Ahimaaz to follow. Knox. 24-27. David, at the gate of Mahanaim, awaits tidings of the battle. We can almost see the anxious, sad-hearted king, and hear his colloquy with the watchman on the top of the outer tower, so graphic is the narrative. Between the two main gates of the double-walled city, in a court used as a place of public resort, for the administration of justice, or for audience with kings or governors, David has been long sitting anxiously awaiting intelligence, with heart burdened most of all by his concern for the fate of Absalom. One man is seen running, and then another, toward the gate. Then the watchman reports the foremost to be Ahimaaz, from which the king infers the tidings to be good. 28-30. The report of Ahimaaz, and his avoidance of David's question concerning Absalom. "All is well!" he calls aloud before reaching the king. Then reverently bowing, he devoutly declares that God had destroyed the rebellious host. But David has no heart to join in the praise to which the words of Ahimaaz designedly turn his thought. He forgets his endangered and now delivered throne. He is insensible even to the Divine goodness which has interposed to restore his kingdom. All his thought is upon Absalom, all his heart goes out in yearning to know the safety of this relentless, parricidal son. "Is the young man Absalom safe?" And when Ahimaaz, respecting his grief, again seeks further to prepare his mind for the news, by a general reference to some great scene of confusion or catastrophe, he is bidden to stand aside. 31,32. The tidings of Cushi, and his announcement of Absalom's death. In explicit language, he bluntly declares that "the Lord hath avenged the king" of all his enemies. And when the one question upon the king's heart springs to his lips, the Ethiopian answers as bluntly, "The enemies of my lord the king be as that young man!" There is no description of his fate, no aggravation of the king's feelings by telling the fearful manner of his destruction; but simply, he can no more "rise against thee to do thee hurt"—he is dead! There is no doubt on the king's mind, no hope upon which to propose a further question. Absalom is dead! 33. Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son! Strange depth and intensity of affection for one who had scarce any other recommendation save personal beauty, who had not a single excellence; whose whole career had been one of relentless cruelty and monstrous enormities! And yet, knowing David's history, we cannot but find in these words some feeling deeper and more intense, which was only quickened and aggravated by his strong natural affection. That which made it so overwhelming and unparalleled was the enormous weight of self-reproach thrown back upon his heart by the memories of paternal neglect, and of his own terrible sins. His beautiful but corrupt son, foolishly indulged, was now lost forever in his unrepented guilt! God's predicted chastisement upon himself, now fallen upon this object of his strongest affection, crushed his heart with fearful force of anguish! Had he only been faithful and pure, it would not have been thus. Reason enough then, for his wild, agonizing lament! Cause enough for that wailing cry that has sounded down the centuries, "Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son!" B. The elements of David's intense agony were mainly three. There was the loss of his son, whom with all his faults he loved still. There was the terrible fact that Absalom had died in rebellion, without expressing one word of regret, without one request for forgiveness, without one act or word that it would be pleasant to recall in time to come, as a foil to the bitterness caused by his unnatural rebellion. And there was the fact that in this rebellious condition he had passed to the judgment of God. What hope could there be for him? W. G. B. David professes to desire that he had died for Absalom, but that was a vain wish. He ought to have lived more for Absalom. I. T.—The whole scene of David's lamentation over Absalom speaks with an immediate and awful voice to parents, and urges them to make the training and commanding of their children earnest work, and especially to beware of looking tenderly upon their disobedience, or of only feebly and hesitatingly restraining them in their wickedness. Not a little of the foolish indulgence which parents show to their children is the simple effect of an aversion to be troubled, and is, therefore, with all its look of amiable, but fatal weakness, just "self-indulgence under an alias." Much of it also is affection grievously misdirected, the fruit of simple unwillingness to give present pain. Thomson. There are many Absaloms in the world who despise parental authority, jeer at all proper and needful advice, give heed to the poisoned whispers of the worst of companions, cause aching hearts and tearful eyes in the old house at home, and at last run riot to their hearts' content, but to their souls' utter damnation. H. C. Nunn. —Let those who have begun to spurn parental authority and to laugh at the remonstrances of a father, read in the career and end of Absalom in what direction and to what certain issues their course is leading them. The growing wickedness of this favorite son brought him to an untimely grave, dimmed to his father's vision even the glories of the everlasting covenant, and made him descend to his royal sepulchre mourning that "his house was not so with God," Thomson. Other suggestions of truth and duty that will repay our thought. 1. In Absalom were united a beautiful person and a monstrously deformed soul. His beauty of person was (and it always is) a double temptation and snare to parent and child. In the one, it leads to an infatuation of excessive indulgence. In the child and the youth, it stimulates natural vanity, pride, and self-seeking; and to gratify these, prompts to every form of accessible sin. As signally illustrating and sharply pointing this double warning, bear in mind that so monstrous a character as Absalom's is not found elsewhere in the Scripture. It is scarcely paralleled in profane history. Without natural affection, with an amazing hardness of heart and relentlessness of hate, yet vain-glorious, prodigal, seductive, and hypocritical in word and deed, a deliberate fratricide, a traitor against an indulgent father, for years at heart a parricide—all this was the outcome of his misuse of God's manifold and special gifts, and of parental neglect and infatuation. 2. The consequences of such a career do but add depth and force to this double warning. The end of a character so monstrous is plainly set forth in the inspired proverb: "He that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death." Not merely as elsewhere declared, "Evil pursueth sinners," "Be sure your sin will find you out," but the wilful transgressor punishes himself. "His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, he shall die without instruction." 3. In contrast with the parental neglect of David and the unfilial disobedience of Absalom, are here forcibly commended, on the one hand parental fidelity in restraint and example, and on the other, a filial spirit of affectionate obedience. Where there is mutually responsive truth, affection, and faithfulness, the family becomes, as ordained of God, the best and surest of human agencies for the right development of character, and for the greatest helpfulness and happiness in living. 4. Very suggestive, further, is the fact that, though Absalom had no relentings toward the father who loved him, David had no resentment, only a deeper affection toward the son who hated and would destroy him. In this, at least, like God in his love to sinners, and like Christ in his willingness to die for enemies. With all that was earthly in his feeling, he yet came nearer than any earthly being ever came to the illustration of that love by which "God commendeth himself to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." From David's imperfect example of willing love, let us turn to the love that died upon the cross for us! 5. Is it well with the young man? Touching, tender question of affection! How many and varied its applications! Every true heart for some other heart must cherish the spirit which prompts it. Let the earnest prayer, the consistent example, and the loving word daily respond to this spirit of yearning desire for our child, our friend, our life-companion! B. 19 1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. 2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people : for the people heard 3 say that day, The king grieveth for his son. And the people gat them by stealth that day into 4 the city, as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son ! 5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, 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 6 daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines ; in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that princes and servants are nought unto thee : for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all 7 we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants : for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry a man with thee this night : and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that hath 8 befallen thee from thy youth until now. Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate : and all the people came before the king. 9 Now Israel had fled every man to his tent. And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines ; and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom. 10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back ? 11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house ? seeing the speech of all 12 Israel is come to the king, to bring him to his house. Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and 13 my flesh : wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king ? And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not my bone and my flesh ? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the 14 host before me continually in the room of Joab. And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man ; so that they sent unto the king, saying, Return thou, and 15 all thy servants. So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over Jordan. 16 And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down 17 with the men of Judah to meet king David. And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants 18 with him ; and they went through Jordan in the presence of the king. And there went over a ferry boat to bring over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei 19 the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over Jordan. And he said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should 20 take it to his heart. For thy servant doth know that I have sinned ; therefore, behold, I am 21 come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, be- 22 cause he cursed the LORD's anointed ? And 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 23 death this day in Israel ? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel ? And the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king swore unto him. 24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king ; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until 25 the day he came home in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore went at not thou with me, Mephibosheth ? 26. 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 with the king ; because thy servant is lame. 27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king ; but my lord the king is as an 28 angel of God : do therefore what is good in thine eyes. For all 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 that I should cry any more unto the king ? 29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters ? I say, Thou and 30 Ziba divide the land. And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come in peace unto his own house. 31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim ; and he went over Jordan with the 32 king, to conduct him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old : and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim ; for he was a 33 very great man. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will sustain 34 thee with me in Jerusalem. And Barzillai said unto the king, How many are the days of the 35 years of my life, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem ? I am this day fourscore years old : can I discern between good and bad ? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink ? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women ? wherefore then 36 should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king ? Thy servant would but just go over Jordan with the king : and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward ? 37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, thy servant Chimham ; let him go over with my lord 38 the king ; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee : and what- 39 soever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. And all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over : and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him ; and he returned unto his own place. 40 So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him : and all the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel. 1-39. The army, though flushed with victory, stole off like conscious malefactors on hearing of the king's grief at the death of Absalom. It marks the power of that great moral ascendancy which the king had over their spirits ; yet was he forced to succumb when their rough but resolute commander interposed and compelled the monarch to show himself. One wonders not that he should have meditated to supersede Joab by making Amasa the general in-chief of the forces. The effect of the victory over the tribes of Israel is perfectly in keeping, too, with human nature, and so is the preference of David for being invited first by the men of Judah, as well as the consequent jealousy that broke out in fierce invective between the two great divisions of the nation over which David ruled. We further read of the mighty hold which David had over the hearts of those of his own tribe. This return of the king was followed up by a speedy, but withal most natural reaction on the part of those who had deserted or despitefully treated him in the day of his adversity—among these Shimei makes just the appearance that we should have expected, while the noble reply of David to the suggestion of Abishai carries in it the expression of his antipathy to these coarse and resolute, and withal able and influential men, the sons of Zeruiah. We scarcely know how to account for the king's award in the case of Mephibosheth, of whom, we might think, he must have entertained some lurking suspicion that he divided his property with the servant who had reported against him. But all is genial and right, and perfectly beautiful in the final settlement which took place between David and Barzillai, wherein the virtues of gratitude and devoted loyalty are so conspicuously blended. T. C. 1-7. The grief of David was as immoderate as it was unseasonable, and showed the intemperate, passionate affection he bore to the unnatural and impious youth. It damped the common joy of his friends and soldiers for the glorious victory, to hear the excessive grief he expressed for his son, insomuch that they almost repented of their success, and stole into the city where David was, as if they had been dishonorably defeated. Chandler.—It was a rash and unadvised utterance of affection. But for the rough faithfulness of Joab, the consequences would have been disastrous. "The victory that day was turned into mourning, for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son." Every one was discouraged. The man for whom they had risked their lives had not a word of thanks to any of them, and could think of no one but that vile son of his, who was now dead. In the evening Joab came to him, and in his blunt way swore to him that if he was not more affable to the people they would not remain a night longer in his service. W. G. B. The crisis illustrates the good as well as the bad features of Joab's character—his loyalty to David and his practical sagacity, as well as his hard, unsympathetic nature. Exaggerated and unfeeling as his speech was, it roused David from the extravagance of his grief to a sense of his duty, and saved him from flinging away the fruits of the victory. A. F. K.—Joab magnifies the services of David's soldiers: "I his day they have saved thy life, and therefore deserve to be taken notice of, and have reason to resent it if they be not." It is implied that Absalom, whom he honored with his tears, sought his ruin and the ruin of his family; while those whom by his tears he puts a slight upon, were such as preserved from ruin him and all that was dear to him. He aggravates the discouragement David had given them: "Thou hast shamed their faces, for while they have shown such a value for thy life, thou hast shown no value for theirs, but preferrest a false traitor to his king and country before all thy wise counsellors, brave commanders, and loyal subjects." He advises him to present himself immediately at the head of his troops, to welcome them home, congratulate their successes, and return them thanks for their services. He threatens him with another rebellion if he would not do this, intimating that, rather than serve so ungrateful a prince, he himself would head a revolt from him, and then "There will not tarry with thee one man." H. 8. David felt the call of duty—"He arose and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate! And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent." And very touching it must have been to look on the sad, pale, wasted face of the king, and mark his humble, chastened bearing, and yet to receive from him words of winning kindness that showed him still caring for them and loving them, as a shepherd among his sheep; in no wise exasperated by the insurrection, not breathing forth threatenings and slaughter on those who had taken part against him; but concerned as ever for the welfare of the whole kingdom. W. G. B. 9-15. David, now victorious over a rebel army, had it in his power to take ample revenge on all those whose treachery and bad faith well deserved to be chastised; and if he had pospossessed any malicious or sanguinary feelings, he could now want no pretext for indulging them. But he was governed by very different principles: he knew his son's rebellion to be the effect of his own guilt, and his recent success to be the fruit of his penitence and humiliation before God; he therefore was moved to no other conduct than prayer and repentance, gratitude and thanksgiving, and a patient, humble expectation of God's disposal of the event. Nor did he fail of his reward: for it seemed good to the great Governor of the world to turn the hearts of David's subjects in his favor; insomuch that they now returned to their duty with as much zeal as they had but a few days before rushed into rebellion against him. Delaney. It is strange that David did not immediately, upon the defeat and dispersion of Absalom's forces, march with all expedition back to Jerusalem to regain the possession of his capital city while the rebels were all in confusion, and before they could rally again. What occasion was there to bring him back? Could not he himself go back with the victorious army he had with him in Gilead? He could, no doubt; but he would come back as a prince, with the consent and unanimous approbation of the people, and not as a conqueror forcing his way. He would come back in peace and safety, and be sure that he should meet with no difficulty or opposition in his return; and therefore would be satisfied that the people were well affected to him before he would stir. He would come back in honor, and like himself; and therefore would come back, not at the head of his forces, but in the arms of his subjects. H. The facility with which Absalom had been hailed as king at Hebron, and been joined by such numbers as enabled him to move at once upon Jerusalem, might well justify David in suspecting that the procrastination of the Judahites arose from some disinclination to receive him. The step he did take is, however, of questionable discretion. There was great danger in adopting a course which might indicate to the other tribes that he took a separate interest in Judah; as it was too well remembered that he belonged to it, and that it had for some years been his separate kingdom. He, however, recognized their tribal interest in him by treating with them separately. He sent the two high-priests to incite them to hasten to escort him home, and not to be the last in the general movement. They did so. Though the last to call him, they were the first to escort him; and when they sent to conduct him home, he at once moved forward, without waiting till the other and more distant tribes arrived to take part in this great public act. The dangerous impolicy of this is apparent. The least he could have done was to have waited until the other tribes arrived to concur in this procedure. Kit. 13. Amasa was David's nephew, the son of his sister or stepsister Abigail. Of course the message was to be privately conveyed to Amasa through the priests. It was a bold stroke of policy to promise the post of commander-in-chief to the general of the rebel army. By so doing, David designed at once to secure the allegiance of that army, and to punish Joab for killing Absalom in defiance of his command. But it was hardly prudent. Joab was certain not to submit to it tamely; Amasa's military skill was probably inferior, and his loyalty remained to be proved. A. F. K.—Much better would it have been for him to have undertaken the chief duties of Joab's office himself. But the appointment of Amasa was unwise. A beaten rebel was not a leader whom the troops of David would follow. In eagerness to degrade Joab, the king was degrading himself and his soldiers. Sime. 14. "He bowed the heart of the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants." From the extreme of backwardness they started to the extreme of forwardness; the last to speak for David, they were the first to act for him; and such was their vehemence in his cause that the evil of national disunion which David dreaded from their indifference actually sprang from their over-impetuous zeal. 15. Thus at length David bade farewell to Mahanaim, and began his journey to Jerusalem. His route in returning was the reverse of that followed in his flight. First he descends the eastern bank of the Jordan as far as opposite Gilgal; then he strikes up through the wilderness the steep ascent to Jerusalem. At Gilgal several events of interest took place. W. G. B. 16-23. A great surprise met David as soon as he had crossed the Jordan on his return. The first to meet him, to proffer his allegiance and devotion, was that very Shimei who had so bitterly insulted him on his mournful retreat from Jerusalem! He fell at the king's feet, confessed his error, and pleaded for pardon on the ground of his contrition, and of his being the first of the tribe of Benjamin to come forward on this happy occasion. This was important; for he came at the head of a thousand men of the same tribe, all probably, like himself, warm partisans of the house of Saul, and whom he seems to have induced to take part with him in this dedecided act of adhesion. An appeal thus made could not be resisted; and, besides, David was, both from policy and inclination, in a forgiving temper, and felt that it would all become him at such a time to avenge or remember former wrongs. Kit.—His experience of God's mercy in restoring him to his kingdom, his exclusion from which he attributed to his sin, inclined him to show mercy to Shimei. They that are forgiven, must forgive. David had severely revenged the abuses done to his ambassadors by the Ammonites, but easily passes by the abuse done to himself by an Israelite. That was an affront to Israel and touched the honor of his crown and kingdom; this was purely personal, and, therefore (according to the usual disposition of good men), he could the more easily forgive it. If he should put Shimei to death, who cursed him, they would expect the same fate who had taken up arms and actually levied war against him, which would drive them from him while he was endeavoring to draw them to him. Acts of severity are seldom acts of policy: The throne is established by mercy. Shimei hereupon has his pardon signed and sealed with an oath; yet bound to his good behavior and liable to be prosecuted if he afterward misbehaved; and thus he was reserved to be, in due time, as much a monument of the justice of the government, as he was now of its clemency, and in both of its prudence. H. 24-30. If the reading is right, the meeting between David and Mephibosheth must have taken place in Jerusalem, and is introduced here out of the strictly chronological order, because of the mention of Ziba in verse 17. "Came down" in verse 24 must then be explained "came down from his house in the highlands of Benjamin near Gibeah to Jerusalem," not "came down from Jerusalem to the Jordan." The conclusion of verse 30 agrees with the supposition that Mephibosheth met David in Jerusalem. A. F. K. When the king asked him, why he, being one of his family, had stayed behind, and not accompanied him in his exile, he opened his case fully to the king. He complains of Ziba, his servant, who had hindered him from going along with the king, by taking the ass himself, which he was ordered to make ready for his master (verse 26), basely taking advantage of his lameness, and his inability to help himself; and had accused him to David of a design to usurp the government (verse 27). He gratefully acknowledges the king's great kindness to himself, when he and all his father's house lay at the king's mercy (verse 28). When he might justly have been dealt with as a rebel, he was treated as a friend, as a child: Thou didst set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. This shows that Ziba's suggestion was improbable; for could Mephibosheth be so disingenuous as to design any harm to David, of whose great kindness to him he was thus sensible? He refers himself to the king's pleasure, Do what is good in thine eyes with me and my estate; depending on the king's wisdom, and his ability to discern between truth and falsehood; My lord the king is as an angel of God; and disclaiming all pretensions of his own merit, "So much kindness I have received above what I deserved, and what right have I to cry any more unto the king? Why should I trouble the king with my complaints, who have already been so troublesome to him?" David hereupon recalls the sequestration of Mephibosheth's estate; being deceived in his grant, he revokes it, and confirms his former settlement of it; I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land (verse 20); that is, "Let it be as I first ordered it (ch. 9:10); the property shall still be vested in thee, but Ziba shall have the occupancy, he shall till the land, paying thee a rent." Thus Mephibosheth is where he was, no harm is done, only Ziba goes away unpunished for his false and malicious information against his master. H.—That David did not disbelieve his story is shown by his revoking the judgment he had previously given. That he did not entirely reverse his decision, but allowed Ziba to retain possession of half the lands of Mephibosheth, is probably due partly to weariness at the whole transaction, but mainly to the conciliatory frame of mind in which he was at that moment. "Shall there any man be put to death this day?" is the key-note of the whole proceeding. Dic. B. The only writer who attempts the justification of David's apparent neglect and injustice toward Mephibosheth is Blunt ("Undesigned Coincidences," pp. 167-171). His statement will, however, be scarcely deemed adequate for the king's defence, as it turns upon the supposed independence of Jonathan's son in his personal character and conduct. This seems to be controverted by the whole story of the man and of his relations with Ziba. B. 30. The tone of the afflicted man's reply gives us reason to fear that the worst interpretation of David's decision may be the right one—"Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house." Oh, noble heart! Let us fain hope that David was touched by this loyally devoted reply. Kit. 31-39. David had already graced the triumphs umphs of his restoration with the generous remission of the injuries that had been done him; we have him heregracing them with the no less generous reward of the kindnesses that had been shown him. Barzillai, the Gileadite, who had a noble seat at Rogelim, not far from Mahanaim, was the man who, of all the nobility of that country, had been most kind to David in his distress. H.—The good old blind chief Barzillai went to the Jordan with the king, and took leave of him when he was about to cross the river. David pressed him to proceed with him to Jerusalem, and remain there with him, that he might have the opportunity of manifesting his gratitude for the great and costly services he had rendered. But the prospect of a life at court had no charms for this great pastoral chief. There is something very touching in his words, "I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore, then, should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?" He would, he said, go a little way beyond the Jordan with the king; but he added, "Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother." This touch is affecting, and true to universal nature—but particularly to Oriental nature. The tendency of our civilization is to put us above—or perhaps below—these things. Kit.—Contenting himself with escorting David a little beyond the Jordan, he left his son Chimham to receive the favors which he himself was too old to enjoy; and one of David's last acts was to commend the family to the generosity of Solomon. P. S. Thus begins, and thus ends the history of Chimham; he passes away from the scene, and what David did for him, beyond providing him a place at his table, and recommending him, in common with many others, to Solomon before he died, does not appear. Singular, however, it is, and if ever there was a coincidence which carried with it the stamp of truth, it is this, that in the forty-first chapter of Jeremiah, we read that the Jews, apprehending the vengeance of the Chaldeans, prepared for a flight into Egypt, so "they departed," the narrative continues, "and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt" (verse 17). It is impossible to imagine anything more incidental than the mention of this estate near Bethlehem, which was the habitation of Chimham—yet how well does it tally with the spirit of David's speech to Barzillai, some four hundred years before! for what can be more probable than that David, whose birthplace was this very Bethlehem, and whose patrimony in consequence lay there, having undertaken to provide for Chimham, should have bestowed it as the most flattering reward he could confer, a personal as well as a royal mark of favor, on the son of the man who had saved his life and the lives of his followers in the hour of their distress; and that to that very day when Jeremiah wrote, it should have remained in the possession of the family of Chimham, and have been a land called after his own name? Blunt. Barzillai never dreamed of being paid for what he did to David, "The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness," was the only consideration which prompted the deed. True sympathy needs only the sight of misery and distress, activity instantaneously will follow. Thank Heaven, there is a large and noble army of self-sacrificing men and women battling bravely every day with the enemy in the courts and alleys of our cities and large towns, who have not the remotest idea of having their names trumpeted before men; neither have they ever dreamed of being invited to a king's table. They do it from love to the great King. An. We have, in Barzillai, a man who knows that he is old, but who is not distressed by the thought of it. There are old men who do not know that they are old, or who seek to suppress their knowledge of it. Few things in the world are so pleasant as the sight of such a conscious, cheerful, hopeful old age as that of Barzillai, certain that it has not long to stay, but interested to the last in the best things of life, in the cause of God and man and country and Church. We must prepare for such an old age as this: by taking God with us early in the journey of life; by providing beforehand the compensations which God is willing to give for everything that may be taken away by the changes of life. In Barzillai, we have, further, a man of long experience, who has kept up his love of simple pleasures. We can infer this from the tone in which he speaks. He had reached an age when the love of sensational things fails in all but the most frivolous, yet the way in which he speaks of them puts them quietly aside, as not to his taste and never likely to have been so. It is not a dream that man can keep the love of natural things in his heart and can call them up in fancy as he reads. If a man will but read his Bible with a fresh heart, he may walk with patriarchs in the world when it was young and green, may rest with Abraham under the shade of the oak of Mamre, and see the upspringing of the well to which the princes of Israel sang. He may sit on the mountain-top with Christ, among the lilies and the birds, to understand what they say and sing, and he may listen till he hears far off the final hymn which shall be a concert of nature round regenerated man. And, in Barzillai, we have a man who is attached to the past, but who does not distrust the future. For himself he has grown up in the old way, and cannot change, but he thinks, "The new has its rights, and the world will be on. My son is here; the future is beaming in his face and beating in his heart: I give him into hands I can trust for leading him in the way of truth, of righteousness." If the old can thus pass over into the new, there is security in all changes. Ker. Barzillai's question, "How many are the days of the years of my life," presents to all, at every period of being, a seasonable inquiry, the earnest consideration of which might, perhaps, prevent much evil and promote much good. There is no more costly treasure than the season of life, which by so many is dreamed away and sported away; the larger the portion of this treasure that has escaped us, the higher rises the value of the relatively small amount of it remaining. It is related of the ancient Sibylline books, that the prince to whom they were offered for sale thought the price asked too high; some of them were then burned, but the same price was demanded; yet again the same act was repeated, with the same result; finally, the volumes still remaining were purchased for the price demanded for the whole at first. So is it with our days; the article rises in value as it becomes more scarce. What high significance then attaches to the question of Barzillai in the ceaseless flight of years, and how much reason have the old, especially, to think and choose like him! He who expects nothing for himself in eternity, closes his ear to the ceaseless rustle of the wings of time; and he who in old age desires his heaven on earth, dream not, like Barzillai, of the still grave, his mother. But to the believing Christian, the older he is the nearer is he to blessed rest, and to the glorious contemplation of "the King in His beauty" in the New Jerusalem, where they reckon not by years. Van Q. JUDAH REPROACHED BY THE TEN TRIBES. REBELLION OF THE LATTER UNDER SHEBA. AMASA MURDERED BY JOAB. SHEBA'S FORCE DISPERSED BY JOAB. SHEBA SLAIN IN ABEL. A Three Years' Famine for Saul's Massacre of the Gibeonites. The Execution of Saul's Sons. Rizpah's Months of Watching Beside the Dead. 2 Sam. 21:1-14. Sinful Numbering of Israel. Its Punishment by Pestilence Stayed at David's Repentance. Moriah, the Place of his Accepted Sacrifice, Appointed as the Site of the Future Temple. 2 Sam. 24:1-25. 1 Chron. 21:1-30; 22:1. 19 41 AND, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and brought the king, and his household, over Jordan, and all David's men with him? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, because the king is near of kin to us : wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, 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? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. 20 1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite : and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse : every man to his tents, O Israel. So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri : but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3. And David came to his house at Jerusalem ; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and provided them with sustenance, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. 4. Then said the king to Amasa, Call me the men of Judah together within three days, and be thou here present. So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together : but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom : take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape out of our sight. And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men : and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. And Joab was girded with his apparel of war that he had put on, and thereon was a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof ; and as he went forth it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with thee, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand : so he smote him therewith in the belly, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again ; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. And there stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab. And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the high way. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa out of the high way into the field, and cast a garment over him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. When he was removed out of the high way, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maacah, and all the Berites : and they were gathered together, and went also after him. And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mount against the city, and it stood against the rampart : and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear ; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. And he came near unto her ; and the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel : and so they ended the matter. I am of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel : thou seekest to destroy a city 20 and a mother in Israel : why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? And Joab 21 answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. The matter is not so : but a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David ; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to 22 thee over the wall. Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king. 23. Now Joab was over all the host of Israel : and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the 24. Cherethites and over the Pelethites ; and Adoram was over the tribute : and Jehoshaphat the 25 son of Ahilud was the recorder : and Sheva was scribe : and Zadok and Abiathar were priests : 26 and Ira also the Jairite was priest unto David. 19 : 41-43. The northern tribes had been foremost in proposing the restoration (verses 9, 10), but owing no doubt to tribal jealousies, they had not been invited by the men of Judah to the gathering at Gilgal to welcome the king. Consequently, only a fraction of them, probably those from the immediate neighborhood and the trans-Jordanic country, were there. But while the king was still at Gilgal, the rest of the Israelite representatives arrived, and complained to David that they had been unwarrantably forestalled by Judah, and cheated of the honor and privilege of escorting him back. A. F. K.—When the other tribes came to conduct the king home, they were affronted to find that they had been anticipated, and that Judah alone had assumed the right and honor of bringing the king back. There then arose a hot contention between Israel and Judah. The former contended, with reason, that as they “had ten parts in the king,” and Judah but one, the latter had taken too much upon it in bringing the king back upon its own authority ; in reply to which the Judahites used the argument, dangerous for David’s house, but which his own part in the matter had distinctly sanctioned, that they had a right to act as they had done, because the king was peculiarly their own—“was near of kin to them.” The argument of the Judahites was not calculated to conciliate the ten tribes ; and there can be no doubt that the king himself incurred a share in their displeasure for the part he had taken in this matter, for it was certainly on his invitation that the men of Judah had acted. Here, as Chalmers aptly describes it, “was a festerment that broke out at a future day.” Even now this feeling on the part of Israel “came to a formidable eruption.” 20 : 1, 2. Among the watchers of events was one Sheba, the son of Bichri, who, perceiving the disgust of the ten tribes at the arrogance of the men of Judah, thought that the contention of the other tribes for ten parts in David, might easily be turned into a disavowal of any part in him. He therefore raised the seditious cry, “We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse : every man to his tents, O Israel.” This cry, in the present state of feeling, acted like magic. Nearly all the men of Israel left the king to the Judahites, and he was by them escorted from the Jordan to Jerusalem. Kit.—The ringleader of this rebellion was Sheba, a Benjamite by birth (verse 1), who had his habitation in Mount Ephraim (verse 21). Shimei and he were both of Saul’s tribe, and both retained the ancient grudge of that house. 4-6. Amasa is sent to assemble the men of Judah within three days ; but he cannot do it within the time appointed. Upon Amasa’s delay, Abishai, the brother of Joab, is ordered to take the guards and standing forces, and with them to pursue Sheba without delay. Joab, without orders, goes along with his brother. H. 7. Abishai took “Joab’s men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men.” With these he went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba. How Joab conducted himself on this occasion is a strange but characteristic chapter of his history. It does not appear that he had any dealings with David, or that David had any dealings with him. He simply went out with his brother, and, being a man of the strongest will and greatest daring, he seems to have resolved on some fit occasion to resume his command in spite of all the king’s arrangements. W. G. B. 8-11. This description of Joab’s dress (verse 8) is intended to explain how he contrived to stab Amasa without his design being suspected. In the girdle which he wore over his military dress was stuck a dagger. As he met Amasa he contrived to let this fall out of its sheath on the ground. He picked it up in his left hand, and the movement being apparently purely accidental, excited no alarm in Amasa’s mind. A. F. K.—Joab so contrived that his sword should fall out of its sheath to the ground, as he drew near to him. Snatching it hastily up, without pausing to sheath it, in the polite zeal of his attention to Amasa, he took hold of his beard, to impress upon it the kiss of affectionate respect, saying, "Art thou in health, my brother?" and as the words passed his lips, and the beard was in his hand, he buried the naked sword in the body of Amasa, under the fifth rib. This was almost exactly as he had before dealt with Abner, and from almost the same motives. This, however, is by much the more villainous act of the two, seeing that it stood more entirely on the ground of personal objects. In Abner's case he had the excuse, at least, of vengeance for a brother's blood, as well as of a real or pretended belief that Abner designed to betray David. But here there was nakedly nothing but the desire to fling a formidable rival from his path. One knows not whether most to be astonished at the atrocity or the hardihood of the deed. It was no less than the murder of a general at the head of his troops. But Joab knew his own influence. One near him cried, "He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab." And such was the power of that name, and the wonderful ascendancy the owner of it had acquired over the troops, that the men of Amasa forthwith joined the others in following Joab in pursuit of Sheba. Kit. Joab did it in contempt and defiance of David, and the commission he had given to Amasa; for that commission was the only ground of his quarrel with him, so that David was struck at through Amasa. He did it very unseasonably, when they were going against a common enemy and were concerned to be unanimous. This ill-timed quarrel might have scattered their forces or engaged them one against another. Joab immediately resumes his general's place, and takes care to lead the army on in pursuit of Sheba, that he might prevent any prejudice to the common cause by what he had done. He leaves one of his men to make proclamation to the forces that were coming up, that they were still engaged in David's cause, but under Joab's command. He knew what an interest he had in the soldiery, and how many favored him, rather than Amasa, that had been a traitor, was now a turncoat, and had never been successful; on this he boldly relied, and called them all to follow him. H. 14. Joab was of great practical service, and prosecuted with great energy this new war, till he at length put an end to it. Such was his influence or the terror of his name, that though it was said of Sheba that every man of Israel went up and followed him, it is now said of Joab that all the tribes of Israel went also after him. It would appear from his speech before Abel (verse 20) that at this time the pacific, which was certainly the wise policy, was uppermost with Joab—the desirable thing being to consolidate and harmonize Israel. Altogether, he appears to have been able in conduct and counsel as well as in war. T. C. 15. Abel.** On the right or western bank of the Hasbany, near the foot of the hills, there is a curious isolated hill on which stands the modern village of Abil; traces of old foundations and buildings can still be seen on the mound, the remains of Abel of Beth-Maachah, where Sheba, the son of Bichri, was besieged by Joab. A mound had been cast up against the city, and "it stood in the trench," when the remarkable scene occurred which is here described, ending in the killing of Sheba, whose head was cast out of the city to Joab. Wilson. 16-19. This wise woman with no less prudence than courage challengeth Joab for the violence of his assault; and lays to him that law which he could not be an Israelite and disavow; the law of the God of peace, whose charge it was that when they should come near to a city to fight against it they should offer it peace; and if this tender must be made to foreigners, how much more to brethren! Bp. H.—The inhabitants were generally peaceable and faithful in Israel. She could speak for all that they were of known fidelity to their prince and peaceableness with their fellow-subjects; neither seditious, nor litigious. It was a part of the inheritance of the Lord, a city of Israelites not of heathen; and the destruction of it would lessen and weaken that nation which God had chosen for his heritage. H. 20. Joab was a man of blood; yet when the wise woman of Abel charged him with going about to destroy a mother in Israel, and swallowing up the inheritance of the Lord, with what vehemency doth he deprecate that challenge; "God forbid, God forbid it me, that I should devour or destroy it!" Although that city, with the rest, had engaged itself in Sheba's sedition, yet how zealously doth Joab remove from himself the suspicion of an intended vastation! How fearful shall their answer be, who, upon the quarrel of their own ambition, have not spared to waste whole tribes of the Israel of God! Bp. H. Like Deborah, this wise woman has bequeathed a fine proverbial expression, now habitually applied to those of her sex who are signalized by their piety and Christian influence—"a mother in Israel," than which we know not a more venerable designation or more expressive one, when great worth and great wisdom are combined. T. C. 21,22. Joab requires no other satisfaction than the head of Sheba. This matron had not deserved the name of wise and faithful in Israel if she had not both apprehended the justice of the condition and commended it to her citizens; whom she easily persuaded to spare their own heads, in not sparing a traitor's. Bp. H.—The single condition of peace, is the surrender of the traitor; it is so in God's dealing with the soul, when it is besieged by conviction and distress; sin is the traitor; the beloved lust is the rebel; part with that, cast away the transgressions, and all shall be well. No peace on any other terms. H. The royal forces at once returned to the south, and the rebels dispersed to their own homes. A second time, mainly by Joab's skill and rapidity of action, had the storm of civil war been turned aside from the throne of David. There was at last peace in all Israel. Sime.—Thus ended this dangerous commotion, and although the result was the establishment of David's power over all Israel, some damage had been sustained by all the parties concerned. Since David became king over all Israel we have had only one instance of his asking counsel of the Lord, and that was at the beginning of his reign. We shall not be far wrong in ascribing to this neglect the serious mistakes into which he seems to have fallen. Kit. The Officers of David's Court. Verses 23-26. A similar list has already been given in ch. 8 : 16-18. There the account of the general administration of the kingdom appropriately follows the summary record of the wars by which that kingdom was established; and the repetition of it here, after David's restoration to the throne, is equally appropriate. A. F. K.—In the formation of a new cabinet, David, like other limited monarchs after him, was constrained to acquiesce in appointments not altogether to his mind—and more especially in that of Joab, who, as master over all the host, would in those days have all the power of the prime minister. T. C. A THREE YEARS' FAMINE FOR SAUL'S MASSACRE OF THE GIBEONITES. THE EXECUTION OF SAUL'S SONS. RIZPAH'S MONTHS OF WATCHING BESIDE THE DEAD. 19 1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. 2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people : for the people heard 3 say that day, The king grieveth for his son. And the people gat them by stealth that day into 4 the city, as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son ! 5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, 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 6 daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines ; in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that princes and servants are nought unto thee : for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all 7 we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants : for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry a man with thee this night : and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that hath 8 befallen thee from thy youth until now. Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate : and all the people came before the king. 9 Now Israel had fled every man to his tent. And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines ; and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom. 10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back ? 11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house ? seeing the speech of all 12 Israel is come to the king, to bring him to his house. Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and 13 my flesh : wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king ? And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not my bone and my flesh ? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the 14 host before me continually in the room of Joab. And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man ; so that they sent unto the king, saying, Return thou, and 15 all thy servants. So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over Jordan. 16 And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down 17 with the men of Judah to meet king David. And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants 18 with him ; and they went through Jordan in the presence of the king. And there went over a ferry boat to bring over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei 19 the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over Jordan. And he said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should 20 take it to his heart. For thy servant doth know that I have sinned ; therefore, behold, I am 21 come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, be- 22 cause he cursed the LORD's anointed ? And 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 23 death this day in Israel ? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel ? And the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king swore unto him. 24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king ; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until 25 the day he came home in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore went at not thou with me, Mephibosheth ? 26. 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 with the king ; because thy servant is lame. 27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king ; but my lord the king is as an 28 angel of God : do therefore what is good in thine eyes. For all 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 that I should cry any more unto the king ? 29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters ? I say, Thou and 30 Ziba divide the land. And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come in peace unto his own house. 31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim ; and he went over Jordan with the 32 king, to conduct him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old : and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim ; for he was a 33 very great man. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will sustain 34 thee with me in Jerusalem. And Barzillai said unto the king, How many are the days of the 35 years of my life, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem ? I am this day fourscore years old : can I discern between good and bad ? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink ? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women ? wherefore then 36 should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king ? Thy servant would but just go over Jordan with the king : and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward ? 37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, thy servant Chimham ; let him go over with my lord 38 the king ; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee : and what- 39 soever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. And all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over : and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him ; and he returned unto his own place. 40 So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him : and all the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel. 1-39. The army, though flushed with victory, stole off like conscious malefactors on hearing of the king's grief at the death of Absalom. It marks the power of that great moral ascendancy which the king had over their spirits ; yet was he forced to succumb when their rough but resolute commander interposed and compelled the monarch to show himself. One wonders not that he should have meditated to supersede Joab by making Amasa the general in-chief of the forces. The effect of the victory over the tribes of Israel is perfectly in keeping, too, with human nature, and so is the preference of David for being invited first by the men of Judah, as well as the consequent jealousy that broke out in fierce invective between the two great divisions of the nation over which David ruled. We further read of the mighty hold which David had over the hearts of those of his own tribe. This return of the king was followed up by a speedy, but withal most natural reaction on the part of those who had deserted or despitefully treated him in the day of his adversity—among these Shimei makes just the appearance that we should have expected, while the noble reply of David to the suggestion of Abishai carries in it the expression of his antipathy to these coarse and resolute, and withal able and influential men, the sons of Zeruiah. We scarcely know how to account for the king's award in the case of Mephibosheth, of whom, we might think, he must have entertained some lurking suspicion that he divided his property with the servant who had reported against him. But all is genial and right, and perfectly beautiful in the final settlement which took place between David and Barzillai, wherein the virtues of gratitude and devoted loyalty are so conspicuously blended. T. C. 1-7. The grief of David was as immoderate as it was unseasonable, and showed the intemperate, passionate affection he bore to the unnatural and impious youth. It damped the common joy of his friends and soldiers for the glorious victory, to hear the excessive grief he expressed for his son, insomuch that they almost repented of their success, and stole into the city where David was, as if they had been dishonorably defeated. Chandler.—It was a rash and unadvised utterance of affection. But for the rough faithfulness of Joab, the consequences would have been disastrous. "The victory that day was turned into mourning, for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son." Every one was discouraged. The man for whom they had risked their lives had not a word of thanks to any of them, and could think of no one but that vile son of his, who was now dead. In the evening Joab came to him, and in his blunt way swore to him that if he was not more affable to the people they would not remain a night longer in his service. W. G. B. The crisis illustrates the good as well as the bad features of Joab's character—his loyalty to David and his practical sagacity, as well as his hard, unsympathetic nature. Exaggerated and unfeeling as his speech was, it roused David from the extravagance of his grief to a sense of his duty, and saved him from flinging away the fruits of the victory. A. F. K.—Joab magnifies the services of David's soldiers: "I his day they have saved thy life, and therefore deserve to be taken notice of, and have reason to resent it if they be not." It is implied that Absalom, whom he honored with his tears, sought his ruin and the ruin of his family; while those whom by his tears he puts a slight upon, were such as preserved from ruin him and all that was dear to him. He aggravates the discouragement David had given them: "Thou hast shamed their faces, for while they have shown such a value for thy life, thou hast shown no value for theirs, but preferrest a false traitor to his king and country before all thy wise counsellors, brave commanders, and loyal subjects." He advises him to present himself immediately at the head of his troops, to welcome them home, congratulate their successes, and return them thanks for their services. He threatens him with another rebellion if he would not do this, intimating that, rather than serve so ungrateful a prince, he himself would head a revolt from him, and then "There will not tarry with thee one man." H. 8. David felt the call of duty—"He arose and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate! And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent." And very touching it must have been to look on the sad, pale, wasted face of the king, and mark his humble, chastened bearing, and yet to receive from him words of winning kindness that showed him still caring for them and loving them, as a shepherd among his sheep; in no wise exasperated by the insurrection, not breathing forth threatenings and slaughter on those who had taken part against him; but concerned as ever for the welfare of the whole kingdom. W. G. B. 9-15. David, now victorious over a rebel army, had it in his power to take ample revenge on all those whose treachery and bad faith well deserved to be chastised; and if he had pospossessed any malicious or sanguinary feelings, he could now want no pretext for indulging them. But he was governed by very different principles: he knew his son's rebellion to be the effect of his own guilt, and his recent success to be the fruit of his penitence and humiliation before God; he therefore was moved to no other conduct than prayer and repentance, gratitude and thanksgiving, and a patient, humble expectation of God's disposal of the event. Nor did he fail of his reward: for it seemed good to the great Governor of the world to turn the hearts of David's subjects in his favor; insomuch that they now returned to their duty with as much zeal as they had but a few days before rushed into rebellion against him. Delaney. It is strange that David did not immediately, upon the defeat and dispersion of Absalom's forces, march with all expedition back to Jerusalem to regain the possession of his capital city while the rebels were all in confusion, and before they could rally again. What occasion was there to bring him back? Could not he himself go back with the victorious army he had with him in Gilead? He could, no doubt; but he would come back as a prince, with the consent and unanimous approbation of the people, and not as a conqueror forcing his way. He would come back in peace and safety, and be sure that he should meet with no difficulty or opposition in his return; and therefore would be satisfied that the people were well affected to him before he would stir. He would come back in honor, and like himself; and therefore would come back, not at the head of his forces, but in the arms of his subjects. H. The facility with which Absalom had been hailed as king at Hebron, and been joined by such numbers as enabled him to move at once upon Jerusalem, might well justify David in suspecting that the procrastination of the Judahites arose from some disinclination to receive him. The step he did take is, however, of questionable discretion. There was great danger in adopting a course which might indicate to the other tribes that he took a separate interest in Judah; as it was too well remembered that he belonged to it, and that it had for some years been his separate kingdom. He, however, recognized their tribal interest in him by treating with them separately. He sent the two high-priests to incite them to hasten to escort him home, and not to be the last in the general movement. They did so. Though the last to call him, they were the first to escort him; and when they sent to conduct him home, he at once moved forward, without waiting till the other and more distant tribes arrived to take part in this great public act. The dangerous impolicy of this is apparent. The least he could have done was to have waited until the other tribes arrived to concur in this procedure. Kit. 13. Amasa was David's nephew, the son of his sister or stepsister Abigail. Of course the message was to be privately conveyed to Amasa through the priests. It was a bold stroke of policy to promise the post of commander-in-chief to the general of the rebel army. By so doing, David designed at once to secure the allegiance of that army, and to punish Joab for killing Absalom in defiance of his command. But it was hardly prudent. Joab was certain not to submit to it tamely; Amasa's military skill was probably inferior, and his loyalty remained to be proved. A. F. K.—Much better would it have been for him to have undertaken the chief duties of Joab's office himself. But the appointment of Amasa was unwise. A beaten rebel was not a leader whom the troops of David would follow. In eagerness to degrade Joab, the king was degrading himself and his soldiers. Sime. 14. "He bowed the heart of the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants." From the extreme of backwardness they started to the extreme of forwardness; the last to speak for David, they were the first to act for him; and such was their vehemence in his cause that the evil of national disunion which David dreaded from their indifference actually sprang from their over-impetuous zeal. 15. Thus at length David bade farewell to Mahanaim, and began his journey to Jerusalem. His route in returning was the reverse of that followed in his flight. First he descends the eastern bank of the Jordan as far as opposite Gilgal; then he strikes up through the wilderness the steep ascent to Jerusalem. At Gilgal several events of interest took place. W. G. B. 16-23. A great surprise met David as soon as he had crossed the Jordan on his return. The first to meet him, to proffer his allegiance and devotion, was that very Shimei who had so bitterly insulted him on his mournful retreat from Jerusalem! He fell at the king's feet, confessed his error, and pleaded for pardon on the ground of his contrition, and of his being the first of the tribe of Benjamin to come forward on this happy occasion. This was important; for he came at the head of a thousand men of the same tribe, all probably, like himself, warm partisans of the house of Saul, and whom he seems to have induced to take part with him in this dedecided act of adhesion. An appeal thus made could not be resisted; and, besides, David was, both from policy and inclination, in a forgiving temper, and felt that it would all become him at such a time to avenge or remember former wrongs. Kit.—His experience of God's mercy in restoring him to his kingdom, his exclusion from which he attributed to his sin, inclined him to show mercy to Shimei. They that are forgiven, must forgive. David had severely revenged the abuses done to his ambassadors by the Ammonites, but easily passes by the abuse done to himself by an Israelite. That was an affront to Israel and touched the honor of his crown and kingdom; this was purely personal, and, therefore (according to the usual disposition of good men), he could the more easily forgive it. If he should put Shimei to death, who cursed him, they would expect the same fate who had taken up arms and actually levied war against him, which would drive them from him while he was endeavoring to draw them to him. Acts of severity are seldom acts of policy: The throne is established by mercy. Shimei hereupon has his pardon signed and sealed with an oath; yet bound to his good behavior and liable to be prosecuted if he afterward misbehaved; and thus he was reserved to be, in due time, as much a monument of the justice of the government, as he was now of its clemency, and in both of its prudence. H. 24-30. If the reading is right, the meeting between David and Mephibosheth must have taken place in Jerusalem, and is introduced here out of the strictly chronological order, because of the mention of Ziba in verse 17. "Came down" in verse 24 must then be explained "came down from his house in the highlands of Benjamin near Gibeah to Jerusalem," not "came down from Jerusalem to the Jordan." The conclusion of verse 30 agrees with the supposition that Mephibosheth met David in Jerusalem. A. F. K. When the king asked him, why he, being one of his family, had stayed behind, and not accompanied him in his exile, he opened his case fully to the king. He complains of Ziba, his servant, who had hindered him from going along with the king, by taking the ass himself, which he was ordered to make ready for his master (verse 26), basely taking advantage of his lameness, and his inability to help himself; and had accused him to David of a design to usurp the government (verse 27). He gratefully acknowledges the king's great kindness to himself, when he and all his father's house lay at the king's mercy (verse 28). When he might justly have been dealt with as a rebel, he was treated as a friend, as a child: Thou didst set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. This shows that Ziba's suggestion was improbable; for could Mephibosheth be so disingenuous as to design any harm to David, of whose great kindness to him he was thus sensible? He refers himself to the king's pleasure, Do what is good in thine eyes with me and my estate; depending on the king's wisdom, and his ability to discern between truth and falsehood; My lord the king is as an angel of God; and disclaiming all pretensions of his own merit, "So much kindness I have received above what I deserved, and what right have I to cry any more unto the king? Why should I trouble the king with my complaints, who have already been so troublesome to him?" David hereupon recalls the sequestration of Mephibosheth's estate; being deceived in his grant, he revokes it, and confirms his former settlement of it; I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land (verse 20); that is, "Let it be as I first ordered it (ch. 9:10); the property shall still be vested in thee, but Ziba shall have the occupancy, he shall till the land, paying thee a rent." Thus Mephibosheth is where he was, no harm is done, only Ziba goes away unpunished for his false and malicious information against his master. H.—That David did not disbelieve his story is shown by his revoking the judgment he had previously given. That he did not entirely reverse his decision, but allowed Ziba to retain possession of half the lands of Mephibosheth, is probably due partly to weariness at the whole transaction, but mainly to the conciliatory frame of mind in which he was at that moment. "Shall there any man be put to death this day?" is the key-note of the whole proceeding. Dic. B. The only writer who attempts the justification of David's apparent neglect and injustice toward Mephibosheth is Blunt ("Undesigned Coincidences," pp. 167-171). His statement will, however, be scarcely deemed adequate for the king's defence, as it turns upon the supposed independence of Jonathan's son in his personal character and conduct. This seems to be controverted by the whole story of the man and of his relations with Ziba. B. 30. The tone of the afflicted man's reply gives us reason to fear that the worst interpretation of David's decision may be the right one—"Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house." Oh, noble heart! Let us fain hope that David was touched by this loyally devoted reply. Kit. 31-39. David had already graced the triumphs umphs of his restoration with the generous remission of the injuries that had been done him; we have him heregracing them with the no less generous reward of the kindnesses that had been shown him. Barzillai, the Gileadite, who had a noble seat at Rogelim, not far from Mahanaim, was the man who, of all the nobility of that country, had been most kind to David in his distress. H.—The good old blind chief Barzillai went to the Jordan with the king, and took leave of him when he was about to cross the river. David pressed him to proceed with him to Jerusalem, and remain there with him, that he might have the opportunity of manifesting his gratitude for the great and costly services he had rendered. But the prospect of a life at court had no charms for this great pastoral chief. There is something very touching in his words, "I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore, then, should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?" He would, he said, go a little way beyond the Jordan with the king; but he added, "Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother." This touch is affecting, and true to universal nature—but particularly to Oriental nature. The tendency of our civilization is to put us above—or perhaps below—these things. Kit.—Contenting himself with escorting David a little beyond the Jordan, he left his son Chimham to receive the favors which he himself was too old to enjoy; and one of David's last acts was to commend the family to the generosity of Solomon. P. S. Thus begins, and thus ends the history of Chimham; he passes away from the scene, and what David did for him, beyond providing him a place at his table, and recommending him, in common with many others, to Solomon before he died, does not appear. Singular, however, it is, and if ever there was a coincidence which carried with it the stamp of truth, it is this, that in the forty-first chapter of Jeremiah, we read that the Jews, apprehending the vengeance of the Chaldeans, prepared for a flight into Egypt, so "they departed," the narrative continues, "and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt" (verse 17). It is impossible to imagine anything more incidental than the mention of this estate near Bethlehem, which was the habitation of Chimham—yet how well does it tally with the spirit of David's speech to Barzillai, some four hundred years before! for what can be more probable than that David, whose birthplace was this very Bethlehem, and whose patrimony in consequence lay there, having undertaken to provide for Chimham, should have bestowed it as the most flattering reward he could confer, a personal as well as a royal mark of favor, on the son of the man who had saved his life and the lives of his followers in the hour of their distress; and that to that very day when Jeremiah wrote, it should have remained in the possession of the family of Chimham, and have been a land called after his own name? Blunt. Barzillai never dreamed of being paid for what he did to David, "The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness," was the only consideration which prompted the deed. True sympathy needs only the sight of misery and distress, activity instantaneously will follow. Thank Heaven, there is a large and noble army of self-sacrificing men and women battling bravely every day with the enemy in the courts and alleys of our cities and large towns, who have not the remotest idea of having their names trumpeted before men; neither have they ever dreamed of being invited to a king's table. They do it from love to the great King. An. We have, in Barzillai, a man who knows that he is old, but who is not distressed by the thought of it. There are old men who do not know that they are old, or who seek to suppress their knowledge of it. Few things in the world are so pleasant as the sight of such a conscious, cheerful, hopeful old age as that of Barzillai, certain that it has not long to stay, but interested to the last in the best things of life, in the cause of God and man and country and Church. We must prepare for such an old age as this: by taking God with us early in the journey of life; by providing beforehand the compensations which God is willing to give for everything that may be taken away by the changes of life. In Barzillai, we have, further, a man of long experience, who has kept up his love of simple pleasures. We can infer this from the tone in which he speaks. He had reached an age when the love of sensational things fails in all but the most frivolous, yet the way in which he speaks of them puts them quietly aside, as not to his taste and never likely to have been so. It is not a dream that man can keep the love of natural things in his heart and can call them up in fancy as he reads. If a man will but read his Bible with a fresh heart, he may walk with patriarchs in the world when it was young and green, may rest with Abraham under the shade of the oak of Mamre, and see the upspringing of the well to which the princes of Israel sang. He may sit on the mountain-top with Christ, among the lilies and the birds, to understand what they say and sing, and he may listen till he hears far off the final hymn which shall be a concert of nature round regenerated man. And, in Barzillai, we have a man who is attached to the past, but who does not distrust the future. For himself he has grown up in the old way, and cannot change, but he thinks, "The new has its rights, and the world will be on. My son is here; the future is beaming in his face and beating in his heart: I give him into hands I can trust for leading him in the way of truth, of righteousness." If the old can thus pass over into the new, there is security in all changes. Ker. Barzillai's question, "How many are the days of the years of my life," presents to all, at every period of being, a seasonable inquiry, the earnest consideration of which might, perhaps, prevent much evil and promote much good. There is no more costly treasure than the season of life, which by so many is dreamed away and sported away; the larger the portion of this treasure that has escaped us, the higher rises the value of the relatively small amount of it remaining. It is related of the ancient Sibylline books, that the prince to whom they were offered for sale thought the price asked too high; some of them were then burned, but the same price was demanded; yet again the same act was repeated, with the same result; finally, the volumes still remaining were purchased for the price demanded for the whole at first. So is it with our days; the article rises in value as it becomes more scarce. What high significance then attaches to the question of Barzillai in the ceaseless flight of years, and how much reason have the old, especially, to think and choose like him! He who expects nothing for himself in eternity, closes his ear to the ceaseless rustle of the wings of time; and he who in old age desires his heaven on earth, dream not, like Barzillai, of the still grave, his mother. But to the believing Christian, the older he is the nearer is he to blessed rest, and to the glorious contemplation of "the King in His beauty" in the New Jerusalem, where they reckon not by years. Van Q. JUDAH REPROACHED BY THE TEN TRIBES. REBELLION OF THE LATTER UNDER SHEBA. AMASA MURDERED BY JOAB. SHEBA'S FORCE DISPERSED BY JOAB. SHEBA SLAIN IN ABEL. A Three Years' Famine for Saul's Massacre of the Gibeonites. The Execution of Saul's Sons. Rizpah's Months of Watching Beside the Dead. 2 Sam. 21:1-14. Sinful Numbering of Israel. Its Punishment by Pestilence Stayed at David's Repentance. Moriah, the Place of his Accepted Sacrifice, Appointed as the Site of the Future Temple. 2 Sam. 24:1-25. 1 Chron. 21:1-30; 22:1. 19 41 AND, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and brought the king, and his household, over Jordan, and all David's men with him? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, because the king is near of kin to us : wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, 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? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. 20 1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite : and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse : every man to his tents, O Israel. So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri : but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3. And David came to his house at Jerusalem ; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and provided them with sustenance, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. 4. Then said the king to Amasa, Call me the men of Judah together within three days, and be thou here present. So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together : but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom : take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape out of our sight. And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men : and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. And Joab was girded with his apparel of war that he had put on, and thereon was a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof ; and as he went forth it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with thee, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand : so he smote him therewith in the belly, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again ; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. And there stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab. And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the high way. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa out of the high way into the field, and cast a garment over him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. When he was removed out of the high way, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maacah, and all the Berites : and they were gathered together, and went also after him. And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mount against the city, and it stood against the rampart : and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear ; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. And he came near unto her ; and the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel : and so they ended the matter. I am of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel : thou seekest to destroy a city 20 and a mother in Israel : why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? And Joab 21 answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. The matter is not so : but a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David ; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to 22 thee over the wall. Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king. 23. Now Joab was over all the host of Israel : and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the 24. Cherethites and over the Pelethites ; and Adoram was over the tribute : and Jehoshaphat the 25 son of Ahilud was the recorder : and Sheva was scribe : and Zadok and Abiathar were priests : 26 and Ira also the Jairite was priest unto David. 19 : 41-43. The northern tribes had been foremost in proposing the restoration (verses 9, 10), but owing no doubt to tribal jealousies, they had not been invited by the men of Judah to the gathering at Gilgal to welcome the king. Consequently, only a fraction of them, probably those from the immediate neighborhood and the trans-Jordanic country, were there. But while the king was still at Gilgal, the rest of the Israelite representatives arrived, and complained to David that they had been unwarrantably forestalled by Judah, and cheated of the honor and privilege of escorting him back. A. F. K.—When the other tribes came to conduct the king home, they were affronted to find that they had been anticipated, and that Judah alone had assumed the right and honor of bringing the king back. There then arose a hot contention between Israel and Judah. The former contended, with reason, that as they “had ten parts in the king,” and Judah but one, the latter had taken too much upon it in bringing the king back upon its own authority ; in reply to which the Judahites used the argument, dangerous for David’s house, but which his own part in the matter had distinctly sanctioned, that they had a right to act as they had done, because the king was peculiarly their own—“was near of kin to them.” The argument of the Judahites was not calculated to conciliate the ten tribes ; and there can be no doubt that the king himself incurred a share in their displeasure for the part he had taken in this matter, for it was certainly on his invitation that the men of Judah had acted. Here, as Chalmers aptly describes it, “was a festerment that broke out at a future day.” Even now this feeling on the part of Israel “came to a formidable eruption.” 20 : 1, 2. Among the watchers of events was one Sheba, the son of Bichri, who, perceiving the disgust of the ten tribes at the arrogance of the men of Judah, thought that the contention of the other tribes for ten parts in David, might easily be turned into a disavowal of any part in him. He therefore raised the seditious cry, “We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse : every man to his tents, O Israel.” This cry, in the present state of feeling, acted like magic. Nearly all the men of Israel left the king to the Judahites, and he was by them escorted from the Jordan to Jerusalem. Kit.—The ringleader of this rebellion was Sheba, a Benjamite by birth (verse 1), who had his habitation in Mount Ephraim (verse 21). Shimei and he were both of Saul’s tribe, and both retained the ancient grudge of that house. 4-6. Amasa is sent to assemble the men of Judah within three days ; but he cannot do it within the time appointed. Upon Amasa’s delay, Abishai, the brother of Joab, is ordered to take the guards and standing forces, and with them to pursue Sheba without delay. Joab, without orders, goes along with his brother. H. 7. Abishai took “Joab’s men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men.” With these he went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba. How Joab conducted himself on this occasion is a strange but characteristic chapter of his history. It does not appear that he had any dealings with David, or that David had any dealings with him. He simply went out with his brother, and, being a man of the strongest will and greatest daring, he seems to have resolved on some fit occasion to resume his command in spite of all the king’s arrangements. W. G. B. 8-11. This description of Joab’s dress (verse 8) is intended to explain how he contrived to stab Amasa without his design being suspected. In the girdle which he wore over his military dress was stuck a dagger. As he met Amasa he contrived to let this fall out of its sheath on the ground. He picked it up in his left hand, and the movement being apparently purely accidental, excited no alarm in Amasa’s mind. A. F. K.—Joab so contrived that his sword should fall out of its sheath to the ground, as he drew near to him. Snatching it hastily up, without pausing to sheath it, in the polite zeal of his attention to Amasa, he took hold of his beard, to impress upon it the kiss of affectionate respect, saying, "Art thou in health, my brother?" and as the words passed his lips, and the beard was in his hand, he buried the naked sword in the body of Amasa, under the fifth rib. This was almost exactly as he had before dealt with Abner, and from almost the same motives. This, however, is by much the more villainous act of the two, seeing that it stood more entirely on the ground of personal objects. In Abner's case he had the excuse, at least, of vengeance for a brother's blood, as well as of a real or pretended belief that Abner designed to betray David. But here there was nakedly nothing but the desire to fling a formidable rival from his path. One knows not whether most to be astonished at the atrocity or the hardihood of the deed. It was no less than the murder of a general at the head of his troops. But Joab knew his own influence. One near him cried, "He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab." And such was the power of that name, and the wonderful ascendancy the owner of it had acquired over the troops, that the men of Amasa forthwith joined the others in following Joab in pursuit of Sheba. Kit. Joab did it in contempt and defiance of David, and the commission he had given to Amasa; for that commission was the only ground of his quarrel with him, so that David was struck at through Amasa. He did it very unseasonably, when they were going against a common enemy and were concerned to be unanimous. This ill-timed quarrel might have scattered their forces or engaged them one against another. Joab immediately resumes his general's place, and takes care to lead the army on in pursuit of Sheba, that he might prevent any prejudice to the common cause by what he had done. He leaves one of his men to make proclamation to the forces that were coming up, that they were still engaged in David's cause, but under Joab's command. He knew what an interest he had in the soldiery, and how many favored him, rather than Amasa, that had been a traitor, was now a turncoat, and had never been successful; on this he boldly relied, and called them all to follow him. H. 14. Joab was of great practical service, and prosecuted with great energy this new war, till he at length put an end to it. Such was his influence or the terror of his name, that though it was said of Sheba that every man of Israel went up and followed him, it is now said of Joab that all the tribes of Israel went also after him. It would appear from his speech before Abel (verse 20) that at this time the pacific, which was certainly the wise policy, was uppermost with Joab—the desirable thing being to consolidate and harmonize Israel. Altogether, he appears to have been able in conduct and counsel as well as in war. T. C. 15. Abel.** On the right or western bank of the Hasbany, near the foot of the hills, there is a curious isolated hill on which stands the modern village of Abil; traces of old foundations and buildings can still be seen on the mound, the remains of Abel of Beth-Maachah, where Sheba, the son of Bichri, was besieged by Joab. A mound had been cast up against the city, and "it stood in the trench," when the remarkable scene occurred which is here described, ending in the killing of Sheba, whose head was cast out of the city to Joab. Wilson. 16-19. This wise woman with no less prudence than courage challengeth Joab for the violence of his assault; and lays to him that law which he could not be an Israelite and disavow; the law of the God of peace, whose charge it was that when they should come near to a city to fight against it they should offer it peace; and if this tender must be made to foreigners, how much more to brethren! Bp. H.—The inhabitants were generally peaceable and faithful in Israel. She could speak for all that they were of known fidelity to their prince and peaceableness with their fellow-subjects; neither seditious, nor litigious. It was a part of the inheritance of the Lord, a city of Israelites not of heathen; and the destruction of it would lessen and weaken that nation which God had chosen for his heritage. H. 20. Joab was a man of blood; yet when the wise woman of Abel charged him with going about to destroy a mother in Israel, and swallowing up the inheritance of the Lord, with what vehemency doth he deprecate that challenge; "God forbid, God forbid it me, that I should devour or destroy it!" Although that city, with the rest, had engaged itself in Sheba's sedition, yet how zealously doth Joab remove from himself the suspicion of an intended vastation! How fearful shall their answer be, who, upon the quarrel of their own ambition, have not spared to waste whole tribes of the Israel of God! Bp. H. Like Deborah, this wise woman has bequeathed a fine proverbial expression, now habitually applied to those of her sex who are signalized by their piety and Christian influence—"a mother in Israel," than which we know not a more venerable designation or more expressive one, when great worth and great wisdom are combined. T. C. 21,22. Joab requires no other satisfaction than the head of Sheba. This matron had not deserved the name of wise and faithful in Israel if she had not both apprehended the justice of the condition and commended it to her citizens; whom she easily persuaded to spare their own heads, in not sparing a traitor's. Bp. H.—The single condition of peace, is the surrender of the traitor; it is so in God's dealing with the soul, when it is besieged by conviction and distress; sin is the traitor; the beloved lust is the rebel; part with that, cast away the transgressions, and all shall be well. No peace on any other terms. H. The royal forces at once returned to the south, and the rebels dispersed to their own homes. A second time, mainly by Joab's skill and rapidity of action, had the storm of civil war been turned aside from the throne of David. There was at last peace in all Israel. Sime.—Thus ended this dangerous commotion, and although the result was the establishment of David's power over all Israel, some damage had been sustained by all the parties concerned. Since David became king over all Israel we have had only one instance of his asking counsel of the Lord, and that was at the beginning of his reign. We shall not be far wrong in ascribing to this neglect the serious mistakes into which he seems to have fallen. Kit. The Officers of David's Court. Verses 23-26. A similar list has already been given in ch. 8 : 16-18. There the account of the general administration of the kingdom appropriately follows the summary record of the wars by which that kingdom was established; and the repetition of it here, after David's restoration to the throne, is equally appropriate. A. F. K.—In the formation of a new cabinet, David, like other limited monarchs after him, was constrained to acquiesce in appointments not altogether to his mind—and more especially in that of Joab, who, as master over all the host, would in those days have all the power of the prime minister. T. C. A THREE YEARS' FAMINE FOR SAUL'S MASSACRE OF THE GIBEONITES. THE EXECUTION OF SAUL'S SONS. RIZPAH'S MONTHS OF WATCHING BESIDE THE DEAD. 21 1 And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah): and David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? And the Gibeonites said unto him, It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul, or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they said unto the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders 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, the chosen of the LORD. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bare to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, and they fell all seven together: and they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest. And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines slew Saul in Gilboa: and he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged. And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land. With the suppression of the federal revolution under Sheba, the political history of David, as related in the Second Book of Samuel, closes. What follows in this book (ch. 21-24) must be regarded as an Appendix, giving, first, an account of the famine which desolated the land (21:1-14), probably in the earlier part, and of the pestilence which laid it waste, probably toward the close of David's reign (ch. 24); secondly, some brief notices of the Philistine wars, and a detailed register of David's heroes; and, lastly, David's Psalm of thanksgiving (ch. 22), and his last prophetic utterances (23:1-7). All these are grouped together at the end of the Second Book of Samuel, probably because it was difficult to insert them in any other place consistently with the plan of the work, which was not intended to be a biography or a history of David, chronologically arranged. Perhaps we should add, that the account of the pestilence was placed last in the book, because it forms an introduction to the preparations made for the building of the Temple by Solomon. A. E. 21:1-14. The land was visited with a famine for three years; the cause of which was declared by the oracle of Jehovah to be "for Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites." This massacre, in shameful violation of the oath of Joshua and the elders of Israel, was one of those acts of passionate zeal in which Saul tried to drown the remorse of his later years. In reply to David's offer of satisfaction, the Gibeonites demanded the lives of seven of Saul's sons; and the king gave up to them the two sons of Saul by his concubine Rizpah, and the five sons that Merab had borne to Adriel. These seven were hanged by the Gibeonites on the hill of Gibeah, Saul's own city. They hung there from the beginning of barley harvest till the rains set in, though the law provided that, in such cases, the bodies should be buried by sunset. But Rizpah took her station upon the rock, with only a covering of sackcloth, to keep the bodies from the birds of prey by day and from the wild beasts by night, till the rain began to fall. Touched with her devotion, David caused their remains to be taken down and interred in the sepulchre of Kish at Zelah, together with the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which he transported from Jabesh-gilead. Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, whom David had refused to give up to the Gibeonites, was now the sole survivor of the house of Saul, with his infant son Micah, through whom the family was continued to the latest period of the nation's history. We hear of him again before the end of David's reign. P. S. 1. And there was a famine.** There is no adverb of time marking chronological connection with the foregoing narrative. In Palestine a famine was the almost certain consequence of a failure of the winter rains, on which both cornfields and pasturage depend. See 1 K. 18:2; Joel 1:8-20; for famine as the result of drought. This famine must have occurred after David became acquainted with Mephibosheth (ch. 9:1 ff.), for it is expressly stated that he spared Mephibosheth (verse 7); and in all probability before Absalom's rebellion, in the account of which we may trace one, if not two allusions to the execution of Saul's sons (ch. 16:7, 8; 19:28); but its date cannot be fixed more exactly, and the phrase in the days of David seems designedly indefinite. A. F. K. When a third year brought matters to a famine point, David began to see something extraordinary in this succession of bad seasons, and, as became him, consulted the Lord. He was answered, that it was because of the wrongs done by Saul to the Gibeonites. Kit.—It was an ancient oath, wherein the princes of the congregation had bound themselves, upon Joshua's league, to the Gibeonites, that they would suffer them to live; an oath, extorted by fraud, but solemn by no less name than the Lord God of Israel. Saul, who spared Agag whom he should have smitten, smites the Gibeonites whom he should have spared. God holds it a high indignity, that his name should be sworn by and violated. Length of time cannot dispense with our oaths, with our vows; the vows and oaths of others may bind us, how much more our own! Bp. H. Saul slew large numbers of the Gibeonites, and doubtless seized their possessions. It is said that he did this "in his zeal for Israel and Judah," and this cannot be explained but on the supposition that the deed was done in order to give the tribes possession of the reserved territories of the Gibeonites. And there is no doubt this would be, and was designed to be, a popular and acceptable act. From the first, the people murmured greatly at the covenant that had been entered into, mainly, it would seem, because they were thus deprived of the spoil of the Gibeonites. Thus, Saul's zeal for Israel and for Judah appears; and thus also, by their complicity in this gross breach of ancient covenants with a now harmless and faithful people, who for many ages had been Israelites in faith and practice, they laid themselves open to punishment from Him who abhors iniquity and broken faith, and to whom the innocent blood cries not in vain. It would seem that Saul's own family must have been active in this cruel wrong, and had a good share of the spoil, for we find them all, when reduced to a private station, much better off in their worldly circumstances than can else be accounted for, especially as Saul's own estate had gone with the crown, until assigned by David to Mephibosheth. But the punishments of a just God for wrong-doing, whether in nations or individuals, though often delayed, come at last. Kit. The Gibeonites were neither rebels nor heathen. They had submitted at the beginning of the conquest, their very artifice having been but a dexterous acknowledgment of Jehovah's power and of the Hebrew triumph. This was a bold stroke for them, and it brought on them the kings of Jebus, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Egion in that famous battle when Joshua said, "Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon." They obtained a solemn league with the nation, confirmed by an oath taken by the princes of the congregation. The agreement was that the Gibeonites would be hewers of wood and drawers of water to the nation, and that the nation would preserve and protect them. And so thoroughly had they incorporated themselves with the Israelites that the historian of the Second Book of Samuel stops to explain that they were "not of the children of Israel, but a remnant of the Amorites." This solemn league and formal oath, the conditions of which had been observed by the Gibeonites for long years, Saul ruthlessly broke. Knox.—Whatever may have been Saul's motive, it is certain that by his massacre of the Gibeonites a great national sin was committed, and that for this sin the nation had never humbled itself, and never made reparation. W. G. B. 4-6. The answer of the Gibeonites to David implies their feeling that the Hebrew nation, as such, by its sympathy and concurrence with Saul, had sinned against them, and they seem to regard it as an act of moderation on their part, that they waived their claim as against the nation, and restricted it to Saul in the persons of a few of his representatives. "We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shall thou kill any man in Israel. 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 up to us, that we may hang them up before the Lord at Gibeah." The Gibeah which they proposed to make the scene of this tragedy, was the very town in which Saul had held his residence; and which was no doubt chosen by them to make this act the more monumental. David could not refuse their demand. He gave them seven of Saul's descendants. They were two sons of Saul by Rizpah the same concubine respecting whom Abner had offended Ishbosheth, and five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul. David was determined to save Mephibosheth and his sons for Jonathan's sake, and it was probably out of respect to this feeling, that the Gibeonites did not insist upon the inclusion of these, the rightful heirs and representatives of Saul. One would think this fact a sufficient answer to those who venture to suspect that the whole matter was a contrivance between David and the priest to get rid of the remnant of the house of Saul, of whose remaining influence in the land, the late commotion had made him apprehensive. If this were the case, how came he to cut off only collateral branches, and spare all those in the direct line of succession to the throne? In this point of view, Mephibosheth and his son Micah, and his four sons (perhaps already born) were those from whom there was most danger to apprehend. Yet these were spared by preference. If the reader turn to 1 Chron. 8: 33, 34, he will find an enumeration of the descendants of Meribaal or Mephibosheth, heirs of the house of Saul, exhibiting, perhaps, the most numerous descent from any one person of the age in which David lived. Kit. The Gibeonites did not require this out of malice against Saul or his family (had they been revengeful they would have moved it themselves long before), but for the people of Israel whom they saw plagued for the injury done to them. "We will hang them up unto the Lord (verse 6), to satisfy his justice, not to gratify any revenge of our own; for the good of the public, not for our own reputation." H.—The holiness of the land in which Jehovah dwelt among His people must be guarded. But one of the worst defilements of a land was that by innocent blood shed in it. According to the majestic view of the Old Testament, blood shed by a murderer's hand could not be covered up; it was, so to speak, a living thing which cried for vengeance, until the blood of him that had shed it silenced its voice, or, in other words, till the moral equipoise had been restored. While the same section of the law provided safety in case of unintentional homicide, and regulated the old practice of "avenging blood," it also protected the land against crime, which it would not allow to be compensated for by money. Hence the Gibeonites were strictly within the letter of the law in demanding retaliation on the house of Saul, in accordance with the universally acknowledged Old Testament principle of the solidarity of a family; and David had no alternative but to concede their claim. This is one aspect of the question. The other must be even more reverently approached. We can only point out how they who lived in those times (especially such as the Gibeonites) would feel that they might cry to God for vengeance, and expect it from the Just and True One; and how the sternest lessons concerning public breach of faith and public crimes would be of the deepest national importance after such a reign as that of Saul. A. E. 7,8. No choice remained to David but to yield to this legal requisition. God had taken the wrong into His own hands, to avenge by His own power, and famine was perhaps destroying far more than blood-revenge required. He therefore did not simply consent, but approved this fulfilment of the law, and at once proceeded to meet the demand. Knox. 9. And they fell all seven together. The evident intention of God in ordering the death of this part of Saul's family, was to give a public attestation of his abhorrence of Saul's perfidy and cruelty, to strike a terror into the princes his successors and caution them against committing the like offences. The death of these seven persons, therefore, supposing them all innocent, was in this view no punishment inflicted personally on them by God, but an appointment of God in virtue of his sovereign right over the lives of all men; to teach princes moderation and equity, and to prevent the commission of those enormous crimes which are inconsistent with the welfare of all civil government. Accordingly, God dealt with these persons exactly as if in the course of his providential dispensations he had cut them off by a natural death. That children do very frequently suffer and die for the sins of their parents in which they have had no share, is evident from history and the constant experience of all ages and nations. Chandler. The place, time, and manner of their execution, all added to the solemnity of their being sacrificed to Divine justice. They were hanged up as anathemas, under a peculiar mark of God's displeasure; for the law had said, He that is hanged, is accursed of God (De. 21 : 23). Christ, being made a curse for us, and dying to satisfy for our sins, and to turn away the wrath of God, became obedient to this ignominious death. They were hanged up in Gibeah of Saul, to show that it was for his sin that they died. They were hanged to expiate the guilt of the house of Saul; and thus God accomplished the ruin of that family, for the blood of the priests and their families also, which, doubtless, now came in remembrance before God, and inquisition was made for it. Yet the blood of the Gibeonites only is mentioned; because that was shed in violation of a sacred oath, which, though sworn long before, though obtained by a wife, and the promise made to Canaanites, yet is thus severely reckoned for. The despising of the oath and breaking of the covenant will be recompensed on the head of those who thus profane God's sacred name (Ez. 17 : 18, 19). They were put to death in the days of harvest, at the beginning of harvest (verse 10), to show that they were thus sacrificed for the turning away of that wrath of God, which had withheld from them their harvest mercies for some years past, and to obtain his favor in the present harvest. Those executions must not be complained of as cruel, which are become necessary to the public welfare. Better that seven of Saul's bloody house be hanged, than that all Israel be famished. H. Under the Old Testament the rights of the individual were not so clearly acknowledged as they are under the New; the family was a moral unit, and the father was the responsible agent for the whole. When Achan sinned, his whole household shared his punishment; all were involved in the sin of the father. However strange it may seem to us, it did not appear at all strange in David's time that this rule should be applied in the case of Saul. On the contrary, it would probably be thought that it showed considerable moderation of feeling not to demand the death of the whole living posterity of Saul, but to limit the demand to the number of seven. Doubtless the Gibeonites had suffered to an enormous extent. Thousands of them had probably been slain. People might be sorry for the seven young men that had to die, but that there was anything essentially unjust or even harsh in the transaction is a view of the case that would occur to no one. Justice is often hard; executions are always grim; but here was a nation that had already experienced three years of famine for the sin of Saul, and that would experience yet far more if no public expiation should take place; and seven men were not very many to die for a nation. W. G. B. Saul's sons, who were not charged with being in any way personally accessory to their father's crime, were put to death to expiate it. The sins of the father were visited upon the children. Now, as Ezekiel clearly teaches, no innocent man can be regarded as justly punishable for another's sin: but in those early ages the family was regarded as an unit, and the sins of the head of the family were regarded as involving all its members in their consequences. The sense of the rights and the responsibilities of each individual was as yet undeveloped. Consequently, as seen by the people, the execution of Saul's sons was a judicial act of retribution; but this aspect of the transaction was only an "accommodation" to the current ideas of the age. Viewed in its essential character as sanctioned by God, it was a didactic act, designed to teach the guilt of sin. God has an absolute power of life and death over His creatures, and may at any time take away the life which He has given. "The extermination of the Canaanites, and the destruction of the families of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, of Achan, and of Saul, were great lessons, and lessons which the great Master could give by the simple exercise of His right as the Lord of human life. They were real acts, and expressed the real mind of the Deity, only as acts of instruction. God cannot punish a man for the reason of another's sin; but it is open to God to inflict death upon His creatures, without a reason, if it so pleases Him; and of course for a reason if it be a good one—in order to strike wholesome terror, in order to keep a standing memento, in order to associate sin with a spectacle of horror and destruction." (Mozley.) The act was no doubt one which would not have been sanctioned in a more enlightened age; but the supposition that "David seized this opportunity to rid himself of seven possible claimants to the throne" (Smith's "Dict. of the Bible") is a baseless calumny, sufficiently refuted by his care for Mephibosheth, and by the obscurity of the victims; and the idea that he may have been, for a while at least, "infected by the baneful example of the Phœnicians" in offering human sacrifices, is contradicted by all that we know of his character. A. F. K. Well near forty years are past betwixt the commission of the sin and the reckoning for it. It is a vain hope that is raised from the delay of judgment. No time can be any prejudice to the Ancient of Days: when we have forgotten our sins, when the world hath forgotten us, he sues us afresh for our arrearages. Bp. H.—Particular events may for a long while be delayed, and the very delay of them may, in concurrence with the operations of Providence, be one means at last of bringing them to pass with greater observation and more convincing evidence of the interposition of God in bringing them about, as is frequently the case in long-concealed murders. God, therefore, in a time of profound peace, when David's government was settled and there was nothing to interrupt the course of justice, punishes the people with a three years' famine, to let them feel his displeasure, to render them solicitous to know the cause of it and take the proper methods to appease it. So that though no train of intervening and unavoidable circumstances can impede the operations of Providence, or prevent what God is determined to bring to pass; yet such circumstances may, for a very considerable while, impede the operations of human justice; nevertheless, how long soever that justice may be delayed, it will certainly at last take place, when God judges it the proper season to execute it, and when such execution shall most effectually demonstrate his inspection and tend to secure the purposes of his moral providence and government over mankind. Chandler. 10. The grimness of the mode of punishment was softened by an incident of great moral beauty, which cannot but touch the heart of every man of sensibility. Rizpah, the concubine of Saul, and mother of two of the victims, combining the tenderness of a mother and the courage of a hero, took her position beside the gibbet; and, undeterred by the sight of the decaying bodies, she suffered neither the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. W. G. B.—She spread on the rocky floor the thick mourning cloth of black sackcloth, which as a widow she wore, and crouching there she watched that neither vulture nor jackal should molest the bodies. That she did not seek to take them down, that no one, moved by her devotion, offered to help her, seems to show that all acquiesced in the execution of the approved law. That she waited for water to drop out of heaven, signifies that she waited for the token of the cessation of the wrath of heaven in the falling rain in October. Grove.—The courage and self-denial needed for this work were great, for the risk of violence from wild beasts was very serious. All honor to this woman and her noble heart! David appears to have been deeply impressed by her heroism. W. G. B. 11-14. When David heard of it, he felt himself bound to interfere to prevent the continuance of a scene so distressful, and so revolting to the feelings of the Israelites. He caused the remains to be removed; and, obtaining the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead, had the whole deposited, with becoming respect and honor, in the sepulchre of the family at Zelzah. The reader who recollects the strong desire of the Israelites, that their bones should rest with those of their kindred—as lately instanced in the case of Barzillai—will appreciate this mark of attention on the part of David, which must have been most gratifying to all Israel, and especially to the friends and connections of the house of Saul. Kit.—David knew how to sympathize with the childless Rizpah, and Rizpah was doubtless consoled when, in a princely burial, she saw honor done to her husband's house. Justice first, and then mercy. This is the way of the Lord, and David, as the Lord's vicegerent, walked in it. F. W. Hook. We offer a concluding remark, founded on the tone of this narrative. It is marked, as every one must perceive, by a subdued, solemn tone. Whatever may be the opinion of our time as to the need of apologizing for it, it is evident that no apology was deemed necessary for the transaction at the time this record was written. The feeling of all parties evidently was, that it was indispensable that things should take the course they did. No one expressed wonder when the famine was accounted for by the crime of Saul. No one objected when the question of expiation was referred to the Gibeonites. The house of Saul made no protest when seven of his sons were demanded for death. It seemed as if God were speaking, and the part of man was simply to obey. W. G. B. SINFUL NUMBERING OF ISRAEL. ITS PUNISHMENT BY PESTILENCE STAYED AT DAVID'S REPENTANCE. MORIAH, THE PLACE OF HIS ACCEPTED SACRIFICE, APPOINTED AS THE SITE OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE. We have here a very particular account of the valiant men who had previously attached themselves to David, some at least of whom came to him at Ziklag before the death of Saul; men who had wrought signal exploits of heroism and power, and were thoroughly prepared to lead the armies of Israel. H. C.—From the long list of David's "mighty men," it appears that the nation must have been singularly rich in war-like heroes—a circumstance due in some degree to the example of David himself. He appears to have established something like a legion of honor, or order of valor, embracing different classes, like the military and civil orders of the present day. His own military ardor seems to have passed by a kind of electric current into his followers, animating them with the same spirit as his own. W. G. B. 2. S. 23 : 10.** Eleazar, one of the three mighty men of David's army, threw himself, sword in hand, into the battle against the Philistines; and when he grew weary and turned aside to rest, he found that the fingers of his right hand would not unclasp themselves from the handle of his sword. The hero's fingers had become set by his strong grasp of his weapon; and when he let fall his arm, his hand still clave unto his sword. This vivid and impressive picture suggests an instructive lesson both for our temporal and spiritual life. Is there not such a grasp of the principles of honor and integrity, of the truths of God and His Word, and of the responsibilities of Christian service, that no trouble, nor doubt, nor temptation, shall be able to unclasp our hold? For such instruction, we may believe this simple but graphic incident was recorded. Eleazar teaches men, in their worldly occupations, with what grasp to lay hold of the principles of honor and integrity. There is a grasping of the principles of high and noble living among men in the every-day battle of business life; so that the invisible fingers of human character, clasping them around, grow firm and fixed until temptation has no power to separate us from them. Then Eleazar teaches us how to grasp the truths of God and His Word. Take hold of God's warnings and encouragements, as though they were worth something, and we will find, to our relief and joy, when wearied and tried by battling with a world of disappointment and evil, that our hand still cleaves to them. And taking hold of these blessed, uplifting truths of God's Word, as Eleazar took hold of his sword, there will be no annoyance or pain in the grasp; and when wearied, as you will sometimes be, unable longer to resist the enemies of your hope, like Job the patriarch and Paul the apostle, your hand will still be clasped around the unfailing promises of your Heavenly Father. And so should we grasp the responsibilities and known duties of the Christian service. Given Eleazar's grasp of the responsibilities of Christian service, and there would be full churches, full prayer-meetings; multitudes now careless inquiring the way to Zion; souls now dumb singing the joys of salvation; Christians now weak, doubting, and despairing, happy, confident, strong, and, further, the veteran believer who has thus grasped these truths and duties through his life, finds toward its close that they still cleave to him when everything else lets go. When old age comes on with its weakness and decrepitude, the interest in worldly things diminishes, the mind begins to let go of the world. But the heart of the devoted Christian still clings with the old tenacity to the things of God and the interests of eternity. It is the crown and glory of our theme that, when the Christian mind and heart let go of all things else in their weakness and weariness, they still cleave to God and Heaven. C. C. Hemenway. 1. S. 23 : 15, 16.** During the wars with the Philistines David, heated with the sun while scanning the hosts of his enemies, suddenly gave expression to a desire for water from the well of Bethlehem. "Oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" He had probably been thinking of his boyhood, and gave utterance to this, which was a sort of passionate outburst of home longing. It was just like David with his intense nature to speak and act in the way recorded in these verses. Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah determine that his wish for the water shall be gratified, and they plan their sortie with caution, and carry it out with courage and celerity. At dusk they steal up, break through the lines of the enemy, overpowering and silencing the sentinels, and reach the well at last. Two defend the one who draws the water, then, putting it into a skin, that one slings it over his shoulder, and they fight their way out of the surrounding host, bearing the water to the king. F. Hastings.—Here was a striking proof of the enthusiasm which David inspired in his followers, and a noble instance of the true spirit of chivalry, which fears no danger and shrinks from no self-sacrifice, in order to do the smallest service for the object of its devotion; the spirit which is perfected in the highest example of love. A. F. K. 17. "He would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord," he saw in it but the blood of these brave men. In this incident at once the strong home affections which prompted the wish, and the womanly tenderness which shrunk from its gratification at so great a risk, are full of significance in relation to the degree in which the finer instincts of David's nature remained unaffected by the circumstances of his outlaw life at this time. W. Lee.—It had cost too much to be used for any common purpose or for mere personal gratification; the only fit thing to do with it was to devote it to God. The incident teaches us that whatever comes to us at great cost should be sacred in our eyes, and should not be devoted to any common, selfish or sinful use, but should be dedicated to the Lord. A most obvious application is to our own redeemed lives. Jesus broke through the lines of enemies and brought water fresh from the lost well of salvation. All the blessings and joys of our Christian faith reach us through the suffering and sacrifice of Christ. Can we devote these gifts and powers of our lives, ransomed at such cost, to any common end or use? Can we do otherwise with them than as David did with the water—make them holy offerings to God? Is any other use in keeping with their sacredness? "The Lord hath set apart the godly man for himself." The hands which take the sacramental emblems must do no unholy work. The lips that speak the vows of love and the words of prayer must utter no bitter words, no evil or impure words. The eye that is lifted up to look upon the suffering Lamb of God and upon the holy beauty of the exalted King must not linger an instant on anything that defileth. The heart that has been warmed by the consciousness of the love of God must not open to any foul thought or evil desire or unholy imagination. The life that has cost the blood of Jesus must be used to honor God and bless the world. It is too sacred to be devoted to any but holy service. We do good only at the cost of self. Christ blessed the world not by an easy, pleasant life, but by suffering and dying for it. We never can bless the world merely by having a good time in it; we can do it only through toils and sacrifices. The cup of sweet life that is before us we may not take and lightly drink, merely to quench our own thirst; it is the blood of those who before us went in jeopardy of their lives to win it, and we must treat it as sacred, pouring it before God in consecrated offering to bless other lives. Presbyterian. 1. Chron. 12: 16-18. Came of Benjamin and Judah.** David meets these men with caution. Observe how fairly he deals with them. As they are, they shall find him; so shall all that deal with the son of David. If they be faithful and honorable, he will be their rewarder. Affection, respect, and service that are cordial and sincere, will find favor with a good man, as they do with a good God, though clogged with infirmities and turning to no great account. But if they be false, and come to betray him into the hands of Saul, he leaves them to God to be their Avenger, as He is and will be of everything that is treacherous and perfidious. Amasai was their spokesman, on whom came a spirit of wisdom and resolution according to the occasion, putting words into his mouth which were proper both to give David satisfaction, and to animate those that accompanied him. Nothing could be said finer or more fitting. Thine are we, David, and on thy side. He wishes prosperity to David and his cause, praying for peace to him and all his friends and well wishers, Peace, peace, be unto thee, and peace be to thy helpers, among whom we desire to be reckoned, that peace may be on us. For thy God helpeh thee; God is thy God, and those that have him for their God have him for their Helper in every time of need and danger. Christ, the Son of David, has worthies too, who, like David's, are influenced by his example, fight his battles against the spiritual enemies of his kingdom, and in his strength are more than conquerors. Christ's apostles were his immediate attendants, did and suffered great things for him, and at length came to reign with them. They are mentioned with honor in the New Testament, as these in the Old. Nay, all the good soldiers of Jesus Christ have their names better preserved than even these worthies have; for they are written in heaven. This honor have all his saints. H. In the Hebrew memoirs one is brought face to face with actual facts, and we see the man as he is, not as his kindred or friends or countrymen would wish him to appear. Both sides of his career are given with equal simplicity and fulness. The same book which describes the generosity of David at the well by the gate of Bethlehem when the three heroes broke through the garrison and drew the coveted drink for him, recites also the hideous story of his dealing with Bathsheba and Uriah, the melancholy record of uncleanness and blood-shedding. The more closely the pages of these records are studied, the more evident it becomes that the reader has before him the veritable man himself as he would appear to Him who searches the heart and tries the reins. Not only are all the facts that are given true, but they are so given as to produce a correct impression, a point in which the most impartial and conscientious of merely human biographers are very apt to fail. Chambers. 22 1 AND David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: and he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; 3 The God of my rock, in him will I trust; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge; My saviour, thou savest me from violence. 4 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies. 5. For the waves of death compassed me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 6 The cords of Sheol were round about me: The snares of death came upon me. 7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, Yea, I called unto my God: And he heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came into his ears. 8 Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven moved And were shaken, because he was wroth. 9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it. 10. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet. 11. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12. And he made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 13. At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled. 14. The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice. 15. And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and discomfited them. 16. Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils. 17. He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters; 18. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 19. They came upon me in the day of my calamity: But the LORD was my stay. 20. He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because he delighted in me. 21. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 22. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. 23. For all his judgments were before me: And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. 24. I was also perfect toward him, And I kept myself from mine iniquity. 25. Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness: According to my cleanness in his eyesight. 26. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, With the perfect man thou wilt shew thyself perfect; 27. With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; And with the perverse thou wilt shew thyself froward. 28. And the afflicted people thou wilt save: 26 But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. 29. For thou art my lamp, O LORD: And the LORD will lighten my darkness. 30. For by thee I run upon a troop: By my God do I leap over a wall. 31. As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield unto all them that trust in him. 32. For who is God, save the LORD? And who is a rock, save our God? 33. God is my strong fortress: And he guideth the perfect in his way. 34. He maketh his feet like hinds' feet: And setteth me upon my high places. 35. He teacheth my hands to war; So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass. 36. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: And thy gentleness hath made me great. 37. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped. 38. I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 39. And I have consumed them, and smitten them through, that they cannot arise: Yea, they are fallen under my feet. 40. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 41. Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, That I might cut off them that hate me. 42. They looked, but there was none to save; Even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. 43. Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad. 44. Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people; Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me. 45. The strangers shall submit themselves unto me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. 46. The strangers shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places. 47 The LORD liveth ; and blessed be my rock ; And exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation : 48 Even the God that executeth vengeance for me, And bringeth down peoples under me, 49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies : Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me : Thou deliverest me from the violent man, 50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the nations, And will sing praises unto thy name. 51 Great deliverance giveth he to his king : And sheweth lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, forevermore. This chapter supplies an obvious link between the history of David and his authorship as the great Psalmist of Israel, from whom there emanated those sacred and devotional compositions which have proved the delight and exercise of the Church in all ages. We can see a reason for the trials of his checkered life and experience, in these the precious and abiding fruits of it. It is interesting thus to connect the Book of Psalms with the direct narrative of Scripture, and to behold another of the innumerable manifestations which can be appealed to for the genuineness of both. T. C. This magnificent hymn is substantially identical with Ps. 18. It was written, as the title indicates, when David's triumphs over his enemies at home and abroad were still recent. Its composition may with much probability be assigned to the period of peace described in ch. 7 : 1 ; but must be placed after Nathan's visit, as verse 51 seems clearly to refer to the great promise made through him. The free and joyous tone of the Psalm, and its bold expressions of conscious integrity, also point to the earlier years of David's reign rather than the later, overclouded as these were by the fatal consequences of his sin. . . . The culmination of David's prosperity is celebrated in this Psalm, written probably in that period of peace in which he conceived the wish to build an house for Jehovah. It is the fitting expression of a heart overflowing with praise and thanksgiving, and is unrivalled for the magnificence of its poetry and the sublimity of its thought. A. F. K. In all his life thus far we see a high poetic genius, translating into devout song his successive experiences as shepherd, warrior, outcast, statesman, and king. A natural artist in melody and song, an inspired creator of beauty in the sweetest or saddest forms of thought and expression, transferring every hallowed sentiment, every just, pure, lofty conception and aspiration, into strains of incomparable sublimity, this Master-Psalmist of Israel has wrought an imperishable work of cheer and help, of comfort and rejoicing, for all classes of God's true worshippers in all ages of time. B.—There is the whole music of the human heart, when touched by the hand of the Maker, in all its tones that whisper or that swell, for every hope and fear, for every joy and pang, for every form of strength and languor, of disquietude and rest. There are developed all the innermost relations of the human soul to God, built upon the platform of a covenant of love and sonship that had its foundations in the Messiah. W. E. Gladstone.—The intimate communing with Him in prayer and praise, which is characteristic of the Psalms of David, marks a new advance in the relation of man to God. Now was laid the foundation of that Psalter in which for all succeeding time men have found the expression and the echo of their deepest thoughts and highest aspirations. Rich and varied as are the tones of the many voices which combine to form the Psalter, they are scarcely more rich and varied than the tones of the single voice of him who was its Founder ; passing as they do through every variation of jubilant praise and thanksgiving, unshaken trust in God, keenest suffering, bitter sorrow for sin, heartfelt repentance. A. F. K. Analysis of the Psalm. (1) Introduction : the leading thought of the song, an adoring acknowledgment of what God had been and was to David (verses 2-4). (2) A narrative of the Divine interpositions on his behalf, embracing his dangers, his prayers, and the Divine deliverances in reply (verses 5-19). (3) The grounds of his protection and success (verses 20-30). (4) References to particular acts of God's goodness in various parts of his life, interspersed with reflections on the Divine character, from all which the assurance is drawn that that goodness would be continued to him and his successors, and would secure through coming ages the welfare and extension of the kingdom. And here we observe what is so common in the Psalms : a gradual rising above the idea of a mere earthly kingdom ; the type passes into the antitype ; the kingdom of David melts, as in a dissolving view, into the kingdom of the Messiah ; thus a more elevated tone is given to the song, and the assurance is conveyed to every believer that as God protected David and his kingdom, so shall He protect and glorify the kingdom of His Son forever. W. G. B. 2,3. The imagery, by which David describes so emphatically all that Jehovah had been to him as a Deliverer from his enemies, is derived from the experiences of his war-like life, and particularly of his flight from Saul. The cliff where he had escaped from Saul, the stronghold in the wilderness of Judah or the fastnesses of Engedi, "the rocks of the wild goats," were all emblems of Him who had been throughout his true Refuge and Deliverer. 3. The God of my rock = my strong God: but it is better to alter the vowel points and read as in the Psalm, "my God, my Rock." The title Rock is frequently used to describe the strength, faithfulness, and unchangeableness of God. A. F. K. The feeling that recognized God as the author of all his deliverances was intensely strong, as is indicated by the use of every expression that can be accumulated—"My rock, my portion, my deliverer; the God of my rock, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my Saviour." He takes no credit to himself; gives no glory to his captains; does not ascribe his safety in any case to his skill, or to their bravery; but with admirable humility gives all the credit to God. In the intensity of the gaze which it fixed on Him who is invisible, the eye of faith lost sight, for the time, of the human instruments through whom much of the work was done. He who, in the depths of his penitence, saw but one injured Being, and said, "Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned."—now, at the height of his prosperity, sees but one gracious Being, and exclaims, in the same spirit, "He only is my rock and my salvation." It was a great attainment for a soldier, whose besetting sin is the love of glory, thus to overcome the desire for human applause, and give all the glory to God. 4. When David comes to express his dependence on God, he very specially sets Him before his mind as "worthy to be praised." He calls to mind the gracious character of God,—not an austere God, reaping where He has not sown, and gathering where He has not strewed, but "the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth." "This doctrine," says Luther, "is in tribulation the most ennobling and truly golden. One cannot imagine what assistance such praise of God is in pressing danger. For as soon as you begin to praise God the sense of the evil will also begin to abate, the comfort of your heart will grow; and then God will be called on with confidence. Some who cry to the Lord are not heard, because they do not praise the Lord when they cry to Him, they have looked only to their own bitterness. But no one gets deliverance from evil by looking simply upon his evil and becoming alarmed at it; he can get deliverance only by rising above his evil, hanging it on God, and having respect to His goodness. Oh, hard counsel, doubtless, and a rare thing truly, in the midst of trouble to conceive of God as sweet, and worthy to be praised; and when He has removed Himself from us and is incomprehensible, even then to regard Him more intensely than we regard our misfortune that keeps us from Him! Only let one try it, and make the endeavor to praise God, though in little heart for it; he will soon experience an enlightenment." 5,6. First, there is a vivid picture of his troubles. With Saul's javelins flying at his head in the palace, or his best troops scouring the wilderness in search of him; with Syrian hosts bearing down on him like the waves of the sea, and a confederacy of nations conspiring to swallow him up, he might well speak of the waves of death and the cords of Hades. He evidently desires to describe the extremest peril and distress that can be conceived, a situation where the help of man is vain indeed. 7-13. Then, after a brief account of his calling upon God, comes a most animated description of God coming to his help. The description is ideal, but it gives a vivid view how the Divine energy is roused when any of God's children are in distress. When the cry reached heaven that David was in trouble, the earthquake and the lightning and all the other messengers of heaven were sent out to his aid; nay, these were not enough; God Himself flew, riding on a cherub, yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. Faith saw God bestirring Himself for his deliverance, as if every agency of nature had been set in motion on his behalf. W. G. B. 9. Smoke arose in his nostril, and fire from his mouth did devour: hot coals came burning from him. The startling boldness of the language will be intelligible if the distinctive character of Hebrew symbolism is borne in mind. It is no "gross anthropomorphism," for the Psalmist did not intend that the mind's eye should clothe his figure in a concrete form. His aim is vividly to express the manifestation of the wrath of God, and he does so in figures which are intended to remain as purely mental conceptions, not to be realized as though God appeared in any visible shape. A. F. K. 14-16. His deliverance was conspicuous and complete. He saw God's hand stretched out with remarkable distinctness. There could be no more doubt that it was God that rescued him from Saul than that it was He that snatched Israel from Pharaoh when literally "the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils." W. G. B. 20. He delivered me, because he delighted in me. The deliverance came not from common providence, but covenant love; he was herein treated as a favorite; so he perceived by the communications of Divine grace and comfort to his soul, with these deliverances, and the communion he had with God in them. H.—This was the ground of God's deliverance, and it now becomes the leading thought of the Psalm. Compare Matt. 3:17, where the Greek word for "I am well pleased" is the same as that used in the Septuagint. The reference becomes doubly significant if it is borne in mind that the theocratic king was called God's son. A. F. K. 21. According to my righteousness.** This is no vain-glorious boasting of his own merits, but a testimony to the faithfulness of Jehovah to guard and reward His faithful servants. David does not lay claim to a perfect righteousness, but to sincerity and single-heartedness in his devotion to God. Compare his own testimony (1 S. 26:23), God's testimony (1 K. 14:8), and the testimony of history (1 K. 11:4; 15:5), to his essential integrity. Is not this conscious rectitude, this "princely heart of innocence," a clear indication that the Psalm was written before his great fall? A. F. K. It is impossible to read this Psalm without feeling that it is not pervaded by the spirit of the self-righteous man. It is pervaded by a profound sense of dependence on God, and of obligation to His mercy and love. Now that is the very opposite of the self-righteous spirit. We may surely find another way of accounting for such expressions used by David here. We may surely believe that all that was meant by him was to express the unswerving sincerity and earnestness with which he had endeavored to serve God, with which he had resisted every temptation to conscious unfaithfulness, with which he had resisted every allurement to idolatry on the one hand or to the neglect of the welfare of God's nation on the other. And David correctly describes the prevailing features of his public endeavors. His public life was unquestionably marked by a sincere and commonly successful endeavor to follow the will of God. So if God is to prosper us, there must be an inner harmony between us and Him. If the habit of our life be opposed to God, the result can only be collision and rebuke. David was conscious of the inner harmony, and therefore he was able to rely on being supported and blessed. W. G. B. 26-28. He takes occasion here to lay down the established rules of God's proceedings with the children of men: He will do good to those that are upright in their hearts. As we are found toward God, he will be found toward us. God's mercy and grace will be the joy of those that are merciful and gracious; even the merciful need mercy, and they shall obtain it. God's uprightness, his justice and faithfulness, will be the joy of those that are upright, just, and faithful, toward God and man. God's purity and holiness will be the joy of those that are pure and holy, who therefore give thanks at the remembrance of it. And if any of these good people be officied people, he will save them, either out of their afflictions, or by and after them. On the other hand, those who turn aside to crooked ways, he will lead forth with the workers of iniquity, as he says in another psalm, With the froward he will wrestle; and those with whom God wrestles are sure to be foiled. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! He will walk contrary to those that walk contrary to him, and be displeased with them. As for the haughty, his eyes are upon them, marking them out, as it were, to be brought down: for he resists the proud. H. 29-31. God's faithfulness is here attested by the Psalmist's experience. After celebrating God's goodness in delivering him from all the dangers which threatened his life, David goes on to describe how God had made him victorious over all his enemies. A. F. K. 36. Thy gentleness hath made me great.** These words gather up into their brief utterance all the song of the great King David when he recounted his greatness, and reveal at once the secret of his greatness and the heart of his song. David knew God as few human souls have done. He knew Him as the Creator and the Judge, but when he comes to consider his own life, it is to the gentleness of God he turns. All the lights and shadows and depths and heights of his manifold spiritual life had this for their source, and only this: the gentleness of God. The gentleness of God is the secret spring of all the worth to which the great ones of God's kingdom have ever reached. Above and underneath all virtues are the dews and fountain-springs of the gentleness of God. From verge to verge, over all the sea of redeemed life, rises the thankful, joyous, self-abasing song, "Lamb of God, slain for us, Thy gentleness hath made us great." The work Christ came to accomplish was the bestowal of gentleness upon a world which had lost the very elements of it. The light which shines from the Cross is the gentleness of God. He passed into the shadow of death, and there, with the gentleness of a Divine mother, laid His hand on the hand, His heart on the heart, of the very race which crucified Him, that He might overcome their enmity and bring them back to God. This is still the greatness of Christ as a Saviour and His power over the hearts of men. He is strong to save because He is long-suffering, and merciful, and generous. A. Macleod. The Divine gentleness makes paths easy that rougher treatment would have made intolerable. And who of us that looks back but must own our obligations to the gentleness of God, the tender, forbearing, nay loving, treatment He has bestowed on us, even in the midst of our great provocations? W. G. B.—Most true it is that God carries a strong hand with us. He covers up no principle, tempers the exactness of no law. There is no connivance in his methods, no concealment of truths disagreeable and piercing, no proposition of compromise or halving, in a way of settlement. His Providence moves strong. His terrors flame out on the background of a wrathful sky. He thunders marvellously with his voice. And so his very gentleness stands glorious and strong and sovereignly majestic round us. Were he only soft or kind, bending like a willow to our wicked state, there were little to move and affect us even in his goodness itself. But when we look on him as the Almighty Rock, the immovable Governor and Keeper of the worlds, girding himself in all terrible majesty when he must, to let us know that impunity in wrong is impossible, then it is that we behold him in the true meaning of his gentleness—how good! how firm! how adorably great! And yet while God is ever engaged to bring down our loftiness in evil and perversity, he is just as constantly engaged to make us loftier and stronger in everything desirable—in capacity, and power, and all personal majesty. We do not understand him, in fact, till we conceive it as a truth profoundly real and glorious, that he wants to make us great—great in will, great in the breadth and honest freedom of our intellect, great in courage, enthusiasm, self-respect, firmness, superiority to things and matters of condition; great in sacrifice and beneficence; great in sonship with Himself; great in being raised to such common counsel, and such intimate unity with him in his ends, that we do, in fact, reign with him. Bushnell. 44-46. In these verses the views of the Psalmist seem to sweep beyond the limits of an earthly kingdom. His eye seems to embrace the wide-spreading dominion of Messiah; at all events, he dwells on those features of his own kingdom that were typical of the all-embracing kingdom of the Gospel. It is interesting to mark the military aspect of the kingdom gliding into the missionary. Other psalms bring out more clearly this missionary element, exhibit David rejoicing in the widening limits of his kingdom, in the wider diffusion of the knowledge of the true God, and in the greater happiness and prosperity accruing to men. W. G. B. 50. The celebration of Jehovah's faithfulness to His servant is not to be confined within the narrow limits of Israel. His praise is to be proclaimed among the heathen, who, as they are brought under the dominion of His people, may also be brought to the knowledge of Jehovah. Compare Ps. 96: 3, 10. This verse is quoted by Paul in Rom. 15: 9, to prove that the Old Testament anticipated the admission of the Gentiles to the blessings of salvation. A. F. K. WAR WITH THE AMMONITES AND SYRIANS. FIRST VICTORY UNDER JOAB. SECOND BATTLE WITH SYRIANS AND VICTORY UNDER DAVID. PAGE 282. Death of David. Elements and Effects of his Character and Life Work. 1 Kings 2 : 10, 11. 1 Chron. 29 : 26-30. 500 283. Solomon's Choice of Wisdom. Discernment of the True Mother. 1 Chron. 29 : 23-25. 2 Chron. 1 : 1-13. 1 Kings 3 : 4-28. 510 284. Punishment of Adonijah, Joab, Abiathar, and Shimei. 1 Kings 2 : 12-46. 519 285. Solomon's Preparation for Building the Temple. 1 Kings 5 : 1-18. 2 Chron. 2 : 1-18. 525 286. Construction of the Temple, its Courts, and the Entire Furniture Connected with its Ritual and Worship. 1 Kings 6 : 1-38 ; 7 : 13-51. 2 Chron. 3 : 1-17 ; 4 : 1-22 ; 5 : 1. 532 287. The Great Assembly Convoked. The Ark Placed in the Holy of Holies. Consecration of the Temple by the Glory Cloud. Its Dedication by Solomon. His Address to the People. 1 Kings 8 : 1-21. 2 Chron. 5 : 2-14 ; 6 : 1-11. 546 288. Solomon's Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple. 1 Kings 8 : 22-53. 2 Chron. 6 : 12-42. 552 289. Fire Consumes the Sacrifices. Israel Worships and the Levite Choirs Praise. Solomon's Prayer of Blessing. Days of Festal Gladness Following Days of Dedication. 1 Kings 8 : 54-66. 2 Chron. 7 : 1-10. 559 290. Uses and Significance of the Temple Structure, its Courts, and their Furniture; with Suggestions Touching the Priestly Ritual and Service. 564 291. Jehovah's Answer to Solomon's Prayer. 1 Kings 9 : 1-9. 2 Chron. 7 : 11-22. 574 292. Building of Solomon's Palace; Various Structures included in it. Solomon's Regard to the Ordinances of Worship. 1 Kings 3 : 1-3 ; 7 : 1-12 ; 9 : 24, 25. 2 Chron. 8 : 11-16. 579 293. Cities Built by Solomon. His Administrative Officials, Ecclesiastical, Military, and Civil. His Chariots, Horsemen, and Horses. 1 Kings 4 : 1-19, 22, 23, 26-28 ; 9 : 10-23 ; 10 : 26, 28, 29. 2 Chron. 1 : 14, 16, 17 ; 8 : 1-10 ; 9 : 25, 28. 583 294. Immense Revenue of Gold from his Commerce with Ophir and Tarshish, from Merchants, and from Tributary Kings and Governors. The Magnificence of Solomon's Court. 1 Kings 9 : 26-28 ; 10 : 11, 12, 14-25, 27. 2 Chron. 1 : 15 ; 8 : 17, 18 ; 9 : 10, 11, 13-24, 27. 590 295. Solomon's Surpassing Wisdom. Visit of the Queen of Sheba. 1 Kings 4 : 29-34 ; 10 : 1-10, 13. 2 Chron. 9 : 1-9, 12. 596 296. Summary of Solomon's Reign. Its Wide Extent and Prosperity of the People. 1 Kings 4 : 20, 21, 24, 25. 2 Chron. 9 : 26. 605 297. Apostasy of Solomon, and the Announced Judgment of Jehovah. 1 Kings 11 : 1-13. 609 298. Adversaries to Solomon Raised up by JEHOVAH : Hadad the Edomite, Rezon of Damascus, and Jeroboam an Ephraimite. 1 Kings 11 : 14-40. 617 299. Death and Burial of Solomon. Points of his Character and Life, and Effects of his Reign. 1 Kings 11 : 41-43. 2 Chron. 9 : 29-31. 623 | Frontispiece: MAP OF HOLY LAND. | PAGE | | --- | --- | | HIGH RIDGE OF CENTRAL PALESTINE. Map. | 84 | | SHECHEM, MOUNTS ERAL AND GERIZIM. Illustration. | 86 | | NABLUS CAMP (SHECHEM). Sketch-map of English Survey. | 88 | | MAP PREPARED FOR THIS VOLUME. | 90 | | GIBSON, OR EL JIB. Illustration. | 92 | | HULEH PLAIN, SCENE OF JOSHUA'S BATTLE. Illustration. | 104 | | REFERENCE-MAP PREPARED FOR THIS VOLUME. | 110 | | PROFILE SECTIONS OF HOLY LAND. Diagrams. | 112 | | KURN SUBTABEH: SITE OF WITNESS ALTAR. Illustration. | 114 | | ESDRAELON AND LOWER GALILEE. Map. | 184 | | MOUNT TABOR. Illustration. | 187 | | BETHLEHEM. Illustration. | 196 | | PLAIN OF ESDRAELON AND JEZREEL. Map. | 211 | | FOUNTAIN OF JEZREEL. Illustration. | 213 | | PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. Map. | 218 | | JOTHAM'S SPEAKING-PLACE ON GERIZIM. Illustration. | 224 | | SHILOH, OR SEILUN. Illustration. | 248 | | BETHEL. Illustration. | 268 | | GIBEAH, SAUL'S HOME. Illustration. | 278 | | VALE OF MICHMASH, OR WADY SUWEINIT. Illustration. | 289 | | RAMAH, SAMUEL'S HOME. Illustration. | 312 | | MAP AND LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF DEAD SEA. Outline. | 325 | | ENGEDI, AND WEST SHORE OF DEAD SEA. Illustration. | 326 | | CLIFFS ABOVE ENGEDI. Illustration. | 328 | | PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. Map. | 351 | | ESDRAELON AND ITS NOTED PLACES. Illustration. | 353 | | FOUNTAIN OF JEZREEL. Illustration. | 355 | | REFERENCE-MAP PREPARED FOR THIS VOLUME. | 445 | | ROCK PLAN OF JERUSALEM. Outline. | 535 | | PROFILE SECTION THROUGH ZION, MORIAH, AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. | 536 | | EAST ANGLE OF SOUTH WALL OF JERUSALEM. Illustration. | 537 | | VICINITY OF JERUSALEM. Sketch Map. | 538 | | SACRED ENCLOSURE OF THE TEMPLE. Diagram. | 541 | NOTE.—The considerable amount of text included in the scope of this volume constrains an occasional omission of chapters or parts of chapters; such, for example, as the minute detail of the subdivisions of the land, the protracted account of the Benjamite war, the catalogue of David's "mighty men," and the particulars of his ecclesiastical, military, and revenue "courses," and official lists. But in every case the substance of the omitted text is clearly indicated, and every point worthy of note has its appropriate comment. PRELIMINARY: POINTS OF REMINDER AND OF CONNECTION WITH PREVIOUS HISTORY, AND OF SUGGESTION AND EXPLANATION TOUCHING THE HISTORY COVERED BY THIS VOLUME. Truth is learned only at the pure fountains of evidence. Authority does not create it; dogmatism recommends it not; neither does violence impose it: from such task-masters conscience retreats, that she may hear in the still silence of her musings the voice of God. E. T. Fitch. Familiarize the Scripture to thyself by constant and methodical exercise therein. Order, as it is the mother of memory, so is it a singular friend to a clear understanding. The generality of the Scripture hath such a contexture and coherence, one part with another, that small insight into it will be gained by reading it confusedly, disorderly; therefore read the whole in Order. Dr. Francis Roberts (1665). We call the Scriptures a revelation; in other words, an unveiling. The Bible records were given to us to take away the veil which hung between heaven and earth, between man and God. Their purpose is to reveal God. The actual revelation which has been made to us is of God in His relation to the soul of man. We are not to demand, we are not to expect, any further revelation. Of the secrets of God's power and origin we are told not a word. Such knowledge is not for us. But it does concern us to know of God's moral nature—to know that He is all-powerful, all-good, all-loving; and of God's power, goodness, and love, the Bible is one long and continuous revelation. The self-declared object of the Scriptures is that men should know God and know themselves. Ainger. Two things distinguish the Bible from every other book: the view it gives us of man, and the view it gives us of God. The one is so human, the other so Divine; the one so exactly consistent with what we ourselves see of man, the other so exactly consistent with what we ourselves should expect in God,—in other words, with what our own conscience, which is God's voice within, recognizes as worthy of God, and ratifies where it could not have originated. Vaughan. Grandly the old text harmonizes with the new—the old is illuminated by the new and the new is connected with the old as part of one sublime system, animated by one spirit, originated by one mind, and unitedly filling up the circle of truth for the salvation of men. Reading the Old Testament in the light of the New, we are not passing into another atmosphere or another region of thought; it is the same; the same God, the same Saviour in prophecy, the same Christian life and experience. Reading the New, we see in it only a fulfilment of the Old; the same system more fully developed; the same truth set forth in clear light. Thus this whole Bible comes to the heart as the living Word of God, all of it profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction, for edification in righteousness. S. W. F. The Old and the New Testament are one. They have one aim; they treat of one revelation; they disclose one way of salvation. They fit in together as perfectly as two sundered fragments of a branch would fit together, with an undesigned exactness that no human art could imitate. The Old Testament must be read in the light of the New, and the New Testament cannot be understood except in the light of the Old. As our Lord himself said, the Old Testament testifies of him all the way through. Christ is its main underlying thought, and no one knows how to read the Old Testament who does not look for Christ everywhere in it. Crosby. Jesus Christ would not have accepted a homage which would have exalted Him at the expense of the God of the Old Covenant, a homage which would have placed His words in contradiction of spirit and tendency with those of Moses and the prophets, or which would relegate miracles far back into the dimness of the ancient ages, to eliminate them from His own life and work. All the lines of the Old Testament, law, prophecy, history, converge toward Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfils it in every respect. To break with the one, therefore, is to break of necessity with the other. And if the Old Testament should be banished from the shelves of our libraries, and from the hands of our children, the New would not fail soon to follow it. And by what would it be replaced? Are the literary geniuses of modern times likely to stand the future generations in lieu of psalter and prophets? They do not, perhaps, express themselves as crudely as the Bible does. But this is what they do. They skilfully excite the imagination by half-veiled pictures, which inspire a taste for guilty pleasures. And what society is that which they labor at forming? A society of which some one has said that "its ears alone are chaste." No doubt the hand of the Bible is rude; it rends all manner of veils, it calls things by their name. It is disgusting, men say. True, and that is precisely the reason why the Bible disgusts us with evil. Compare the populations that possess the Bible with those that are deprived of it. See England,—see America. The holiness of God has found its way into the conscience of those nations. The Bible is in every hand. The pure, frank, energetic glance of the maiden herself would be sufficient to attest that if she does know evil this knowledge has left in her heart no trace whatever of sympathy, for she has learned to consider it in the light of holiness. That is what the Bible does. Goethe thus expresses his opinion of the Bible:—"It is to its intrinsic value that the Bible owes the extraordinary veneration in which it is held by so many nations and generations. It is not only a popular book, it is the book of the people. The greater the intellectual progress of ages, the more fully possible will it also become to employ the Bible both as the foundation and as the instrument of education—of that education by which not pedants, but truly wise men are formed. Take the Bible, book after book, and you will find that this Book of books has been given us in order that, in contact with it, as with a new world, we may study, enlighten, and develop ourselves." "When," says he, in speaking of his youth, "my imagination, ever active, bore me away, now hither, now thither, and when all this blending of history and fable, of mythology and religion, threatened to unsettle my mind, gladly then did I flee toward those Eastern countries; I buried myself in the first books of Moses, and there, amidst those wandering tribes, I found myself at once in the grandest of solitudes and in the grandest of societies." Such is the judgment of one of the most eminent of modern writers, of a man whom no particular religious sympathy led to the Bible. This appreciation was the result of his moral conscience, of his literary taste, and of his common sense. Godet. The history of the Israelitish people, as recorded in the Old Testament, needs now more than ever to be made familiar, not only as exhibiting the divine guidance of a chosen race, with the constant revelation of the character and will of God which it involves, and also as containing the setting in which prophecy is put and exhibiting the relations in which it was uttered, but as furnishing the means of judging of the validity of many objections which have been recently urged. The best refutation of not a few of the strange and distorted representations of sacred history now persistently made, is the history itself. Day. The historic books of the Old Testament are a part of revealed religion, but it is because they are the record of that revelation of the mind and the will of God which is unfolded to us in the life of nations and the course of history. The Spirit of God is instructing us in the sacred narrative concerning the principles of the Divine government, the inherent might of right, the irresistible prevalence in the long run of good over evil, the tendency of selfishness and wrong to sap the vitality and undermine the fair prosperity and strength of nations and the like; but these are principles which are not simply contained and taught for the first time in the pages of a book, they are interwoven into the life of humanity. Caird. The leading purpose of the Old Testament Records is to recount the origin of God's covenant with men, and the gradual development of a kingdom among men upon the basis of that covenant. These Records impressively disclose the principles of the Divine administration, i.e., the laws governing the subjects of this kingdom, and the methods of Divine acceptance and favor, as conveyed through specific moral commandments, through the temporary aid of ceremonial and type, through prophecy, and, not least, through national and personal history. In this view of the Old Testament histories we find their inestimable value. Covering a wide reach of time, and including a vast range of circumstance and incident, they furnish abundant opportunity to illustrate God's method of acting; they unfold fully the great principles of His law and grace, by their minute application of these principles to varying events, and to differing human characters and conduct. In this view, as replete with suggested counsel, encouragement, and warning, for the practical questions of life, a thoughtful pulpit teacher recently characterized these inspired Histories as "the Gospel of Providence;" and justly, since Providence is an integral and vital part of God's gracious administration. And in this view, let it be remembered, the worth and usefulness of this Old Testament Gospel are scarcely second to that of the New, of which it is the needful complement. B. One marked feature pervades the Hebrew Scriptures. It is not that history is made the medium of religious instruction. That would be a most narrow and mistaken view of the matter. It is that religion is shown as the soul of history; the supreme reality and central power in human affairs; the deepest foundation of human life. E. R. Conder.—The Old Testament histories do not contain history as such, but a selection of historical facts made in accordance with a determinate philosophy of history. It was the privilege of the chosen people to be conscious from the first of the purport of their national vicissitudes, and to believe in a Providence who not only held all the threads which made up the patterns of their life, but who had also revealed to them the general features of that pattern. The words of the original covenant made amid flame and trumpet and lightning, had been frequently reiterated. They knew that national misfortune indicated national wrong-doing, and national prosperity a national obedience to the divine commands. Cave. The Old Testament differs from ordinary histories in its subject, because it is the history of the special training and discipline of God's chosen people: in its method, because it is "a history of facts as God sees them referred to their true centre in Him, explained by His dealings with men, and His workings within them;" or, in other words, its writers were inspired by God the Holy Ghost to discern the true significance of events, and to relate such parts of the national history as should truly set forth the gradual evolution of God's purpose toward His people. The Old Testament is the history of a dispensation which was partial, progressive, preparatory. It can only be rightly understood in view of the great fact to which it looked forward. It must be studied as the record of the Divine Preparation for the Incarnation of the Son of God, which is the central event of the world's history, the hope of all humanity, the final revelation of God to the world. "It does not simply contain prophecies of Christ: it is from first to last a prophecy of Him." This preparation included three main elements which must be carefully traced in each successive epoch of Jewish history: (1) the discipline and training of the chosen nation of Israel that it might be "the home" to which in "the fulness of the times" God might send His Son; and the instrument by which the knowledge of God might be communicated to the world at large: (2) the gradual development under the various types of Priest, Prophet, and King, of the expectation of a Deliverer who should unite in himself all these offices, and be at once a Mediator, a Teacher, a Monarch: (3) God's progressive revelation of Himself, "in many parts and in many fashions," that men might at length be enabled to recognize "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." A. F. K. The Hebrew historians wrote straight to the heart and conscience. Remember God and righteousness, is the moral of their every page. They never wrote history for mere history's sake, nor biography for biography's sake. They wrote national history, for they had a great mission to the national mind and heart; but they wrote their national history largely in biographical guise, for they had at least as great a mission to the individual heart, and sought their effects through the wide gate of personal sympathies. They wrote to the whole nation; and at the same time they wrote to each individual soul. Cable. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures is a being who loves, with an infinite and divine love, truth and righteousness, and who hates with the intensity of a being who is holy, all iniquity. And it is this personality of God, which is so vividly revealed to us in the Old Testament, that imparts to that book its peculiar charm and interest. We feel silenced and awed in the presence of the existence and personality of such a God. The history of Israel becomes in our sight profoundly interesting. It becomes a wonderfully real history. The scenes which the Old Testament present to us for our study and profit are all aglow with the vividness, picturesqueness, and brilliancy of great events wherein we see, as though portrayed in massive outlines, and in splendor and richness and strength of coloring, the tumultuous warring, disloyal, and sinning life of nations and individuals. We see, in these narratives in the Old Testament, the flashing armor of hosts tramping to battle, the gleam of swords and spears on crimson fields and mountains, the stately and splendid procession of kings and armies,—scenes of war and peace, sorrow and joy, glorious reward and terrible punishment. And from amid these scenes, so intensely graphic in their nature, there rises in majesty, limitless power, mercy and holiness, Jehovah of hosts, the God of heaven and earth, the rewarder of those who love and diligently seek him, and the punisher of those who disobey him. If there is one single truth which these striking scenes impress upon our minds, it is the great and solemn truth that there is a personal God in the heavens, and that his eyelids try the children of men. S. A. Harlow. Moses taught his countrymen that God had conferred upon them the highest prize which man can conceive, freely and without any merit on their part. When they were bondsmen of Pharaoh, He claimed them as His servants; when they trembled before the powers of the visible world, He showed them that these powers were His instruments, and that He used them for their good; when they fancied that the Euler of the world was indifferent to them or hated them, He proved that He was watching over them and caring for them, even in their meanest condition, though they were not thinking at all of Him; when they supposed that He was capricious, He proved to them the evenness, regularity, equity of His government; when they fancied that He was unmerciful, He declared Himself as the Lord God, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin. This knowledge of the living and unseen God, Moses told his countrymen, was everything. This knowledge was the good thing which they had received from the Source of all Good. To hold it fast, was to be a nation; to lose it, was to sink back into the condition out of which they had been raised—not by their own might,—and which if they trusted in their own might, would assuredly overtake them again. Maurice. And so all through, this history places in bold contrast God's much love and Israel's little love, his faithfulness and their "little faith," his constancy and their fickleness, his holiness and their vileness, their provocations and his long-suffering. And yet he upbraids not. He speaks in righteousness, which is as necessary to their blessedness as is the love itself. Such is the God with whom we have to do. He will maintain equally and always righteousness that cannot be tainted, faithfulness that cannot fail, and love which cannot be quenched. Happy are we, who, knowing that our salvation through the blood is an accomplished fact, and that our acceptance "in the Beloved" is eternally secured, can welcome the living and powerful word, in its dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and its discernment of the thoughts and intents of the heart. An. Thus we learn the value of the Old Testament histories in illustrating God's method of acting, in unfolding the great principles of His law and grace by minute applications to persons and events; that is, their value as revealing the character and heart of God, through these particulars of His working. But not less valuable are these Old Testament histories in the superior means they afford for the calm study and accurate comprehension of human character and conduct. Our own observation, or even experience, is necessarily imperfect and partial, so that we cannot certainly discern motive as acting in others or ourselves. Our inferences respecting men are therefore defective. But these Bible narratives reveal motive, and open men's hearts to our view; we can study men dispassionately, and with less liability to mistake. Above all, we can better understand the force and the depth of man's corruptness. So it is that the Old Testament histories not only disclose God's nature, but, better than any other histories, reveal man's mixed character. On the one side they unveil his natural selfishness in all its deformity and enormity; and on the other, his received spiritual temper in its beauty and excellence, even though imperfect. And this twofold revelation, of God and man, they make in connection with the wide range of varied circumstance and incident, in which God and man act together. B. Paul, 1 Cor. 10 : 1-14, shows us the proper use of this history. It teaches us the corruption, perverseness, and folly of man, and the goodness and severity of God. It shows us the evil of unbelief and of rebellion; the excellence of submission to the divine will; and the truth, power, and unchangeableness of Jehovah. This part of Scripture discloses a true picture of human life: of our dangers and difficulties in the world. What lessons ought we to learn here of vigilance and caution; of patience, fidelity, and courage! and what warnings against unbelief and disobedience! Jos. Jones. We can use the Bible with deeper interest because of the intensely human character of its narratives. We see human life in its pages, and trace human idiosyncrasies in the varieties of representation, and as "one touch of nature makes the whole world kin," so this human element in the Bible lays hold of men, and excites in them a greater interest in its narratives. The careful reader also, by means of these variations, sees in stronger light the one spiritual purpose running through the whole. The great revelation of God in Christ is more conspicuous in its oneness and continuity by reason of the very diversities and sometimes irreconcilable differences of the narrative. Our appreciation of the spiritual is the higher because we see that not one great truth is in the slightest degree affected by any verbal, chronological, or historical difficulties. Admit them all, if need be, and the real saving truth is as clear as the sun at noonday. The difficulties in question are a means of wholesome discipline. All historic studies furnish scope for the exercise of caution, discrimination, patience, reticence, and suspended judgment because of the necessary incompleteness of all historic records. This is especially true of the Bible, the more so as we do not always know the particular reason of the selection or omission of items, while we do know that we have not a thousandth part of the actual events associated with the unfolding in the long line of human history of the great purpose of God in Christ. The light thrown on obscure passages by advancing discoveries is an additional reason for the exercise of patience and cautious reserve. God is educating us in the peculiar manner in which he has been pleased to allow his revelation to man to be incorporated by human hands with narratives of events. C. Chapman. The Old Testament Scripture combines two forms of history—annals, and dramatic story. Annals are short, and necessarily somewhat dry; but they have the advantage of embracing much in comparatively short compass. The dramatic story is necessarily diffuse; it occupies a large amount of space; but it has the advantage of presenting a living picture—of bringing past events before the reader as they happened at the time. If the whole history of the Bible had been in the form of annals, it would have been very useful, but it would have wanted human interest. If it had been all in the dramatic form, it would have occupied too much space. By the combination of the two methods, we secure the compact precision of the one, and the living interest of the other. W. G. B. The prominent characteristics of the biblical style in the historical books, are simplicity and dignity. We often find repetition: but yet the sacred narratives are rapid and concise: they are chiefly outlines or sketches of character, of interesting incidents, abounding with noble expressions, deep thoughts, and exquisite touches. "The whole of Scripture history" (says Gerard) "is carried on in a dramatic manner, introducing persons as speaking and conferring; which has great simplicity, and a great effect in expressing sentiments, suited to particular characters, whether good or bad." The biblical style, as compared with the classic, may be called sententious. The Scripture history is, in fact, a peculiar sort of writing, partly biography, partly annals. It presents us with a series of historical pictures, both domestic and national. Events are recorded; but they always stand connected with moral elements and attributes. Here, in short, we see the ways of God in his providence and moral government; and here we see the ways of man. Almost every page leads us to examine a moral picture—a human being. The language is simple, natural, terse, select: the sentences are generally short. Jos. Jones. # Literary Study Auxiliary to the Religious Use of the Bible. The purpose of the Bible is practical and religious. Its great central thoughts relate to God and man—the nature, love, and purposes of God, and the duty and true destiny of man. The Bible, which treats chiefly of the relations of man to God, is therefore pre-eminently the book of duty. It teaches men what God requires of them and makes possible for them. It opens to mankind the meaning of their own life. Disclosing God's thoughts for man, it teaches the dignity of human life, and enables men to discover and receive as their own the divine conception of what they should do and be. The Bible is the book of life. It is comparatively oblivious of all subjects except salvation, character, goodness. Its great lessons and truths relate to what God has done and is ever doing to save men to their best possible selves. Its chief emphasis, therefore, is always upon righteousness, an inner life of harmony with God and of growing likeness in all that is God-like. But all these great truths are set in a historic frame-work. They are, in the main, not in abstract but in concrete form. They are woven into the warp and woof of history, illustrated and enforced in the lives of individuals, communities, and nations. They run as pervading lessons through the careers of men and peoples; they are bound up in images and similitudes, in types and symbols; they are found in letters and sermons; some of their tenderest tones breathe through poems and prayers. Thus the Bible presents to the student of it all the chief types of literary form. It must, to some extent, be studied as literature, with literary appreciation and with reference to its literary phenomena and peculiarities, if it is to be intelligently as well as devoutly studied. The religious use and the literary study of the Bible are in no way inconsistent; each should be and may be made very helpful to the other. The religious character and value of the Bible should make its literary study more earnest and reverent, while an appreciation of the Bible as history and literature will more fully disclose its meaning and emphasize its value. As religion must be both intelligent and devout if it will produce the best results in character; so biblical study, which is so vitally related to religion, should both appreciate and reverently receive the spiritual truth of the Bible, and also seek to understand the forms in which it is presented, and the providential conditions and circumstances under which those truths have been revealed and the historic agencies which have been employed to this end. If these two methods of Bible study do not react helpfully upon one another, it can only be because, on the one hand, reverence for the Bible is blind and superstitious, or because, on the other, the literary study of it is cold and unappreciative. It will be a great gain to the cause of theology and religion when the Bible is more studied and understood as literature. In this way, truer conceptions of what the Bible is will come to prevail. When the historical relations and literary forms with which its truths and teachings are inseparably connected are better appreciated, its true meaning and value will be more apparent, interpretations which defy philology and history alike will be less frequent and persistent, and the possibility of a far better agreement among Christians respecting the essentials of faith will be attained. Stevens. # Doctrinal Teaching of the Old Testament. In the Bible, doctrine simply means teaching, whether of abstract truths, or of the practical obligations of life. It is delivered by the sacred writers variously and informally by means of narrative, poetry, and exhortation. An excellent way of studying and connecting together religious doctrines is that of a Biblical Theology, conducted on the true historico-critical method which must approve itself to an age so intent as ours on the accurate exegesis of Scripture, and so deeply interested in tracing the historical developments of thought and faith among the nations of the world. A really Biblical Theology, while far from despising the ancient creeds or the modern logical systems, endeavors to follow the path of actual revelation, and to trace the advancing development of truth along the lines of dispensational progress. It is the way which brings out most fully to view the manifold wisdom of God, and in the end gives the most satisfaction to our intelligence, and the most firmness to our belief. The lines of study must of course begin in the Scriptures of the Old Covenant. We refuse to regard these as a mere literature of Judaism. In fact, Judaism, properly so called, began only in the days of Ezra, and as the canon of the Old Testament was about to close. That venerable canon is no special production or property of Judaism, but a record, through the prophets and historians of Israel, of divine revelation in all pre-Christian times. Therefore, an insight into its teachings and forecastings of things to come is indispensable to an intelligent apprehension of the later revelation enshrined in the Scriptures of the New Covenant. The teaching of the Old Testament is the historical foundation of the New Testament doctrine. The Old Testament, as a whole, underlies and supports the New. It not only gives the historical antecedents, but it trains and leads up to the New Testament, and determines the mould of thought. It does not follow from this that sentences and clauses may be extracted from the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, and strung together in any order, as proof-texts of Christian tenets; for this would be to ignore that progress in revelation which the Bible itself clearly and candidly avows. It is enough to find the rich germs of Christian truth in the Old Testament. If one asks for more, and insists on reading mature doctrine in the earliest books of the Bible, either he must have recourse to incessant allegorical interpretation, or he insensibly limits New Testament thought by Old Testament conditions. It is most true that through all Scripture there is one God, one purpose of mercy to mankind, one and the same principle of salvation by grace; but it by no means follows that all who have been saved, from the most remote ages, had a knowledge of the personal Saviour. It was a good saying of the late Dr. John Duncan, "We must not unsaint the Old Testament saints, but we must not make Pentecostal Christians of them." Hanna. —Nothing could be more fatal to the proper understanding of Holy Scripture, or of the purposes of God in His dealings with His ancient people, than to transport into olden times the full spiritual privileges, the knowledge of Divine truth, or even that of right and duty, which we now enjoy. It is not to do honor, but dishonor, to the Spirit of God to overlook the educational process of gradual development, which is not only a necessity of our nature, but explains our history. A miracle of might could, indeed, have placed the age of Samuel on the same spiritual level with that of the New Testament, at least so far as regards the communication of the same measure of truth. But such an exhibition of power would have eliminated the moral element in the educational progress of Israel, with the discipline of wisdom, mercy, and truth which it implied, and, indeed, have rendered the whole Old Testament history needless. A. E. Four Characteristics of Old Testament Teaching. 1. It res's always on facts and events. Nothing is argued or deduced from abstract principles. God moves toward men, deals with them, governs them; and all the teaching centres in and issues from transactions of God with men, and of men with God. The question, whether the accounts given of meetings and communications between God and man are historically true, or in some cases at all events devout legends, is a separate question to be discussed on its own grounds of evidence. But this at least is indisputable and reveals a profound wisdom, that the religious teaching grows upon a stem of narrative; the doctrine is not delivered in formulated propositions, but is involved in a record of what were, or profess to have been, actual doings and events. 2. It is so conducted as to be strongly suggestive of better things to come. The large scope given to prediction; the copious use of analogies and symbols evidently charged with a higher meaning than could be plainly stated at the time; the encouragement of hopes greater than the best periods of ancient history ever realized—all look toward a New Testament, and a time when things may be known and enjoyed, which prophets and righteous men desired to see, but were not permitted. 3. While this is the aspect of the Old Testament as a whole, its doctrine has within its own tumi's continual amplification and progress. Some momentous truths are there from the outset; but the materials of knowledge, the grounds of faith, and the indications of divine character and will multiply and strengthen as we advance. The theology is developed as the purposes of God are unfolded, and the order of His providence is revealed. The simplicity of the Patriarchal time grows into the minutely preceptive period of the Law. New elements of thought and hope come in with the Kingdom. Then there is an enlargement of the devout conceptions, as well as an intensifying of devout feelings, by help of the Psalter. And still further there is a powerful inculcation of the mind and will of Jehovah through the prophets of Judah and Israel. In fact, it is almost as necessary to observe the progress from the earlier to the later books of the Old Testament, as to recognize the advance from these last to the earlier books of the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4. The teaching of the Old Testament is not superseded in the New, but crowned and perfected. Standing in New Testament light, with the help of the Holy Ghost, we are to look along the whole track of Old Testament history, prophecy, and song, and mark the footsteps of the coming Christ all along the way. The Scriptures of the old time are "able to make us wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus;" not otherwise. For lack of such faith, Jews reading those Scriptures of their own nation are blind and spiritually unwise. But the New Testament key opens to us the Old Testament casket of truth. With faith in Christ Jesus we acquire wisdom in the garden of innocence, in the ark of deliverance, in the tents of patriarchs, in the wilderness with Moses and the tribes, in the camp with Joshua, in the court of David, in the temple of Solomon, in the society of the poets and prophets in whom God breathed. "For all Scripture theopneustic is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and discipline in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully furnished for every good work." D. F. First, the difference between the subjective and objective aspects of its theology. However low, comparatively speaking, may have been the stage occupied by Israel in their conceptions of, and dealings with God, yet the manifestations of the Divine Being are always so sublime that we could not conceive them higher at any later period. As we read their account we are still as much overawed and solemnized as they who had witnessed them. In fact, their sublimeness increases in proportion as the human element, and consequently the Divine accommodation to it, recedes. Secondly, even as regards man's bearing toward the Lord, the Old Testament never presents what seems the fundamental character of all ancient heathen religions. The object of Israel's worship and services was never to deprecate, but to pray. There was no malignant deity or fate to be averted, but a Father who claimed love and a King who required allegiance. Lastly, there is never an exhibition of mere power on the part of the Deity, but always a moral purpose conveyed by it, which in turn is intended to serve as germ of further spiritual development to the people. We are too prone to miss this moral purpose, because it is often conveyed in a form adapted to the standpoint of the men of that time, and hence differs from that suited to our own. Certain special difficulties in this part of the history concern the substance more than the form or letter of the text, and raise doctrinal, philosophical, and moral, rather than critical and exegetical questions. . . . I can at least say, that my own reverent belief in the authority of the Word of God has not in any one case been the least shaken. It sounds almost presumptuous to write down such a confession. Yet it seems called for in days when the enumeration of difficulties, easily raised, owing to the distance of these events, the great difference of circumstances, and the necessary scantiness of our materials of knowledge—whether critical, historical, or theological—so often takes the place of sober inquiry; and high-sounding phrases which, logically tested, yield no real meaning, are substituted for solid reasoning. A. E. Neither in doctrine nor in morals did the ancients reach what we call the Christian standard. We do not admit that a divine sanction ever was given to immorality or cruelty; but, apart from this, we deny that Christianity is bound to answer for the standard of conduct recognized even by God-fearing men before the day of Christ. The Old Testament conducts to Christianity; but the greater part of it is pre-Christian and immature. Its ethical teaching is all conducted on the principle of delineating the steps of progress by which the holy God has been pleased to guide and elevate the moral as well as theological education of mankind. Hanna. In the age of the world, and among those people when and to whom the commandments were delivered, false worship, or the worship of false gods, was the sin which lay at the root and foundation of every other. The worship of the one true God, in opposition to the vain, and false, and wicked religions which then obtained among mankind, was the grand point to be inculcated. History testifies, experience testifies, that there cannot be true morality, or true virtue, where there is false religion, false worship, false gods. Nay more; from the whole strain and tenor of the Old Testament there is good reason to believe, that to maintain in the world the knowledge and worship of the one true God, holy, just, and good, in contradistinction to the idolatrous worship which prevailed, was the great and principal scheme and end of the Jewish polity and most singular constitution. The Jewish nation was to be the depository of, and the means of preserving in the world the knowledge and worship of the one true God, when it was lost and darkened in other countries. Paley. The great problem was how to stop the race from going any further wrong, into stark savagery and idolatry, and how to turn it about, and get it ready for the setting up of a Divine order upon it, and for the reconciling and renovating of it with the heavenly communion it had lost. This was the thing to be done. And it was to be done, suppose, not by the thrusting in of an arbitrary revolution, a stupendous miracle of mechanism which would simply set the outward works all right, but would leave the springs of spiritual life—love, choice, energy, faith—all untouched and unchanged. The very thing wanted was to bring in and set up these grand interior holy forces in the soul. "The world by wisdom knew not God." God only could make it know Him; and, being what He is, He could do it only by preserving man's freedom, and respecting every law wrought into his nature. He took, therefore, what we call the practical way; He used the principles of selection, concentration, and adaptation. He did it gradually. He did it by human instruments. He limited the scene and the numbers. He took the child Moses out of the rush-basket, bearing in his veins the finer blood of that Hebrew pastoral people that God had led with His own hand and voice before, over the hills and pastures of Mesopotamia and Canaan,—the most reverent and conscientious on the earth. He trained that child in the best scientific school of the time,—"in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and then He set him at the head of a commonwealth. He selected a priesthood. He made elders. He organized a State. He arranged a ritual. He chose a limited territory in the right spot. And then He put this crude and childish nation down,—not in liberty yet,—they were not ripe for that,—but under discipline and regulation; not in the Gospel yet—for they would abuse and waste it if they had it,—but in the Law. This was the school and the scholar. In a word God did,—only better and more gloriously, and with some sublime signals of miraculous justice and mercy breaking through all along to turn to it the eyes of mankind and the reverent memory of the generations forever,—just what wisdom must do. He chose out one nation, and sent it to school to learn the prophetic rudiments of Christianity and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. The Old Testament is simply the narrative of that training school for Christ and for men. Some parts are more obscure than others; for the time was a great way back, and the materials of knowledge were scanty, and, above all, the Infinite and Inscrutable One, whose ways are often past our finding out, was the Master. But this is the key to the scheme. Was not the plan magnificent? Can the best critic or the shrewdest objector suggest a wiser way to save and lift to heavenly places enervated, sensual, vulgar, wretched humanity? And when we take a view of the whole Old Testament history wide and deep and rational as this,—with all its strange incidents, its erring heroes, and faulty saints, intermingled with its splendid virtues, its sublime loyalty, its eloquence and poetry unequalled in all the literature of the world, and its supernatural prophecies,—all intense and bright with hallowed fire, because it is the school of God,—is it not a very poor thing indeed to carp at an unexplained passage here and there, or to sneer and cavil at some half-veiled feature in the majestic working out of the design? F. D. H. To intrust the forthcoming revelation to the world at large would have been to lose it; to secure its conservation the Most High prepared a place and a people. That revelation should be guarded with religious care by a race who knew that their national existence was bound up with its integrity, and who, instead of courting foreign alliances or aspiring to imperial dominion, felt that they had a mission still more august, that, as custodiers of God's oracles and guardians of His temple, they had a distinction above all the peoples that dwell on the face of the earth. Hence everything was done to keep them at home, and to keep them separate. Hence was it that a dietary was prescribed which made the Hebrew a troublesome guest and an uneasy traveller in the land of the Gentiles. Hence was it that a few days' radius from the Temple became the necessary limit of Hebrew homes. Hence was it that the heart of the Jew was taught to cling with a tremendous tenacity to his Holy Land, till exile became the sorest of judgments, and a grave in the sacred soil was deemed almost essential to a joyful resurrection. Hamilton. The lesson of the history as a whole should not be overlooked. What conceivable explanation is there of the history of the Jews, with their inextinguishable vitality, and the fulfilment again and again of their unquenchable hopes, except the truth that God had chosen them, and that God was with them? They had no righteousness, but were a stiff-necked people. They had no splendid territory, but a strip of barren, narrow, ill-watered land. They had no grand genealogy—a Syrian ready to perish was their father. They were not powerful enough of themselves even to conquer their own small land. They were not united; Ephraim envied Judah, and Judah vexed Ephraim. They were not free, but became the prey of nation after nation. They were not a maritime people, for their strip of seacoast was mostly harborless, and not their own. They had no commercial industry like Venice or Holland; no art like Greece; no arms like Rome; no colonies like England; no philosophy like Germany. They were constantly starting aside like a broken bow. Yet no power has ever been able to crush, no persecution to destroy them. They have influenced, taught, pervaded mankind. Their sacred book is the sacred book of humanity, their religious ideas are becoming more and more the religious ideas of the race. What explains it all, and alone explains it? Nothing but the truth that "God showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and ordinances with Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation, neither have the heathen knowledge of his law." Farrar. # Prophetic Character of Old Testament History. We must carefully bear in mind, in reading the Old Testament, that the whole of the history of God's chosen people had a distinctly prophetic character, looking onward and leading up to the grand consummation of God's purposes for mankind in the establishment of the kingdom of Christ, and the foundation of his Church—the true spiritual Israel. We are not to look in them for a continuous history, such as we are accustomed to in the annals of the kingdoms of this world. Long periods are dispatched summarily or passed over in complete silence, while others are narrated at considerable length. This varied mode of treatment is not to be explained by the comparative wealth or poverty of the materials at the writer's command, but depends on their value and importance for the great end in view—the development of the Divine plan as set forth in the national life of the chosen people. The events described are not selected capriciously. Critical epochs are chosen—turning-points in the history of the people, on which their future fortunes depended for weal or for woe, according as they obeyed or resisted God's revealed will. Thus the narrative illustrates the Divine law of retribution, in the variation of the fortunes of Israel, in exact correspondence with their changing relations to their theocratic King; while we watch how certainly national disaster follows apostacy, and prosperity attends faithful adherence to the covenant of God. This, which is the leading principle of these historic-prophetical writings, and which gives them their chief value for us, and for all future time, is nowhere more plainly to be traced than in the Books of Samuel. "They are not," in the words of Bishop Wordsworth, "a congeries of ill digested materials, or of fruitless repetitions, but a prophetic history of real events preparing the way for the priesthood and kingdom and prophetic office of Christ, and foreshadowing them. They hold a place of their own, and perform a peculiar work, not only in relation to the Hebrew nation, but in a higher function, as preparing the way for Christ. The Apostle Peter marks their character in this respect when he says, 'All the prophets from Samuel . . . have foretold of these days'—the days of Christ and the Gospel" (Acts 3:24). The eye does not rest on the persons and events recorded, and stop there; but seeing in them illustrations, as striking as they are unmistakable, of the principles of God's moral government of mankind, and the great ends of all his dealings with them, is led onward to Him of whom every righteous king, true prophet, and holy priest was a type, in whom God's will has been fully declared, and His purposes summed up—"the Lord's Anointed," "the Son of David," "Christ, the King." E. V. The history of Israel has four main heroes—Moses, Samuel, David, Ezra. Moses gave them their freedom and their law; Samuel their order and unity; David their poetry and their power; Ezra gave them a collected literature and a religious education. If David was the founder of Israel as a monarchy, Ezra is the founder of Israel as a church. But the lesson of the Old Testament history is mainly this—that, whether as a Kingdom or as a Church, the true Israel had but two sources of power and permanence—the law of a Divine holiness, the grasp of a Messianic hope. Farrar. The civil code introduced by Moses, and the ordinances of worship appointed by him, furnish the needed starting-point in the study of the institutions and life of Israel. There is just the same authority for referring these to Moses as there is for believing that he acted as judge and leader of Israel in their coming forth from Egypt. The whole subsequent history unfolds from this fixed point, is determined by it, and cannot be properly understood without it. The Pentateuchal Law claims in the most unambiguous manner to have been given and recorded by Moses. The general character of the legislation, and the terms in which it is couched, accord with this claim. Its truth is further vouched for in the most direct and positive manner in the history of his trusted attendant and successor Joshua (1:7, 8; 8:31-34; 22:5; 23:6); further by Ju. 3:4; 1 K. 2:3; 2 K. 10:31; 14:6; 17:37; 18:6, 12; 21:8; 22:8; 23:24, 25, not to speak of numerous testimonies of later date. The history and legislation of the Pentateuch lies at the basis of all the subsequent history of the Old Testament. It is presupposed in the Psalms. It is presupposed in the Prophets. Moses' authorship has the explicit sanction of our blessed Lord Himself. The prior existence of the Pentateuch is shown by its being so interwoven with all subsequent portions of the history and literature of Israel that it cannot be torn from it without the destruction of the whole. It is upon this immovable foundation that the traditional view securely reposes. W. H. G. The two stone tables of the Law are, according to all evidences and arguments, to be ascribed to Moses, and those essential truths and social arrangements which constitute the motive power of the whole history must certainly have been there promulgated and firmly ordained at Sinai. Ewald.—The roll of the law (Ex. 19, 24), written down by Moses himself, and inserted into the general historical account of the giving of the law, must be regarded as the central part, as having formed the primary basis of the Pentateuch. The other laws promulgated during the stay in the wilderness of Sinai and up to the time when Israel occupied the plains of Moab were orally given by Moses, but written down by those around him, either at his command or of their own accord. On the soil of the holy land and at the close of an era in the history of Israel was the sacred chronicle commenced. But any account of the history of the Mosaic period necessarily implied that the whole Mosaic legislation should be engrossed, and hence written down. A man, such as the priest Eleazar, the son of Aaron, may have written the large work commencing with "In the beginning God created," etc., into which he also inserted the roll of the law, dwelling perhaps the more briefly on the last addresses of Moses that the latter had himself written them down. Then a second historian, such as Joshua, or one of those Elders on whom rested the spirit of Moses, supplemented the work and incorporated with it the book of Deuteronomy, the spirit of which had moulded that of the compiler himself. Thus probably was the Thorah (or Law) formed, the two authors having certainly consulted many written documents. Both of them—the priestly Elohist and the prophetical Jehovah—are each in his own way the echo and the copy of their teacher and prototype, the great Lawgiver. Just as the Evangelists wrote the Gospel after the ascension of Christ in His Spirit, so did these two after removal of Moses write his law and the history of which it forms part. Delitsch. The compass of the people's obligations, the revelation of God's commanding will, is the law, the fundamental principle of which is expressed in the words, "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11 : 44 f., 19 : 2) ; or more completely (20 : 7), "Sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am Jehovah your God." The impress of consecration to the holy God is to be stamped on the life of the Israelites in ordinances extending to all important relations and conditions ; in every important affair of life the Israelite has to accomplish something which God demands. Therefore in all things he must realize to himself the voice of the commanding God. The traditional division of the law of Moses into moral, ceremonial, and juristic laws may serve to facilitate a general view of theocratic ordinances ; but it is incorrect if it seeks to express a distinction within the law, and to claim a difference of dignity for the various parts. For in the law, the most inward commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," stands beside "Thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed." That Israel must be holy, like God, is the ground alike of the command not to be defiled by eating the flesh of certain animals, and of the command to honor father and mother. The whole law, in all its parts, has the same form of absolute, unconditional command. Because of this character of the law, human judgment cannot be allowed to make distinctions between the different precepts. But, so far as man is concerned, the most inconsiderable precept is viewed under the aspect of the obedience demanded for the whole law : "Cursed is he that fulfils not the words of this law to do them" (De. 27 : 26). It is not true that the law of Moses demands only external conformity to the law, not a frame of mind ; that, in short, it demands legality, not morality. On the contrary, the law insists on the disposition of the heart when it says, "Thou shalt not covet ;" when it binds men to love God with the whole heart and soul, to be placable toward their fellow men, and the like, when it demands the circumcision of the heart—that is, the purification and devotion of it to God. But undoubtedly it demands the external as co-ordinate with the internal. And precisely in this lies an important educating element. When all the relations of life, even those merely external, are placed under a direct command of God—when man in all he does or may not do has to render obedience to God, he is thereby led to the truth that what he ought to be is not to be sought in rules of life arbitrarily formed and shaped by conventionality, but in an absolutely perfect will, which conditions and determines all things. For a right estimate of the law of Moses, the following points have further to be noticed :— (1) The whole ritual ordinances to which the Israelite is subject, from his circumcision onward, have a symbolic character, mirroring the inner process of sanctification, and so forming the instrument of a tuition advancing from the outer to the inner. The prophets and the Psalms, when they speak of the true sacrifice, the true lustration which man needs, are simply expressing the thoughts that underlie the symbolical ritual. (2) The precepts of the law are given in detail mainly on the negative side ; what the Israelite may not do is told with great particularity. The scholastic subtlety of the Rabbins, indeed, has made out the considerable number of 248 positive commands, against 365 prohibitions. But it is easy to see that with regard to positive duties the law often states only general rules ; that, in fact, many positive points that lie in its intention are not expressly enjoined, but that only the facts, patterns, and institutions are set forth which serve to guide a free development of positive virtues. It was only Jewish tradition which at a later period extended its leading-strings over the space which the law had left open for the free development of piety. (3) Finally,—and this is the main point,—we have to look at the motives for fulfilling the law which the law presents. All righteousness required by the law presupposes faith in the divine election, gracious guidance, and promise. The legislation opens with the words, "Ye have seen how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself;" and so the Decalogue puts at the head of its demands what God has done for Israel. But it is Deuteronomy in particular which, by showing how God has loved His people, seeks to excite responsive love as the deepest motive for obedience, and especially to make the law acceptable to the people by awakening a sense of its excellency and fitness (De. 4 : 6-8, 30 : 11-14); though, at the same time, Deuteronomy leaves no doubt that the people neither can nor will attain such willingness to obey. O. # No Law-making by the Kings. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/butler/ 2. S. 24 : 1** And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah. And the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the sum of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundred fold, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it : but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the peo- 1. Chron. 21 : 1** And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan ; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them. And Joab said, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be : but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel? Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand 5 ple of Israel. And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of 6 Gad, and unto Jazer: then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and round about 7 to Zidon, and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the 8 south of Judah, at Beer-sheba. So when they had gone to and fro through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of 9 nine months and twenty days. And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. 10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: but now, O LORD, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; 11 for I have done very foolishly. And when David rose up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, 12 David's seer, saying, Go and speak unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may 13 do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise thee, and consider what answer I shall 14 return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the 15 hand of man. So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy 16 thousand men. And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing- 17 floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men 6 that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's 7 word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he 8 smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done 9 very foolishly. And the LORD spake unto 10 Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and speak unto David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of 11 them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus 12 saith the LORD, Take which thou wilt; either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer 13 I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: and let me not 14 fall into the hand of man. So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of 15 Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, 17 fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued. 18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake 19 in the name of the LORD. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons 18. And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebu- 19 site. And David went up according to the 20 saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded. And Araunah looked forth, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king; with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may 22 be stayed from the people. And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the furniture 23 of the oxen for the wood: all this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy 24 God accept thee. And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will verily buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the LORD my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. that were with him hid themselves. Now 21 Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the 22 ground. Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto the LORD: for the full price shalt thou give it me: that the plague may be stayed from the people. 23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal- 24 offering; I give it all. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it, for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer a burnt-offer- 25 ing without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by 26 weight. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire 27 upon the altar of burnt-offering. And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 28 At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed 29 there. For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the 30 high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD. 1. Chron. 22:** 1 Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt-offering for Israel. There is no definite note of time to show when the events here recorded took place, but several indications point to the later years of David's reign. The language of verse 1, "again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel," evidently refers to the famine recorded in ch. 21 and points to a date after that occurrence. It would have been impossible for the commander-in-chief to spend nearly ten months in taking the census, except at a time of permanent peace. David's preparations for building the Temple, which occupied the last years of his reign, are narrated in Chronicles as the immediate sequel of his purchase of Araunah's threshing-floor. The narrative in Chronicles agrees much less closely than usual with Samuel. A. F. K. Comparing the two accounts of this sin and of the judgment sent because of it, we find the diversities somewhat numerous; the real discrepancies few; from which the inference seems warranted that these authors drew from different original sources and not from one and the same. There is not the least difficulty in assuming that the contemporary annals of Israel were written by more hands than one; e.g., "the acts of David the king, first and last, in the Book of Samuel the seer, and in the Book of Nathan the prophet, and in the Book of Gad the seer," as we read 1 Chron. 29: 29. In the ultimate compilation of the books we have (e.g., 2 S. and 1 Chron.), the compiler of the former may have had one or two of these original documents; the compiler of the latter, the remaining one; or, if each had them all, he may have found slight differences; possibly some discrepancies—and would dispose of these according to his own judgment or upon traditionary data. The sin of David in numbering the people in its result fixed the site of Solomon's temple (2 Chron. 3 : 1). A narrative of these scenes appears in both 2 S. 24 and 1 Chron. 21. The same Hebrew word rendered "moved" in Samuel is rendered "provoked" in Chronicles. The agent is said in Samuel to be the Lord, but in Chronicles, Satan, the prince of evil spirits. As to the agent in this temptation, it was God only in the permissive sense; Satan in the personal and positive sense, permitted of God, and by his very nature, wanting nothing more than the barest permission to give scope to the Satanic malice of his heart, and involve both David and the Lord's people in terrible calamities. It may, perhaps, be put to the account of "progress of doctrine" that in the later book (Chronicles) this agency is ascribed to Satan, while in the Book of Samuel, neither his name nor his agency appears. H. C.—The nation had sinned and incurred His anger, and God instigated David to an act which brought down a sharp punishment on the nation. The statement that God incited David to do what was afterward condemned and punished as a heinous sin cannot of course mean that He compelled David to sin, but that in order to test and prove his character He allowed the temptation to assault him. Thus, while we read that "God himself tempteth no man," we are taught to pray "Bring us not into temptation." The older record (Samuel) speaks only of God's permissive action: the latter (Chronicles) tells us of the malicious instrumentality of Satan. The case is like that of Job. A. F. K. The numbering of the people was one of the last and most reprehensible acts of David. From the expressions here used, we learn that God permitted Satan to tempt David to the commission of a crime, which would draw down punishment on himself and his people, as he afterward permitted the same evil and lying spirit to seduce the prophets of Ahab (1 K. 22 : 22), and the disciple of Christ (Luke 22 : 3). The ruling passion by which the tempter assailed David was the pride of life, which, though checked and mortified by the wholesome restraints of adversity, broke out again in the sunshine of prosperity. David's offence seems chiefly to have consisted in his persisting to require a muster of all his subjects able to bear arms without the Divine command, without necessity, in a time of profound peace, to indulge an idle vanity and presumption, as if he put his trust more in the number of his subjects than in the Divine protection; and the offence of his people may have been similar, always elated as they were in prosperity, and provoking the anger of the Lord by their forgetfulness of him. Hales.—Moses numbered the people by God's authority, to show that they were all his subjects: David seems to have numbered them to show that they were his own people, and to display his own sovereignty, which provoked God. Bp. Wilson. Yet another and real cause is to be found in the verse which introduces the narrative, and which is almost invariably lost sight of in the common accounts of this transaction. It is that "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel." Now the anger of the Lord could only be awakened by unfaithfulness and evil-doing; and that, whatever its precise nature, was the real cause of the calamity that followed, and relieves the case of the apparent harshness, of which so much has been said, of making the people suffer for the offence of their king. On this account "the Lord moved David to number Israel." Kit. It was not the census itself which was displeasing to God, but the motive which inspired David to take it. Various conjectures have been suggested to account for David's wish to number the people. Some suppose that he intended to develop the military power of the nation with a view to foreign conquest; others that he meditated the organization of an imperial despotism and the imposition of fresh taxes. But whether any definite design of increased armaments or heavier taxation lay behind it or not, it seems clear that what constituted the sin of the act was the vainglorious spirit which prompted it. In a moment of pride and ambition—pride at the prosperity of the kingdom, ambition to be like the kings of the nations round about—he desired to know to the full over how vast and populous a kingdom he ruled, forgetting that the strength of Israel consisted not in the number of its people, but in the protecting care of God. This view is strongly corroborated by Joab's expostulation, "The Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?" It was a momentary apostasy from Jehovah; an oblivion of that spirit of dependence which was the duty and the glory of the kings of Israel. The sin was not confined to David; it had infected the nation. It is expressly said that "the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel." It may be that now, on the very threshold of their national existence, they were tempted by visions of worldly glory to forget that Israel was not to realize its vocation to the world in the guise of a conquering secular state, but as Jehovah's witness among the nations. If so, if pride was alienating the heart of king and people from their allegiance to Jehovah, a prompt chastisement was the truest mercy. A. F. K. 3. Who can but wonder to see Joab the saint, and David the trespasser? No prophet could speak better than that man of blood; "The Lord thy God increase the people a hundredfold more than they be, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king desire this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?" Bp. H.—Joab seems to have had a certain amount of regard to the will of God and the theocratic constitution of the kingdom, for he was loyal to David from the very beginning, up to the contest between Solomon and Adonijah. It is evident that Joab felt strongly that in the step which he proposed to take David would be acting a part unworthy of himself and of the constitution of the kingdom, and by displeasing God would expose himself to evils far beyond any advantage he might hope to gain by ascertaining the number of the people. 4. For once—and this time, unhappily—David was too strong for the son of Zeruiah. The enumerators of the people were despatched to take the census. W. G. B. The sums-total were probably never made up for preservation, except in a rough way; they were never put into the official chronicles. In the rough, round numbers of the two Books of Samuel and of Chronicles, there is a difference of many thousands in the enumeration. A rough enumeration—not counting Benjamin—made the warriors of Israel eight hundred thousand, and of Judah five hundred thousand, or one million three hundred thousand in all. Or, taking the other estimate, there were one million one hundred thousand warriors of Israel, and four hundred and seventy thousand warriors of Judah, or one million five hundred and seventy thousand in all. Knox.—This discrepancy may be due to textual corruption, but more probably arises from a difference in the original estimates, or in the oral tradition with respect to them. A. F. K.—This showed a population of from five to seven millions for the whole land. Considering all the wars, servitudes, and internal conflicts during the generations, tions, this was a great increase from the six hundred and one thousand warriors and three millions of people under Moses on the plains of Moab. Knox. The numbers have been attacked as exaggerated, and far exceeding the possible capacity of the country. The numbers given imply a total population of five or six millions at least, and the area of the country is estimated at about eleven thousand square miles. This gives (making allowance for the excepted tribes) between five and six hundred to the square mile, a high but not impossible rate of population when the extreme fertility of the country in ancient times is taken into consideration. The ruins with which Palestine is covered in every direction prove that the population was exceptionally dense. The Choice of Punishments. 10. David's heart smote him.** Conscience accused him, and he became aware of his guilt. He recognized the sinfulness of the proud and vainglorious spirit of self-confidence and desire for worldly aggrandizement which had induced him to take the census. A. F. K.—"David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done; and now, I beseech Thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have done very foolishly." Once alive to his sin, his humiliation is very profound. His confession is frank, hearty, complete. He shows no proud desire to remain on good terms with himself, seeks nothing to break his fall or to make his humiliation less before Joab and before the people. He is never greater than when acknowledging his sin. W. G. B. 11. And David arose in the morning, and, etc.,** after the recognition and confession of his sin. The E. V. gives the impression that the conviction of his sin was the result of Gad's visit, which is not the meaning of the passage. Gad was not sent until after his confession and prayer for pardon. A. F. K. Chron., verse 12. It was a hard and woful choice of three years' famine added to three forepast; or of three months' flight from the sword of an enemy; or three days' pestilence. The Almighty that hath fore-determined his judgment, refers it to David's will as if it were utterly undetermined. God had resolved; yet David may choose. That infinite wisdom hath foreseen the very will of his creature, which, while it freely inclines itself to what it would rather, unwittingly wills that which was fore-appointed in heaven. 28., verse 14. Yet, behold, neither sins, nor threats, nor fears can bereave a true penitent of his faith; "Let us now fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great." There can be no evil of punishment wherein God hath not a hand; there could be no famine, no sword, without him; but some evils are more immediate from a Divine stroke; such was that plague into which David is unwillingly willing to fall. Bp. H.—There are some judgments which come more immediately from his hand than others, as famine and pestilence; and which of these shall be the scourge, he refers it to God, who chooses the shortest, that he might the sooner testify his being reconciled. H. 15. Left to choose between famine, defeat, and pestilence, David wisely and well cast himself upon the Lord, finding comfort only in the thought, which has so often brought relief to those who realize it, that, even when suffering for sin, it is well to fall into the hands of Jehovah. Nor was his unuttered hope disappointed. The pestilence, terrible as it was in its desolations, was shortened from three days to less than one day: "from the morning to the time of the assembly"—viz., for the evening sacrifice. A. E. —To the time appointed. Not to the end of the three days; for (verse 16) "the Lord repented him of the evil;" it means, probably, the appointed time of evening prayer—that is, about the ninth hour of the day; according to which sense the plague lasted nine hours. Bp. Patrick.—Joab is nine months in passing with his pen, the angel but nine hours in passing with his sword, through all the coasts and corners of the land of Israel. See how easily God can bring down the proudest sinners, and how much we owe daily to the Divine patience. H. Humble confessions and devout penance cannot always avert temporal judgments. God's angel is abroad; and within that short compass of time sweeps away seventy thousand Israelites. David was proud of the number of his subjects; now they are abated that he may see cause of humiliation in the matter of his glory; in what we have offended, we commonly smart. These thousands of Israel were not so innocent, that they should only perish for David's sin; their sins were the motives, both of this sin and punishment; besides the respect of David's offence, they die for themselves. Bp. H. 16. The Lord repented him of the evil.** On the one hand Scripture teaches us that, "God is not a man that he should repent" (Nu. 23 : 19 ; 1 S. 15 : 29) ; on the other hand it does not shrink from saying that God repents when, as here, upon man's penitence He withdraws or mitigates a punishment; when, upon man's faithlessness or disobedience, He cancels a promise or revokes a blessing which He had given. God's repentance does not mean that He who foreknows all things regre's His action, nor is it a sign of mutability. Scripture boldly states the two apparently contradictory truths, and leaves conscience to harmonize them. A. F. K. God reveals himself as repenting. He speaks as if in sore disappointment at the evil course of men: "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." It was the grief of a loving father over the evil ways of his children, a pain that is sharp and a heart that is sore. Moses recognized this trait of the Divine character, and earnestly prayed that he would "repent of this evil against thy people." "And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people" (Ex. 32 : 14). "It repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them" (Ju. 2 : 18). "And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil" (2 S. 24 : 16). In the book of the prophet Jonah this trait is brought out very strongly. "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them" (3 : 10). The prophet explained the reason for this revocation of a positive and unqualified decree. "I know that thou art a gracious God, and full of compassion and slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, and repentest thee of the evil" (4 : 2). The Divine repentance is a constant leaning to the side of mercy. He is intent upon setting aside the penalty of sin. He listens for the first sigh of penitence. While he is grieved and disappointed and sad at the waywardness and rebellion of his creatures, he rejoices at their return. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but implores them to return and live. He reasons with them, and shows them the madness and folly of their course. He makes it plain that if any one persists in wickedness it is not God's fault that he does so, nor is the punishment which the sinner brings upon himself of God's willing infliction. All this is intensely human—so much so that we cannot distinguish it from the character of a very tender-hearted and benevolent father. Any one who desires the Divine companionship and protection and help can have it with the amplest and most cordial welcome, simply for the asking. God is swift in mercy and love, and very patient in long-suffering. This is God's merciful attitude to us, and we can verify it in our experience by accepting it and going to him. We shall find him just what he thus reveals himself to be. God is the most tender, loving, and lovely Being in the universe. He is the best friend. He is all that the longing heart can desire. We must not abuse and pervert this tender and forbearing attribute of the Divine character by making it a basis for hope that he will not thoroughly vindicate his law. On the contrary, we must remember that in doing despite to this spirit of grace, we are treasuring up against ourselves a retribution all the more terrible because we have insulted and trodden under foot the loving sensibilities of God. Interior. Stay thy hand. God only revoked that which he had decreed on a certain condition; which was, that three days' pestilence should come upon the country, unless David and his people repented. Bp. Patrick.—The angel was by the threshing-floor. This was on Mount Moriah. Dr. Lightfoot observes, that in the very place where Abraham, by a countermand from heaven, was stayed from slaying his son, this angel, by a like countermand, was stayed from destroying Jerusalem. It is for the sake of the great Sacrifice, that our forfeited lives are preserved from the destroying angel. H.—It was a fitting spot for mercy upon Israel, this place where of old faithful Abraham had been ready to offer his only son unto God; fitting also as still outside the city; but chiefly in order that the pardoning and sparing mercy now shown might indicate the site where, on the great altar of burnt-offering, abundant mercy in pardon and acceptance would in the future be dispensed to Israel. A. E. 17. These sheep, what have they done?** David takes all the blame upon himself, for his offence had been the immediate cause of the plague, and it is characteristic of true penitence to dwell exclusively on its own sin, without respect to the complicity of others. But it is clear from verse 1 that the sin was the sin of the people as well as of David. A. F. K.—No one but must admire the spirit of David when the angel appeared on Mount Moriah. Owning frankly his own great sin, and especially his sin as a shepherd, he bared his own bosom to the sword, and entreated God to let the punishment fall on him and on his father's house. Why should the sheep suffer for the sin of the shepherd? W. G. B. He intercedes for the people whose bitter lamentations made his heart to ache. These sheep, what have they done? Done! Why it was their sin that provoked God to leave David to himself to do as he did; yet, as became a penitent, he is severe upon his own faults, while he extenuates theirs. Most people, when God's judgments are abroad, charge others with being the cause of them, and care not who falls by them so they can escape; but David's penitent and public spirit was otherwise affected. Let this remind us of the grace of our Lord Jesus, who gave himself for our sins, and was willing that God's hand should be against him, that we might escape. The shepherd was smitten that the sheep might be spared. H. Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. Oh, the admirable charity of David, that would confine the plague to himself and his house, and sues to interpose himself between his people and the Lord's just vengeance! Bp. H.—What a noble and generous concern for the safety of his people does this pathetic expostulation manifest! Here is the real language and spirit of a genuine shepherd of his people, willing to devote himself and his family to God, for the preservation of his subjects. Chandler. David Erects an Altar on Araunah's Threshing-floor, by God's Direction. Verses 18-25. 18. O Father of all mercies, how little pleasure dost thou take in the death of sinners! It was thine own pity that stayed the destroyer. Ere David could see the angel thou hadst restrained him: "It is enough, now stay thy hand." Now God calls for that sacrifice wherewith he will be appeased. An altar must be built in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Lo, in that very hill, where the angel held the sword of Abraham from killing his son, doth God now hold the sword of the angel from killing his people! Upon this very ground shall the temple after stand. Here shall be the holy altar, which shall send up the acceptable oblations of God's people in succeeding generations. 22,23. Rich and bountiful Araunah is ready to meet David in so holy a motion; and munificently offers his Sion for the place, his oxen for the sacrifice, his carts and ploughs and other utensils of his husbandry for the wood. Bp. H.—When David and his followers came, they were prepared freely to give, not only the threshing-floor, but also all within it, if only Jehovah were pleased to accept the prayer of the king. Thus most significantly, in its typical aspect, were Jew and Gentile here brought together to co-operate in the dedication of the Temple-site. A. E. 24. Two frank hearts are well met: David would buy; Araunah would give. The Jebusite would not sell; David will not take. Since it was for God and to David, Araunah is loath to bargain: since it was for God, David wisheth to pay dear; "I will not offer burnt-offerings to the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." Heroical spirits do well become eminent persons. He that knew it was better to give than to receive, would not receive but give. There can be no devotion in a niggardly heart; as unto dainty palates so to the godly soul, that tastes sweetest that costs most; nothing is dear enough for the Creator of all things. It is a heartless piety of those base-minded Christians that care only to serve God good cheap. Bp. H. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. In Chronicles we read, "David gave for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight." This seeming discrepancy as to the price has been accounted for in different ways. The simplest and most probable explanation is that these two passages refer to different transactions. The statement in Samuel gives the price paid for the threshing-floor and the oxen simply. That in Chronicles is "for the place," not the threshing-floor alone, but the entire surface of the hill, or all the ground owned by Araunah. Samuel is concerned merely with the spot on which the altar stood and sacrifices were offered. The writer of Chronicles is thinking of the entire tract procured for the site of the temple. For this fifty silver shekels would evidently be inadequate. W. H. G. Chron., verse 26. And as if publicly and from heaven to ratify what had been done, fire unkindled by man fell upon the altar and consumed the sacrifices. But from that moment the destroying sword of the angel was sheathed at the command of God. A. E.—God answered David from heaven by fire. To signify that God's anger was turned away from him, the fire that might justly have fastened upon the sinner, fastened upon the sacrifice, and consumed that; and, upon this, the destroying sword was returned into its sheath. Thus Christ was made sin, and a curse, for us, and it pleased the Lord to bruise him, that through him God might be to us, not a consuming Fire, but a reconciled Father. 29,30. He continued to offer his sacrifices upon this altar. The brazen altar which Moses made was at Gibeon, and there all the sacrifices of Israel were offered; but David was so terrified at the sight of the sword of the angel that he could not go thither. The business required haste when the plague was begun. Aaron must go quickly, nay, he must run, to make atonement (Nu. 16 : 46, 47). And the case here was no less urgent; so that David had not time to go to Gibeon; nor durst he leave the angel with his sword drawn over Jerusalem, lest the fatal stroke should be given before he came back. And therefore God, in tenderness to him, bade him build an altar in that place, dispensing with his own law concerning one altar because of the present distress, and accepting the sacrifices offered on this new altar, which was not set up in opposition to that but in concurrence with it. The symbols of unity were not so much insisted on as unity itself. Nay, when the present distress was over, David as long as he lived sacrificed there, though the altar at Gibeon was still kept up; for God had owned the sacrifices that were here offered, and had testified his acceptance of them (verse 28). On those administrations in which we have experienced the tokens of God's presence, and have found that he is with us of a truth, it is good to continue our attendance. "Here God has graciously met me, and therefore I will still expect to meet with him." I Chron. 22 : 1. The place for the building of the temple, Then David said, by inspiration of God, and as a declaration of his mind, This is the house of the Lord God. If a temple must be built for God, it is fit that it be left to him to choose the ground, for all the earth is his; and this is the ground he makes choice of: it had pertained to a Jebusite, and perhaps there was not a spot of ground besides, in or about Jerusalem, that did so; a happy presage of the setting up of the Gospel temple among the Gentiles. The ground was a threshing-floor; for the Church of the living God is his floor, his threshing, and the corn of his floor (Is. 21 : 10). Christ's fan is in his hand, thoroughly to purge his floor. This is to be the house, because this is the altar; the temple was built for the sake of the altar; there were altars long before there were temples. H. This altar first distinctly marked the hill as the sacred spot which Jehovah had long promised to choose for his abode. The ark had indeed been placed for some time in the city of David, but the stated sacrifices had still been offered on the original brazen altar before the tabernacle of Gibeon; and even after the removal of the ark, God had spoken to David of His choice of a place to build His house as yet to be made. That choice was now revealed by the descent of fire from heaven on David's sacrifice, as upon the altar of burnt-offering in the wilderness; and David recognized the sign, and said, "This is the house of Jehovah God, and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel." The place received the name of Moriah (vision) from the appearance of God to David, as the destroying angel, and then by the sign of fire. P. S.—Thus the threshing-floor was appointed to be the site of the temple which Solomon was to build; and the spot where David had hastily reared his altar was to be the place where, for hundreds of years, day after day, morning and evening, the blood of the burnt-offering was to flow, and the fumes of incense to ascend before God. W. G. B. # Instructive and Helpful Suggestions. As long as the devil is alive there is danger; and though a strong Christian may be too hard for, and may overcome him in one thing, he may be too hard for, yea, and may overcome the Christian two for one afterward. Thus he served David, and thus he served Peter, and thus he in our day has served many more. The strongest are weak, the wisest are fools, when suffered to be sifted as wheat in Satan's sieve; yea, and have often been so proved, to the wounding of their great hearts and the dishonor of religion. Bunyan. There is a sense, and a very true sense, in which David's sin applies to us. People are very fond of numbering the good things they have or suppose themselves to have. This is the peril to which our Lord refers when He says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also;" that is, you will be always brooding in your heart upon them, and they will fill your mind to the exclusion of all spiritual thoughts. The Bible takes us out of ourselves, and directs us to God as the great object of our love, and in Him to our neighbor. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Mosley. What a wonderful thing is sanctified affliction! While its root lies in the very corruption of our nature, its fruit consists of the best blessings of Heaven. The root of David's affliction was carnal pride; but under God's sanctifying grace, it was followed by the erection of a temple associated with heavenly blessing, not to one nation only, but to all. When affliction, duly sanctified, is thus capable of bringing such blessings, it makes the fact all the more lamentable that affliction is so often unsanctified. It is vain to imagine that everything of the nature of affliction is sure to turn to good. It can turn to good on one condition only—when your heart is humbled under the rod, and in the same humble, chastened spirit as David you say, and feel as well as say, "I have sinned." W. G. B. God has so arranged and ordered all things, that His apparent change of purpose shall follow every true prayer, and His nature of love and tenderness be revealed to every humble and waiting soul. When our afflictions have wrought out in us the ends which His wisdom and mercy have sought, and have brought us in a right frame before His truth and majesty, we shall be able to discern modifications in His treatment, which are as if our God had changed His mind toward us, but which are really but changes in methods proceeding from the same mind and purpose of mercy and truth. We need all along our road in life the visitations of God's rod. God could not be a faithful and loving Father and withhold the rod. It comes in sickness, pecuniary losses, family bereavement, false accusations, and in many other ways. None of these come by chance. God is behind each, and that, too, in love. Blessed is the man who discerns this. Crosby. David would not serve the Lord with that which cost him nothing. The thought needs only to be put in words to commend itself to every conscience. God's service is neither a form nor a sham; it is a great reality. If we desire to show our honor for Him, it must be in a way suited to the occasion. Yet how often is God served with that which costs men nothing! Men that will lavish hundreds and thousands to gratify their own fancy—what miserable driblets they often give to the cause of God! The smallest of coins is good enough for His treasury. And as for other forms of serving God, what a tendency there is in our time to make everything easy and pleasant,—to forget the very meaning of self-denial! It is high time that that word of David were brought forth and put before every conscience, and made to rebuke ever so many professed worshippers of God, whose rule of worship is to serve God with what does cost them nothing. The very heathen reprove them. Little though there has been to stimulate their love, their sacrifices are often most costly—far from sacrifices that have cost them nothing. Oh, let us who call ourselves Christians beware lest we be found the meanest, paltryest of worshippers! Let souls that have been blessed as Christians devise liberal things. W. G. B. The true motive to beneficence is “offering unto the Lord.” Our offerings must be gifts to the Lord. Everything in life depends on the motive from which it springs. Man is what his motives are; he is no better and no worse. The highest and purest motive is that of doing all unto the Lord. The true measure of beneficence is giving that which we feel to cost us something. Giving must always be tending toward sacrifice and self-denial. Having love as the impulse to our benevolence, its measure will be determined by the nature of the case which appeals for our help and also by the means which God has placed at our disposal. E. Mellor.